Sticky, super sweet and messy as the remains of a smashed bottle of Cointreau, this comedy drama came out in its native France in 2022 and is only now making its way to the UK. But even those few years on the shelf have left it feeling uncomfortably out of touch with the urgency of the times when it comes to the way it handles the plight of young immigrants who facing increasing levels of hostility both in France itself and across the world with the rise of far-right activists. In Kitchen Brigade’s universe, almost all a bunch of undocumented…

‘When we drink alcohol, we are borrowing happiness from tomorrow” has always felt a particularly comforting quote whenever I’m on the horns of an especially awful hangover. It is also one that, until a shamefully short time ago, I attributed to Albert Einstein, because it turns out it’s apparently enough for me just to see a quote in cursive text overlaying a black-and-white photo of a famous person for me to believe it was said by them. Deeply embarrassing. I’ve also seen it recounted by James Corden, so who knows at this point? Einstein, Corden’s mate Jez … who’s to…

A reservation at South African restaurant Kudu’s new home in Marylebone threw up many questions. Can a well-loved Peckham restaurant really relocate to fancy-pants Marylebone and retain its homespun charm? And, what is a “Kudu kit kat”, and could it even remotely capture the joys of my red-wrappered, lifelong support system? The KitKat is, after all, a design classic, so tampering with it makes me uneasy. Within moments of being seated, however, another question arose: how many miles do you need to run to counteract the aftereffects of Kudu’s bread with curried butter, which comes melted, glossy and with gently…

Meatballs are one of those dishes you find everywhere. In the Middle East there are kofta, in Italy polpette, in France boulettes, in Germany frikadellen and in Spain we call them albóndigas (or almóndigas as it’s pronounced in my village in Extremadura). The Moors brought them to Spain centuries ago, and they quickly became an integral part of our cooking culture, a dish to share with family and friends. In fact, they don’t even need to include any actual meat: in today’s dish, I make them with a hearty, earthy and slightly sweet combination of chickpeas, parsnip and apple, and…

I always use surplus apples in cakes and desserts, but what are my savoury options? Emily, by email“We use heaps of apples, because we’re in the beating heart of apple country,” says Merlin Labron-Johnson, chef/owner of Osip and The Old Pharmacy, both in Bruton, Somerset. “People can’t give them away, so we’re constantly doing different things with them.” One keeper is apple ketchup, which, happily, just so happens to be a breeze to make. “You don’t even need to peel or core the apples,” Labron-Johnson says. “Bake them whole – we do this in hay, but obviously people don’t necessarily…

I have vivid memories of picking up fallen chestnuts with my mum, which was such a clear signal of autumn for me as a child. We’d kick through piles of leaves to find them, then bring them home to score and roast on the fire. I remember always burning my fingers as I tried to peel them, yet still I went back for more. To me, autumn is all about earthy flavours and a comforting sense of nostalgia. It also marks a new chapter in the kitchen, because the start of any new season is the most exciting time in…

I have vivid memories of picking up fallen chestnuts with my mum, which was such a clear signal of autumn for me as a child. We’d kick through piles of leaves to find them, then bring them home to score and roast on the fire. I remember always burning my fingers as I tried to peel them, yet still I went back for more. To me, autumn is all about earthy flavours and a comforting sense of nostalgia. It also marks a new chapter in the kitchen, because the start of any new season is the most exciting time in…

Wildair in New York is a groundbreaking restaurant that has deeply influenced my cooking. It opened in 2015 as a sister to the now closed Contra, an impeccable fine-dining restaurant, and the same precision and ingenuity was applied to Wildair’s dishes, which have that perfect balance of elevated refinement and skilled execution, all combined with a casual playfulness. You can probably imagine my excitement, then, when I found out that one of my favourite dishes from one of my favourite restaurants also just happened to save waste by making an emulsion from the outer leaves of little gem lettuce cooked…

As winter looms ever nearer, here’s a riff on an all-time classic that’s imbued with the flavours and aromas of the colder months ahead. Orange and cardamom martini Serves 1 For the infusion (makes 10 serves)20 green cardamom pods, gently crushed 750ml vodka For the drink1 tbsp marmalade75ml cardamom-infused vodka (see above and method)20ml Cointreau 10ml lemon juice 1 orange twist, to garnish First make the infusion. Drop the crushed cardamom pods into the bottle of vodka, seal and leave to steep overnight. The next day, fine-strain the vodka into a clean bottle or jar, seal and store in the…

This year, I bought three oval platters: a small, silver-plated one from a local charity shop on which I serve crisps to make them look fancy; a medium-sized splattered enamel one for everyday everything; and a very large, stainless-steel one for dinner parties. I’m not sure why this happened, but I can tell you that I love the energy that platters give to a table, and the gentle sense of pomp and ceremony they lend even the simplest of meals. My love for the platter has dictated today’s recipe, a final fling with the very last of the summer vegetables…