PabloPicassosufferedheartfailure
duringdinner.ThegreatSpanish
artistspentmostofhislifeinFrance
andwasknowntolovea Spanish-
Frenchfusiondish– tortillaniçoise.BuckinghamPalaceopeneditsdoors
to thepublictohelpraisefundsto
repairWindsorCastle.Whena café
openedonsitein2010,it meantanyone
coulddineatthepalace– withoutan
invitationfromtheQueen.1952
1973
1993
IN THISMONTH...
The firstmodernOlympicsopenedin
Athens,revivedaftermorethan1,
years.A baker,CoroebusofElis,was
recordedaswinningthesprintatthe
firstOlympics,waybackin 776 BC.AnneFrank’sdiarywasfirstpublished
inEnglish,sevenyearsafterher
death,andincludedthepoignant
quote:“Aslongasyou’reinthefood
business,whynotmakesweets?”Aftermorethan 150 yearsof
Britishrule,SierraLeonewonits
independence.Thedateiscelebrated
withfeastsofsaka,a cassavaleaf
soup,andgroundnutstew.delicious. hotspot:
MERI RASOI COOKERY SCHOOL
HOT NEW COOKBOOKS
CARPATHIA
The debut book from
Bucharest born-and-
raised Irina Georgescu
celebrates Romanian
food in all its meaty,
smoky, sharp glory,
enriched with
fascinating folklore
and atmospheric
landscape photos.
Quarto £WHERE Raynes Park, London SW
THE CLASS Classic Indian Home
Cooking (£75 for three hours,
10am-1pm, finishing with a group
lunch of what you’ve cooked).
TESTER Les Dunn
THE SETTING The kitchen of a 1930s
house in the southwest London
suburbs, a 20-minute train ride from
Waterloo. Your teacher is Nidhi Verma,
who’s originally from the Punjab, and
her courses are designed to teach
you how to cook the kind of meals
she makes for her family every day.
DO YOU NEED TO BE A GOOD COOK?
Novices are welcome – though
obviously it helps if, like me, you love
Indian food. The recipe list included
coriander mint chutney, palak murgh
(a classic North Indian chicken dish)
and Punjabi tadka dhal – all top stuff.
WHAT YOU LEARN The little tricks
that will raise your curry game: how
to make a big batch of all-purpose
ginger and garlic paste; why you
should always use fresh tomatoes;
why a pressure cooker is brilliant for
making dhal; how to wash the rice
properl y... I felt like I was getting
real insider intel, though the
sulphurous black rock salt in Nidhi’s
raita was
a bit too authentic, even for me.
THE VERDICT The homely setting has
its limitations – you don’t get your own
workstation so it’s not as hands-on as
you might like. If that’s not a problem
for you, though, Nidhi’s charm and
enthusiasm – and her flavoursome
home cooking – should win through.FA L A S T I N
Tara Wigley and Sami
Tamimi are co-writers
of some of Ottolenghi’s
bestsellers, and this
love-letter to Palestine
and its food showcases
people too, including
the founder of the
Palestinian Seed
Library for heritage veg.
Ebury £THE
BOTANICAL
KITCHEN
Elly McCausland
explores the flavour-
enhancing potential of
botanicals, from fruit
to flowers, leaves and
seeds, with enchanting
histories and inspired
combinations.
Bloomsbury £1961
deliciousmagazine.co.uk 15
in the know.