THE SUN-SOAKED PLATE...Mediterranean recipes for family and friends

Most of us like a glass of wine with dinner. It somehow makes a meal more civilized and enjoyable. Yet the real power of alcohol, especially for the cook, lies not in what it does at the table but what it does in the kitchen. Like Salt, alcohol has the ability to bring out the flavour in food. Whether you’re cooking with wine, beer, or liquor, the alcohol in those beverages improves flavour perception in at least two important ways: by evaporation and by molecular bonding. My favourite alcoholic beverage in the kitchen is brandy, a spirit distilled from wine that’s made from grapes.

I recently returned from a fantastic trip to India and was lucky enough to spend a few days on a spice plantation. As a chef, it was incredibly inspiring to see exactly where all the spices that we use everyday actually from and how they are produced. Cardamon Factory Spices were among the first of many foods brought back to Europe from the east by Marco polo and encouraged the early voyages of Columbus and Vasco Da Gama, who succeeded in rounding the Cape of Good Hope and crossing the Indian Ocean to calicot on the coast of India.

--> For some time now, chefs have been portrayed as artists, and I must admit that it’s a title that doesn’t quite fit as far as I’m concerned. Sure enough, to present your food or paint a picture on a plate, an artistic streak helps, but it won’t make you a better cook or turn you into a culinary genius. With a large amount of common sense and a little understanding of kitchen science, you’re more likely to succeed. Chefs that have the ability to be totally unique and original, whilst maintaining some kind of understanding with flavours and textures, might attain cult status and something close to true artistry, but they never forget taste. Taste has nothing to do with art and everything to do with science. CHOCOLATE, BASIL, MANGO & POLLEN What Einstein Told His Cook Two of my favourite books are both about the science of food. I’ll never read them from cover-to-cover, but they are a great treasure trove of information on the history and science be...

--> Pork on the wild side This week saw the hardest part of my first stab of pig keeping when it came time to take them to the slaughterhouse.   I certainly found it difficult but I was comforted to know that they had lived well, eaten liked kings and hopefully, are going to have an unbelievably great flavour! I also helped some friends with their traditional Spanish “Matanzas”. It isn’t recommended for the squeamish but takes place in a festive atmosphere, with everyone joining in to help and nothing goes to waste as just about every part of the animal is put to good use in the making of sausage-like "Embutidos" (charcuterie). Among these are Chorizo, Salchichon, Morcilla, Butifarra, Sobrasada and

I couldn’t imagine my kitchens without lemons; there is no other ingredient that can transform a dish in a single squeeze. PRESERVED LEMONS Although available all year round, Spanish lemons taste best when left to ripen on the tree and the months of January and February are the perfect time to enjoy their fabulous aroma.

--> With the coming of winter, I think it’s a good excuse to try out some amazing dishes that have become gastronomic legends. Esteemed, time-honoured recipes that have stood the test time and that are still as relevant today as they ever were. Classic Chocolate Marquise from Misa Braseria Dishes like Tournados Rossini, coq au vin, Cassoulet, French onion soup or the celebrated Soupe aux truffes Élysée V.G.E. This renowned Black Truffle Soup was invented in 1975 when Paul Bocuse sought to create the perfect dish to serve to the then French President, Valery Giscard d’Estaing at the Élysée Palace on the occasion of Chef Bocuse receiving the Legion of Honor.

I love the smell of the kitchen at Christmas and New Year. Heavy with the scent of cloves, cinnamon, ginger, sweet wine, golden syrup, orange peel and chocolate. Its so good it should be bottled and sold. For me, the Christmas & New Year celebrations are the perfect time to prepare a few simple classics like chocolate truffles, biscotti and brandy snaps. I know brandy snaps can be a little fiddly, but once you have mastered the basics, they are really very easy to make. Just remember that once out of the oven the Brandy snap wafer is far too soft and delicate to curl, it needs to be left for about two to three minutes to start to firm up and become flexible. However, as the Brandy Snap wafer further cools it becomes hard and brittle, and within the next four to five minutes they become too brittle to curl, and they will break if you try. So there is only a small window of opportunity to curl them successfully. If they harden up, just pop them back the oven for a few mome...