Compendium 21: July 2026

Hello and welcome to the July 2026 Compendium.

This is the place where once a month I share a few things that have held my attention and/or suit the time of year that I hope will feed your senses. Things to eat, drink, listen to, and more. Thank you for the comments, emails and Notes relating to earlier ones: I’m delighted it’s being so well received.

Happy July to you.

June was a delight here in the southwest of England, if a little too hot at times. Thankfully, the winter downside of a house with original windows is that in summer, it’s often soo much cooler than outside.

A cranky hamstring/knee has meant too little time gardening, but a few days ago - after a lot of care, gym, massage and icing - I managed a short 10 miler with some ups and downs and while while that troublesome area is telling me I did it, the fact is I did it, and that’s all that matters. Heading out along the Cornish coast path reminded me how central walking is to my being - I do so much of my best thinking when putting one foot in front of another - and these last months of nothing more than shortish, flat dog walks have been poorer for the inactivity. With luck, and after what looks like too hot a week to come, I’ll be able to complete another, longer, walk in the not too distant.

And so, let’s hope July is a good month. With that in mind, here’s a few things I hope you’ll enjoy…

Once in a while, a little creative constraint is exactly what you need to get the mind going. I often make playlists that suit the season, that relate to a book I’m working on, and so on. This month, I have - for various reasons - been thinking about how excellent dogs are, and I say that as someone who wasn’t really that fussed until the furry cylinder of never-ending excrement known as Harris entered our lives 14 years ago. And so this month, a playlist relating to dogs, in all their forms.

I hope you enjoy it.

Rather than share one of my recipes, I thought you might like to see something from a fantastic new book published in August.

Many of you will have at least one book by Anissa Helou. Born in Lebanon to a Syrian father and Lebanese mother, she is the author of numerous award-winning cookbooks, including Feast which was chosen by the New Yorker as one of the 10 best cookbooks of the century so far. Last month, Anissa was awarded the Guild of Food Writers’ Lifetime Achievement Award.

Her next book, published by Bloomsbury, is Lebanon: A Culinary Celebration.

As well as over 160 recipes, it includes fascinating insights, cultural history, and more. From colourful small plates and ivory dips to luscious stuffed vegetables as well as more elaborate preparations for impressing, this is a comprehensive collection of recipes which make up Lebanon’s rich tradition of cooking, suitable for any occasion.

I’m delighted to say Anissa is sharing a recipe from Lebanon with us.

I hope it will encourage you to preorder the book - pre-orders are SO powerful in energising both independent bookshops are online outlets to stock the book.

Wherever you are, this will take you to the right place to pre-order.

Moghrabiyeh means North African in Arabic, and I assume that these pasta-like balls are called this because they are basically the same as large-grain couscous, which in Morocco is called m’hammssa. You can buy moghrabiyeh fresh or dried and cook it pretty much like pasta. At Dabboussi, the famous moghrabiyeh specialist in Tripoli, whose stall is in the Ottoman souks, he serves it as a sandwich mixed with chickpeas and pearl onions and wrapped in pita; or he serves it on pita together with pickles for those who want to have it sitting down (he has a few tables at the back of his stall). Mr. Dabboussi himself is always at the front, manning a large griddle where he keeps the moghrabiyeh, pearl onions, and chickpeas hot. His is without meat. One day, when I was ordering my plate of moghrabiyeh, I asked if his was fresh and he explained that he makes it in a large factory outside the town. During Ramadan, he stops serving it in the stall because everyone is fasting during the day, and instead, he sells the steamed grain, together with the required amount of boiled onions, chickpeas, and spices for people to take home and finish to their taste. His stall is heaving with buyers during that month, all wanting moghrabiyeh, a favorite for breaking the fast. The taste of fresh moghrabiyeh is different and finer than that of the dried. However, you can only buy it dried in the West, and often it is sold wrongly labeled as Israeli couscous, when it is not.

Serves 4

For the poussins

2 poussins (about 1½ kg)
1 cheesecloth parcel in which you put a few cardamom pods, peppercorns, a cinnamon stick, and a couple of bay leaves
1 medium onion (about 150 g), peeled
Coarse sea salt

Put the poussins in a medium pot. Add 1½ quarts (1½ liters) water, together with the spice parcel and onion, and place over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil. Just as the water is about to bubble, skim the surface clean. Then add 1 tablespoon coarse sea salt. Reduce the heat to medium-low and let bubble gently for 30 minutes. Turn off the heat and let sit for 15 minutes, then carefully quarter the poussins and cover with plastic wrap so as not to let them dry. Keep hot.

While the poussins are cooking, put some water in a medium pot and place over medium heat. Bring to a boil, then add salt as you would for pasta. Add the dried moghrabiyeh and let bubble for 10 minutes, stirring every now and then so it does not stick to the bottom of the pot. If you are using fresh moghrabiyeh, boil for 2 to 3 minutes. Drain and set aside.

For the moghrabiyeh

2⅔ cups (400 g) moghrabiyeh
5 tablespoons (75g) unsalted butter
2 tablespoons 30 ml vegetable oil
3 medium onions (about 450 g), peeled, thinly sliced into wedges
1 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour
1½ to 2 cups (375 to 500 ml) strained poussin stock
1½ cups (250 g) cooked chickpeas
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons moghrabiyeh spice mix (buy it here, or make you own using this1 recipe)
¼ teaspoon finely ground black pepper
Slivered pistachios for garnish

Put the butter in a deep, wide sauté pan and place over medium heat. When the butter has melted, add the oil and onions, and as soon as the fat starts sizzling around the onions, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring regularly, until soft and golden, 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the flour, then the stock, and continue stirring until you have a thickish sauce. Add the moghrabiyeh and chickpeas together with the cinnamon, spice mixture, and pepper and carefully stir while letting the sauce bubble and thicken a little more. Let bubble, stirring every now and then, until the moghrabiyeh is done to your liking—I like it al dente—and the sauce is thick but not dry, a little like for a risotto. Transfer to a shallow bowl.

Arrange the quartered poussins over the moghrabiyeh. Garnish with slivered pistachios and serve hot.

I’m about a quarter of the way through this and it is deeply fascinating, gently revelatory and makes me wish for a time when my knee/ankle/hamstring let me make a serious day of putting one foot in front of the other.

Walking defines us as human beings. But how much do we know about the paths that we walk? Why do they matter? What caused so many to be lost? And can we create more of them?

In The Path More Travelled, acclaimed geographer and travel writer Nicholas Crane explores the hidden history of Britain's coast-to-coast web, from prehistoric routeways walked by European migrants 12,000 years ago to pilgrim ways and coffin roads, turnpikes, towpaths and city pavements. We discover how land-grabbing Norman barons began the enclosure of our countryside, and how our beloved national parks and long-distance trails emerged from the ashes of two world wars.

Along the way, Crane takes the reader on some of his most memorable walks: along the Hadrian's Wall Path, into the icy Cairngorms and to the banks of the Severn where he discovers footprints from over 7,000 years ago. The Path More Travelled is a passionate ode to walking - and a call to rediscover and protect the lifeblood of our landscapes.

Buy it here.

Most months I invite an author to take about what they do - it happens as a Substack Live, and I make them available to watch after.

Whatever time of day or night, I gravitate to towards Honey & Co’s food, the places the serve it, and their warm hospitality. Their books are the best of pleasures: beautiful writing and recipes that are so very good.

They have a new place - Honey & Co Store Street, and their latest book - Honey & Co Daily - is a celebration of Store Street’s incarnation of their food.

I spoke with Itamar about what he and Sarit do, the journey to Store Street, and their new - excellent - book - I hope you enjoy our conversation.

Wherever you are in the world, you can order the latest Honey & Co book here.

As good as they can be in the shops, homegrown blueberries are so much better, and they’re easy to grow and reliably productive. There are two main things to bear in mind: they flourish in ericaceous compost (widely available), and they’re best grown with a partner as increased pollination means a bigger harvest.

With that in mind, I have a…

Subscriber offer: two x 3 litre blueberry plants, varieties of our choice (most will have some fruit ready to ripen), with £7.50 off. Use the code abundance in the coupon code field as you go through the checkout.

Click here for more info and to buy.

And if you’d like to hear more about new stock and offers from my nursery, please click here.

Don’t forget, if you are a paid subscriber in the UK you get 25% off all plants and seeds2.

If you are an aspiring writer, or perhaps someone who has been published but a little stuck, or maybe you are wondering how to make the most of what Substack has to offer, I can help².

Every month, I host online events that take various forms. There’s more about the overall writing ‘course’ here. Together, these events can make a real difference to your development.

Author Lives and Writing Process Lives are also available to watch later. Click here to see what’s coming up and watch previous conversations.

July’s Author Live will be announced soon. Keep an eye on my Notes,

Every month, I hold a gathering for writers - a dedicated space to direct creativity at a single focus. This month’s is on Tuesday 21 July, 6pm UK time.

This gathering is a little different - responding to requests, it’s for anyone to share writing that's come from previous gatherings that they haven't had the opportunity to share before or have updated. And of course, if you’d like to come along to see what they’re all about and the sort of development people are making through these gatherings, you would be most welcome.

Click below for more info and to book on.

I always like us to take August off from each other - there may be holidays to be had, and a good refresh for everyone just seems to work well - and during that time I pause subscriber payments, which means that if you are an annual subscriber, your subscription ends a month later than it would otherwise, while monthly subscribers aren’t charged for that month. I intend to do that for August this year, as usual.

For July, I’m going to do my usual Author Live and Writing Group events (see above) but I may not write any of the free words I usually post - I’ve got a book to finish (of which more soon) that’s published next May, and you wouldn’t want me to be late with that now would you…

Eight years ago, Diana Henry and I ran our first writing retreat together. It was a great success and huge fun. We’ve run many since: those attending have gone on to write columns in magazines, have books published, are using their skills to write relevant to their brand, and there’s even a James Beard Award winner in there!

Who is it for: relative beginners; established writers who find themselves at sea; those with ideas but unable to get them commissioned; those looking to develop their voice and audience; those wanting a long weekend with a direct connection with two award winning teachers and other aspiring writers; and everything and everyone in between.

While our focus is food, there is so much here of relevance to those writing in the wider areas of lifestyle, nature, gardening, memoir and so on.

**THIS RETREAT IS ALREADY 2/3 FULL**

This year’s retreat is a little different, in that it opens the door to those who have been before as well as newcomers.

And while the core elements remain, I’m delighted to say that for our next retreat we are joined by Stephanie Jackson, one of the leading publishing directors and commissioning editors in the UK. Formerly of Octopus, she is now Publishing Director of DK Lifestyle and will bring her expertise for those who have aspirations of having a book published. Her expertise is also deeply relevant to those who don’t have book aspirations but do want to develop their sense of identity and how to communicate that well. I had the most illuminating conversation with her a little while ago - watch again here.

We are also offering those who want it the option to step out of sessions to have more free writing time and/or more guided writing prompts, and we’ve set aside ‘Ask Us Anything’ time for everyone attending to ask the three of us about anything that relates.

So whether you are a relative novice, an aspiring writer who has let things slide a little, or an established writer looking to invigorate their practice, creativity and career, we can help.

Of course, all food and drink is included - made by the team who cook for Diana’s book and newspaper photoshoots.

Annual paid subscribers here get their subscription refunded from the cost of booking; and if you are currently a monthly subscriber you can always swap to the annual plan and have that refunded.

The retreat takes place in a manor house in Devon, easily accessible by train/cab.

For those who take all the sessions, it’s a intense weekend of professional, creative and often personal development, with space in there for those who prefer to treat the weekend more as an opportunity to write, directed or otherwise, and pick and choose sessions to join. And then there’s the food, the pleasure and surroundings. It’s a special time.

For more info and to book here.

I hope to see you next February. Any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Back in the golden days of Twitter, I came across Moose Allain. He made me laugh a great deal. I discovered he lives within 30 minutes of me, so we met, laughed, and found our dogs had a mutual indifference.

Now I can’t bear to use that social channel, I get my fill via Instagram, where he continues to make me chuckle. I love the way his mind operates, his paintings are beautiful, the little lives and villages he creates are enchanting.

I see him too little, yet am grateful I - we - have access to his various mind-droppings, here online in the gaps between seeing him.

Mark

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