Make a vegetable stock by pouring 500ml of boiling water from the kettle over 1 tbsp of dried mushrooms. Bring a deep pan of water to the boil then rain in 250g of pearl barley and bring it back to the boil. Lower the heat to a simmer and let it cook for 25-30 minutes till the grains are tender. They should still have a pleasingly chewy quality. Drain and set side. Peel and roughly chop a medium-sized onion. Warm […]

Med: a CookbookClaudia Roden(Ebury, £28)More than 50 years after her groundbreaking, genre-defining A Book of Middle Eastern Food, Claudia Roden has produced another triumph that this time travels around the Mediterranean. The most revered of living food writers (by me at least) has relaxed. The recipes are simple and of course immaculate, the writing is effortless. Read and cook from it often. AJBuy it for adding to your Claudia Roden collectionOrder your copy at guardianbookshop.com Nigel Slater’s A Cook’s Book. […]