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

    From winter blossom to autumn harvest, the humble almond tells a story of Mallorca’s landscape, history and kitchen.   Spain is one of the world’s great almond-producing countries, with orchards stretching across the Mediterranean regions of Catalonia, Valencia, Murcia and Andalusia, as well as Aragón and the Balearic Islands. Here in Mallorca, the annual harvest has already taken place and marks another turn in the island’s agricultural calendar.   Traditionally, almonds were gathered by spreading fine nets beneath the trees and striking the branches with long wooden poles. The ripe nuts fell onto the netting, ready to be collected, dried and shelled. It sounds wonderfully rustic until you try it. I did, a few years ago. After several hours beneath the late-summer sun, swinging a pole above my head and chasing almonds across a dusty field, the romance had disappeared completely. It is punishing, backbreaking work—the kind that gives you a lasti...

I’m delighted to announce the release of my new cookery book, The Sun-Soaked Plate , this week. Inspired by the produce, landscapes and culinary traditions of the Mediterranean, it brings together the ingredients and flavours that have shaped my approach to cooking. From sun-drenched shores to cool, lush valleys, the Mediterranean offers an extraordinary variety of produce. In this book, I invite you to explore that abundance with me and discover how to make the most of its flavours in your own kitchen. Across the region, chefs continue to find fresh ways to work with these remarkable ingredients, drawing on established traditions while introducing new ideas and techniques. This balance between heritage and innovation is central to my cooking at Michelin-starred Restaurant Marc Fosh in Palma de Mallorca, and it runs throughout the book. The Sun-Soaked Plate features over 120 recipes organised into 20 chapters, each devoted to a key ingredient. From tomatoes, garlic, almonds and ...

  Some time ago I read fascinating article in Spain’s El Pais newspaper about farmers in the Madrid region rushing to plant pistachio tress. The title simply asked, “Are pistachios the new ‘green gold’ in Spain?” Apparently, the pistachio tree can yield up to €6,000 in just one hectare and farmers such as Álvaro Díez from Colmenar de Oreja, a town with 7,500 inhabitants that sits 50 kilometres from the Spanish capital are busy planting an endless sea of pistachio trees. On his farm, located on a terraced field of the Tagus River, very close to Aranjuez, the plantation already has more than 25 hectares, and the crop has increased by 30% in the last few years in the Madrid region alone, thanks mainly to its high profitability. This represents just a small portion of the 30,000 hectares of pistachio trees that are planted across the whole of Spain. Most of the trees are found in the central region of Castilla-La Mancha, which introduced them in the 1980s.   The pistachio is a...

  With Halloween fast approaching, it’s time to cook up a few classic pumpkin recipes.   There’s something deeply reassuring about a pumpkin sitting on the kitchen counter. Round, heavy, and sunlit even on a dull day, it brings a kind of calm. You don’t rush a pumpkin. You cut it slowly, the knife sliding through dense, orange flesh, and the scent is faintly sweet — somewhere between earth and honey.   I like to roast it first. Big wedges, skin left on, brushed with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and a little sea salt. Maybe a scattering of thyme or a touch of chili. In a hot oven, the edges darken, caramelizing into something rich and sticky.   You can eat it just like that, straight from the tray, with a spoon and a little crumble of feta or topped with freshly grated parmesan cheese. When the weather begins to cool, pumpkin becomes the cook’s quiet ally. Puréed into soup, it makes something velvety and soothing. A splash of cream, a hint of ginger, maybe a dr...