Hello and welcome to my newsletter about food, people and planet. It’s free to read, but you could choose to be a paid subscriber to support me.
My new book In Good Taste: What Shapes What We Eat and Drink - And Why it Matters is out now and available on Waterstones, Amazon, bookshop.org and more.
It’s been a month since I started my new part-time role at Hackney School of Food. I can’t wait to tell you how it’s going. Let’s just say for now that it’s the most unusual and fulfilling desk job I’ve had. It’s also given me some time to rationalise everything else I do and launch something new.
The role at HSOF was part of a bigger plan to bring everything I do closer to my passion for food as a force for good. I’ve been quietly thinking about how to connect the dots between my work in food culture, communications, inclusion and food systems in a way that feels useful, hopeful and practical.
Across my talks and conversations, there are two questions that keep coming up. For food lovers who care, it’s: what can we actually do to make a difference? For experts and those in the know, it’s inevitably: how do we get people to care about food, climate and justice?
My answer is always the same: strategic communications. We need to speak in ways that are relatable and engaging, avoid blame and shame, and make complicated ideas easier to digest and more inclusive. The food system is a confusing beast, but it shapes our health, communities, environment, economy and collective future in ways most people barely realise. Getting people’s backs against a wall isn’t helpful for anyone.
So I’ve decided to take what I’ve learned one step further.
I’ve created Munch & Learn with Mallika Basu: a lunch and learn with purpose. It’s a food-led educational session designed to help teams, organisations and curious groups of eaters better understand what shapes what we eat and drink, why it matters, and how we might think differently about it. My cultural mindset and inclusion teachings sit within it too, very much part of the justice piece.
Let’s just say it’s my cultural mindset session 2.0.
Except this time it’s broader and we gather around food. Catering is optional, but recommended. I’ve already delivered versions of the Munch & Learn sessions to food media in my home and to the team at consultancy Blurred Global in their office, with more bookings now in the diary. It feels exciting, timely and very much like the direction I’m meant to be moving in.
If it sounds like something your team, organisation or group might enjoy exploring together, please do get in touch.
The latest episode of my In Good Taste podcast features Sami Tamimi, chef, author and co-founder of Ottolenghi, talking all things Palestinian food, including my two favourite topics: poor quality spices and what “Middle Eastern” food really means.
Sami’s first solo cookbook Boustany is a triumph that I have enjoyed cooking from. I made Sha’Aktoura, a spinach, rice and lentil one-pot with all the hallmarks of khichdi. We talked about how to spot a proper za’atar too and, as if by magic, my friend brought me a stash from Jordan soon after.
It’s on Spotify, YouTube and Apple and I hope you’ll enjoy having a watch/listen.
I’m struggling to find time to write recipes for you weekly, so I thought I’d share what I’m cooking instead, if it provides some inspiration. Food waste is a particular problem in my home as the bi-weekly organic veg box often includes something the teens won’t stomach. This time it was chestnut mushrooms. Fungi is an entirely cancelled abomination in my home. The teens have no taste.
So, I minced five large ones and mixed them into homemade meatballs using 350g free-range pork mince, which was all I had, although I think beef would be even better. I added a tablespoon of rose harissa, half a tablespoon each of za’atar, sumac and garlic powder, plus a generous sprinkling of salt. The mix needed a tablespoon of cornflour to bind and half an hour’s rest in the fridge.
I made a batch for the week ahead. They freeze and travel well. I also used the rest of the pork for a ragu and included more plants in the mix. This made me happy on many levels.
The teens ate them happily, although I did sit in the parent naughty corner when they learnt about my devious duplicity.
In exciting news just in, I’m going to be keynote speaker at The King’s Foundation’s Hospitality Careers Fair in Dumfries House in June. Very grateful to Fiona Richmond of LDE London and the Scottish Food & Drink Federation to have made the introduction and recommendation.
Up to 300 secondary school pupils and their teachers will be in attendance and last year’s speaker was Raymond Blanc, so no pressure there! I’m really looking forward to the stay and private tour too. More on my Scotland book tour next week.
Pesticides in us
There is a glyphosate ban campaign unfolding. I hope to write about this properly when I have a moment, but it won’t be a quick download. It’s complicated. You might want to have a read here first. I also had Nick Mole of Pesticide Action Network on my podcast, if you fancy a listen on Spotify, Apple, YouTube.
A problem with eight arms
Have you watched Remarkably Bright Creatures on Netflix yet? I enjoyed My Octopus Friend and know it made enough of an impact to put a lot of people off eating them. I was interested to read there is an abundance of them in the UK thanks to warmer climates and they are turning into the venison of the waters. Wylde did a useful post on them. My verdict is that I would eat them if it was sustainable and didn’t lead to intensive, factory farming (animal welfare activists are already fiercely protesting this).
I’m off to Ballymaloe Festival now for two days of excitement covering all my favourite things: healthy, sustainable diets, cultural food and bold flavour! It’s been a while since I did a cooking demo on stage and I’m very excited as this is where it all started. I’m making high protein lentil pancakes from south India called adai and a masala tofu scramble of bhurji. Lessons on spices and the ingredients will be included as standard - hopefully prompting lots of book sales.
It’s my first time in Ireland and I can’t wait to meet all the brilliant food writers and commentators there who have been nothing short of unbelievably supportive for years. This includes my publisher Kristin Jensen who I I’m excited to raise a glass with, without an event to organise and deliver first! If you’re up there, come say hi:
That’s all from me this week. Thank you for reading, caring and sharing.
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