Easter cooking traditions to explore
|
|
|
The Easter long weekend starts tomorrow with Good Friday, beginning four days of holiday, which for many of us means gathering around and sharing food. Easter ensures that the shops will be groaning with chocolate eggs and rabbits, and lamb might well be on the menu, but there is plenty of variation in traditions from country to country. Whether Easter means Hot Cross Buns, Simnel Cake or Paskha to you, weâve got lots of recipes to make your favorites or why not explore and try out something new.
|
|
|
After the austerity of Lentâthe 40 day period of fasting or restrictions that precedes Easterâsweets and celebratory baking are central to the festivities. Delving into the sweet treats with which people end their fast and celebrate Easter is rich pickings.
|
|
|
In Russia the aforementioned paskhaâa crustless rich cheesecake shaped in a conical mould and sweetened with dried fruitsâis a unique and evocative dessert and as much a part of Easter as plum pudding is to the British at Christmas. Another delicious example is Pastiera, or Neopolitan Easter Cake, a recipe dating back to ancient Rome, in which a lemon and candied citrus infused ricotta and wheat-grain filling is baked inside a shortcrust pastry case.
|
|
|
|
Donât forget we are running a competition for your recipe photosâthis time we are looking for photos of recipes that currently donât have pictures. So why not make something new over Easter, take pictures of your creations and send them in. You could be in with the chance of winning a one-year ckbk gift subscription and a hardback edition of ckbkâs first original cookbook, Magrets & Mushrooms.Â
|
|
|
Pictured above: Simnel Cake from World's Best Cakes by Roger Pizey
|
|
|
âMy life has been shaped by cakes, the ones baked by my father in our familyâs tea shop, Peterâs, in Weybridge.â Louise Johncox
|
|
|
You might think that a bakerâs daughter, for whom the bakery had been a second home, would follow in her fatherâs footsteps and take over at the stoves. Certainly Louise Johncox spent much of her young life watching her father bake, and sampling all his comforting, much-loved wares. But she chose to train as a journalist, and it was only when she set out to tell their family storyâa job her training is well suited toâthat her own baking really began.
|
|
|
|
In her book The Bakerâs Daughter: Timeless Recipes from Four Generations of Bakers Louise writes of the community her father cherished and that cherished him, and the tastes that mean home to her. When she set out to record her fatherâs legacy after he shut up shop, she was initially intending to write a bakerâs memoir. But found that what came naturally to the two of them wasnât any kind of formal interview, but baking. As she puts it:
âAs we baked, the stories about the cakes and tea shops flowed far more naturally than they did with me posing formal questions. I discovered that a wooden spoon, a mixing bowl and sweet cake ingredients were my best friends.(âŚ)Whenever people heard about my baking lessons with my father, they asked me to share the recipes.â
|
|
|
The result of that time with her father, and those requests to share the recipes, is a book worth reading and worth baking from! Work your way through the chapters of a flour and sugar-dusted life, and try Peterâs Lemon Millefeuille, or his Fondant Fancies, or how about a slice of Coffee and Walnut Cake.Â
You will find The Baker's Daughter on our extensive baking bookshelf.
|
|
British Library Food Season - Meet the Culinary Legends
|
|
|
The annual Food Season at the British Library in London kicks off a month of food-focused talks from April 17. On April 25 with At the Legendâs Table; there will be an in-person gathering of great culinary minds. This is a rare opportunity to hear from exceptional food writers such as Ken Hom, Anna del Conte and Claudia Roden; who have each in their own way greatly influenced what and how we eat in modern Britain. A not-to-be-missed event if you can get to London, or do explore their recipes on ckbk.
|
|
Ingredient focus: garlic
|
|
|
The most powerfully scented and flavored of the onion family, garlic is a key ingredient across many of the worldâs cuisines.
Historically it has been both prized for medicinal qualities, and renowned for the strong and pungent aroma that lingers on the breath after consumption.
|
|
|
|
The taste when raw is pungent too, and yet it cooks down to something intense, almost sweet, with a deep flavor that is rightly an important component of countless dishesâthink of French classic Boeuf Bourguignon, Indian Mother Butter Chicken, or Chinese Stir-Fried Mixed Vegetables.
|
|
|
Whether you like a hint of garlic or a whack of it, there are many ways to make the most of its unique flavour. Take a look at these 12 Ways with Garlic. Try Poached Eggs in Garlic YoÄhurt and Paprika, a Garlic and Rosemary Pizza, or rustle up some Baked Garlic Nuts.
|
|
6 of the best recipes with tea
National Tea Day on April 21 is of course an opportunity to enjoy drinking some tea, but if you love a cuppa youâll be doing that anyway. The aromatic and diverse flavors of tea are also a great asset in the kitchen. Hereâs a whole book on Cooking with Tea, and a half dozen extras to get you started.
|
|
|
|
|
|
from Mowgli Street Food by Nisha Katona
|
|
|
|
from Fire: A World of Flavour by Christine Manfield
|
|
|
|
|
from Japanese Food Made Easy by Aya Nishimura
|
|
|
|
from Crazy Sweet Creations by Ann Reardon
|
|
|
|
|
from Madeleines: Elegant French Tea Cakes to Bake & Share by Barbara Feldman Morse
|
|
|
|
from Okashi: Sweet treats made with love by Keiko Ishida
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
