Nibbles #32
My Brussels Sprout Carbonara, a dinner cooked in Ukraine's catacombs, and a brilliant guide to all different types of miso paste.
Welcome to Nibbles where once a month I share everything brilliant I’ve been reading on the web as well as some general updates from my kitchen, my vegetable garden during the growing season, and other miscellaneous ‘you really need to know about’ updates.
If you’ve somehow arrived here from elsewhere and you’re not yet a subscriber, you can sign up here so not to miss out on ingredient essays, exclusive recipes, and the occasional long read!
If you’re planning a trip to Japan this year, Emiko has put together an excellent guide based on her travels there including tips on sending your luggage ahead, and staying in traditional ryokan:
Felicity spends an atmospheric evening cooking dinner in Odesa’s catacombs:
Yotam Ottolenghi schools us on the utter brilliance of miso as a pantry essential:
I really enjoyed these three short vignettes on West African and Caribbean food published by Vittles, some really great food writing here:
My friend Gem, who is one of my go-to’s for vegetable growing and seasonal recipes to match her produce has launched a Substack. Do subscribe!
It’s no secret I’m a massive fan / fan girl of Nicola Lamb and her newsletter Kitchen Projects. I enjoy all her writing, but I was particularly taken by her recent deep dive into the French art of the Pithivier:
Meryl teaches us all about the history of (and how to make!) Spaetzel. I think 2025 needs to be the year I finally get around to trying my hand at it.
Now this is how you appeal a speeding ticket:
New on my blog this month, two great ways with winter veg: first, I’m reclaiming the combination of sprouts and pancetta from Christmas to make this excellent, speedy Brussels Sprout Carbonara. And, if you’re looking for a vibrant salad for right now that does not involve any bitter leaves (I’m not a fan) try my Carrot, Chickpea and Avocado Salad.
For my residency at Macknade, pasta, British-grown Carlin peas and cavolo nero are the stars of my Winter Minestrone, and over at meal-prep website Project Meal Plan my Crispy Potato Egg Ribbon Breakfast Bowls are the perfect protein-packed hot breakfast to prep on a Sunday evening ahead of a super busy week.
I know I’m a bit late to the party with the first one, but I binge-read Stanley Tucci’s two food diaries, Taste and What I Ate In A Year over the winter break. How had I kept the former on my shelf for over a year without picking it up?? His writing is smart, personal, and approachable, his stories both as crazy as you’d expect from an actor of such fame and caliber, and as down-to-earth as you’d hope from a man juggling a couple of young kids. It made me crave pasta, and not want to put either of the books down until I was done. They’re Nigel Slater’s Kitchen Diaries, but so very unique to the gourmand who wrote them. Don’t just get Taste, order them both.
On January 1st we celebrated the New Year by heading to the local independent to see the modern re-make of Nosferatu, the classic 1920s silent vampire film which was originally banned after Bram Stoker’s widow sued that the plot was too close to that of Dracula. Even if you’ve slightly enjoyed a gothic or a horror film in the past, watch it for the aesthetics alone; it’s a visual piece of art and beautifully made. On the way home, we both commented we were pleased we’d seen it at the cinema so it was to full effect, both because it is a slow burn picture (if we’d caught it on Netflix with our phones in our hands we might have become distracted at the beginning and not finished it) and because of the film-maker’s clever use of light and darkness: a light, bright, modern ultra-HD screen might well have missed the point of some of the most chilling scenes by showing the audience too much of the detail kept in shadow too soon.
Thank you so much for the shout-out! :)
Thank you for the reading suggestions! That Brussels Sprout Carbonara looks absolutely delightful.