PORTRAIT: PAUL MITCHELL. PHOTOGRAPH: GARETH MORGANS
As the season turns golden, bringing autumn flavours to match, there’s much to celebrate in our kitchens as we look towards the year’s end. It’s a time to reassess how we cook, embracing the hearty, the wholesome and glorious autumn produce such as apples, pears, squash and pumpkins, But did you know how many pumpkins get thrown away each year after being carved? See p12 to find out how much soup those discards would make if rescued from the rubbish heap. I enjoy a bit of creative carving, but we have waaaay better things for you to do with pumpkins this year - see p58 for inspiration. (That risotto! That pie!)
This issue has lots to provoke thought, too. Do you ever stop to think about where sugar comes from as you open the packet? On p88, John Whaite brings the story to life, with stunning recipes alongside. And on p102 John Gregory-Smith visits a war-torn area of the world to see the inspiring work of the World Food Programme.
Our taste buds trigger significant memories for so many of us. When my mum died back in my mid teens, I was left navigating the weekly shop and cooking for my brother and dad. There were two packet mixes I bought regularly: Green’s cheesecake and little boxed sachets of lemon meringue pie filling.
Mum gave me solid training in the kitchen and was a fine cook herself (pang of sadness that she never got to know what I do for a living), but my younger brother and I yearned for treats we’d only rarely been allowed when Mum was alive. Sometimes we ate that fake-lemony pie filling from the pan as we sat on the sofa watching The Generation Game. On p14, Debora Robertson muses on reports that sales of old-school mixes have been soaring. Could it be to do with the comfort I sought back in the 1970s? Maybe. But there’s surely more to it than that, and I seize on any sign that, as Debora sees it, food elitism might be on the wane.