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

  There's something rather impressive about a homemade terrine or pâté - and they can be surprisingly easy, and cheap, to make.   For some reason, they lie just outside the repertoire of a lot of professional cooks these days and very few young chefs have really taken the time to learn the even the basics skills of classic charcuterie.   That’s a real shame as charcuterie is the wonderful art of making pâté, terrines, Rillettes, galantines, sausages and other cured, smoked and preserved meats and we need to get back to those basic skills every now and then. When I first started on my journey to becoming a chef, professional kitchens were divided into sections and the “saucier” was always considered the glamour job, but I was always drawn to the “Garde manger”, occasionally mislabelled as the cold section or the salad station. In reality, this can be the most exciting and skill testing of all the stations in a kitchen. I mean you may not get to prep...

  There are so many great Tapas bars have opened in Palma over the last few years, and to talk about Spanish food without mentioning tapas is almost impossible. These little plates, often no bigger than a handful, carry the weight of an entire culture. Tapas are not just about eating; they are about sharing, socialising, and savouring life in bite-sized moments.   The origins of tapas are steeped in legend. One popular story claims that tapas began in Andalusia, when bartenders placed slices of bread or ham over glasses of sherry to keep the flies out. The word tapa literally means “lid.” Another tale suggests that King Alfonso X, recovering from illness, ordered that food always be served with wine to prevent the effects of drinking on an empty stomach. Whatever the truth, tapas quickly became a ritual: food served not in courses, but in conversation.   At their heart, tapas reflect Spain’s diverse landscapes and traditions. Along the coast,...

The taste and scent of ripe melons is a complex delight and there's nothing quite like a refreshing slice of melon to cool you down in the height of the summer sun.   These days, Spain is the world's largest exporter of melons and “ Piel de Sapos” are one of the most widely grown. Their name translates as "Toad Skin", which is a reference to its dark green roughly textured surface. They certainly stand out visually among our cream-colored melons, and their super sweet flavour and unique texture are on par with their notable visual appearance. The melons I get really excited about are the small summer varieties that tend to be very fragrant even before being cut including cantaloupes, of which the orange fleshed Charentais is my personal favourite although difficult to find here. The green-tinged, pearly-fleshed Galia is a delicious relative. Smoother-skinned varieties, such as the yellow honeydew have a sweeter aroma and make great eating at this time of the yea...

  Every time I pick up an octopus or a squid, I can’t help thinking that something so ugly couldn’t possibly taste so good. But looks can be deceiving and these creepy-looking cephalopods are utterly delicious when cooked in the right way. For me, it’s hard to beat super fresh whole squid grilled over a fierce flame and sprinkled with garlic, parsley, olive oil and sea salt with a wedge of lemon on the side. This is the definition of delicious, effortless Mediterranean food.   Some people might be a little worried about cooking with squid, but the tentacle adventure needn’t be all that scary at all. Just remember that there is one basic rule when cooking with cephalopods- they need to be cooked quickly for a very short time or slowly for a very long time; anything in between and you end up with something very tough and unpleasant.     The Spanish have never been so squeamish when it comes to cooking with squid, and cephalopods are enormou...