Nibbles #9

Visiting the last mustard maker in Dijon, how to decorate perfect iced biscuits, and what happens on a cookbook photo shoot.

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.

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The Bebaaynetu vegetarian combination platter at Chingah Habesha, a lovely little Ethiopian and Eritrean restaurant in Canterbury.

• Celebrating the arrival of sunlight in Iceland with coffee and pancakes.

• Debora, on the joys of the French apero hour (£)

• Full disclosure I’m not just a foie gras eater but a foie gras lover: Julia contrasts the animal welfare questions surrounding one of my favourite delicacies against supermarket chickens in the UK, US and China… which are almost everyones:

  Ban foie gras but not industrial chickens?

• Paying a visit to the last mustard maker in Dijon, with a brand I’m a particular fan of.

• From Holocaust Memorial Month, shortly before her death at Auschwitz, Vilma Grünwald writes a final letter to her husband:

  Into Eternity

• I know the day itself has been and gone but I don’t care: I think I’d love someone forever if they made Rosie’s Valentine’s Day at home menu for me (but alas, J has a horror of seafood still in their shells…)

  THE VALENTINES ONE

• The story of a famous pickle jar sitting by the side of a road.

• A deep dive into the utter joy that is decorated iced biscuits:

  Kitchen Project #95: The joy of iced biscuits

• I’m very into the idea of this Swiss lunchtime salad plate.

• Jolene’s latest interviewee has some very solid sound advice on being published as an author:

  Chocolate Cake for Imaginary Lives

• Giulia and Tommaso take us behind the scenes of shooting the photos for their brand new cookbook (further reading: here is the post I did taking you behind the scenes of mine!):

  Meet the Food Photographer and Food Stylist behind Cucina Povera

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What I’ve been cooking: I’m super pleased with how my Pork Steaks with Butter Beans and Chorizo - my pick for Valentine’s Day as a cheaper alternative to beef steaks for my Macknade residency this month - turned out as an elegant and simple supper for two; the muddle of jarred beans, softened shallots and mild chorizo come together in the same pan whilst you’re resting the pork. Perhaps some greens or a salad, and some Spanish white are recommended! Big thanks to Simon and the butchery counter for helping out with this one.

Also on the blog: my Mum’s recipe for Boulangère Potatoes, and I’ve shared a Mother’s Day Ruby Grapefruit & Rosemary Mimosa I wrote years ago for a homeware brand but is otherwise no longer online.

What I’ve been eating: Have you had Ethiopian and Eritrean food before? I certainly hadn’t before I walked into Chingah Habesha in Canterbury on the first of the month. Worth a gander I think even if you don’t live anywhere near our little Cathedral city.

What I’ve been watching: Season 2 of Clarkson’s Farm on Amazon Prime. Whilst the first season was more of an introduction as to what happens when a man my father’s age decides to become a farmer rather than retire, it did an awful lot towards explaining farming and the issue farmers and rural communities face to a general public who, historically, has not been all that fussed about how said farmers produce their food. I think this next season is even more important viewing, from explaining how the blight of Bovine TB can decimate a farmers livelihood through no fault of their own, and how local governance can get in the way of farmers diversifying and creating jobs for more local people in the wake of Brexit. Love Clarkson or loathe him, if you live in Britain and you, well, eat, this is important viewing. Further reading is this brilliant CapX article on the subject which reminds us that “the great virtue of Clarkson’s Farm is that the star casts a revealing light on the situation of his friends and neighbours, ordinary farmers who don’t have celebrity and millions to fall back on.”