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

Certain ingredients are so under-estimated that we seen to forget just how good they are when perfectly fresh and cooked with a little care and attention. This week I wandered around the fish market and noticed that little by little, as we move into the high season, fresh fish prices are starting to escalate. It’s getting harder and harder to find a bargain, but there are a few exceptions that are big on flavour and come with a small price tag. One such ingredient is Mackerel. I know they sometimes get a bit of bad press, but for me they are always a real treat. Mackerel is a firmed fleshed, oily fish, very flavoursome and moist with a tender flesh. It has a distinctive silver-blue skin with dark bands and a

Summer is the season when nature finally displays all its richness with a full array of colours & ripeness. The shyness of spring has turned into an overwhelming choice and abundance of fruit and sun-drenched vegetables bursting with flavours and vivid colours. The fresh fruit on the market stalls looked really awesome this week and the selection was truly inspiring.   With luscious strawberries, stunning looking cherries, thirst quenching melons, the season’s first figs, apricots, plums, peaches and succulent nectarines all jostling for position as the stars of the show… Sweeter than it’s first cousin, the peach, and darker fleshed; nectarines are a sweet, juicy treat that is virtually fat free and a good