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Who knew fried cornmeal makes a great alternative to roast potatoes?

Suddenly Spring is here, and here are some highlights from the last of winter

A hearty stew to see you through the final throes of winter

An eventful month calls for some comforting treats

Inspired by the mighty Camberwell Arms, this hearty but healthy stew is perfect for this time of year.

A short work trip to Austin let me sample the weird and the wonderful the city is famous for.

For our second feast, the order of the day was to feed 23 extended family members, and the theme was Greek food.

This time of year is all about the food. Here's some ideas to get you in the festive spirit...

slow-cooked roast meat in wax paper will melt in your mouth, and melt your heart too.

A random bit of czech family heritage is the origin of a classic fruit crumble cake

Memories of lavender and almonds from a summer break in Sifnos inspire a simple cookie recipe

It's the magic moments in the day-to-day which end up prevalent in my memories.

who needs pasta when you can eat tiny dumplings?

New kid on the block Forza Dispensa has turned an old warehouse space into a smokey, vibey Peckham experience.

The much-awaited cookbook of this intimate restaurant is one long love letter between the wife and husband chef team and their love affair with food.

This rustic dish sheds its 'poor man's hummus' label with an injection of olive oil

Visiting family in North Carolina almost always involves a few grilling sessions. As well it should, as the birthplace of pulled pork and other smoky, piggy delights.

Food is heavy with nostalgia and memories in my family. This cheesecake has a sweetness, literal and metaphorical, in connecting me to a treasured time.

Tigania (n): 1. a greek meze of morsels of fried pork with green peppers 2. frying pans

It's too hot in London to do much cooking this week, but there is plenty of snacking to do. The World Cup lends itself to rustling up some snacks before/during/after/between matches. For some reason my family calls snacks snackerakia...

Cooked lettuce? A strange and yet age-old concept. My grandma used to make a stew which for ages I thought she called souffle (it's actually called fricassee) made with pork and lettuce. There's something quite satisfyingly perverse about putting a delicate leaf over a hot flame...

_Tirokafteri_, or spicy cheese dip is a classic Greek meze typically consisting of feta cheese, yoghurt and some sort of chilli or hot pepper. Each taverna manages to make it slightly differently though–– I've seen versions with pickled pepperoncini peppers, roasted mild red chillies, chilli oil... riffing on Maria Elia's tzatziki variations, this uses garlic tops or 'scapes' to flavour the cheesy dip instead of chilli.

Juicy fruits like watermelon and mango are ideal companions when a heat wave in the city sets in. Adding some spicy heat, like drinking hot tea in the desert, has a nice congruence, keeping the heat up in the early evening as the sun goes down.

Summertime always means getting the ice cream maker out. Our old flat had a great sun-drenched front step and many afternoons were spent trying out different flavours on friends. Some of my favourites use things we grew on that front step- thyme leaves, rosemary blossom, lavender- gently diffused in the milk for the custard these fragrant herbs create a refreshing treat.

You don't have to live in London for long to become an avid appreciator of Turkish food and cooking, and Istanbul, Constantinoupoli, or as it's still affectionately called by the Greek diaspora 'The City'- is clearly the place to go to get the most mileage out of a heady mix of mediterranean, middle eastern and asian cuisines.

Like Persephone, pomegranates are what get me through winter. I love their sharpness, the juicy crunch of the seeds, and how they seem to be able to replace tomatoes when the latter are a sorry sight to see. But most of all I love the morning ritual of peeling one.

Imam Biyaldi means ‘the imam [priest] fainted’ – ostensibly because of the amount of oil in this dish, or perhaps he was just swooning over the perfect combination of smoky, fluffy aubergines, sweet gooey onions and tart tomato.

A glossy cookbook is always a safe bet if you need a present to buy me, and Ceviche‘s cookbook, which was gifted to me recently, is no exception.