When I was little, we used to spend a good chunk of every summer vacation at my mother’s friend’s house in a very small village in the western part of what was then the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. There were always…
Quince (Cydonia oblonga) is right at the top of my fruit-trees-I-would-plant-if-I-had-any-room-left list. Right now, I don’t have any space left in my garden to plant one. That, however, does not really stop me. I planted quince “Champion” in my parents’…
You know what the problem is with eggs? They consist of an egg yolk and an egg white and these two are often used separately. This leads to something of a vicious circle. You bake a birthday cake – it…
Why is it that when the elderberry is flowering, everybody seems to be elbow deep in making elderflower cordial, but later, when the berries are ripe, they get much less attention? It happens here, too. Perhaps it is the overwhelming…
So I baked a tart and was becoming slightly more optimistic about our new allotment and the survival chances of the trees and bushes that were moved to the new plot during the weekend. But then I had a chat…
Last time I wrote how long I had to wait to make the cherry tomato clafoutis. But that really was nothing compared to waiting to make these rolls. Somewhat by accident, I watched Jamie Does Sweden, where Jamie Oliver made…
I love foraging. It runs in the family. My 15 months old niece is an incredibly picky eater. She doesn’t eat vegetables or rice or yoghurt. She will also not touch a banana or a store-bought apple. But anything she…
In summer, we usually don’t make dessert, we pick it. Or rather, let everyone pick their own. Conveniently located next to and above our outside dining table, we grow a succession of summer berries. First to ripen is the yellow…
I like gooseberries, because of their “just right” blend of sweet and tart, but also because of their undeniable seasonality. Unlike strawberries that you can buy pretty much anytime (though they won’t always be worth eating), gooseberries are only available…now.
When I get a chance to eat as many cherries as I want, I’ll eat kilos of them. I don’t often get a chance. Last time was when I was sixteen and spent the first week of my summer vacation…
Some of the questions I had to answer while typing the recipe: – How do you draw a snowflake? – If you could control one element, which would you choose? (Answer: water) – How do you say “strawberries” in French?…
It seems that the two main harvest from the allotment at the moment are rhubarb and daffodils. No problem, I like both a lot. They both signal the start of a new garden season; daffodils are the first flowers that…
Finally, there’s something else to harvest from the allotment other than weeds: rhubarb! I blanched one plant by covering it with a black bucket and it was ready for harvest on Sunday. Every year I carefully consider the first rhubarb…
A vegetable, a fruit, nuts, grains and seeds – sounds like a breakfast designed by a dietitian, doesn’t it? Well, let me assure you: it’s not what it tastes like. Because it’s a recipe from the first Ottolenghi cookbook and…
Couple of years ago, the teachers at my daughters primary school decided to promote healthy eating and asked all kids to bring some fruit which they would then share in the class. It turned out there were 2 kids who…