WeekendFREE Issue 692 | 11 April 2024 TAKEAWAYS GIVE BACK Community initiative makes use of empty school kitchens p2 MARIAN KEYES Bestselling author on gourmet curries and chocolate rations p39 OVERNIGHT SENSATIONS Take a trip to visit the galleries, then stay for fabulous cuisine p40 OFFERS Great savings on selected products from Waitrose p48 ORANGE CRUSH Prepare to swoon over Martha Collison’s favourite bakes, from vanilla cheesecake to these zingy Ja a cakes, p24
2 11 APRIL 2024 News&Views Photographs: Photographs: Maja Smend, Food styling: Bianca Nice, Styling: Wei Tang, Art direction: Corrie Heale When the bell rings to mark the end of the teaching day, you expect a school kitchen to be wiped down, lights turned o and doors closed. But at Carr Junior School in York, a team of restaurant chefs gears up for evening service instead, prepping Thai, Mexican, Spanish and Sri Lankan menus for mix-andmatch takeaways. Designed as the antithesis of the ‘dark kitchen’ direct-delivery model, which sees anonymous units set up on industrial sites to mass produce takeaways – around 750 are operational nationwide – School Kitchen caters for and is part of its community. Revenue from takeaway sales is shared with the school. Cookery lessons are provided for pupils and apprenticeships o ered to leavers. Employees are contracted on a living wage. Chefs, recruited locally, receive personalised progression plans and regular training. A dedicated cookery school is also in the pipeline. Sustainability is core to the business model too. Energy self-su cient, the kitchen runs on solar roof panels. Deliveries are made by bike or electric moped, in reusable, recyclable and compostable packaging. Ingredients are seasonal and sourced as locally as possible, with veg beds currently under construction in the school grounds, so pupils can learn grow-your-own skills. Set to expand to a second York school An environmentally friendly initiative is using kitchens out of hours to prepare dishes from around the world, raising welcome funds for their hosts. Alice Ryan reports CHEFS GO BACK TO SCHOOL FOR NEW TAKEAWAY SERVICE stretched. “Funding is pretty much comparable with where it was 14 years ago,” he says. “But the things looked-for from schools have grown quite considerably.” With change-of-use planning permission granted, allowing Carr Junior’s kitchen to be used commercially on five evenings and one lunchtime – Saturday – every week, customers can order from all four world-food menus at once, meaning parents can try a Sri Lankan curry with sides while children enjoy Mexican favourites such as tacos and burritos. This unique approach, coupled with the fact that every cuisine is cooked by specialists to ensure authenticity, is, says David, a big part of what marks School Kitchen out from the takeaway crowd. With parents facing time and cost of living pressures, School Kitchen also o ers a ordable pre-order evening meals for Carr Junior’s 300 pupils, aged 7 to 11. All freshly cooked, nutritionally balanced and priced between £2 and £3 per portion, they can be taken home to be heated up. “This started with me asking: if you were to do this ideal thing, what is the plan? Something which is sustainable, which treats its employees well,” reflects David. “Hopefully this is just the beginning.” this summer, then to educational trusts in Leeds and Harrogate, School Kitchen is the brainchild of David Nicholson. Having spent the bulk of his food career working for corporate giants, he quit a rat-race job determined to take a di erent direction. “It sounds like a corny thing to say, but I wanted to do something that was good,” David explains. “This was 2018 and direct delivery was taking o , along with dark kitchens. I wanted to find a di erent way of doing it that was still a viable option.” School kitchens, left empty out of hours, seemed an obvious base. “It just made sense,” recalls David, “yet it had never been done before, and I wondered if that was because it wasn’t doable. In fact, the [real challenge] was finding a trust to go first. Lots thought it was a lovely idea – they just didn’t want to be the first to do it.” But North Yorkshire’s South Bank Multi Academy Trust saw the potential. The venture’s planet- and people-friendly ethos was a big draw, as was the chance to attract new revenue. Chief financial o cer Michael Gidley explains that, while school funding remains reasonably stable, budgets are increasingly ‘It’s something which is sustainable and treats employees well. Hopefully this is just the beginning’ TEAM EFFORT A takeaway from Pirivena (far left); Gulroz Khan and delivery rider Tshering Dendup (top); the School Kitchen team (above); chicken pibil burrito from Quetzalcoatl (below)
3 11 APRIL 2024 GOOD NEWS IN BRIEF This week’s uplifting stories from Anna Shepard Photographs: Olivia Brabbs, Matt Austin, Luke MacGregor/RHS The robot guide dog Blind people can face years of waiting to be assigned a guide dog, but now an AI version is stepping up to the job. Robbie the RoboGuide is a robot guide dog developed by the University of Glasgow to help blind people move freely around, using sensors that map surroundings. Robbie also understands speech, which means the fourlegged bot can provide verbal responses. Artist’s legacy The 86-year-old artist Norman Ackroyd (below) has launched a foundation to help young creatives fund their studies. It will o er grants of £10,000 a year to three or four visual art or music students for the duration of their course. Candidates will be chosen based on merit and need. Having bene ted from a scholarship to fund his own studies, Norman says he wants to help others progress their creative careers. A mobile meat smoker, an insect farm, robotics company and a beekeepers’ association have all won space to develop their businesses on estates in Hampshire and Fife thanks to an annual competition. Pitch Up! searches for sustainable land-based businesses to join circular communities and was launched in 2021 by 2,500-acre Kingsclere Estates in Hampshire. Successful applicants don’t need to own or rent land – often a prohibitive factor for new farmers. “Our goal is to have a diverse mix of enterprises operating o the land and using each other’s by-product or waste,” explains Tim May (above), founder of Kingsclere Estates. The Roaming Smoker will serve slow-cooked organic ‘old’ dairy beef from The Roaming Dairy (a mobile milking parlour on the Hampshire estate) at festivals this summer. Smith Robotics design and build sensors to monitor biodiversity, soil quality and tree health and will use the space to test new tech. The Balcaskie Estate in East Neuk, Scotland, selected an insect farm producing feedstock for pets alongside Fife Beekeepers Association, which will teach apiary on site. Other estates are invited to join the 2024 scheme, with the competition window running from 1-30 November. Anna-Marie Julyan BRINGING NEW FARMERS INTO THE LOOP 80% That’s how much of the population lives in towns and cities, which is adding to a spike in house plants. Meeting the demand, the Royal Horticultural Society is gearing up for its rst Urban Show at The Depot, a former railway warehouse in Manchester, from 18-21 April. “In recent years, there’s been a gardening boom and we believe more young people living in urban areas are now growing plants,” says RHS shows director Helena Pettit. “The show aims to demonstrate that anyone can be a gardener.” There will be installations, workshops and talks and demonstrations from experts, hosted by broadcaster and in uencer Michael Perry. Nurseries will also o er plants suitable for urban environments. Going nuts to find pistachio perfection The humble pistachio is breaking free from its shell, with eateries across the country churning it into ice cream, frothing it into co ees and generally making it the star of the show. Tiktokers have gone nuts for the pistachio latte at trendy chain Blank Street Co ee, while Instagrammers are blitzing kernels with condensed milk for a rich pistachio spread. “It’s time pistachio was celebrated,” says Deborah Du Vernay, who runs The Flat Baker in Manchester with partner Matheus. The café is known as the ‘home of the pistachio croissant’ because of its speciality – a buttery pastry filled with pistachio and white chocolate cream (above). This May, the pair plan to put on a pistachio festival, with the whole month dedicated to desserts filled with you-know-what. “We call pistachio ‘green gold’ in Sicily, where I’m from,” adds food blogger Francesca Cipolla, who searches for the best pistachio-based dishes in London on Instagram (@pistachioinlondon). Highlights include Capilungo, a new Italian cafe and bakery in Covent Garden, which o ers pistachio pasticciotto (a shortcrust tart filled with cream) and pistachio hot chocolate. And Speciality Cafètiere in Hackney makes spectacular bombolone (Italian doughnuts) filled with rich pistachio gelato. The flavour is a classic on the continent – but Swoon Gelato’s version (below) is said to be the best in the UK, available in Bristol, Bath, Oxford and Cardi . Darlish Ice Cream o ers exciting Middle Eastern combinations, including orange blossom and pistachio. With shops in St Albans, Harpenden and, as of this month, London’s Spitalfields – its famous pistachio-filled baklava ice cream sandwich is not to be missed. See waitrose.com/recipes for inspiring sweet and savoury pistachio ideas. And there are also some great options available in store, including Lizi’s Passion Fruit & Pistachio Granola (SAVE 1/3 £2.65/400g, was £4.20, o er ends 23 April). Sarah Barratt The good life History is good for your brain and it’s also a mood booster, a study by Historic England and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has found. It shows that the closer you live to heritage sites, the happier you are likely to be. Using a formula designed by the Treasury, the study put a value on this bene t, which revealed that living close to such sites can improve quality of life to the value of £515 a year. Cheese champions Waitrose has been crowned Champion Retailer at the 2024 British Cheese Awards for its Duchy Organic Witheridge in Hay – produced exclusively for the supermarket by Oxfordshire’s Nettlebed Creamery and available on cheese counters. Other awards for Waitrose cheeses at the March event included golds for No.1 Cornish Yarg, No.1 Mature Wookey Hole Cheddar and Davidstow Cornish Cheddar Vintage.
£1.40 £1.30 £5.20 £4.75 £1.20 £1.10 £3.95 £3.75 £1.70 £1.50 £1.45 £1.25 £1.75 £1.55 £1.80 £1.50 £2.95 £2.75 £1 80p £1.10 £1 £1.90 £1.75 Essential Lemons 6s was 30p/each now 25p/each; Essential British Pork Mince 8% Fat 500g was £5.90/kg now £5.50/kg; Essential Baby Potatoes 1kg was £1.40/kg now £1.30/kg; Essential Spinach 260g was £6.74/kg now £5.96/kg; Essential Easy Peelers 600g was £2.84/kg now £2.50/kg; Essential Sun ower Oil 500ml was 29p/100ml now 25p/100ml; Essential Unsalted Butter 250g was £7.60/kg now £7/kg; Essential British Beef Rump Steak 230g was £17.18/kg now £16.30/kg; Butter Croissant was £1.20/each now £1.10/each; Cooks’ Ingredients Mixed Thai Chillies 30g was £36.67/kg now £33.33/kg; Essential British Chicken Breast Fillets 600g was £8.67/kg now £7.92/kg; Cooks’ Ingredients Garlic 3s was 33.3p/each now 26.6p/each. Serving suggestions shown. Selected stores. Subject to availability. Minimum online spend and delivery charges apply. Prices may vary in Channel Islands, Little Waitrose and concessions. NEW LOWER PRICES ON HUNDREDS OF YOUR FAVOURITES
5 11 APRIL 2024 News&Views THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF GIANT VEG The theft of prize marrow plants is an unlikely premise for a movie. But that’s the plot of Swede Caroline – a mockumentary about the world of competitive giant veg growing. It’s the brainchild of writer Brook Driver who, on reading an article about the annual Canna UK National Giant Vegetables Championship at the Malvern Autumn Show, was smitten by the subject. The cast is led by Jo Hartley (After Life) as the burgled grower and Aisling Bea (This Way Up) as a private detective paid to find the pinched plants. “The innate comedy of dedicating your life to growing the heaviest onion there’s ever been – it just gets me. It’s totally pointless, yet I can totally see the allure,” explains Brook. “I thought having a main character whose goal is to become the first female to get gold in the heaviest marrow division was suitably bizarre. Then I thought: ‘She gets her plants stolen.’” Among Brook’s advisers on the film was Kevin Fortey, ‘Mr Giant Veg’ to his fans – said to include Snoop Dogg and HM The King, who sought his advice on vegetable growing at Highgrove. The holder of nine Guinness World Records, including tallest potato (6ft 10in) and heaviest sunflower head (6.4kg), Kevin has vast veggies in his blood – his late father, Mike, is credited with founding the UK championships in the 80s. “Whether you’re aiming for a record “Humans are neat freaks and nowhere more so than in our parks and gardens. But we can create wonderful habitats for wildlife simply by reducing the amount we mow and tidy up. Allow lawns and verges to get shaggy and full of wild owers. Leave leaf piles for hedgehogs (below) or for birds to peck for insects. A fallen branch is fantastic for deadwood beetles. Are you weeding out native wild owers that are great for pollinators? Leaving seedheads provides food for birds through winter (and looks wonderful in frost). Letting go of our cultural obsession with tidiness can produce magical spaces full of life.” Anna Shepard DO ONE GREEN THING Be messy in the garden, says Isabella Tree, rewilding pioneer and author of Wilding: How to Bring Wildlife Back or a personal best, what motivates growers is nurturing a tiny seed for several months and getting that red card at the championships,” explains Kevin, who lives in South Wales. He says interest in the contest increases year on year and was given a boost by people growing their own during pandemic lockdowns. “Growing giant vegetables helps individuals to challenge themselves and it also brings families and communities together,” adds Kevin. Southampton flower farmer Ian Paton, who has been growing giant GOOD GOURD Neil Edmond and Wendy Albiston in Swede Caroline (left); the Paton twins with their record-breaking pumpkin (below); Aisling Bea and Ray Fearon in the lm (bottom) pumpkins with twin brother Stuart since they were 11, agrees. “Everyone [in the growing community] is very open because, at the end of the day, the person you’re really competing against is you. It’s about inspiring other growers, the next generation. “That’s one of the great things about pumpkins – they’ve got this Hogwarts element to them that really captures the imagination. When you lift them [with a crane and purpose-built cradle], it’s a joke, absolutely ridiculous. And that novelty never wears o . We call it the pumpkin sickness – once you’ve got it, there’s no cure.” With their sights set on a new world record weight for an Atlantic Giant – their preferred pumpkin variety – at Malvern this year (27-29 September), the Patons have refined their growing technique over five decades. They fitted their glasshouses with reactive sunshades to prevent scorching and an automated hydration system to maintain optimum moisture levels, and expect their ‘absolute monsters’ to gain 70lbs daily during peak growing season. The current giant pumpkin Guinness World Record of 2,749lb (1,246.9kg) – heavier than a Nissan Micra – is held by horticulture teacher Travis Gienger of Minnesota. “We’ve beaten it before, with a 2,907lb-er, but around day 100 it developed a tiny hole at the blossom end so wasn’t eligible,” says Ian. “Ultimately, I’d like us to be the first to hit the 3,000lb mark. “The giant veg growing scene is treated with a ection,” he adds. “It’s not a mockery, it’s a celebration of the quirkiness of this part of British life. And fundamentally it’s fun – I don’t think we have enough things in life which are just fun.” Alice Ryan Swede Caroline is in cinemas nationwide from 19 April Photographs: Charlie Burrell, Getty images, Alamy
6 11 APRIL 2024 News&Views There’s a school of thought that traditional recipes should be respected, which stands true. But when many of today’s diaspora chefs have the skills, experience and a worldly outlook, why shouldn’t they adapt a recipe to make it uniquely theirs? That’s the idea behind third-culture cooking. Fusion 2.0? It’s more than that. Food trends consultancy Egg Soldiers describes it as “an evolution of culinary authenticity” as growing numbers of chefs “[break] the shackles of traditional cuisine constructs”. Third-culture chefs are not limited by ‘authenticity’ in the rule-laden sense of the word. Instead, they create dishes that are a personal expression of their lived experience, celebrating the movement of food and flavour across global boundaries. Those boundaries are “fluid, blurred, porous and dynamic”, says food writer Gurdeep Loyal (below) in his 2023 cookbook, Mother Tongue, asking pointedly: “Who gets to gatekeep what is or is not permitted as cultures and cuisines migrate?” Nobody, is the emphatic answer from these six third-culture chefs. CULTURE CLUB INSPIRED BY THEIR HERITAGE Chefs are melding flavours from their varied backgrounds with ingredients and influences around them to bring exciting flavours to the table, as Tessa Allingham discovers In focus SPASIA DINKOVSKI Chef-owner Mystic Burek, Sydenham, London “I grew up in Crawley with Macedonian parents, but always felt too Balkan to be British and, during summers in Macedonia, too British to be Balkan. Becoming a chef, creating Mystic Burek [Spasia’s lockdown project found a permanent home last year], and writing my cookbook Doma helped me cement my identity. “My recipes are me in a hot pie. They’re based on Balkan burek [ lo pastry pies, typically lled with spinach and cheese], but the llings mix everything I’ve learned, including as a chef in New York and cooking my Macedonian grandmother’s recipes. I do a layered chorizo, burnt butter, potato and broccoli raab [cime di rapa] pie, and a pork fat pie with whipped ricotta, sage and honey. “In the early 2000s, fusion food was often a mash-up by chefs with no connection to the cuisines, but people like me draw on our lived experience and heritage. I hope we hear more voices like mine.” OMAR SHAH Chef-restaurateur, Ramo Ramen and others (Maginhawa Group), London “Ramo Ramen only exists because of my Filipino (on mum’s side) and Bangladeshi (dad’s) heritage, and my obsession with Japanese ramen. There’s nowhere else in the world you can get it. “It’s a meeting of Filipino sopas, a creamy chicken soup with pasta, and ramen that results in dishes like oxtail kare-kare, a Filipino beef stew that we interpret as ramen. We combine the meat with fermented shrimp paste and serve it in a peanut beef broth. And the avours in our Bangladeshi lamb keema ramen are incredible. “I promised myself I’d never open a traditional Filipino restaurant, but I imagine my aunties and mum saying ‘it’s not right’. Everyone has something to say about another cook’s adobo [chicken in a syrupy, soy-sugar sauce] or caldereta [beef stew]. I wanted to open new doors. Our cooking has become part of this country’s food culture. We helped create it, and that gives me goosebumps.” NINA MATSUNAGA Head chef and coowner, The Black Bull, Sedbergh, Cumbria “We ate bizarre things growing up in a Japanese family in Düsseldorf. Dad put mettwurst [cured pork loin] and mustard in his sushi and we’d have cured herring on nigiri because that was what was available. We ate Japanese food, but made it our own. “Cooking in Yorkshire, I mix all my in uences too. It’s an eclectic menu! Mansergh Hall pork with lotus root and XO sauce is popular, and Japanese tuna tataki [just-seared tuna] with fennel, lots of fresh and pickled Yorkshire GLOBAL GRUB A Scully St James’s spread including pu beef tendons and salt and pepper mushrooms (above); Mystic Burek’s Balkan burek (right); The Black Bull’s Mansergh Hall pork with lotus root and XO sauce Photographs: Verity Quirk, Maginhawa Group, J W Howard, Caitlin Isola, Rob Whitrow Photography, Marcus Spooner
7 11 APRIL 2024 In my opinion NIHAL ARTHANAYAKE FUSION EVOLUTION Ramo Ramen’s oxtail kare-kare (left); Mambow’s pineapple treacle tart (below); Dai Pai Dong’s Hainanese chicken (bottom) rhubarb, and wild garlic. Then we’ll do pies such as a Howgill beef pie with mash and greens for the bar menu. “My German heritage comes through in baking, things like our pretzel bread, and often a canapé will be topped with sauerkraut. The older I get, the more natural it is to me to cook what I know best and enjoy most. Life’s too short not to.” ABBY LEE Chef-patron Mambow, London “I think I’ve found my voice as a chef. I got swept up thinking you should always uplift tradition, but you must make food your own too. “My parents are Malaysian, and I grew up in Singapore, then moved to London at 15. I trained at Le Cordon Bleu, then che ed in Italy, then back in London I cooked Italian with what I barely understood to be Malaysian food. Cooking with my auntie during Covid in Singapore was the awakening. She had all my grandmother’s recipes. Now I’m inspired by my Malaysian heritage, European training, and living in east London and eating Turkish food – I had to have barbecue lamb on the menu! “My kambing sioh [lamb ribs] with tamarind, coriander seeds and dark soy has fermented kumquats and pickled rainbow chard for freshness. And my pineapple treacle tart was inspired by snacks eaten for Lunar New Year. That’s my British and Asian homes coming together.” RAMAEL SCULLY Chef-patron Scully St James’s, London “I was surrounded by so many cultures growing up in Australia [to parents of Irish-Balinese and ChineseMalay heritage], and as a chef, I’m classically trained. As a young chef, I fell in love with European-style cakes and rich sauces. Then, in my early twenties, I thought: ‘What if I put Mum’s sambal in this, what if I mix things up?’ “Other chefs would say: ‘That’s wrong, stick to the recipe,’ but working with Yotam Ottolenghi at Nopi gave me freedom to experiment. My pork belly dish is from those days – slow roasted, cooled, cubed and deep fried, then coated with sh caramel and rhubarb and served with cabbage slaw with sweet-sour dressing. “I serve gurnard with a black bean vinaigrette like in a Chinese restaurant, but I split it with burnt butter and add merlot vinegar which is more classical. I look to classical approaches and spin recipes so they become mine.” DAN LEE Chef-owner Dai Pai Dong, Hockley Social Club, Birmingham “I was brought up in the Midlands with Chinese, Irish and English heritage. My Chinese ethnicity is Hakka. We’re nomads, we adapt, and that shows in my cooking – it’s natural for me to blend cuisines. “I sweeten char siu roasted pork bao with a maple base, the theory being that when Hakka people moved to Canada they would have used maple instead of sugar, and my soy-cured beef with Irish champ mash is one of the most popular dishes. “My auntie taught me Cantonese cooking. She’s traditional and when she sees my food, even when I was on MasterChef The Professionals [Dan won in 2021], she said it was wrong. But my food is never going to be purely Chinese or purely British.” I’m a middle-aged man, but 30 years since leaving my Essex comprehensive, just the thought of school exams sends shivers down my spine. The ritual of filing into a sports hall and finding a desk is as vivid to me now as it was in the 80s – rows of pupils, the good, the bad and the indi erent, with hawk-like invigilators prowling the spaces in between. My academic career is one of wasted potential and embarrassment whenever my scholastic mediocrity was made o cial. I entered those exam halls knowing I had left it too late, realising that by failing to prepare I would have to prepare for failure. Every August since, I shudder as the news shows teenagers shrieking with joy as they open envelopes. Now my eldest is about to sit his GCSEs and he has been studying hard over the Easter break. I’m trying to be a zenlike presence around him, and not transfer my nervousness to his world. And I won’t advise him not to worry ‘because I did terribly and my life turned out all right’. Nor will I try to live vicariously through my son’s academic achievements, like the football dad who acts as if his eight-year-old is playing in a Champions League final. Luckily, I have a self-motivated son who relishes the opportunity to garner knowledge, then prove how well he has processed it. I wonder, though, if burdening children with such a volume of exams is counter-productive to the pursuit of knowledge. For 16-year-olds to be expected to analyse information as eclectic as di erential calculus, the Battle of Stalingrad and cosmic microwave background radiation feels unduly oppressive. Shouldn’t children be taught that education, and the expansion of the imagination that results, is a means unto itself, rather than a way of measuring future job prospects? To be branded with the symbols that denote academic weakness is no way to encourage a lifelong love of learning. As GCSE pupils burn the midnight oil, and parents watch them display worrying levels of stress, is it worth reconsidering the models we have? Should we wait until they reach 18 and have slimmed down their academic pursuits to three or four specialist subjects, or should we give equal value to vocational courses? As you read your copy of Weekend, imagine being tested on every subject in it for a timed set of tests. A terrifying thought. Nihal’s book Let’s Talk: How to Have Better Conversations (Trapeze) is out now. @therealnihal ‘As GCSE pupils burn the midnight oil, and parents watch them display worrying levels of stress, is it worth reconsidering the models we have?’ The broadcaster and author airs his views
9 11 APRIL 2024 News&Views Photographs: Shutterstock SPRING WATCH Proof that spring has finally arrived, blossom trees are among nature’s most welcomed wonders. The phenomenon has long been celebrated in Japan, where the tradition of hanami invites people to admire the splendour of cherry blossom, as seen here at 17th-century Nagoya Castle in Aichi. Closer to home, the National Trust’s Blossom Week (20-28 April) will see events at 70 sites across the UK. The big picture
10 11 APRIL 2024 News&Views Photographs: David Reiss
11 11 APRIL 2024 Actor Siân Brooke tells Paul Kirkley why she chose playing the part of a police officer over the real thing UP IN LIGHTS
12 11 APRIL 2024 News&Views STAGE AND SCREEN Siân with Matthew Rhys in Romeo and Juliet in 2004 (right); as Queen Aemma in House of the Dragon (below right) Every morning when she was young, Siân Brooke would watch her dad leave for another day on the beat as a police o cer. But it wasn’t until she pulled on the uniform herself – to play rookie cop Grace Ellis in BBC drama Blue Lights – that she fully appreciated the true nature of the job. “We went on a ridealong and into a police station, and they shared so much of what their daily life was like,” the actor recalls of her time spent shadowing real o cers prior to filming the first series. “We were there for a shift changeover, where the sergeant was explaining what had gone on earlier in the day. “For me, it seemed like quite extreme stu , but they were talking about it in such a matter-of-fact way, because that’s what they deal with on a daily basis. My dad was a police o cer, but growing up, I only knew what I knew. He was just my dad and he went o in the morning in his uniform, and I didn’t think much more about it. But seeing what the job entails in real life really brought it home to me.” Having watched her dad rise through the ranks from beat bobby to CID, Siân admits she toyed with the idea of joining the force too. “I have thought about it – but I’m better at pretending,” she smiles. Blue Lights, which follows a group of probationary constables in the Police Service of Northern Ireland as they patrol the streets of post-Troubles Belfast, won five-star reviews when it aired last year, with critics hailing the gritty realism of the scripts by Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson – two former journalists who met while working on Panorama. In a crowded market of police procedurals, this was less Line of Duty or Luther, and more like a British Hill Street Blues – with a hint of The Wire. After launching with minimal hype, the show’s word-of-mouth success has been rewarded with commissions for a further three series. “It’s incredible – that really doesn’t happen any more in television,” says Siân, munching on a lunchtime banana when Weekend meets her at the series two press launch in London. “For them to commission a third and fourth series was just beyond any expectations we could have had.” What does she put its success down to? “It’s just really well written. Adam and Declan are great observers of life, and the nuances of character. They’ve been able to absorb all of that from their work as journalists, and channel it into this. I also think they’ve tapped into the humanity of a job where we often just see the uniform first. By telling the story from the perspective of these new police o cers, you go on the journey with them. They’re people who are going home, cooking the kids’ tea, paying a mortgage, and dealing with all the trials and tribulations of life. Yet they do this extraordinary job.” Seeing the uniform and not the person behind it is a particular issue in Belfast, where o cers must navigate the sensitivities of a city still blighted by decades of sectarian hostility. “You don’t want to bash people over the head with that,” says Siân. “But every city has its story, and if you’re going to tell the story of Belfast, you have to tell all the stories,” (hence the second series switching its focus to the loyalist east side of the city). She recalls catching a cab after the Belfast press screening for the first series, and the driver telling her: ‘Well, I’ll not be watching it.’ I said: ‘Just give it a try – I think you might enjoy it.’ And he was like: ‘No, I’m not watching it.’ But then, after it had gone out, he messaged me on Instagram to tell me: ‘I’ve just watched the whole thing and I loved it.’” Arguably, no one represents the human face of policing better than Grace, a single mum and former social worker who, in her forties, has chosen to get even closer to the frontline of society’s problems. “I’ve been lucky to play so many di erent roles in my career, from psychotic killers to doctors,” says Siân, whose empathetic performance adds further depth to the character. “But the thing about Grace is, I really admire her. When I read the script I felt an immediate connection to her. And that’s definitely related to my dad. He’s got a very strong moral compass and an inner strength.” The youngest of three siblings born to an English mum, who’s a teacher, and a Welsh dad in Lichfield, Sta ordshire, Siân caught the acting bug early, joining her local youth theatre aged 11, then the National Youth Theatre. Her parents encouraged her application to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (Rada) – although there was the slight snag of sharing her birth name, Siân Phillips, with one of Britain’s most distinguished stage and screen stars. “I met her,” says Siân, of her celebrated namesake. “They arranged for me to have a cup of tea with her in my first year at Rada. What a phenomenal woman!” She clearly has more in common with Dame Siân than just a birth certificate, though – barely two years after graduating from Rada, the now Siân Brooke (named in honour of an English Civil War general who was killed at Lichfield) was playing Juliet for the Royal Shakespeare Company. “I don’t know how that happened,” she says. “I was 22 and playing Juliet opposite Matthew Rhys, and then Cordelia [in King Lear] with Corin Redgrave. That was a fantastic place to earn your stripes and learn what kind of actor you are.” In 2015, she played Ophelia to Benedict Cumberbatch’s Hamlet at the National Theatre. “The director said: ‘We want to meet you,’ and I said: ‘You do know I’m seven months pregnant?’ [She has two sons, Ben and Archie, with her husband, the award-winning film and theatre director Bill Buckhurst.] I was waddling around, not really looking like Ophelia. She’s supposed to be this timid wallflower, and I was like [growling]: ‘Oh God, I just want this baby to come!’ By the time I did it, my youngest was three months old, but the sleepless nights and the mania of having a little one in the house again actually fed into Ophelia.” Shortly afterwards, she reunited with Cumberbatch when she was cast in the role (or roles, given her penchant for disguises) of his psychotic sister Eurus Holmes in the BBC’s global megahit Sherlock. “It must have been about eight months after Hamlet, I got the call and just thought it was a bit part, because they only gave me two sides to read. Then I went back in and they gave me two sides of a di erent character. I thought: ‘Oh, they can’t Photographs: Shutterstock, Ollie Upton/HBO Max/THA/Eyevine, BBC, Getty images
13 11 APRIL 2024 FOOD BITES been there for years, is family run and they serve beautiful, seasonal French food in a relaxed setting. Food that reminds you of childhood? Sta ordshire oatcakes. Where I’m from, an oatcake is not a biscuit, it’s more like a savoury pancake sandwich. I was also brought up on pork scratchings at my gran’s – not like the ones in pubs. These were the real deal. What did you have for dinner last night? A chilli con carne, which I’d made and put in the freezer. I’ve got into batch cooking. I love food – me and my husband probably got together over food, music and wine. I used to cook a lot more, but when you’ve got two kids and are both busy working, you have to be practical. Favourite restaurant? The French Table, not far from where we live in Surbiton [Surrey]. It’s DINE OUT The French Table’s beetroot cured chalk stream trout (right) ‘I’ve been lucky, I’ve worked with phenomenal people and been able to stretch my muscles in different directions’ SIREN CALL Siân as constable Grace Ellis in Blue Lights (above); with her husband Bill Buckhurst (below left) decide which part they want me to play.’ Then it was revealed they wanted me to play all of them. It was incredible to play opposite Ben again, because obviously I knew him by then, and to be playing his sister. It was such a gift of a role.” If Grace from Blue Lights exudes warmth and humanity, Eurus Holmes – who’s so dangerous she has to be caged in a maximum security facility on an island in the North Sea – is a character entirely lacking in such virtues as compassion or guilt. “To play someone who has no empathy whatsoever is di cult,” admits Siân, of her terrifying performance. “As an actor, you’re always trying to put yourself in the character’s shoes and feel what they feel. So that was tricky – but also really enjoyable,” she laughs. “What does that say about me?” Cumberbatch and his Sherlock costar Martin Freeman were both international stars by that point, whereas Siân had managed to carve out a highly successful career without ever becoming a public property. Is that a sweet spot for an actor to be in? “I think so,” she reflects. “With Sherlock, I was in various forms of disguise, and a lot of the jobs I’ve done have been so di erent – not always in a wig, but di erent enough for me to go under the radar a bit, and be able to nip down to the shop for a pint of milk looking wretched, without anyone noticing.” Might Blue Lights change that? “Maybe. Someone did come up and ask me about Blue Lights in the supermarket recently, while I was in the middle of trying to reprimand my son. That was a bit embarrassing.” Grace isn’t Siân’s first police rodeo – in 2021, she played former Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick in ITV drama Stephen, about the fight for justice of murder victim Stephen Lawrence’s family. “I’ve played a few real people and it’s definitely a di erent process,” she says. “As people, they’re already fully formed to an extent.” Other highlights of an impressive screen CV include playing the mother of the Antichrist in Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s Good Omens, Mark Bonnar’s wife Claire in BBC hit Guilt and Queen Aemma in House of the Dragon. The latter saw her making an early – and harrowing – exit in the first episode, dying in blood-soaked agony during childbirth when Paddy Considine’s King Viserys chose to save his child over his wife. It was traumatic to watch, so we can only imagine what it was like to film. “So many people have said that to me,” smiles Siân. “It was very intense – two days of lying on a bed, screaming, with your legs akimbo.” Presumably, that’s where her training comes in, that ability to lose all inhibition? “Yeah, totally,” she nods. “And vocally, I was screaming for two days, so thank God I started in the theatre and could keep it up.” In recent years, TV has kept Siân away from the stage, but reading Dame Judi Dench’s memoir has left her pining to go back, she says. Another book she’s enjoyed recently is Dying of Politeness by Geena Davis, in which the Hollywood actress calls out the treatment of women in the industry. Did she find that relatable? “It’s something I empathise with,” she nods. “It’s really evolved over the past eight or nine years, since #MeToo. It’s put our industry under the microscope and things have changed. But yes, that book did chime with me. “As a younger actress, I maybe didn’t feel like I could put my hand up. Whereas now I see younger actresses who are much more confident, in terms of their participation. There’s still a long way to go – we’re not there yet. But I can see it happening. When I was starting out, I was possibly just sort of… grateful to be there.” Those concerns aside, it’s clearly been good to her, this actor’s life? “I’ve been lucky,” she says. “I’ve worked with some phenomenal people and been able to stretch my muscles in di erent directions. I’m not great at looking back and taking stock, but as I’m talking to you, I think: ‘I’ve worked with all these amazing people, like Mike Leigh, Franco Ze relli, Steven Mo at and Mark Gatiss.’” And they’ve worked with you... “I just have to laugh at that,” she says, with the modesty of someone who appears to have never considered the fact she might be one of Britain’s best actors. As for her dad, does he have any regrets that she’s only pretending to be a police o cer? Absolutely not, she says. “I think my dad would definitely prefer me just to pretend.” Blue Lights series 2 is on BBC One and BBC iPlayer at 9pm from Monday 15 April
T&Cs: Selected postcodes. Subject to availability. Vase not included. Flowers and plants may arrive in bud to prolong their life. We deliver Monday-Sunday, excluding bank holidays. See waitrose orist.com for full terms and conditions. WAITROSEFLORIST.COM BRILLIANT BOUQUETS Capture the pretty oral sights and scents of the season with an exclusively designed, hand-tied bouquet or plant from Waitrose Florist. We deliver seven days a week, with next-day delivery available
15 11 APRIL 2024 Food&Drink If you love baking, we’ve got something special for you this week – a collection of Martha Collison’s favourite cakes and desserts, chosen by her from the recipes she’s created for us since 2015. I’m pleased that some of my favourites are on the list too – her baked cheesecake recipe is unbeatable, while Martha’s cinnamon-spiced mu ns have cheered up many a wintry Saturday in my house. And who could resist homemade Ja a cakes? Some of the recipes are simple, others take more e ort, but I promise they’re all utterly delicious. What’s For Dinner? p16 Meal Maths p21 Too Good To Waste with Elly Curshen p23 Weekend Bakes with Martha Collison p24 What I’m Cooking with Jane Hornby p31 Very Important Producer p32 Wine List with Pierpaolo Petrassi MW p34 ALISON OAKERVEE Partner & food and drink editor Photographs: Maja Smend, Food styling: Bianca Nice, Styling: Wei Tang, Art direction: Corrie Heale PRETTY IN PINK Martha Collison’s baked vanilla cheesecake with raspberry & rhubarb is among her six favourite spring bakes, p24
16 11 APRIL 2024 Recipes: Sophie Pryn, Photographs: Clare Win eld, Food styling: Jennifer Joyce, Styling: Max Robinson, Art direction: Corrie Heale What’s for dinner? Take the stress out of midweek meal planning with these quick, easy and delicious dishes
17 11 APRIL 2024 Food&Drink Serves 4 Prepare 10 minutes Cook 25 minutes 250g Essential Whole Grain Rice, rinsed 300g pack Tenderstem broccoli spears, trimmed 100g skin-on almonds 1 clove garlic, roughly chopped 465g jar roasted red peppers, drained and roughly chopped 2 tbsp Cooks’ Ingredients Sun Dried Tomato Paste ½ tsp hot smoked paprika ½ x 25g pack at leaf parsley, leaves roughly chopped, plus extra leaves to garnish 1½ tbsp red wine vinegar 2 x 200g packs Essential South African Hake Fillets 1½ tbsp olive oil 1 Heat the grill to high. Cook the rice according to pack instructions. Cut the broccoli spears into thirds and add to the rice 3-4 minutes before the end of cooking time. Drain well. 2 Meanwhile, put the almonds into a food processor and whizz until the nuts are the size of breadcrumbs. Add the garlic, peppers, tomato paste, paprika, parsley and vinegar, then blitz until it forms a thick paste. Season. 3 Season the hake, drizzle with oil and put on a foil-lined baking sheet. Grill for 8-10 minutes, until the sh is cooked through, opaque and akes easily with a fork. 4 Divide the rice and broccoli between plates and top with the hake llets. Spoon the romesco over the sh, scatter with extra parsley leaves and serve. Per serving 2315kJ/553kcals/23g fat/2.7g saturated fat/46g carbs/5.1g sugars/6.9g bre/38g protein/1g salt/ 1 of your 5 a day/gluten free Hake with cheat’s romesco sauce Serves 2 Prepare 10 minutes Cook 15 minutes 1 tsp oil or ghee 400g pack The Spice Tailor Spicy Tarka Lentil Daal 120g pack baby spinach 400g can Essential Chickpeas In Water, drained and rinsed 2 Essential Free Range White Eggs 260g pack 2 tandoori garlic & coriander naans ½ x 25g pack coriander, leaves only, plus extra to serve 4 tbsp Essential Greek Style Natural Yogurt 1 Essential Lime, juice of ½, rest cut into wedges 1 Preheat the oven to 190ºC, gas mark 5. Heat the oil or ghee in a small ovenproof frying pan until hot. Add the spices from the smallest pouch in the spice kit, then remove from the heat for 15 seconds. Return the pan to the heat and stir in the lentils from the large pouch. 2 Add the tarka from the medium pouch, 2 tbsp water and the spinach. Cover with a lid (or use a baking sheet) for a couple of minutes to allow the spinach to wilt. Stir in the chickpeas and bring to a simmer. 3 Make 2 wells in the dal, then break an egg into each. Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the whites are set and the yolks are done to your liking. Set the naans on a baking tray, sprinkle with a little water and bake for the nal 2-3 minutes of cooking time. 4 While the eggs cook, roughly chop the coriander and stir into the yogurt with the lime juice, then season. Serve the baked eggs and dal topped with dollops of yogurt, the naan, some extra coriander and lime wedges for squeezing over. V Per serving 2808kJ/668kcals/18g fat/3.9g saturated fat/86g carbs/5.8g sugars/14g bre/34g protein/3.3g salt Dal baked eggs with herby yogurt & naan COOK’S TIP If you don’t want to turn the oven on, cover the pan of eggs with a lid and cook over a low heat for 6-8 minutes. Heat the whole or halved naan in the toaster, but don’t splash with water before cooking. COOK’S TIP This romesco sauce works with grilled chicken or vegetables and as a quick pasta sauce or a dip with crudités. If you don’t have a food processor, chop the nuts by hand, then add the peppers, using the knife to cross-chop over everything for a chunky paste. Transfer to a bowl and mix in the remaining ingredients. A WINNER FOR ANIMAL WELFARE Waitrose holds the Best Retailer Award from Compassion in World Farming – its fourth win in a row. The world’s leading farm animal welfare organisation scored its welfare standards higher than any other supermarket in its biennial awards in 2022. The retailer says the best quality food comes from animals that are treated with compassion and care. Photograph: Maja Smend, Food styling: Bianca Nice, Styling: Julie Patmore, Art direction: Corrie Heale
19 11 APRIL 2024 Serves 2 Prepare 15 minutes + cooling Cook 25-30 minutes 3½ tbsp extra virgin olive oil 1 Essential Leek, thinly sliced 250g pack chestnut mushrooms, thinly sliced 2 cloves garlic, nely chopped Few sprigs thyme, leaves picked ½ x 500g Jus-Rol Shortcrust Pastry Block ½ x 200ml tub Oatly! Creamy Oat Fraiche, plus 1 tbsp ½ tbsp wholegrain mustard ½ tbsp Marigold Engevita Yeast Flakes 285g pack rainbow salad bowl 1 Heat 1½ tbsp oil in a large nonstick frying pan over a medium heat. Stir in the leeks with a pinch of salt. Fry, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes until starting to soften. 2 Turn the heat up, add the mushrooms with 1 tbsp oil and cook until starting to brown, and most of the liquid has evaporated, 10-12 minutes. Add the garlic and thyme, stir for 1 minute, then spread over a large plate and allow to cool to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 200ºC, gas mark 6 and put a baking sheet in to heat up. 3 Meanwhile, shape the pastry into 2 equal balls. On individual sheets of baking parchment, roll into rough circles 2-3mm thick and 25cm across. Tip the cooled mushroom mixture into a sieve and use the back of a spoon to squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Mix in a bowl with the oat fraiche, mustard and seasoning. 4 Spread the mix over the pastry circles, leaving a border of approx 3cm. Fold, gather and press the pastry border over the lling to secure it well (see tip). Loosen the remaining 1 tbsp oat fraiche with a drop of water, brush over the pastry and sprinkle with the nutritional yeast. Carefully move to the hot baking tray, still on the paper, then bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden and cooked through. Serve with the salad, dressed with the remaining 1 tbsp oil. V Per serving 3652kJ/879kcals/62g fat/21g saturated fat/63g carbs/8.5g sugars/8.3g bre/14g protein/1.2g salt/ vegan Leek & mushroom galettes with ‘cheesy’ pastry Serves 4 Prepare 10 minutes Cook 10 minutes 1 tsp vegetable oil 400g pack No.1 Free Range 6 Pork Sausages, meat squeezed out, skins discarded 2 cloves garlic, nely chopped 235g pack green pak choi, leaves separated 5g piece ginger, peeled and nely grated 2 tbsp Cooks’ Ingredients Shaoxing Rice Wine 1 tsp Lee Kum Kee Chiu Chow Chilli Oil 3 tbsp Essential Crunchy Peanut Butter 1½ tbsp low salt soy sauce 250g pack wholewheat noodles 2 Essential Salad Onions, nely sliced 1 Heat the oil in a large nonstick frying pan and add the sausagemeat. Using a wooden spoon, break up into little pieces, then fry for 8-10 minutes, stirring regularly, until browned and crisp and no pink meat remains. Add the garlic and pak choi and stir fry for a minute or so more until the greens have wilted. 2 While the sausagemeat is cooking, in a large bowl, stir together the ginger, rice wine, chilli oil, peanut butter and soy, then set aside. 3 Cook the noodles according to pack instructions, reserving a cup of cooking water, then drain and rinse under cold water. Add 50ml noodle cooking water to the peanut butter mixture, then stir to loosen. 4 Tip the noodles and sauce into the bowl and toss until well combined and the noodles are coated. Add a dash more cooking water if needed. Divide between bowls and top with the crispy sausagemeat and pak choi, then scatter with salad onions to serve. Per serving 2856kJ/684kcals/38g fat/10g saturated fat/ 44g carbs/4.5g sugars/9.3g bre/36g protein/2.2g salt Spicy sausage & peanut noodles COOK’S TIP The thickness of peanut butter varies considerably from brand to brand, so you may have to add more or less noodle cooking water to reach the ideal coating consistency. COOK’S TIP Squeezing out the excess liquid from the mushroom and leek mixture is an essential step and will help to prevent a soggy bottom. Take extra care to pinch the pastry folds together so that the pastry isn’t too much thicker in these places to ensure even cooking. Photographs: Clare Win eld, Food styling: Jennifer Joyce, Styling: Max Robinson, Art direction: Corrie Heale
21 11 APRIL 2024 Food&Drink Frozen Essential Grilled Vegetable Mix Essential Creamy Tomato Pasta Sauce ’Nduja Sausage Ravioli Grated Cheddar & Mozzarella Serves 2 Ready in 35 minutes Preheat the oven to 200ºC, gas mark 6. Fry 250g of the vegetable mix in a little oil in a shallow ovenproof casserole for 5 minutes until softened. Stir in the pasta sauce, bring to a simmer, then add the ravioli and stir. Loosen with 150ml hot water from the kettle, to ensure the ravioli are just-submerged. Cover and bake for 15 minutes, stirring gently, then scatter with about 100g cheese and bake, uncovered, for 10 minutes more, until the cheese is golden and the ravioli piping hot throughout. Serve with salad leaves, if liked. ’Nduja ravioli & grilled vegetable bake Scan the QR code below or go to waitrose.com/recipes for more quick and simple Meal Maths recipes like this one. Using no more than ve timesaving ingredients, you can create delicious midweek suppers or family meals easily. MORE INSPIRATION Photographs: Maja Smend, Food styling: Marina Filippelli, Styling: Wei Tang, Art direction: Corrie Heale
23 11 APRIL 2024 Food&Drink Serves 2 Prepare 10 minutes Cook 20-25 minutes 3 tbsp olive oil 2 cloves garlic, nely grated ½-1 tsp chilli akes, to taste 1 tsp medium curry powder 1 tsp ground ginger 1 tsp sea salt akes 226g pack paneer 1 red pepper ¾ large red onion 1 naan, to serve 100g natural or Greek style yogurt (optional), to serve For the salsa Large handful mint leaves ¼ large red onion, nely chopped Paneer, red onion & pepper traybake with mint and jalapeño salsa Finishing a whole bunch of mint takes a bit of e ort. I often buy one when I only need a handful, or I’ve selected and used the smaller, tender top leaves and am left with stalks and tougher, larger leaves. This salsa means the leaves will be chopped up anyway, and it’s even OK if they’re wilted (although soaking in a bowl of ice water does wonders for perking up sad herbs). The paneer could easily be swapped for firm tofu for a great vegan dish. Either way, the combination of a quick, easy traybake (everything simply diced, tossed in spiced oil and spread out to roast) and the fresh, zingy salsa makes for a fantastic contrast in flavours, texture and temperature. If you have some yogurt (regular natural or thicker Greek style), try stirring a spoonful of the salsa into it for an additional contrast. I love this with naan, but rice or couscous would work well too. @ellypear MINT Too good to waste with Elly Curshen 40g Mezzetta Sliced Jalapeño Peppers, drained, plus 2 tbsp pickling liquid from the jar 4 tbsp olive oil 1 Preheat the oven to 220ºC, gas mark 7. Put the olive oil, garlic, chilli akes, curry powder, ginger, and salt into a large bowl, then mix together. Cut the paneer, red pepper and ¾ onion into 2cm cubes, then add to the bowl and mix well to coat. Tip onto a large baking tray and roast for 20-25 minutes, until everything starts to char on the edges, stirring halfway through if needed. 2 Meanwhile, make the salsa. Finely chop the mint, ¼ onion and jalapeños with the pickling liquid in a food processor. Add the 4 tbsp oil a little at a time until the salsa has a dropping consistency. Season to taste. MORE LEFTOVER IDEAS 1Quick mint tea Crush mint leaves (1 tbsp per serving) in your hand, then place in a mug. Pour boiling water over and steep for 5-7 minutes. Add honey to sweeten, if liked. 2Mint sugar Add extra freshness to a citrus fruit salad. Pulse together an equal volume of mint leaves and white sugar in a food processor, until the mint is nely chopped and mixed into the sugar. Beautiful sprinkled over a combination of grapefruit, orange and satsuma. 3Chocolate mint leaves Dip mint leaves into melted dark chocolate, lay them on baking parchment, then leave to set. Serve as an after dinner treat or to garnish ice cream. S C A N T HI S CODE F OR MOR E R E CI P E S Photographs: Kate Whitaker, Food styling: Jennifer Joyce, Styling: Max Robinson, Art direction: Pippa Paine 3 Heat the naan in the oven according to pack instructions. Serve the roasted vegetables and paneer with about 3 tbsp salsa spooned over and the naan alongside. Stir the remaining salsa into the yogurt, if using, then serve. V Per serving (with ½ naan) 4179kJ/1006kcals/74g fat/ 26g saturated fat/50g carbs/19g sugars/7.5g bre/31g protein/3.6g salt
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDY5NzE=