6 h. ago Meera Sodha’s recipe for Friede’s grandma’s zimtsterne | Meera Sodha recipes

When you try these festive, chewy German almond biscuits, you’ll see why people have kept making and gifting them at Christmas for more than 500 yearsThe thing I love most about these chewy, crisp, star-shaped, cinnamon-and-almond Christmas biscuits from Germany is that they date back to the 1500s. Which, much like spotting Mars in the night sky or visiting the pyramids of Egypt, makes me feel hugely insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but simultaneously awe-inspired by the power of a simple biscuit to provide joy and underpin celebrations across centuries. This particular recipe belongs to my friend Friede’s grandma, Hadmuth, and is worth continuing, I think, for at least another 500 years. Continue reading...

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4 d. ago Three comforting Barbary Coast recipes for darker, colder evenings

Head chef Ian Coogan shares three bright, comforting dishes from The Barbary – chermoula sea bass, zhug-butter scallops and a rice pudding brûlée – perfect for early sunsets and colder evenings

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7 d. ago Meera Sodha’s recipe for Christmas aubergine and rice timbale | Meera Sodha recipes

A stunning but simple festive vegetarian centrepiece for the whole table to enjoyLast year I wrote about how I lost my food fandango, got it back, and now simplify matters, especially in the kitchen. This means I no longer do feasts with lots of elements, even at Christmas, but I still adore a showstopper, especially one that the whole table, irrespective of dietary requirements, can enjoy together. This year’s offering is such a centrepiece, an aubergine timbale (timbale means drum) packed to the gunnels with vegetables, rice, nuts, fruit, spices and, should you wish it (you should), one of the finest cheeses to come out of Normandy: Boursin. Continue reading...

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2 w. ago Meera Sodha’s vegan recipe for gochujang and tofu ragu with gnocchi and pickled cucumber | The new vegan

A comforting and filling mix of Korean and Italian flavours and textures that’s ideal for weeknight dinnerShare your questions for Meera Sodha, Tim Dowling and Stuart Heritage for a special Guardian Live event on Wednesday 26 November.I am a ragu-fancier and akheema fanatic. Unlike with most foods, however, it doesn’t do to rationalise this love for ragu, because it is a mash of things chopped up so small that they all lose their texture. This might sound a bit woo-woo, but the joy of ragu comes from feeling your way through it, from the chopping and standing with your thoughts, to stirring a bubbling pot and the smell creeping under the door. A ragu isn’t just a ragu, it’s a coming-together of good things: thoughts, feelings, ingredients, time and effort.Join Meera Sodha at a special event celebrating the best of Guardian culture on Wednesday 26 November, hosted by Nish Kumar and alongside writers Stuart Heritage and Tim Dowling, with Georgina Lawton hosting You Be The Judge live. ...

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2 w. ago Winter has finally kicked in – it’s time to crack out the casserole dish and get stewing

The temperature has truly dropped, so get a pot of something warming and delicious going on the stove. Plus: Amy Poon’s perfect post-pub fareSign up here for our weekly food newsletter, FeastAt the risk of sounding like a British cliche, can we take a moment to discuss the change in the weather? This week’s sudden drop in temperature has our house excited for potential snow (the children are giddy), with everything suddenly feeling a lot more wintry. New coats are on the hooks, thermals are being dug out and a casserole dish filled with some sort of soup, stew or stock seems to be permanently ticking away on the hob. These range from quick, warming weeknight dinners to leisurely, slow-cooked weekend meals.Whatever the time of year, I always have speedy packets of wontons and gyozas in the freezer, and cook them depending on how I feel (fried and steamed versus boiled and soupy). At the moment, I am craving warmth and nourishment, and Meera Sodha’s quickish vegan wonton soup hits all...

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3 w. ago Meera Sodha’s vegetarian recipe for mushroom egg foo yung over buttered rice | Meera Sodha recipes

It’s basically a mushroom omelette, but cooked Chinese-style and served on buttered riceShare your questions for Meera Sodha, Tim Dowling and Stuart Heritage for a special Guardian Live event on Wednesday 26 November.Egg foo yung is a type of omelette that perhaps began life as a type of egg dish in Guangdong province, but has since the early 1900s been a staple on American and British Chinese takeaway menus. I like to order it at Yau’s in Broughton near Scunthorpe or Chi’s in Kenton in Devon, where it arrives as a small, fluffy, delicate omelette, barely able to hold itself together for the amount of vegetables woven into it. Over rice, it is a form of heaven on a Saturday night. I haven’t tried to replicate that specific joy here, but this is a homespun version, for those Saturdays when neither Chi’s nor Yau’s are within range.Join Meera Sodha at a special event celebrating the best of Guardian culture on Wednesday 26 November, hosted by Nish Kumar and alongside writers Stuart Her...

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3 w. ago Share your questions for Meera Sodha, Tim Dowling and Stuart Heritage

Ahead of a special Guardian Live event on 26 November, you can share your questions for Tim Dowling, Stuart Heritage and Meera SodhaIt has been a year of small pleasures and big opinions. Is Kim Kardashian’s legal drama All’s Fair really the worst TV show of all time? What are the best (and worst) vegan cheeses? And 20 years after they first hit the shelves, five-toed shoes are apparently having a big fashion moment. But what is it like to wear them in public?As the year draws to a close, Guardian Live invites you to a special event with columnist Tim Dowling, film and TV writer Stuart Heritage, and cook and author Meera Sodha. They will join comedian, broadcaster, and occasional Guardian contributor Nish Kumar for an evening of sharp observations, seasonal reflections and behind-the-scenes stories from the Guardian. Continue reading...

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4 w. ago Meera Sodha’s recipe for Massaman tofu and potato curry with rainbow chard | The new vegan

Cut corners, but not flavour, with this updated take on a hearty, vegan-friendly curryA confession: I have already written a recipe for massaman curry. But since that was published in 2018, I have had a baby, a breakdown, travelled back to Thailand and eaten more massaman curries, all events that have contributed to this new recipe. The old dish is delicious, but in 2025 I didn’t want to make a paste from scratch. Instead, I wanted the funk and soul that a ready-made curry paste could give me and to use that as a springboard to fly into dinner time. A shortcut on time and ingredients, yes, but not on fun and flavour.Join Meera Sodha at a special event celebrating the best of Guardian culture on Wednesday 26 November, hosted by Nish Kumar and alongside writers Stuart Heritage and Tim Dowling, with Georgina Lawton hosting You Be The Judge live. Live in London or via livestream, book tickets here. Continue reading...

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