SALAD

I don’t usually use this blog as a vehicle for attack. But there is a link. For me Moir’s outrage is sadder because I was impressed by her progress as a food writer. Ever so slightly envious, even.

I love sorrel. It’s wincing sourness crumples your nose like an old lady at a bus stop. I remember, crouching in the kitchen garden of my childhood, sucking the lemony stalks, one eye half closed.

Increasingly we are being sold organic food as a luxury alternative. But is organic always better - shouldn't good food, the best ingredients, be the norm?

The mezze is a perfect antidote to festive feasting and an ideal way to eat for those of us resolved to shake off the lingering effects of over-indulgence.

I have an on-off relationship with tomatoes. Mostly off. Being so often tasteless renders them largely pointless. Tinned tomatoes start in Italy and so some flavour is guaranteed. They are great when it comes to sauces and soups and there is no need to use those watery ragus or passata from a jar.

You can really let your imagination loose on salads. You can compose anything you want, from recreating a standard hot dish as a salad to combining the bizarre and the sublime in hitherto unknown combinations.

Whenever we come back from Barcelona, it’s always laden with anything tinned I can’t get here. One of them is the little baby squid in olive oil – chipirones. No comparison with the fresh ones but when in need.