Oct 31, 2012

If you’ve ever prepared an Asian dish then you will be familiar with ginger. Chances are you’ve peeled back its knobbly husk, grated its flesh to a sappy pulp and flung it in a hot wok. Or perhaps you’ve seasoned meat with the ground, powdery version; either way, ginger is a bastion of the culinary zeitgeist. On this premise, galangal ought not to be...

Oct 11, 2012

Used in a huge amount of Asian dishes, including Tom Yum Soup and Coconut Curries, Lemon Grass is a versatile, widely available ‘super spice’ that can be used whole, sliced, or even “bruised” into a paste (similar to how you would handle garlic). Traditionally grown and sourced from South East Asia, Lemon Grass is a vital ingredient in a lot of Thai and...

Aug 9, 2012

I wanted to start my ‘ingredient of the week’ series with something special, so I’ve chosen one of the most versatile ingredients of all time…the coconut.     Made into milk, oil or cream- used flaked or raw- coconut is fabulous in all its forms. On top of this it is great for the immune system, improves heart health, speeds up metabolism...

Aug 1, 2012

I find it interesting that one root vegetable can be known by so many names or not even known to people at all!! I have known this intriguing white vegetable since I was a small girl. My Italian family in the UK own nurseries and grow and sell it- but we call it ‘Mooli’. I would eat it raw, in a salad or cooked, but I couldn’t work out why none of my...

May 11, 2012

I am really enjoying using herbs in all aspects of my Thai and pan Asian cooking. I can’t emphasise enough the difference it has made to my dishes. However I still at times struggle to keep my herbs fresh and alive for longer than five minutes. I currently live in Ko Samui and love buying all my veggies from the local market in Bo Phut. I am really careful...

May 10, 2012

Basil is great herb; in fact until recently it was one of the only fresh herbs I would regularly use at home. I really love its unique planty smell. The thing I find really great about this wonderful herb is that it does really well as a plant sat on the windowsill. I often have trouble keeping other herbs going longer than a couple of days but I can get so much...