This month’s recipes are from José Pizarro: vibrant chicken sauteed with red peppers, sherry and anchovy; a summer pisto with golden manchego; and a strawberry creme caramel. He also tells us how the British understanding of Spanish food has changed since he set up his tiny and much-loved tapas bar in Bermondsey all those years ago.
We are in holiday mood and have been exploring Kent, the West Country, and Edinburgh and Fife for the best treats from cinnamon buns to char siu wonton noodles and wild garlic butter beans to raw scallops with blood orange. Our correspondents have found a shopping bag full of good places to eat, stay and drink. Read about the rise of Cornwall’s new wave chefs, secret harbourside bistros in Edinburgh and wonderful vineyards in Kent.
Jay Rayner is in full election mode this month and reminds the incoming government they must treat our food supply as a priority. Our farmers and food producers are hampered by a lack of available labour and crushed by the endless paperwork that has been brought about by the border checks as a result of Brexit. Any new government needs to put sorting out this mess at the very top of their to-do list.
We have a fascinating story from Viv Groskop, who tells us about the summer she learned to cook. “That year, I learned to cook Russian and Ukrainian dishes but I also learned a mish-mash of home cooks’ favourite recipes from many of the former Soviet republics: pastes and flatbreads from Georgia, polenta (mamaliga) from Moldova, lamb casseroles and pilaf from Armenia. Some were cooked by friends or families who had ‘adopted’ me.” We bring you a taster for her new book.
We also get an insight into Richard Bainbridge’s nutritional yeast and we have Allan Mustafa’s life on a plate.