A new flavour from Lakrids is so good it must be shared Many years ago, deep in Bermondsey, which is south of London’s Thames, I had a boyfriend who supported Leeds United. Because I had no UK team (my team was Juventus thanks to Dino Zoff, the greatest goal keeper of all time), I adopted his team and even had a scarf. Little did I know that I would find myself in Leeds and all its glory so frequently in the future. For me, as a young woman, Leeds was just somewhere up north. My life revolved around London where we lived, the occasional Bedford jaunt where one uncle lived and, because I’m Ital ..read more

Make a syrup base for this Scandi-style mulled wine, then add whatever spirits you have in the house and turn it into a spiced hot toddy This drink was inspired the spiced wines I’ve enjoyed with Nordic friends over the festive period. They’d always use a commercial wine infusion, but I find them too confected and lacking depth. This version creates a stable base that can be tailored to whatever spirits you have to hand, and can be whipped up quickly whenever the need arises over the coming weeks. When choosing a wine to make the syrup, go for something full, with a good richness – a tempranil ..read more

A Sri Lankan chard and green bean coconut stir-fry, a chilled coconut broth with salmon crudo and a coconut, caramel and cardamom cake to finish Looking back at my previous coconut recipes for this column, I see that they are all BC. That has nothing to do with Bounty bars, or even coconuts; BC stands for “before Chaya”. You see, before Chaya Maya arrived in the test kitchen, the starting point for recipes with coconut was usually a hankering simply to be elsewhere, somewhere warmer and farther afield – that ultimate coconut-cliche, basically, namely somewhere tropical. Now that we have Chaya ..read more

Roast pork and crackling with pickled prunes and sweet cucumber, a traditional Dutch side featuring new potatoes, apples, pears and bacon, and a Romanian bean, smoked bacon and soured cream soup I didn’t grow up eating pork, except in the form of bacon, because we were very much a beef and lamb household. I never truly appreciated it until I came to live in England, when I learned about heritage breeds and the sweet, fatty joy of pork belly. You need really good pork, so it’s not something I ever buy from the supermarket. The animals should have been reared outside, and tamworth or middle whit ..read more

There’s no baking involved with this layered apple dessert, just toasted breadcrumbs and almonds Æblekage, the Danish term for a dish found throughout Scandinavia, translates as apple cake – rather misleadingly, because there’s no baking involved, unless you count the breadcrumbs that are traditionally scattered between the layers. That said, the Norwegian name, tilslørte bondepiker, means “veiled peasant girls”, which is even more confusing, given that the dish sits somewhere between a trifle and a charlotte. Perhaps the Swedish änglamat, or angel food, is the best description, because, as Si ..read more

Three Nordic sauces to take your dessert to the next level: an apple compote, a sweet cherry topping and a fudgy Finnish caramell A classic dessert served warm or cold, often in a bowl with milk or cream poured over it. It can be flavoured with cassia cinnamon, cardamom pods or grated lemon zest. The sweet and sour balance is important. If your apples are not tart enough, add a dash of lemon juice towards the end. Prep 5 min Cook 15 min Serves 4 500g peeled, cored and diced tart apples 90g sugar Cassia cinnamon stick, lemon zest and juice, or lightly crushed cardamom seeds, to taste (optiona ..read more

Scandi-style barley beetroot fritters with smoked mackerel-studded yoghurt and dill, and a barley risotto flavoured with bacon, peas and mushroom and topped with a fried egg Working on my latest book with nutritionist Dr Federica Amati has opened my eyes to the health benefits of barley, which has been grown in Scandinavia since the Stone Ages. The word barley means “what is cultivated”, and this grain is one of the oldest known to man; it is also vitamin- and mineral-rich, and has a high fibre content compared with other wholegrains. Today’s fritters are very quick to make, combining grated b ..read more

A rich, dill-heavy lamb stew accompanied by waxy potatoes cooked in mushroom stock and topped with cheese The waning of new Nordic cuisine, the ultra-modern food revolution that for a few years dominated the food scene in Scandinavia and became a global phenomenon, has proved to be a blessing for Norwegian cooking. Gone is the reliance on foam, tweezers and fermented pine kernels, and in their place is an increased interest in local ingredients and in more hearty, traditional dishes. One such dish that always resurfaces in my kitchen at this time of year is my grandmother’s lamb fricassee. To ..read more

A Nordic-inspired feast featuring potato salad with salmon relish and crisp onions, beetroot soup with quick-pickled celery and soured cream, and soft yet chewy pistachio, lime and chocolate cookies A shared love affair recently revealed itself: it turns out that all of my test kitchen colleagues have a passion for all things Scandinavian. Pilgrimages are made, to Denmark or Sweden, or to Scandi bakeries and restaurants closer to home. Rye crackers are on heavy snack rotation with, more often than not, squiggles of a certain brand of Swedish cod’s roe piped out on top. I’m not sure how right i ..read more

A booze-free Scandi sundowner with heavy notes of rosemary, juniper and late-summer berries An alcohol-free simple serve with a distinct Scandinavian flavour profile, both from the juniper-heavy Danish no-lo spirit and the fruit garnish – think of this as an alternative to a full-fat G&T ..read more