Soup is troubling. When is it lunch and when is it just a hot drink? There is the thick, blitzed to a purée type, imagine a carrot or tomato soup, a butternut squash one, the…

I’ve had to leave quite a few tomatoes behind on the vines. Some are half eaten by snails, some of whom no bigger than half a fingernail, the others giant snail sized, fully…

The kitchen cupboards are full of butterbeans, lentils and chickpeas and the pot-bellied white wire basket on the counter kept loaded with eggs as much possible. There is mild…

The basement kitchen, reached via unfriendly and claustrophobic corridors lit with a cold blue neon glow, was busy from about 6am when Patrice the pastry chef arrived, until the…

The closest I’ve been to Tijuana is my possibly over enthusiastic collection of Herb Alpert and his brass band’s albums. But I’ve always fancied sitting in a dusty tavern,…

The Indian supermarket I use in Tooting is always busy, nearly every till has a person on it, and one at the end to pack for you. It’s on a quieter road away from the main high…

There is a real stillness to the air and the warm sun feels unusual for April. The car, unmoved from the driveway in weeks, has a flat tyre and battery. Not that there’s…

The kitchen is blissfully silent. Unless you really listen. Then you can hear birds outside or the occasional car (this is not the same as an occasional table). Every now and then…

At the back of the cupboard, being saved for who knows when, was the tin of Norwegian fishballs I’d bought from the Christmas market over a year ago. It was, I think, mainly…

One of the most celebrated dishes on the menu at Nobu, the black cod, is dismissed by Yuki with a smiling shake of the head as “common, everyday food for us in Japan.”…

Maya and I got up early this morning. While Noah slouched around in his tartan pyjamas watching the cricket highlights, we made pasta for today’s lunch. Most of the tray is…

Amid the shortcuts and alleys, the bright lights and dark doorways Soho still exists. At least a kind of Soho that is a familiar memory. There are still a few run down shops that…

It’s the time of year when you only have to look at a banana and it gets black spots quicker than Jim Hawkins in the Admiral Benbow. Six of them, covered in a lace circle to…

It’s June. At least the calendar says so. You wouldn’t know from the amount of rain we’ve had. The garden has plenty of flowers blooming, and even the redcurrant…

Garlic green beans It’s the smell of the garlic that does it. And the way the deep, shining green of the beans reflects the light, inviting errant hands to dive in and grab one…

Mr E. P. Veerasawmy, founder of Veeraswamy’s in London’s Picadilly tells me that the molee is a “Southern Indian, Ceylon or Malay dish.” Perhaps he had…

Cooking simply doesn’t have to be cooking boringly. A fresh piece of wild fish or some high-season asparagus doesn’t need much doing to it. Meals like this are quite…

We sat down to supper, the children just having gone to bed. They were supposed to be asleep, yet by the volume of giggling wafting downstairs were still wide awake. Perhaps we…

It’s a rare occasion that sees me pass a merguez sausage without buying it. Many a night, in the back streets of Toulouse after a hard day at Art college followed by the…

Life is full of surprises. Take me for example, I’m not as young as I look. And that’s all down to the restorative elixir made from Nature’s wonder: turmeric.…

The roads winding through the countryside, some tree-sheltered and some opening onto wide rolling fields belie how close we are to London and the grey January concrete I’ve…

It changes your attitude, somewhat, to the fish you’re eating when you know the name of the fisherman who caught it. Joe caught my bass, out on the stormy seas while I was…

There is a frost outside, covering everything in a faint white. The school run has to begin a little earlier on these mornings and the only way for that to happen is with threats.…

It’s cold outside, bleak, wintry. The pile of quinces on the kitchen counter hasn’t moved for a week and some of them are on the turn.Unlike the pumpkins still on the…

I had my first mince pie(s) of the year yesterday. Hallowe’en and bonfire night have gone and now it’s open season on the festive fun. So many films to watch, so…

A grey dawn was spreading over the sky like cold soup across formica as Maya poked me in the face to wake me up. She has to walk past Bee’s side of the bed to get to me, and…

The results came in as follows: Noah loved it and had more, so I won the carrot halwa war that no one else was fighting. Maya spat hers out in the bin and asked for a yoghurt…

The more I cook, perhaps the older I get (or is it tireder), the fewer ingredients I want to use in a dish. And the simpler the food I’m making, the more delicious it seems…

It’s a crisp blue morning, a slight fresh chill to the air. The car windscreen, condensation covered, needed time to clear. This is how autumn begins, bright skies and the…

The smells coming from the oven are doing that thing to me. My mouth has started tingling, I think it’s the deep aroma of the harissa. It just sends me a little giddy. The…

The height of a very hot and unusually consistent summer means cooking has ground to a halt in this house. Almost. The sheer willpower needed to move takes away any enthusiasm we…

With this incessant sunshine the pace of life changes. I feel all we are good for is to flop down somewhere warm, the only occasional movement being the lifting of a cold glass of…

Bread. So comforting. All types from the soft and pillowy to the crusty, worthy and hard work. The trashy white slice filled with butter and grated cheese, the ciabatta rubbed…

I had just locked the garage door when I noticed the coriander had bolted. And what with the rather sad looking fennel in the fridge I realised I needed to turn my neglect into…

The wateriness of courgettes puts many people off. But that’s only if you cook them like a 1950s battle-axe of a boarding-house landlady. The key is to give them no more…

I had started with the intention of making a dip. It turned into a pasta sauce. And that is not a bad thing when that pasta sauce becomes an instant favourite; we’ve had it…

It’s now late May, nearly everything is fully laden with flowers and the leaves hang heavily from the trees and bushes looking like a 1950’s film star in a fur coat.…

Gunpowder tea’s in the pot. A miserable bag, a teaspoon of sweepings from the floor and a whole nation relaxes as the National grid switches to auxiliary power during the…

We found ourselves in the garden centre again the other day. A weekday and all. We passed through aisles of green and shelves trailing leaves and branches like lazy octopi. I…

White asparagus with salsa verde. toasted chilli almonds, Parmesan and lemon zest I blame the Ancient Egyptians. What did they ever do for us? Cat worship lead to domestication…

I bought a bird feeder from the hardware superstore the other day. Along with a new huge barbecue and quite a few other things you’re allowed when you graduate from Dad…

The past is a strange mirror to look into. And sitting here, in the attic surrounded by boxes and old sketchbooks from art college I feel my breath catching a little with…

How are bricks made? How do they make glass? How do they build a roof? Frieda Kahlo was a famous painter. Is turmeric food colouring? Have we ever seen a caterpillar? Daddy,…

It’s very hilly where we live in Crystal Palace. And the park has wonderful sweeping tree-lined slopes, some Aspen pines among them. If you close your eyes there in winter…

I’ve been away. A week in Devon for half term, fires every night and a week in Mansfield for work and I can’t remember a decent thing we’ve eaten the past…

They don’t make music like they used to do they? It’s just noise now… in my day you could understand the lyrics… young people today… don’t…

Simplicity is beauty. I’ve had more pleasure from a ripe and juicy nectarine than I have from a complicated fondant. According to William Morris, things should either be…

Here’s a quick way to liven up a simple supper of grilled chicken or perhaps some salmon, lightly poached in a stock with some white wine and parsley. It’s a zingy and…

It’s a constant, if not full-time job to keep enough food in the house for the seemingly hollow children. And while bergamot curd may not be up on the list of household…

We don’t often eat pork chops in my house. We’ve had the fear put into us by my mother-in-law that we will have a terrible night’s sleep if we eat pork in the…

If you are hungry and need a quick pick me up, this snack has won my coveted ‘snack of the week’ award. It’s an amazing, classic combination and if you have…

It has been a fairly uneventful week in the kitchen, which means it’s been quite tidy. The children made their own tomato, sweet potato and carrot soup which they promptly…

About an hour after I’ve had my jasmine tea in the morning,  I’m ready for breakfast, which almost every morning is a Nutribullet smoothie. Usually I will start with…

Still off the carbs and sugar, mealtimes are becoming much more interesting. While I have craved the odd sandwich or snack, and with weekends being particularly tricky with the…

Not much happened in Suffolk last week. I’m not sure it ever does. That’s what made our stay in the cottage so rejuvinating. Lighting fires, reading books, walks on…

I think it far better to buy a whole good chicken and roast it all than buy expensive packaged bits. At the very least you can make a really good chicken stock, let alone all the…

Our long-lost family restaurant, The Mekong in Pimlico (disclaimer: I snorted when I first went and now claim it as my own) closed perhaps a year ago with what seemed like no…

I use a nutribullet for my smoothies. The great thing here being that your bananas may be on their way out, your spinach may not be at its freshest, but there is no need to waste…

Fry the curry spices in the coconut oil, add the fish chunks. Cook for a few minutes then add the remaining ingredients and a little coriander. You could use coconut milk rather…

How times have changed. Wasn’t it only yesterday I was able to stay up past 10 in the evening and function the next day? My friends and I would get up to all sorts of…

I don’t remember anyone ever having said a bad word about Italian ice-cream. Its texture is creamy and rich, soft and smooth on the tongue. The flavours sing purely, as if…

It’s August here in London, the height of summer. Looking out of the window, the unrelenting monsoon makes me wonder if it will ever get light. Instead of turning to slow…

I love cauliflower raw in salads, pickled, picalillied, turned into ‘cous cous’ or ‘rice’ or comforting cauliflower cheese. It also makes a great mash. You…

If you were to find me in a restaurant in the early 2000s, chances are I would be eating seared tuna on a ‘bed’ of le Puy lentils. I couldn’t get enough of it. It seemed to…

This is one of the simplest and quickest meals you will ever make. And one of the most delicious. To make it work, though, you must get absolutely fresh tiger prawns and plump,…

As a supposed grown-up, I feel I can eat whatever I want, whenever. Cold pizza for breakfast and such. While I try and promote a healthy diet to the children, that…

At the back of my fridge you’ll find a jar or two of pickled herring from Ikea. I always stock up when I go, it’s the highlight of the trip. I get excited about any food that…

I bore my wife every year with constant updates on the elder state, and my excitement and her relief peaks when the buds start to open into flowers. Pick them first thing on a…

I tend to start every morning with a Nutribullet smoothie. I was never a great breakfast eater, but this has proven an easy way for me to get the day off to a good start. Some…

I say North African, but this really is a mix of store cupboard items that could be Asian, Indian, Turkish, Moroccan and Mediterranean. Chickpeas were a staple growing up and my…

Nettles grow like mad this time of year. Now, after many childhood tears, it’s time for revenge. They have a grassy, earthy flavor that goes well in risotto or soup and if you…

This vibrant dish can be served warm or cold. Kasha, or roast buckwheat is so good for you and has a nutty taste and texture that complements the sweet roast vegetables. What I…

It’s hawthorn blossom season in London at the moment and while the trees are in bloom it’s a great time to make fresh tea or dry the flowers for future use. The tea has…

Bourek, samosa, pasty or empanada? They’re all good ways to eat a messy filling with your hands. I first had bourek in a cous cous restaurant in Paris and loved the delicate…

This is a take on one of my favourite pasta dishes. It’s a great way to cut out carbohydrates if you’re on a health kick, and it really stands out as a dish in its own…

Fishcakes are a great way of either using up fish trimmings or making fish a bit more accesible for the children. I’m a big fan of Thai fishcakes. Full of zingy flavours,…

Here’s a quick and easy way to add a little more flavour to your cooking. Depending on what you’re making, using infused oils to cook with can make the difference between a…

Chilli sauce has been a source of constant disappointment in my life. It’s either not as hot as it says it should be, or it’s hot but without much flavour. I remember trying a…

I have talked about my love of lentils in an earlier post. Like the Swedish are never too far away from a herring, dhal is never too far from my mind. Lentils are comfort food…

A good kebab is a great thing. It’s almost the ultimate in balanced meals with the meat, salad, vegetables and carbohydrates. It can either soak up a night’s excesses or…

I love meatballs more than almost anything in the world. It’s hard to beat a bowl of them served with spaghetti, but for this version I thought I’d make a healthier…

My favourite part of an Indian meal is most often the dhal. Dipping homemade naan into the silky, slightly spiced comforting refuge of the tarka-ed lentils is to me a little like…

Apart from the smell of onions and garlic cooking in a little butter and oil, I don’t think anything beats the aromatic and almost mysterious smell that comes from toasting a…

This dish is so pretty, but essentially my rabbit terrine is a big slab of meat, freshened by the addition of peas and asparagus. Served with a pickled salad and a few truffle…

One of the greatest meals I’ve ever had was a sea urchin pasta, eaten overlooking a beach in Paxos. We were at a cookery demonstration by Spiros, owner of Bar Taxidi in Loggos…

Lamb – whether spiced and charred in the tandoor, coated with a herb crust and roasted, or simply sliced thinly and served in a sandwich with mustard, parsley and cucumber…

When I was at my parents’ last weekend for my dad’s birthday, I wanted to contribute something to the lunch, and brought in the figs I happened to have left over from the day…

Welcome to The Modern Husband, where I post a wide range of recipes and writing about food I love to make – from quick family suppers to Michelin-style cooking for special…