Then along came ‘cultivated meat’.

Cultivated meat has kind of turned the culinary world upside down and has made me question some of my beliefs about meat production, consumption, and what meat even is.

What is cultivated meat?

Cultivated meat is, essentially, meat that is grown in a lab. Take, for instance, a single chicken, and perform a biopsy to get a sample of cells. Through some complex scientific processes that I won’t bore you with, these chicken cells are put through various beep-boop machines and have a handful of scientists rearrange their particles so that they can multiply outside the chicken’s body. What you get is a growing mass of chicken meat that is fit for consumption… without killing a single chicken.

The first cultivated meat product was created in 2013 and cost $300,000 to produce. However, in the decade since, it has grown exponentially, with 150 cultivated meat companies springing up as of 2022. And, as of June 2023, the US Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Agriculture have both given the proverbial ‘all clear’ for two major cultivated meat companies to sell their products in the United States.

Is it ‘good’ for you?

A fair few thought pieces are floating around the internet that are decrying cultivated meat as harmful. Some conspiracy theorists are even pointing to cultivated meat as an example of the government trying to give you cancer or control your mind through something as tasty as chicken nuggets.

This, however, is likely just propaganda from big factory farms that stand to lose profits from cultivated meat. Multiple peer-reviewed journal articles have been published including this one, this one, and this review article, all conclusively declare that lab-grown meat is not harmful. Interestingly, most researchers concluded that based on the sterile conditions of the laboratory, cultivated meat had significantly less risk of becoming infected with Salmonella, E. coli, or Campylobacter. Having suffered from campylobacter in 2008, I am SO on board with this development. Truly. It felt like being ripped apart on the inside.

How Do Vegans Feel About It?

Beyond the debate around the net positives and net negatives, members of the vegan community are torn when it comes to the wider acceptance of cultivated meats and whether these products count as ‘vegan’.

Vegans define themselves as people who do not eat any food that is derived from animals – so by the strictest definition, cultivated meat is an animal by-product and should not be eaten. However, the collective goal of vegans, arguably, is to reduce worldwide consumption of animal products. If a single biopsy from a chicken will save the lives of literally millions of chickens, then there is a clear advantage to accepting and encouraging cultivated meat as a method of reducing harm to animal populations.

Some vegans feel that cultivated meat consumption is still unethical, and a single harmed animal is too many. Others, however, understand the benefits of cultivated meat, including its potential as a source of risk-free protein and nutrition for malnourished populations.

As for me, I’m willing to give it a shot. If I can eat something that is just as delicious but doesn’t come with a side serving of guilt, I’m all for it. What about you? Are you welcoming lab-grown meat onto your plate any time soon?

As I am writing this, I am looking out at the wonders of my green fingers as plant after healthy plants await some serious picking. Primarily a sea of red, there are little niches of green, purple, yellow, nobbly, ridged ones, and tiny sweet cherry ones, all waiting for my fingertips to attack!

Thirty years ago and more, all you could buy in the UK were standard round tomatoes of average size and not on the vine, simply in big wooden crates at the market or greengrocers. No plastic six-packs praise the lord! Sadly, most small and large shops here are plastic pack boys, but what better than to find a market or farm where you can pick your own, or at worst, find a few of those age-old wooden crates, full to the brim with ‘not-too-ripe’ beauties? 

Tomatoes: fruit or vegetable?

Tomatoes are labeled as a fruit, not a vegetable, and are extremely healthy to eat, let alone convenient and versatile. An incredible amount of dishes can be made using the humble tomato, from salads to sauces, juices, pastes, stews, soups, casseroles, jars of sundried (homemade), pickles, and chutneys. They work well with herbs too.  You can make your own tomato juice or can it yourself. What’s not to like?

When simply eaten raw, the nutritional content is quite high, as tomatoes are low in carbs and in spite of their flavour, are approx. 95 percent water content! Keeps your hydration levels up if you eat as many as I do…Plenty of vitamins too, with Vitamin C being the way in the lead.

Varieties of tomato

Just to explain some of the many varieties of tomato there are (too many worldwide to write about), and what they are best suited for.

Cherry tomatoes

Probably the smallest round tomato you can widely buy (most markets, shops, etc. stock them). Come on or off the vine, not much difference in flavor due to size. Because of the amount of skin in contrast to the volume of the juice and flesh, they are the least ideal to use for sauces, even if you make them with a high-speed blender. 

However, they are delicious as a lunch box snack, tossed in salads, sauteed, roasted, or blistered.

Similar to these are Grape tomatoes, same taste, and consistency, just more oval than round.

Roma tomatoes

Originating in Italy (no surprise there!) these are often the tomatoes used in cans and are a plum variety. Comparable to these are San Marzano, as both are the same shape, and texture (meaty), and low in seed count. With such thin skins, they can be used for sauces, salsas, and salads, as they do not have such a high water content.

Garden tomatoes

Only called by this name, due to many people using this variety to grow at home. They tend to have been cross-cultivated over the years with other varieties, so there is no real distinct flavor, and best used in cooking. Depending on where you live, these may well have a different name. They tend to come to fruition all in one go, so get prepared for canning, pickling, etc. so you can make full use of them. Alternatively, eat lots of pasta and tomato-based sauce dishes!

‘Green tomatoes’

Just had to mention these, of course! Widely known from the film ‘Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café’, even though that’s not the basis of the story! 

Green tomatoes are simply unripe tomatoes, that’s all. No special variety, they just take much longer to ripen. Use wisely, and they are delicious either fried or even better, turned into scrummy chutneys. 

Kumato tomatoes

These are hybrid tomatoes, originally bred in Spain and rather unique in their skin color of dark, mottled, reddish-brown. Due to their uniqueness, they do come at a higher price, but if you are trying to impress guests, this variety mixed with other colors is stunning. They vary in size but tend to be on the smaller side. Best eaten raw in my experience, but can be used for most purposes. A multi-tasking tomato!

Beefsteak tomatoes

A big favorite of mine, and I use these in one of my ‘go-to’ recipes, where I stuff them with ground meat and finely chopped vegetables, herbs, and spices, bake/roast them, and serve them with crusty bread. It’s a great supper dish.

As the name may suggest, they are ‘beefy and meaty’, but with larger size comes a higher seed count. They are, without a doubt, very tasty, but when they are stuffed and baked, they take on a whole new persona. Do try them this way, and if you do, see if you can get not just red, but maybe a yellow one or two, they look really stunning in a baking dish before serving.

Heirloom/Heritage tomatoes

I just have to mention these as even though the term is a very Anglicised one, I am sure you would find a similar ‘brand’ of tomatoes in most places in the world.

These are truly, natural (or should be) tomatoes, I can’t say enough about them. Rather than ‘raised by human hand’ they are dependent on other factors for reproduction, such as wind and birdlife. They are available in a range of colors such as red, purple, yellow, orange, green, and the full spectrum. They should have a rich flavor and deserve to be in the No.1 spot on your veggie list.

Make sure that what you buy is authentic and preferably be sure of the provenance.

Happy days, tomato buddies!

Contrary to some opinions, life does not revolve around Ubereats, Just Eats, DoorDash, or any other takeaway options – if it does, a student will soon fast-track into an endless saga of increasing overdrafts and texts from their bank. So let’s get logical and plan out all those ‘can’t live without’ items that last and that can make the simplest of meals taste good or are a great staple to have in your cupboard/fridge. Of course, mistakes will be made, but that is part of growing up and fending for yourself.

Fending for yourself…where to start?

Of course, it does depend on the size of your accommodation, whether the halls of residence, a quad kitchen, a room off campus, or a shared flat/house with another 4-6 people (to keep the rent down!). Limited cupboard space means limited space to stock food, and we all know that buying in bulk, to begin with – a term’s worth or half a term even is so much cheaper.

If you do share with a few others, it’s worth having a kitty, so that a couple of you can go off and top up on communal necessities, such as rice, pasta etc. Find out if your uni/college has discount cards or special arrangements with a cash & carry or similar and get a membership card to be able to enjoy any benefits. My youngest son was at university for four long years (or so my bank account tells me!), and he found there were lots of small supermarkets and markets around, that gave quite surprising discounts to students. It’s certainly worth a try in your first few months.

Stocking up your college fridge

Hopefully, you will either have your own transport or a lift from mom and dad to take you to your chosen college or university before term starts. A great opportunity to write out your ‘sensible’ lists of things to take. If you do buy in bulk the obvious items, try to have a few plastic containers, especially those with airtight tops, to ‘decant’ smaller quantities into your everyday cupboards, and leave the rest, sealed or at least covered up in your larger cupboards. Really does save a mess!

If you happen to have a birthday or Christmas falling at a sensible time, it might be worth asking relatives to buy you useful things, whether food or some starter equipment for your kitchen. Not the most exciting gesture, but trust me, you will be grateful at some point!

The ‘List’…

This is by no means comprehensive and we are bound to miss something out, but at least it gives you a good starting point. Sometimes the obvious items, are not always, well, obvious, as they are somewhat taken for granted when you live at home. It’s easy to think that a jar of coffee is a god-given right!

Grains and Cereals

Always a good fix for breakfast, or supper top-up. Think oats, oatmeal, and supermarket brands of cornflakes, bran, etc. When it comes to breakfast, try to buy ready-to-bake bread, or long-life bread products such as bagels.

Peanut butter and honey – good for topping toast, but can also be made into great satay sauces, curry sauce, etc. Frozen waffles are not a bad bet either.

Polenta is good when you can’t get fresh potatoes!

Oats can be used in many other ways, along with other versatile items such as toast and eggs. Lots of ways to use them. Also handy is plain yogurt – you can use this in ‘sweet’ and savory dishes.

Rice and pasta just go without saying!

Spices, Seasonings, and Sauces

You just have to have these, as they can make using up leftovers much more palatable, and make a simple dish taste so good! You should use a light oil for any cooking such as sunflower (vegetable oil would be a second choice), as these mix better with seasonings.

Good spices to stock are curry powder, chili powder or flakes, mixed herbs, sage, rosemary – and not forgetting garlic powder or paste. When you have a few pennies left in your pocket, do try to get some fresh herbs, they liven up a salad really well.

Salt and pepper – of course!

Having tomato ketchup in the cupboard is not a sin, but in order to make the simplest meal a bit zestier, go for Worcestershire Sauce, Tabasco or Sriracha. Some mayo and some vinegar also help.

Canned Goods

You really can’t live without canned goods! They last, of course, and when all else fails, you can always open a can for something quick to eat.

I would say canned tomatoes and beans all day long. As well as the ubiquitous baked beans, get some cans of mixed beans (no sauce), chickpeas, lentils, etc. All of these can be made into simple and tasty veggie curries/chillis.

Whilst we talk about canned goods, coconut milk is another great addition, if your budget will stretch.

Frozen Food

Hopefully, you will have at least a small fridge freezer, but I  know how difficult this is unless you are sharing a house, rather than living on campus or in a tiny bedsit. Packs of frozen veggies are another good fallback when there may be very little else!

Life’s Little Luxuries!

I haven’t met a student yet who would bother to make their own gravy properly! Some stock cubes, bouillon, and gravy granules added to soups, curries, chillis, etc., are a must.

Some other tips

I hope you don’t find this too overwhelming – the list looks huge, so get mum and dad to take you your first week at uni, so they can fill up their boot with your goods! With dry and canned goods, you can get them over a period of time before you go and take advantage of relatives and friends donating to your fund!

Above all, just have a great time at uni, enjoy, work hard and eat well!

To start, it’s not very helpful that the average post-secondary student is never exactly rolling in money, so funding a kitchen of your own can seem like a difficult task. However, with just three appliances, you can take your cooking to new heights even after a long day of studying.

Microwave Oven

Ah, the microwave: the student’s best friend. Back in 1945, a whole lot of work was being done on radiation, but in one of the more innocent experiments, engineer Percy Spencer happened to walk by a heat wave he had generated that melted the chocolate bar in his pocket. Spencer unwittingly created the quick-and-easy kitchen staple we all know and love.

While convenient, we often take this impressive technology for granted and use microwaves for totally monotonous meals: heating up last night’s leftovers, making popcorn, or nuking a frozen dinner. While you’re studying hard, surely you can spare a little ingenuity for some of the other clever ways that you can use a microwave, right? From making some quick scrambled eggs to even whipping up a Jambalaya, your microwave doesn’t need to be the bastion of unhealthy eating that it’s often portrayed as.

Air Fryer

First bursting onto the food scene a few years ago, air fryers quickly became a kitchen fad, much like sourdough baking was in 2020. While I was sceptical about air fryers a couple of years ago, I am humble enough to admit that I was wrong. The fact that there isn’t one of these in everyone’s kitchen is, quite frankly, alarming to me now.

I’ve found having my own mini convection oven incredibly useful and versatile. You can use it to quickly fry or crisp up just about anything – vegetables, fries, bacon, you name it. The best part about an air fryer, though, is that it strips away the need to fry in oil, meaning that even on a student budget, you can still indulge in some crispy, crunchy favourites, only without as much of the grease.

Stove

Let’s be honest, you all saw this one coming. Can a kitchen really be called a kitchen without one of these? I left this one for last because having access to a stovetop is very much dependent on where you get placed in res. However, having a stovetop can be incredibly useful for a student learning the ropes of cooking as it allows for much more versatility, and most of your post-college cooking is likely to be done on one of these. Pan-frying, searing, boiling, and poaching all become options once you have access to a stove, lending itself to be used to create meals that have a little more verve (like, I don’t know… soup?) when compared to chucking something in a microwave.

While student foodies would love to have a fully stocked kitchen, they are limited by the confines of both space and salary when starting college… I know I was. But with these three appliances you can enjoy what you eat without relying on bland cafeteria food. What appliances can you not do without?

On days like those, I am very grateful that past-me has stocked up on staples. Even though I rarely have any creativity by the end of the day, having a handful of essential foodstuffs makes cooking super easy so that I don’t have to put in too much thought, and I don’t have to rely on the unhealthy and wildly pricy crutch of ordering UberEats (again).

If you find yourself in these time crunches too, here’s a list of my staple foods. You’ll note that my list doesn’t include flour, since anything requiring lots of flour takes more time than I have right now.

Ground Beef

Ground beef (or ‘mince’ as some people call it) has a reserved spot in my freezer. With this staple, diversity is the name of the game. As long as you have half a kilo or so of ground beef, you’ve got the main ingredient of burger patties, meatballs, taco filling, Bolognese, meatloaf, chili, stroganoff… the list goes on. With a bit of ground beef defrosted, I can easily whip up a bunch of delicious recipes.

Canned Tomatoes

If you’ve paid any attention, even vaguely, to what I’ve written about on this blog for the past three years, you’ll know that Italian food is my obsession. While the obnoxious foodie in me will declare that fresh tomatoes are preferable in any scenario, if you’re in a hurry and you need something to help you make a Bolognese, a pizza sauce, a tomato soup, or an easy way to liven up a meat-based soup or stew, tins of tomatoes are incredibly useful.

Potatoes

Potatoes, to quote Mr. Collins from Pride and Prejudice, are truly an “exemplary vegetable”, which I have spoken about at length before, on this very blog. Mashed potatoes, French fries, latkes, potato chips, baked potatoes, scalloped potatoes, and yes, potatoes stuck in a stew, are all a few minutes away when you’ve got a stash of potatoes ready to go. They truly are the reason why for all those months.

Long-Life Milk

In writing this list, I did a quick sweep of my kitchen, rating the stuff there on a list from “When did I last use this?” to “If this runs out, the house falls apart”, and long-life milk was pretty much top of that list. Apart from having it in my coffee each morning, having something long-lasting that doesn’t require you to worry about whether it has gone off or not is very helpful. Adding it to sauces, or even using it as the basis for sauces, soups, or desserts make long-life milk an absolute staple in my house.

Frozen Vegetables

I keep a bag of cut-up, frozen vegetables in my freezer for throwing into any meal. Do I need a side of vegetables with something? Works perfectly. Are my two-minute ramen noodles looking a little sad? Half a cup of veg from the freezer will help make it a little less unhealthy! While frozen vegetables have gotten a bad rap in the media, and fresh vegetables are my preference, when you’re in need, they definitely come in handy!

These are what I consider the most essential ingredients to have in your house, apartment, dorm kitchen, or pantry if you’re committed to making healthy and delicious food even when you’re overworked! What about you? Are there any staples that make your meals fall apart when they run out?

Something I’ve been noticing is a spike in popularity with a particular Mexican soup – birria – and a bunch of slick TikTok chefs offering their contemporary take on the traditional soup. Here, here, here, and here are a few examples that I’ve come across in just the last couple of days.

So, what is birria, how is it made, and why am I seeing so much of it?

How to Make Birria Soup

If you did the actual homework and clicked on all four links above, you get the basic idea: birria is a soup made from slow-cooked meat, dried chillies, herbs, spices, vinegar, and stock.

Birria is made in a closed cast-iron pot (see my previous post for further details about how great cauldrons are), and while traditionally made with goat meat, it is now usually made with beef, lamb, or chicken. Marinated and cooked for hours, the goal is to have the meat soft enough to be pulled apart and served as a thick soup or stew.

The Origins of Birria

Birria is traditionally made for large family gatherings: quinceañeras, weddings, or Easter in Jalisco state will see tables laden with birria. However, its history echoes the colonial history of Mexico.

Birria dates back to the early 16^th century when Spanish conquistadors landed on the shores of the Aztec Empire and began to violently suppress their people and culture. With them, they brought technology, social classes, and European livestock.

The Spanish ultimately introduced the goat to Mexico. Goats took to Mexico greedily, eating the Aztecs’ crops and overpopulating the farmlands. The Spanish, now having entrenched themselves as overlords, found eating goats to be below their station, so the Aztecs themselves had to come up with a solution to their goat problem.

Birria was the way forward. As a traditionally tough meat, slow-cooking goat in vinegar allowed the meat to soften considerably. Combined with the spices native to the region around Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City), it made for a delicious soup that has survived to this day.

As I said – it’s a dish that tells the story of Mexico’s colonial past: the Spanish arrived, made a complete mess of the systems already there, and the indigenous people were left with the task of cleaning up the mess themselves. A dish that was borne out of necessity, greed, indifference, and neglect that has ultimately produced a unique fusion of cultures and histories.

One can even see the colonial attitude through birria’s name – it meant ‘worthless’ in 16^th-century Spanish slang, giving you a clue as to how the invaders viewed the popular dish.

Not Worthless Anymore

The last few years have seen birria skyrocket in popularity. And I’m not the first one to notice this: even the New York Times published a thought piece on birria once it became apparent that it was the next viral food trend to be sweeping the internet.

Food creatives on Instagram and TikTok are making birria everything. As the above videos demonstrate, the birria soup itself feels more like a consommé or a dipping sauce for the resultant taco, burrito, sandwich, waffle, or ravioli that uses the slow-cooked meat from the soup as the main ingredient.

The various thought pieces on birria don’t have a solution as to why the last two years have seen birria become so popular. Perhaps because it’s a way to get the most out of cheaper cuts of meat in a world where a recession is looming – it’s tough to be sure.

What I am sure about, though, is that I will have failed as a food blogger if I don’t try out one of these recipes in the next month. Who’s with me?

Photo: Wikipedia

Juneteenth’s Origin

While the origin of this holiday and its many other names, “Jubilee Day“, “Freedom Day” or “Emancipation Day” still may seem new to some, actually Juneteenth is already an annual celebration in many municipalities around the country. The observance marks the day (June 19, 1865) when news of emancipation finally reached enslaved African people in the deepest parts of the former Confederacy in Galveston, Texas. The Juneteenth flag is red, white, and blue, meant to signify that formerly enslaved people and their descendants are and forever will be American citizens.

Juneteenth and Me

Growing up in Chicago, while I learned of the historical significance of the day in school from an African American order of Catholic nuns, it was mostly through my relatives from Texas and the western States that I learned anything at all about the direct cultural expressions – especially, the importance of the color “red” to food. For instance, the color “red” symbolizes the blood shed on the pathway to freedom. Red is used everywhere — from the foods eaten, to festivals planned to the official flag itself. Check out the Netflix series, “High on the Hog” to find out more!

Photo by Estefanía Escalante Fernández on Unsplash

My mother’s favorite cake was Red Velvet Coconut cake. She never said why, but I always suspected that it had everything to do with her childhood and growing up in the Mississippi Delta. Even though she wasn’t from Texas, the cultural expression still became a part of her life too – even though in less-pronounced ways. As I look around, recalling all of the foods that we ate growing up as a family, their connections now all make sense. I just never realized how much until recently. Being so far away from home does make you think.

Photo: Simply Souperlicious

Watermelon, Hibiscus Juice

On this beautiful day, I didn’t make a Red Velvet Cake. Why? Because it never comes out as beautiful as my mother’s no matter how hard I try. Most of the time, it’s just pink!!! So today, I thought that I’d keep my contribution safe and easy: Watermelon and Hibiscus juice. It’s beautiful and so refreshing on such a hot day, like we’re experiencing here in Lausanne! Check out the recipe below and enjoy!

Watermelon Hibiscus Juice Recipe Ingredients:

• 4 cups hibiscus tea (brewed)
• 3 small watermelon chunks (remove the seeds)
• ½ cup fresh or frozen cherries (remove pits)
• ½ frozen mixed berries (strawberries, raspberries and blueberries)
• 2 squeezes of lime Juice
• ¼ cup pomegranate juice
• 1 beetroot chopped (optional)
• 1/8 teaspoon ginger
• Honey for sweetness

Directions:

Add all of the ingredients to the blender and pulse. Strain the juice and serve. Store in the refrigerator. Serves about 8 cups.

When I was little, I loved the cherry pies in cartoons. While Minnie Mouse cut the first slice, the steam from the holes in the lattice made me endlessly want anything with cherries. Unfortunately, living in South Florida was more about oranges than the sweet little red fruits. I am grateful to say that I currently live in Georgia, where Cherry Blossom Festivals happen every spring, and in June, our markets are full of shiny red cherries. You can even go to a cherry farm and pick the cherries yourself! Through these festivals and my husband’s love of cherries, I have learned many ways to incorporate cherry flavor into different things. Since cherries are only here for two-three months out of the year, how can you get your cherry fix? Tart cherry juice, of course! 

I have three simple recipes that any cherry lover will love. 

Tart Cherry Juice Limeade

One of my favorite summer cool-down drinks! You can make this sparkling or flat to enjoy by the pool or binging your new favorite show. You can even make it into a cocktail if you’d like. This tart cherry limeade can be made with fresh cherry juice or a bottle of store-bought tart cherry juice. This recipe will make you enough to fill a 32-ounce pitcher. You will need ¼ cup of white sugar, 1.5 limes, 1.5 tablespoons (4.5 teaspoons) of tart cherry juice,  2 cups of water, and two cups of ice. Wash the limes and cut them into halves. With a hand held citrus juicer, squeeze the lime juice into the pitcher. Add in the ¼ cup of sugar and mix. Add in the cherry juice and mix. Then add in the water and of course mix that as well! Lastly, the most important part for summer add in the ice. I like to use the remaining lime to garnish the side of my glass. Enjoy! 

Tart Cherry Juice Balsamic Salad Dressing

A super simple salad dressing that you’ll love all year round. You can use it on an easy side salad or an entree salad. I’ve even used it to glaze grilled chicken while on the grill! Sprinkle with some feta and chef’s kiss! You will need 2.5 tablespoons of Tart Cherry Juice, 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, 1.5 tablespoons of white sugar, ¼ teaspoon of onion powder, ½ teaspoons of Dijon mustard, and 3 tablespoons of olive oil. You can make this in a small food processor by adding in all the ingredients besides the olive oil. Once everything is mixed thoroughly by pulsing then you can drizzle in the olive oil and pulse a few more times. If you do not have a food processor then no problem! Add everything into a jar or seal tight tupperware. Give it a quick stir and then shake to your heart’s content until everything is evenly mixed. 

Tart Cherry Juice Chia Yogurt 

This simple treat is jam-packed with not only goodness but flavor as well. One of the things I like the most about this tart cherry juice chia yogurt is that you can make it ahead and enjoy it for a few days. It is a quick breakfast, snack, or even a dessert. This recipe is for one yogurt so it is very easy to double or triple. You will need 3 tablespoons of chia seeds, ¾ cup of coconut milk, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, 2 tablespoons of tart cherry juice, and an optional ingredient would be a pinch of roasted coconut crisps. Add the chia seeds, coconut milk, and vanilla extract into a jar and mix together. Let sit in the fridge overnight. Then add in the tart cherry juice and top with the coconut crisps to enjoy.  You can even add fresh cherries if they are in season! You will love this one so much you’ll be dying to make more. 

I hope you will love these tart cherry juice recipes and you are able to enjoy them year around. 

My friend went on a melon diet once, thinking that as they have such a high concentration of water, she would rapidly lose weight. Wrong – she forgot the high amount of sugar they contain! Needless to say, she gained weight as to be expected when you chow down on 2 whole melons a day! But she did ‘pee’ a lot…

Melons are pretty juicy and voluptuous, so much so that they can be in slang terms in the U.K., the topic of a woman’s anatomy. Are we just a bit warped in the U.K., or does this happen in other countries?

Are there many different types of melon?

Seriously though, back to knowing your melons. Bearing in mind that melons have been cultivated for over 4,000 years, there is a surprisingly low number of species. To date, there are only 40 different types, and probably around half of those shouldn’t go near your plate if you are after ‘sweet and juicy’. We know that overall, they are round or oval (like a rugby ball) and can be very large (like a watermelon). Overall, they are something not ridiculously expensive for the average supermarket melon but try Japan – the Yubari King Melon is the most expensive in the world, mainly due to its very low and exclusive products, and its detailed inspection service. They are so expensive they are most normally auctioned! We are talking around $30,000 for ONE melon! But it is only a specifically cultivated variety of cantaloupe, coming from a low-inhabited village, hence the extortionate price. It’s hardly likely to gain in value, considering where it ends up! Not an investment, I think.

Selling luxury fruits in Japan is a serious industry, with shops devoted to simply that – melons are often displayed in bejeweled cases, and you can see the rarest varieties in the world. One such variety is the square watermelon – work that out! 

It just shows that melons are an important part of financial gain in certain parts of the world, whether from native roadside or market stalls particularly in the Caribbean and Africa, or lavish gift shops in Japan. For me, it’s the local Saturday fruit and veg market,  with a sniff, a squeeze, and no blemishes on the skin! No melon deserves more money than that, and certainly not a massive price tag.

How do you tell a ‘good melon’ from a bad one?

Make no mistake, some melons despite their appearance, can be bad or ‘off’. As my father used to be in the fruit and veg trade, I learned at a very early age what to look for in a melon (we did do normal things like playing games, I wasn’t turned into the food police!). For those of you who don’t know, here are a few good tips:

1. Look at the skin carefully, and make sure no bruising, no soft brown areas, and no ‘green’ visible. If there is still green, it is unlikely it will ripen. When I say green, I don’t mean watermelons!
2. Melons that are a lustrous yellow, must be bright and not faded on the skin. Lighter-colored melons (like honeydew) can be a paler, lighter yellow.
3. Have a good sniff. Not all melons are fragrant, particularly honeydew and cantaloupe, which can smell a little musty. Pick up one or two and you may notice the difference.
4. If buying watermelons, give them a light tap to make sure they sound hollow.
5. Hold the melon in your hand, and then squeeze. It should have some ‘give’, but not be too soft. This will tell you how ripe it is. If the melon is hard, you are best to avoid it and buy one that is a little softer.

Hope this helps. Remember you can make savory foods with melon, and some melons you can cook with by roasting. If you try to roast melon, put the seeds onto another tray and roast them at the same time, they are popular as a snack.

The most common types of plant milk

Probably the most common types of plant milk are those made from nuts. It’s not a new idea, or nouvelle cuisine or a fad. You can trace the history back to medieval times for most nut milks, but you might be surprised to hear that the earliest nut milk was tiger nut milk, which goes way back in culinary terms to over 2,000 years and was introduced to Europe from North Africa and India. 

Coconut milk (what everyone associates with Far Eastern and Indian dishes), also has a long history and can be dated to 14th Century. I remember drinking coconut milk by the roadside on one of my Indian trips and thinking ‘tastes better in a culinary delight than out of it’!

I have always found that soy milk is a tug of war between love it and hate it, and it also gets negative press when it comes to health concerns. It is by no means as popular as other plant-based milks and is not particularly ‘family friendly’ (it should not be given to babies or very young children). As usual, let’s blame it all on the female of the species – soy milk has a major area of concern; it is scientifically thought that certain isoflavones in soy ‘mimic’ the female reproductive organs. I am not quite sure what will happen after that! Are us women going to grow babies if we drink it? Perhaps we no longer need the male of the species? Sorry, I just had to throw that in there. The only soy I enjoy is in soy sauce.

Statistics show that over 25% of the UK, Europe and the US have converted to plant milk. Its popularity started to escalate in the 1990’s with almond milk being the most consumed. There has also been an increasing demand for rice milks, and this desire has not only touched the coffee market, but also the ‘shakes’ market. Evolution is good, but have you ever noticed that when a food product evolves or develops into different flavours, textures, health benefits etc., that it automatically carries a high price tag? Funny that.

From evolution can come revolution – good old Starbucks used to charge extra for ‘non-dairy milk’, but have since offered those at the same price as dairy, going as far as to provide their drinks with at least 10 different flavours, mainly nut offerings. But over 15 months of scientific development they offer their own vegan ‘special blend’. It’s a combo of light rice milk, hazelnuts and cashews. Have you tried it – I have, and it is actually (surprisingly to me) quite palatable.

Plant milks – pros and cons in a ‘nutshell’

It’s important to point out the most pertinent reasons for dropping udders in favour of plant-based milk.

For me, the first reason should be health, so if you are unfortunate enough to have an allergy or intolerance towards dairy products, alternative milks are a good start. Also, some plant milks contain more fibre than dairy, and the majority are fortified (iron may be your concern), whereas animal milks are not. They can also contain more essential vitamins such as the omega varieties.

Other elements to consider are those of environmental concern. If you are concerned about the environment, choose your plant milks carefully. Many of the milks can be developed from plants that are grown in soil treated with pesticides, including weed killer which is carcinogenic. Unfortunately, this can be the case with the very popular oat milk, so whenever you make your milk choices, you need to check this out. You are certainly safer with organic varieties, but yet again, your pocket gets hit with the higher price.

If your concerns lie in the direction of sustainability and carbon footprint, you may want to try potato milk – yes, milk made from potatoes! I haven’t tried it, not sure if I want to, but it does have a very low carbon footprint and it is more sustainable, needing less water to produce than other milks.

This is just a bit of info, to talk about every vegan alternative would be like an encyclopedia. The gist of the whole article is for you to neither negate or approve of a specific type of non-dairy milk – there is a whole lot more to it than that. You may think that researching what you put in your coffee or tea is too much of a slog, but think about cooking with these products as well, and whether you want the right taste or the foul one, or even whether a recipe will actually work!

Seasonality varies depending on where you are – in some parts of Europe, depending on climatic conditions in your real provenance area, asparagus has a very short season. In the UK, the phrase is related to specific times of the year, the season-opening of which is St. Georges’s Day (April 23^rd) and the closure is ‘when the solstice has gone, then so has the asparagus’ – honestly. So 2lst June folks – my sense of humour makes me imagine lots of bunches of asparagus, marching army-style down the road and then jumping off a cliff to their death!| Seems a bit like mumbo-jumbo to me, but it is right, more or less.

In mainland Europe however, seasons can be longer, lasting over 3 months as opposed to our eight weeks in the UK. The US (as usual) can obtain asparagus most times of the year. It may be from somewhere 2,000 miles away from your home town, but it’s still American!

Considering that asparagus started its long journey a thousand years ago, trotting its way from China across to Egypt and the Middle East, followed by the Mediterranean and finally Northern Europe in the early 16^th Century, it sure has some stamina!

How many types of asparagus are there?

Essentially there are 3, green, white and purple. However, within those are some sub-species with varying names depending on where you are. Green is the common one, purple a little less so, and white is the prized ‘difficult to get hold of’ variety. When I lived in the South of France, people clamoured and queued when the word was out that there would be white asparagus at market that day, the start of the season! Fortunately, as chef at a very busy restaurant, the beaten up farmers truck would arrive, loaded to the gunnels, for me to pick the best of the bunches at 5am!

I’ve never tried asparagus, what does it taste like?

Words I have heard are ‘grassy’ and ‘earthy’. Well, I would rather chow down on asparagus than my back lawn..it would be good to know what our readers think of the taste.

Photo: Simply Souperlicious/C.Moncel

Try this Asparagus bisque recipe here!

How do I choose my asparagus?

This is an FAQ. Personally, I would always opt for farmers markets or farms themselves if they sell it direct to the public, or let you loose on cutting your own (I have known farmers stick to you like glue as you try to cut, wielding a machete-style sharp implement – I think they would use it on you if you cut it wrongly!)

Whichever way you go, take time to check out your asparagus. Firstly, check out for bugs as it’s a sure sign if there are bugs when you buy, then the bunches partied with bugs whilst growing. That’s a no-no. Make sure the stems are firm but flexible, and the colour is a vibrant green (unless you are buying white of course!). The buds should be intact as well. When you get home, wash the produce again, flick off any excess water and store in a plastic bag in the fridge. Don’t use a ziplock, or anything airtight, as the asparagus will deteriorate far faster.

Can I freeze asparagus?

Indeed you can, and most people don’t really realise that. Freezing is simple – you can blanch and freeze or just use the same method that you use for storing in the fridge. It works. If you buy your asparagus with a rubber band for bunching, take off the band before freezing.

I don’t cook a lot with asparagus, any new ideas?

As a chef, we always found something new to add to our menu. You can’t really make an asparagus trifle or a birthday cake, but you can serve it with a flavoursome sweetish sauce, something like Roasted Asparagus with Ginger, Honey and Soy dressing – it’s delicious and a great mix of cuisines – I guess you could call it Pan-Asian.

You can make muffins or similar with parmesan and crispy bacon, obviously not sweet but a leaning towards ‘cakey’ fillings. Or you could make scones with chopped asparagus and marinated strawberries, which really are fabulous. Another idea which a friend introduced me to is Honey Fig and Asparagus tart with a creamy egg filling, which again is pretty yummy. Create your own ideas, you never know you may end up with an award-winning recipe!

But most of the Michelin-starred boys and girls are keeping it simple this year (if Michelin food is ever simple), sticking to a lot of grilled asparagus but making the speciality the actual sauce or the way it is served. Some are even fermenting it and serving with spiced vinegar, or making infusions of oil and thyme (had that one, its delicious). But my favourite of all is Fran Agudo from Tickets in Barcelona. He cooks white asparagus inside a salty meringue in the oven, then tops with Laurentia and sea grapes. Sounds complicated? – never say never until you try!

Dare I say – don’t forget delicious asparagus soup, a huge favourite of Queen Victoria when she held state banquets and of course, everyone at Simply Souperlicious!

What is Hummus?

Hummus, as most people probably know, is made from chickpeas, olive oil, tahini, lemon juice and garlic, and each family have their own way of creating what appears to be such a simple dip. Whilst some think of it as an acquired taste, or that it is bland or uninteresting, you may be interested to know that right here, right now, over 50 percent of Europeans will have a tub in their fridge!

Hummus has not stayed as it was since the 13^th Century, far from it. You can now get roasted vegetable, blueberry, carrot and caraway, pumpkin, beetroot – shall I go on? It seems to me that you can pick anything, cook it (where necessary) mash it up with a few herbs and spices and voila! You have hummus. A drop of honey does also not go amiss either! However, I do draw a huge black line through chocolate hummus, perish the thought…

Children appear to love hummus – in fact in a survey conducted about child nutrition in the UK, hummus dip with carrot, celery and cucumber sticks was a popular choice for a take-in lunchbox. Considering that British school dinners have a bad ‘rep’, it is not surprising.

There is no doubt that hummus is relatively healthy, with a good dose of plant-based protein, unsaturated fat, low carbohydrate level and essential fibre, it is a good choice.

Hummus Fun Facts

Let us look at some fun facts on hummus: Its popularity in the US has become so widespread, that tobacco farming is slowly but surely being replaced by chickpea production, even though middle eastern varieties are still the most popular in supermarkets.

Celebrity Hummus Eaters

There have also been movies made about hummus (honestly). Whilst they never exactly break box office records, they have a cult following.  Justin Timberlake, Katy Perry and Lady GaGa, may even be seen in their nearest Kroger supermarket, one of the largest in the US) stocking up as worshippers do – they are all huge fans. The hummus industry enjoyed $1 billion worth of sales in 2020, and it is still a rising market.

Whilst most of us will regard hummus as a ‘pot of beige-y stuff that you dip things into’, the use of hummus has increased. It is inexpensive to make, and you can adjust the flavour as much as you want. It can be used as a substitute for mayo (not sure about that one!), a spread, or diluted with water for a salad dressing. My personal favourite is to take a piece of fish, make diagonal cuts and fill with lemon slices before you spread the hummus over then bake the fish. With a few herbs or a bit of spice (sumac is great), it really can elevate the flavour.

As you can see, I am a hummus lover, but as a chef in the past, I do love fiddling with flavours, so take it up a notch and I am sure you will learn to love it as well.

Think you can’t make a soup out of hummus ingredients?  Indeed you can! Check out this Creamy Vegan Chickpea and Quinoa soup recipe.

Guess what? It’s not even going to be a post about the best Italian basil dishes. Although it is a pinnacle ingredient in most, if not all Italian dishes, we are going to go off course and look at other ways basil can be used. It doesn’t have to be restricted to just Italian dishes and you deserve to have your eyes opened to the world of basil. It’s one of my favourite herbs (in close competition with rosemary) for its delightful scent and the wonderful flavour it brings when it garnishes a pizza.

Pick a mint dish

Mint and basil come from the same family, so they are destined to work together as a flavour combination. They are both refreshing tastes that help to cleanse the pallet and energise your tastebuds. Because of this, they work in peculiar ways to generate questionable, but also delicious recipes. Some ideas include:

• Basil and mint dressing on roast lamb
• Thai chicken stir fry with basil and mint
• Cucumber, basil and mint salad
• Mint, basil and lemon sorbet

Note… all NON-Italian recipes.

Try this Creamy, Red Lentil, Tomato and Lentil soup recipe.

Lemon, it goes with everything

Let’s be honest, this is no surprise really when lemon seems to go with everything. Recipes with these two flavour sensations are often light and invigorating. I can personally vouch for this as one of my favourite bakes is a lemon, basil and yoghurt loaf. You would probably turn your nose up at the thought of basil in a sweet dish, but when combined with lemon, it could be as iconic as strawberries and cream. Here are some sweet lemon and basil recipes you should consider as your next dessert:

• Lemon and basil tart
• Basil and lemon shortbreads
• Lemon poppy seed muffins with basil
• Lime, lemon and basil posset

Mind Blown Over Basil

Now, I might be about to blow your mind, but there are in-fact several types of basil. One type that isn’t as commonly used is Thai basil, which as you can imagine works really well in many Asian dishes. Thai basil is often darker in colour and has more prominent spikes than the basil we are used to seeing in the UK. It has a sweet, liquorice type taste which makes it very different from the basil often associated with Italian dishes. It’s also that sweet flavour that makes it an incredible ingredient to use in Thai and Chinese dishes where sweet flavours are often prominent in savoury dishes. Why not try your hand at these:

• Thai chicken basil stir fry with sticky rice
• Any coconut curry variation
• Pad Krapow Gai (Thai basil chicken)
• Vietnamese pork and lettuce wraps with Thai basil

Have you been inspired to be a little more adventurous with your basil? Let us know your favourite basil dishes.

Their words fall on deaf ears, though, because I’m no longer buying into diet culture after years of consistent effort. Worth and weight are no longer synonymous for me. And my attitude isn’t the only one changing. Body dysmorphic disorder affects approximately seven million people in the United States and the prevalence of these negative attitudes towards our bodies has created some much-needed push-back. One of those is an event that is coming up pretty soon: International No Diet Day.

Celebrating International Diet Day

International No Diet Day falls on 6 May and is a direct response to the crushing burden of having to deal with ‘diet culture’ in our society. ‘Eating healthy’ and ‘losing weight’ are virtually synonyms in popular culture, but there is a big difference between dieting and eating healthily. Weight loss comes in moderation, and you can still be healthy and fit without necessarily looking like a skeleton. Dieting, however, can become a toxic, doomed spiral of negative emotions.

It has taken me thirty years to accept my body, and I do, but I still go through some periods of being critical. That’s why these kinds of events are a boon to people who are ashamed of their bodies. Days like No Diet Day promote an alternative – a way of life where our worth is not intrinsically linked to the size of our jeans. Yes, it would be better to have a No-Diet Week, No Diet Month, or (just imagine) a No-Diet Year, where we don’t get bombarded with messages about losing weight as a new year resolution, or shredding for summer, or not packing on those winter pounds.

I think we feel so hyper-critical of our bodies because we often never saw different shapes or sizes in the media we consume – everyone on television, in movies, or modeling in advertisements is slim and gorgeous. It has only been recently with the rise of bigger-bodied public figures and concerted efforts to start advertising campaigns with different body shapes has the attitude slowly started to shift. It’s a slow change, but a welcome one.

So, this International No Diet Day, eat whatever the hell you want. Eat a full pie in one sitting. Indulge in a delicious soup. Eat some fruit. But whatever you do, don’t let the weight of other people’s expectations dictate what you eat on 6 May. And just maybe, you could take that ethos into all the other days of the year too. The word ‘diet’ literally has ‘die’ in it. Live a little instead.

Perfect bananas straight from the market once home only last for a day, maybe two. In those precious few days, there’s only two choices: Peel and eat or make soup.

Wait, soup? Bananas in soup sounds like a bad idea. It sounds downright nasty. It sounds like both wasting the banana and ruining the soup. At least, that’s what I thought at first when my mother made ‘That Soup With the Bananas in It’.

Banana Soup: Yucky

I was eating like a foodie long before such a thing was fashionable for most kids. I routinely shook up the somewhat bland, boring, predictable Midwestern American palate. I have no idea where exactly she got the initial recipe for That Soup, a flavor bomb of butternut squash, curry powder and, of course, banana, but it made an appearance on a regular basis.

Of course, I obliged what felt like taste torture. I couldn’t turn down my mother’s cooking—that’s like rejecting her love. But I slurped my bowl of That Soup with a wrinkled nose and stink face when she wasn’t watching. I hated That Soup. Knowing there was banana in it made me taste the banana even more. Yuck. But my mother loved That Soup in all its banana glory. So, she kept cooking it. So, I kept trying it. So, That Soup became a family classic.

Personally, That Soup strikes me as hailing from somewhere in the Caribbean. I suspect the banana might substitute for plantains, which were harder to find when and where I grew up. Whatever the case may be, I am quite sure my mother made the recipe her own over the years—with my reluctant taste testing. She altered this and tweaked that.“Eat this, you need potassium,” she said.

Banana Soup: Fall Standard

That Soup was simple: squash, broth, seasonings. Of course, the cursed banana, blemishes be damned. The squash was peeled, diced, cooked for dear life, mashed. Somehow, other stuff got in there in no particular order each time…the curry, the broth, some other seasonings. Last, a good whirl with an immersion blender. It was an hours-long process, only to be undertaken when she really had time. She tasted as she went, and, wanting my okey doke, made me taste it.

Every fall, my mother bought the biggest butternut squash imaginable. Each one seemed bigger than the last. She smiled at me. Her eyes looked hopeful. I rolled my eyes at her. “I’m making That Soup,” she said. I groaned.

With its orange skin and crooked neck, butternut squash could sit on the counter for a while. Once a bunch of bananas joined it, I knew it meant That Soup for days on end. She tried sometimes, but ultimately she really didn’t care about me and my pickiness with bananas. Dear g-d, no.

But I have to admit: Over the years, with discerning rigor, That Soup tasted better. She, or shall I say, we, managed to make it palatable with less of the aggressive banana taste. No matter. I still hated That Soup.

No matter if I hated it or not, as a dietician, my mother knows her stuff about nutrition. Plus school, evangelized food pyramids. Five servings of fruits and veg within three balanced meals were expected every day—even if all five servings came in one go in something like a soup.

If I hadn’t eaten well enough during the day by dinner time, my mother made sure there was no escaping my quota. Besides the vitamins set free from the squash, the banana added a bump of potassium and other nutrients.

Even though she is an ambitious home cook, she was also a busy working mother. At the time, home cooking had to meet specific time and budget requirements. Her meals had to be on the table quickly. There had to be enough for leftovers or new spins on dishes. To meet both these objectives, she cooked in large vessels like a gigantic stock pot or a pressure cooker. I have made peace with the fact that my mother had no time to please my palate. Sort of. Sure, I hated That Soup. But I ate it. I had to. It’s healthy.

Banana Soup: My Take on a Family Recipe

Even so, as an adult, I’m shocked that without my mother leaning on me, I’ve kept That Soup alive. Somehow, my palate is tricked into craving a version of That Soup every fall. And no wonder—apparently, my mother was on to something. Studies have shown if kids don’t eat a variety of fruit and veg early, they won’t choose to later on in life.

As such, That Soup became my go-to all winter long—tweaking this, trying that, using whatever I’ve got on hand. I can be picky about many vegetables. Say carrots, for example. Dislike them cooked, bored with them raw all the time. Sautéed is mostly fine. But tossed into That Soup either way? Transformatively delicious.

Even though That Soup originates in fall and lasts through winter, I discovered one year it’s still great on chilly spring days. Winter produce hangs on but spring choices aren’t quite ready yet.

Banana Soup: Yummy

These days, my foodie palate demands a small amount of delicious over a large amount of healthy. I am excited about continuing to discover new ways to transform my mother’s tactical effort to put food on the table—and a lot of it.

Yet, to be reasonable in terms of time and budget, of course I balance my mother’s objective and mine. Quick+ healthy+delicious=my foodie formula. For instance, many, if not most soups start with sautéing garlic and onions. Then, vegetables are added and seasoned with salt. That adds up to a lot of prep and, ultimately, a lot of flavor. Most soup I grew up with started this way.

However, I found out by accident years ago that I save prep time by skipping this sacred step. Instead, I fry spices in oil. This is something I learned from Asian cooking, particularly Indian and Thai cuisines. It’s less common in American or European kitchens. But, it’s definitely worth trying, though. The result? Big flavors in less time.

So, That Soup I make now does not compare to its ancestor I once stomached with a frown. But it’s still a tried and true, time honored classic for me from my mother.

Trust me on this one. At least try a little banana in this soup. I think my mother would be proud of you. And maybe even yours, too.

That Soup with Bananas in It (aka, That Soup Recipe)

1 tablespoon olive oil, butter, a combination or other vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon red pepper chili flakes
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric (optional)
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ginger, fresh grated or ground dried
pinch of black pepper to taste (optional)
salt to taste (optional)
pinch of sugar to taste (optional)
1/2 teaspoon tomato paste
1 clove garlic (optional)
1/4 cup onions or shallots (optional)
1/4 teaspoon powered onion (optional or to taste)
1/4 teaspoon powdered garlic (optional or to taste)
1 cup mashed banana
1 chicken or vegetable bouillon cube (optional)
3 cups cooked and mashed butternut squash, preferably roasted
6 cups chicken broth, vegetable broth, water or a combination
1/2 cup coconut milk (optional)
1/2 cup coconut water, OR unsweetened plant-based milk (cashew or almond) (optional)
1/4 cup white wine (optional)
1 tablespoon Greek yogurt (optional)
1 teaspoon green onions, chopped (optional)
1/2 cup rice, couscous, orzo, any grain or small pasta of choice (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat your pot a little, just not too hot.
2. Add 1 tablespoon of oil.
3. Add spices and then tomato paste.
4. Add garlic and onions or shallots. If you’re out of fresh ingredients, powdered is fine.
5. Add a pinch of sugar, a pinch of salt to taste.
6. Cook everything down into a kind of a paste, almost caramelized. It should start smelling pretty good at this point. That takes maybe 5 minutes, not more than 10. Definitely don’t burn the spices.
7. Mash in banana. You want to marry everything together. Cook everything down into a kind of a paste, almost caramelized. You want that raw taste out of the tomato paste.
8. Add a bouillon cube.
9. Taste and adjust to your preference: Add more banana, more spices, etc. Probably not tomato paste because that raw taste won’t caramelize out at this point.
10. Add your butternut squash or even pumpkin.
11. Add liquid: chicken or veggie, broth, plain water or a combination.
12. Stir. Bring up to a boil, reduce down to a simmer. Cook until soft, 20 to 30 minutes. It should be chunky or even silky if you mashed everything really well in the beginning.
13. Taste. Now, your choice: Add more liquid or not based on your taste and texture preference.
14. Strain or puree it if you want, based on your taste and texture preference.
15. Finish with coconut milk or any plant based milk. Or a bit of cream. Add coconut water, white wine, either or both. Heat through, don’t boil when the milk is in. Feel free to adjust the amount and combination of liquid based on your taste and text preferences.

Finish with whatever you like on top to make things extra tasty and pretty. A little Greek yogurt or crème fraiche. Some chopped green onions, a touch of curry, a little olive oil. A grain like rice or small pasta like couscous or orzo makes it more filling. Serve with crusty bread, a sandwich or a salad for a delicious full meal. But That Soup is really good all by itself…even without garnishes. Enjoy!

Licorice is extracted from the root of the plant, known by a frighteningly long name which I won’t pester you with and you won’t remember it anyway! If you love it, you may have looked up its’ history, but if you shudder at the thought of it, you couldn’t care less. So, let’s look at the facts.

Licorice was originally used medicinally way before sweet manufacturers decided to turn it into a lucratively commercial sweet product. They were somewhat mistaken in this, as licorice rates way down in the world’s favourite sweet list to enjoy. It’s extract from the root still remains in medicine today, although it comes with a warning that over-consumption can have adverse effects. Equally so, in some cases it is used as a topical medicine for rubbing on to the skin, but yet again, it is not recommended for extended periods over 2 weeks. But if you are not adverse to shakes, palpitations and high blood pressure, chow on down my friends, as that could well happen with too much consumption.

Ways of eating licorice

Like many other ‘non-food’ items, and by that I mean stuff that you wouldn’t normally eat turned into something that is supposed to taste good and vaguely resemble nourishment, the usual ‘mad professor top chefs’ have fought for first position in the innovative items to make with licorice. From my point of view, they failed, and some things are best left alone (apologies to all lico-lovers for my strong point of view).

Licorice hasn’t made it into a new 7 wonders of the world, my only wonder is why don’t excellent, creative chefs draw the line at a product which is really only any good for its’ original purpose. They just can’t resist it, it seems.

So we have gone through the gambit of the following:

• Flavouring sugar
• Meat rubs
• Teas, syrups, sauces, custards and cake batters
• Sabayons, pannacottas, set mousse etc
• Thick creams (added to) and ice cream
• Game meat – pigeon, quail, duck but also pork products

Frankly, this whole thing scares me, gives me nightmares of waking up with licorice around my mouth, and a black gaping hole where my teeth used to be. Give me strength to survive writing this article, let alone dispersing the licorice thoughts in my head!

I think by now you have got the gist – personally, I don’t even want to be in the same room as the dreaded black stuff, let alone cook with it. But some do, and enjoy it. Horses for courses I guess.

A published description of licorice flavour is ‘an elegant, herbal taste and notes of anise and fennel. Liquorice works just as well in savoury dishes as it does in sweet’. Oh no it doesn’t, you won’t convince me! Apparently though, it does go well with other flavours such as ginger, mint, rhubarb and raspberries. Anyone fancy a crumble?

So, you can keep your chewy, stick-in-the-teeth licorice and black mouth and tongue. Besides which, I can’t afford dental surgery on a regular basis!!

Purple ones, white ones, yellow ones and of course, the one we know best of all – orange. Such is the world’s love of carrots, International Carrot Day has turned into a week-long extravaganza in many countries, particularly the USA.

History of Carrots

Carrots were first discovered being cultivated in the Middle East about 1,000 years ago, in fact Afghanistan have laid claims to them. In those days they were purple and white – it was much later that our orange and yellow hybrid friends took their place on our plates. For much of the population though, a carrot is still orange, and these make up over 85% of carrots sold – purple, white and yellow are less frequently seen in the average supermarket or restaurant.

We seem to be in love with carrots, there is even a carrot museum in the UK (albeit a virtual one), so if you want to learn all about carrots…?

This day (or week) has made its way around the globe and now includes countries such as UK, USA, Sweden, France, Italy, Russia, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, Japan et al. It is not the same day in all of these countries but is usually held between April and September – I don’t remember carrots being seasonal, but there must be a reason for this. Coupled with COVID-19, carrot plans have taken a while to be ‘unearthed’.

Find this Carrot, Red Lentil and Ginger soup recipe here!

How to Celebrate International Carrot Day

If you want to join in the celebrations, there is everything from parades (carrot costume compulsory), best carrot, strangest ‘face’ carrot and ‘rudest’ carrot, to name but a few. Then we have ‘best coloured carrots’, best grower, best and most original carrot recipes – you name it. Enthusiasm is rife, to say the least. Carrots are no longer relegated to a snowman’s nose, or for your rabbits to crunch on, or even to promote seeing in the dark – they now have a firm place in society!

It does seem that the world has gone carrot crazy. In Okahune, New Zealand, the world’s largest carrot statue can be seen in pride of place and standing 7.5 metres tall! Originally made for an advertisement for ANZ Bank, they kindly donated it to Okahune, considered to be the best carrot growing region in New Zealand. You certainly know exactly where you are in carrot land!

Carrot Festivals in Switzerland

Our Simply Souperlicious homeland, Switzerland, still holds their carrot festival on the first Wednesday of November each year (pandemic permitting). It is held in Aarau, one of the chief cities in the Aargau region, which is known as ‘the carrot canton’. Now this is a serious market, paying homage to everything carrot, with amazing displays of carrot sculptures – they certainly take their carrots seriously here! Every stall is bedecked with carrots and carrot delights such as carrot cake, carrot muffins, carrot ice cream, carrot pates, jams, pickles, soup, bread, carrot cheese, juices and smoothies and, wait for it, carrot hotdogs! Who would have thought it – probably the 35-40,000 visitors that turn up to see and savour this amazing sight. Must be worth going, just to see what this hotdog looks like!

It just shows you, there is so much more to a carrot than you would ever have thought.

Are you looking at carrots now in a different light – we are! Go celebrate the carrot in all its glory!

Originally published April 4, 2021

I’m talking about vampires, right?

Wrong – I’m talking about sourdough bread.

While all of us now know exactly what a sourdough starter is because COVID-19 happened and we all went through that ‘bread phase’, I initially learned what a sourdough starter was one night well before the pandemic when there was this Reddit thread that was talking about internet rabbit-holes. One of the most popular comments was about tracing the lineage of sourdough starters. The poster mentioned that someone had been using the same starter for all their sourdough loaves since the 1970s, who in turn got that starter from an even older starter that had been going strong for the past hundred years.

via GIPHY

Sourdough Starters Have Ancestry

It’s kind of creepy, right? I was given a sourdough starter around October last year (the creepiest month, of course) and I have been dutifully feeding it flour and water for the past six months (kind of like Audrey II). I’ll be the first to admit that it’s unsettling to know that you have something in the fridge that is alive and I can trace its ancestry potentially further than I can trace my own.

Turns out that sourdough starters are a tradition in some families – some people have not just been feeding their sourdough starter for years, but their parents and grandparents have been feeding the same starter in all that time. I saw some comments in that thread that people are feeding sourdoughs after having been passed down for four generations. There’s even evidence of a 120-year-old sourdough starter up in the Yukon, having first travelled there in 1897 and it’s still going strong. It boggles the mind to realise that at some point, that starter was created from another older, more powerful starter somewhere else.

… just like a vampire!

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The longevity of food is a bit of an interest of mine, as you can no doubt tell from my deep-dive on perpetual stew I did earlier this year. While this is, admittedly, a very niche culinary science, I think it’s absolutely fascinating. However, I’m not the only one who is super interested in the family trees and ancestry of sourdough – the Quest for Sourdough was created recently as a ‘library’ for sourdoughs to date them and break down their contents. While many starters listed on the site are undated, two of the oldest verified starters documented on the website are 105 years old. Think about that for a second – you can bake a loaf of bread today from the same source that baked a loaf of bread when Woodrow Wilson was the American president and the Battle of Verdun was being fought in France in World War I.

Extending the Sourdough Legacy

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I am most definitely doing all that I can to ensure that the ‘Tayla Blaire’ sourdough starter sitting in my fridge reaches 200 years old. That is unless I manage to kill it from neglect first. Have you tried making your own sourdough? Can you trace its ancestry? Let me know and make sure you submit it to Quest for Sourdough!

Do you know what goes great with sourdough? Soup — especially tomato.  Find your inspiration with these tomato-based soup recipes.

However, what really fascinates me is where those food rules come from in the first place. Why is pineapple on pizza likely to get me imprisoned in Italy? So I wanted to talk about one of the most famous law systems in the history of food: kashrut. It’s an ancient set of dietary laws that were thought up three thousand years ago, but today, most people know it as something different: Kosher.

So what exactly is ‘Kosher’ food, where did it come from, and why is it important?

‘Kosher’ food is, simply, food that is deemed permissible to eat (it means ‘fit for consumption’ in Hebrew) to those who follow Judaism. The specifics of these laws mainly appear in the Torah with additional rules elaborated on in the Mishnah and the Talmud.

While a lot of people know some of the more well-known rules (such as not eating pork) and even some of the more specific ones (like keeping meat and milk products separate), it’s a subject of deep theological debate amongst religious experts, philosophers, and leading figures in Judaism when it comes to why certain foods are accepted or prohibited. In fact, the ‘why Kosher’ debate has been going on since literally the first century BCE.

There’s no clear-cut answer, as any rational explanation can be refuted, and any divine answer is, by its very nature, unknowable. What is important is that whatever the reason behind these rules, they are inextricably linked to the Jewish faith, and have become a symbol of belief and adherence.

To me, though, the reason Kosher is important is not just because it can make a person or group feel closer to God and give their actions spiritual significance, although that’s a part of it. The reason why Kosher food is so important is that it has been around for a long time. Kashrut has been around for so long and has been so influential, that many of its tenets have influenced non-Jewish cultures around the world too.

The influence of Kosher food is broad, as it has influenced human dietary choices over millennia. Insects, for example, are a rich source of protein that is almost completely ignored by our society which prefers cow or chicken as protein. Is it a coincidence that all insects are considered forbidden under kashrut? What would our world look like, culinarily speaking, if insects were not considered forbidden thousands of years ago? Would we be eating spiderburgers instead of hamburgers today?

Ew. Thanks for letting us dodge that bullet, Kosher food.

It’s interesting to think about, and even though I don’t particularly subscribe to eating Kosher or any other kind of culinary rule, it is absolutely fascinating to consider the effect this has had on the way we view food. Or for that matter, how pervasive it has become to refer to something that doesn’t seem ‘above board’ as ‘not Kosher’. While we’re on the subject though, I’d like to recommend trying out Kosher hot dogs. Superior sausage, every time.

As a child, I did not love spinach. Even watching Popeye crack open a tin and glug it down, giving him immense strength couldn’t convince me to even try it. Like most children, I was fussy, especially when it came to vegetables. Unless they were soaked in butter to take away the earthy tastes. But again, like most people my tastebuds adapted and my palette matured, and now I can’t stop eating spinach. It is a staple part of my diet and without fail a bag of baby spinach will enter my shopping trolley every Sunday. But all of my talk about spinach probably isn’t going to convince you, you need the hard facts. 

It’s high in protein…for a salad leaf

Before you go in on me, I know that spinach doesn’t have a lot of protein compared to most foods, however in comparison to other vegetables, spinach is the chicken breast of the salad leaf world. With a whopping 2.2g of protein per 80g raw, you would have to eat A LOT to get a decent amount of protein, but every little helps. 

This means that if you’re a vegetarian/vegan/plant-based spinach can play a vital role in building up the amount of protein you eat daily. The best way to pack as much spinach into a meal is to cook it. We’ve all cooked spinach in the pan and seen it shrivel up to nothing. Throw the bag in there and up your protein intake. 

Iron is in there too 

1.68mg per 80g to be precise. In the UK it is recommended that adults eat anywhere between 8-15mg per day, so 80g of spinach can really contribute to your daily intake. You often hear adverts about iron deficiencies, but what does iron actually do? Well, it plays an important role in producing red blood cells that carry oxygen around the body. Without a sufficient amount of iron we feel tired, low in energy and can potentially lead to iron deficient anemia. 

Looking for spinach recipe? Find this Spinach, Sausage and Potato soup recipe here!

Again, this is another great one for the plant-based readers, as most other sources of iron come from red meat and other animal based products. If you don’t fancy wilting your spinach in the pan today, try adding it to your smoothie to get as many nutrients on the go as possible. 

You don’t just get calcium from milk 

Yes, you guessed it. Spinach is also a good source of calcium, despite the fact that the media have been telling us for over 50 years that we must get calcium from cow’s milk. 700mg is around the sweet spot for the amount of calcium an adult should consume, so the 136mg in 80g of spinach is not bad at all. 

Have I managed to convince you yet? I dare you to even try and think of another salad leaf that can compare to spinach. If you do, let’s fight it out.

Originally published March 24, 2021