Recipes

Romy Gill · Romy Gill's India

Simi, my childhood friend, and I share a bond rooted in the industrial New Town in Burnpur. Our common passions, particularly our love for culinary adventures, has bonded us forever. Countless college escapades involved outings to watch movies, then occasionally getting caught. The consequences were often chores piled up at home, but the shared laughter and memories made it worthwhile. It was during one of these movie escapades that I stumbled upon a scene portraying the joy of savouring crabs. Intrigued and captivated, the desire to taste the delicacy lingered in my mind. The opportunity finally presented itself when I had crab in England and then with Simi’s roots from Kerela I crafted the recipe infusing it with the flavours that complement the crab meat. This dish became the most loved starter in my restaurant. The creamy coconut milk, the pungent mustard seeds, the moreish curry leaves and the sourness of the tamarind elevates the dish.

Meera Sodha · Dinner

Some people have big epiphanies, but not me. I had two small ones though. The first was that I don’t like the taste of vegetable stock: use too much and there’s no return. This led to my second illuminating discovery, namely that Marmite makes great stock and, well, here we are. This risotto, contrary to what you might assume, is very gentle (the Marmite is a back note); the party is in the tomato and chilli butter, in which I’ve used my favourite crispy chilli oil to give the cherry tomatoes some fireworks.

Mark Diacono · Sour

I once accidentally walked 30 miles of the South Downs Way in a day, carrying two rucksacks (thanks to my companion’s just-tweaked back), a misread bus timetable and the need to reach civilization before dark. A friend lived a few hundred yards from the end of the path in Winchester, and as dusk descended, he opened the door to us and wordlessly showed me to his fridge where four stone-cold beers impersonated Battersea Power Station. I drank two without pause as they wept condensation on my grateful hands. They remain my benchmark of ultimate refreshment; this ceviche is the only thing that runs it close. To my mind, ceviche needs at least two citrus at play. I’ve used lemon here as lime would drive a bus through the grapefruit; orange would work differently, but equally well. I prefer the passion fruit seeds left in here – crunch is deeply important to me, but by all means remove them if you wish/are mad. Diced mango works beautifully in place of the pomegranate seeds too. For US cu

Mark Diacono · Herb

If you are unsure of the value in layering herbs (and flavours in general) in your cooking, try this wonderfully autumnal braise. While you cook it, put on The Beatles’ ‘A Hard Day’s Night’: that first chord — a glorious, unnecessary CLANG before the verse kicks in — is a piece of heaven. The magic in this recipe and that clang belongs to the different layers that come together to create the whole. The bay and sage added early, half the persillade added late on, and the rest added to serve all build a glorious wave of flavour on the tongue. You could add all the herbs at once, as John, Paul and George might’ve played the same chord, but — as with George’s 12-string F (with a G on the top and bottom and a C on the A string), D sus4 on John’s 6-string, and Paul’s genius D on the bass — it just isn’t anything like the same. A little liquid acidity just before serving draws the flavours more clearly into view: the excellent wares of Orkney Craft Vinegar and Cult Vinegar are great places to

Margot Henderson · You're All Invited

Fantastically easy and delicious, these give you that little sugar and lemon hit at the end of a meal, lifting you up for the last part. When blood oranges are in season you can use those instead, if you like, to make blood orange possets.

Marcus Samuelsson · Marcus Off Duty

I didn't know about slaw until I moved to the U.S. - I hadn't even heard the word. But I soon found out about the crunch it adds to a plate and the tang that reminds me of the pickles that I've loved since I was a boy. So I've started to play with slaw. Here I shred Brussels sprouts - they're little cabbages, aren't they? - cook them in bacon fat and butter to give them layers of flavor, sweeten them up with apples, and add zing with vinegar and ginger. It's a gateway dish. Serve this to people who say they don't like Brussels sprouts and you'll find them wanting more and more and more.

Farokh Talati · Parsi

Although this recipe uses mango purée, the purée of blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, apricots, peaches or papaya, or any mixture of these fruits works brilliantly, too. The only equipment you need is a whisk and a bowl.

Da-Hae West · Balli Balli

Did you know that if you drop dumpling skins into a pan of hot oil, they puff up and turn into deliciously crunchy crisps? Back in the days when we had our food truck, Busan BBQ, we used to also ‘pop up’ in restaurants across London. One of our pop ups was at Unwined, a fantastic wine shop in Tooting Market, where the lovely Laura and Kiki paired their wines with a selection of Korean-inspired dishes, which ranged from nibbles to big plates. One of the ‘nibbles’ we served back then were these dumpling crisps with kimchi salsa. These are the perfect sharing snack – a great anju (snack to serve with drinks).

Irina Georgescu · Danube

This dish will bring comfort and a sunny mood to your morning. It is nicknamed ‘shut up and eat’ because it’s best eaten hot. It is often made with a whole, cracked egg on top, but I prefer to use beaten eggs for the extra-smooth texture.

Ilhan Mohamed Abdi · The Ramadan Kitchen

Malawax was always made at the weekend, and it was always made for Ramadan. My mum would stack them high and somehow keep them warm until breakfast was ready. I try to carry on the same habit now for my daughter, and during Ramadan too. They’re soft, slightly sweet, and similar to a crêpe, but what makes them different is the butter that’s spread on top just before flipping. It gives them those deep, dark blisters that we all love. The more blisters, the better. One of my mum’s tips, only for Ramadan, was to cut them into eighths, pour over melted butter mixed with sugar, and seal them until iftar. It keeps them soft and stops you from eating four without realising.

Ed Smith · Good Eggs: Over 100 Cracking Ways to Cook and Elevate Eggs

I’m a fan of scooping up relatively dry but still succulent, gently spiced minced (ground) meat with pliable, puffy or flaky bread. Even more so if eggs are involved. When craving this sort of thing, makhlama lahm (sometimes called ‘Iraqi eggs’) hits the spot every time.

Fadi Kattan · Bethlehem

Mafghoussa means “squashed” in Arabic, and that’s because the vegetables are squashed into cold salads once they are roasted. There are different versions of mafghoussa: some are made with tomatoes and laban jameed (salted and dried yoghurt), some are made with olive oil, as I have done here. The beauty of mafghoussa is that it’s a zero-waste recipe. You can use the cored insides of the courgettes (zucchini) if you are coring courgettes for another recipe (see additional info below), or use the entire courgettes; the taste is slightly different, but it’s still delicious. Mafghoussa is always served cold. This refreshing dish works beautifully with grilled meats on the side or by itself as a meal.

Ilhan Mohamed Abdi · The Ramadan Kitchen

This Egyptian-style macaroni béchamel sits somewhere between a lasagne and a pasta bake. Layers of pasta, spiced meat and creamy sauce, all baked until golden and set. It’s usually made with a lighter hand on the béchamel, but I’ll say it: that’s where it loses people. Go heavier on the sauce. You won’t regret it.

Millie Tsukagoshi Lagares · Umai

This is a Japanified rendition of the Chinese dish mapo tofu, but the Japanese version is more savoury and salty, with a slightly thicker sauce. It’s a strong contender for weekly dinner rotations, depending on what you have in your fridge. I love the combination of pork mince and aubergine (eggplant), but it works well with tofu – or make it vegetarian or vegan by omitting the meat and using tofu or vegan mince and substituting vegetable stock powder. It’s a little spicy, very savoury and super saucy, so it’s perfect to top steamed rice and eat with a big spoon. Negi are a type of Japanese spring onion. If you can’t find them, use spring onions (scallions) instead. Doubanjiang, also called fermented chilli bean paste or spicy bean paste, is a fiery, savoury paste made from fermented broad (fava) beans. You can find it in Asian supermarkets and in many Western supermarkets.

Two Good · Change The Course

Kylie Kwong is a long-term supporter of Two Good Co, one of the OGs! We have used her beautiful recipes across our catering menus over the years and have worked together on many events. Kylie is a pillar in the community, and it’s such a privilege to call her a friend. We have been lucky enough to eat at her beautiful restaurant Lucky Kwong, and although everything is delicious, it’s this egg dish that we keep coming back for. It’s simple, textural and somehow a little bit luxurious. Perhaps you can taste the love that has been passed down to Kylie by her great aunt. Dear Mrs Jang used to feed this to all the kids some 35 years ago and it is a version of this dish that Kylie serves to this day at Lucky Kwong. It is delicious at any time of day: add some steamed jasmine or brown rice to make it more substantial and try serving with barbecued pork or sauteed mushrooms to make it more of a dinnertime meal. Kylie's simple yet intensely flavoured Caramel Spiced Soy Sauce adds a salty/sweet

Lindsey Bareham · The Trifle Bowl

A Swiss roll tin is an incredibly useful little baking tin. The last thing I use it for is making Swiss roll but the name immediately conjures up its shape, size and depth (approximately 30 x 20 x 2cm deep). I have several, of various grades of aluminium and quality of non-stick coating. My favourite is made of anodized aluminium without a non-stick coating and that is ageing the best. As I tend to line it with foil whenever I’m roasting vegetables and with parchment if I'm baking, the non-stick aspect is irrelevant. I like the fact that it is so strong there is no risk of buckling even at very high temperatures. Here's an impressively delicious way of serving strawberries and cream rolled up in soft, springy meringue. Making it is great fun, a tad messy but quite magical. The meringue billows like a goose-down pillow during its brief high-temperature baking but quickly deflates as it cools, ending up like a pale, puffy bath mat. Once cooled, the meringue is spread with whipped cream

Linda Dangoor · Flavours of Babylon

The name for this Sabbath dish - T'Beet - comes from the Arabic tabayit which means to stay overnight, which is how long t'beet used to be cooked. This is my grandmother's recipe which my mother continues to use when making her delicious t'beet. It is the traditional way to make this sumptuous dish. It might seem a lengthy process at first but you'll soon get the hang of it. The chicken is cooked first, then the rice is added and cooked together with the chicken. It is worth the effort and makes a spectacular party dish. To get the best flavour, I recommend a free range mature boiler chicken which is an older bird than the usual roaster. Its taste is deeper and meatier. A free range roaster will do too.

Shu Han Lee · Agak Agak

This is one of my best-loved dinner party creations. It looks and tastes like it’s way harder work to make than it actually is. Much like Peruvian ceviche, fresh fish is cured in citrus juices. Here, we use lime juice, as well as fish sauce for saltiness and bird’s eye chilli for heat. The zippy acidic marinade lightly ‘cooks’ the raw fish and red onions, taking away their sharp edge. While the dish works beautifully as a simple side dish to have alongside other bits, I also like serving it as a starter or a snack with prawn crackers.

Lily Ramirez-Foran · Tacos

This taco filling is a classic that features in almost every Mexican cook’s repertoire. I normally use raw chorizo sausage as opposed to the dry-cured Spanish chorizo we usually get in Ireland, but if all you have is Spanish chorizo, use it. This taco is the perfect introduction to Mexican food for a nervous or picky Irish eater because there are potatoes in it and chorizo is pretty common these days. I use Rooster potatoes as they’re nice and sturdy, but Maris Pipers are a good waxy potato and baby potatoes work well too. See this link for making your own tortillas.

Lily Ramirez-Foran

The first time I made corn tortillas in Ireland by hand, I made a mess of it. I used up my next monthly phone call home to talk to my mam about it. My family are third-generation traditional tortilla bakers, so not getting my tortillas right was a stain on the family’s name that I couldn’t bear! My mam’s advice was to forget everything I knew and remember what Grandpa Pedro said: ‘Masa is alive.’ To this day, I share that same advice with our students in the cookery school. Practice makes perfect, so give it a few goes and don’t be discouraged by mistakes. The recipe is very simple, but it looks long because I’m sharing as many tips as I can to give you confidence and to explain the method in detail, helping you avoid the mistakes I made myself. See this link for the illustrations that accompany the steps. And for a way to eat your tortillas, see this link for Potato and Chorizo Tacos.

Lillie O'Brien · Five Seasons Of Jam

This is one of my classic jams that I made when I first started experimenting back in 2011. At the beginning I used pure liquorice pellets from Calabria in Italy that are incredibly strong but take some time to melt down in the jam. Then I switched to soft liquorice, which, when cut into small pieces, melts down. If you wish, cut it into bigger pieces so that they stay solid after cooking, which is a nice little surprise at the bottom of the jar.

Letitia Clark · La Vita è Dolce

There is something irresistibly appealing about these blushing little almond cookies shaped and painted to look like peaches and filled with ricotta cream. I love a culinary trompe l’oeil, and I’ve seen and coveted these often in pastry shops in many parts of Italy. They’re perhaps not the sort of thing you’d make every day, as they are a little fiddly (though not complicated), but, much like macaroons, they are exquisitely beautiful, dainty and feminine. They would be the perfect thing to make as a gift, or for birthdays, parties or weddings. The traditional method of blushing the peaches pink is to paint them with Alchermes, a vivid scarlet Italian liqueur flavoured with a mixture of spices including nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla, which originally derived its colour from scale insects called Kermes. Modern production leaves out the insects, though it’s a drink that still divides opinion, and though many traditional southern Italian dolci include it I have offered some alternatives. To

Letitia Clark · Bitter Honey

Also known as Seadas, this is Sardinia's most iconic dessert. These pastries are a celebration of the simplicity and quality of Sardinian produce: more specifically, cheese and honey. Traditionally a fresh pecorino is used, which is only aged for a few days and allowed to become slightly sour, then seasoned with lemon zest and encased in a lard-based pastry. The cheesy parcel is then deep-fried until it blisters and puffs and is served, golden and glistening, bathed in honey. Often the honey is the famous miele di corbezzolo, which has a slight bitter-sweetness; a chestnut honey works well too. If you dislike lard, you can use olive oil or butter, and if you can't find fresh pecorino, try to find a fresh sheeps', goats' or cows' cheese. What is important is that it is rubbery rather than creamy, as this is what gives it the stringy texture when melted.

Leticia Moreinos Schwartz · Cook Brazilian

Refreshing, cool, sweet and festive, caipirinha is Brazil. And if caipirinha is Brazil, then cachaça is our national shrine. Caipirinha is a simple cocktail based on a mixture of mashed lime with sugar, ice and cachaça. There are a few variables, however, that make all the difference. The lime should be cut into medium chunks, then mashed with sugar by a wooden muddler until the lime releases its oil. Transfer to a shaker, add some ice and cachaça, shake and pour. Some recipes advise against mashing the lime too hard, as the oil can taste bitter. That's a very legitimate argument, but the sugar protects it and the more you release those oils, the better. Remember that caipirinha calls for lime and not lemon. Lemon skin is much thicker and carries a heavier white layer, giving a stronger, bitter taste. I like my caipirinha on the lighter side, although it's very common to use a stronger dose than suggested here. Caipirinha is not the type of drink to serve out of a pitcher or prepare in