Food : Sophie’s apricot coconut tart

  This recipe comes from the very lovely Sophie’s blog, Shine Little Light. She’s a bit of a baker, the old Soph! She published this recipe on her blog last year. And of course, because those yummy apricots are just coming into season, I figured it...

Food : poppy seed orange cake

    Do you love poppy seed cakes? I do – nutty with a little crunch, and not too sweet. With the freshness of orange, the richness of sour cream, and finished with a syrup poured over the top and left to soak through, this one’s a beauty. I have...

Food : Mike’s Mum’s tomato kasoundi

  How adventurous are you with condiments? Have you ever had kasoundi? It’s spicy and earthy, made with mustard and chilli, tomatoes, garlic and ginger. Let me tell you: I love it. Many, many years ago I lived in a share house with Mike, whose Mum was a...

Food : Clara’s Syrian olive salad.

  As you may be aware, there has sadly been a great deal of unrest and violence in Syria of late. It makes me doubly sad, as a few years ago, I spent a wonderfully fascinating 7 weeks travelling around the country,  when my partner was stationed in the historic...

Food : Ma’s Baked Apple Roll

  This recipe is a traditional home-cooking triumph, and is really super-easy to make. It came to me via my partner’s Mum – and I must point out that in my book of collected recipes there are no less than THREE copies of this that he has written out...