WELCOME TO April

Ask someone what Easter means to them in terms of food and they’ll probably come up with chocolate eggs, toasted hot cross buns oozing with butter, and finally, roast lamb. We certainly would – which is why this issue is a celebration of all these great things, to be enjoyed along with some welcome days off work. So, here’s to walks in the sunshine and sharing life-enhancing good times and unhurried feasts around the table with friends and family.

APRIL moments…

Every year the National Trust teams up with Cadbury

WIN Denby oven-to-tableware worth £500

This month we have a cracking cook-the-cover prize

Raymond Blanc invites you for an unforgettable gourmet lunch

This is the golden ticket for food lovers… Join delicious. and meet Raymond Blanc OBE in person, have a private garden tour and lunch at Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons

Join delicious. for a food festival like no other!

• GREAT TASTE FOOD MARKET SHOWCASING THE BEST OF BRITISH

FREE! Signed copy of Nathan Outlaw’s Home Kitchen

Hurry! Offer ends 30 April 2017

WIN a gourmet festival weekend

Enjoy the best cuisine at the Colmore Food Festival with a two-night luxury hotel stay, plus dinner at Glynn Purnell’s Michelin-starred restaurant

LOOSE ENDS

Don’t let this month’s special ingredients linger in your kitchen – make the most of them with these smart and easy ideas

FROM OUR INBOX…

Guy Dimond’s Did We Really Eat That? [March, p80] brought

FOR STARTERS

NEWS, NIBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE AND GOOD THINGS TO DO RIGHT NOW

WISH LIST

These pages are about us doing the hard work so you

When only chocolate will do…

Give the Easter bunny a run for his money with our pick of the best chocolatey treats, from budget buys to high-end designer eggs. Whether you buy and give, or share or savour, is up to you…

TEST REPORT

WHERE Eckington Manor Cookery School, Worcestershire

Why the food choices we make are so important

As shoppers, we’re used to big stores overflowing with good things to eat. Philosopher and food lover Julian Baggini considers the effect our need for broad choice is having on the planet

“You need to be innovative in this world”

Susan Low takes the high road to Scotland to meet Anja and Jan Jacob Baak of Great Glen Charcuterie, who led the way in putting British cured meats on the international map. This is food artistry at its best, and if you haven’t tried it now’s the time – but it’s a delicacy that almost never came into being

THE SURPRISING TRUTH ABOUT THE FOOD ON OUR PLATES

Celebrated food writer Felicity Cloake is a bit of

CHEERS!

Susy Atkins rounds up the hottest wine and drinks trends

Do you REALLY need to eat your five-a-day?

Five? Seven? Fewer? More? Conflicting reports make it difficult for consumers to be sure just how many servings of fruit and vegetables are best to eat each day. Sue Quinn talks to the experts to shed some light on the matter

THE GREAT BRITISH GETAWAY

Could it be time to flee for a well deserved break? We’ve rounded up four ideal locations, from an island retreat and Suffolk village gem to the Welsh wilds and a Cornish B&B. Bliss might just be on the cards

BITE-SIZE BREAKS MALAGA

Once down at heel and overlooked by tourists, Andalusia’s second city has smartened up. There are new museums, a hipster port area called Soho – and the compact city centre is just made for tapas crawls. Les Dunn takes a look around

Are TV and technology ruining our cooking skills?

Has the instant gratification of iPhones and YouTube seduced people into avoiding the kitchen? Food-loving journalist Polly Glass thinks so. It’s time, she says, to get back to simple pleasures

Delicious EGGS

”Learning to cook an egg properly is a wonderful start

EGGS YOUR ESSENTIAL KNOW-HOW

These techniques are the building blocks of kitchen skills – crack them to reach a whole new level of expertise

ALWAYS A WINNER Chilli

Who can turn down an inviting chilli laced with aromatic spices and just the right lick of heat? This trio covers all bases – a veggie version, a chipotle chicken and a slow-cooked beef, all zinged up with lime and coriander

PIZZA

The heady aromas of this much-loved Italian dish will fill your kitchen and transform your home into a Neapolitan pizzeria

“Please help me make an Easter lunch everyone will love”

Cooking for a crowd can be a challenge, especially when there’s a big celebration involved. Reader Kirsty Benham appealed to us for inspiration, with this brief: a fabulous menu with family appeal and minimal hassle. Here’s what Jen Bedloe, our acting food editor, came up with. There’s even an egg hunt for the kids – big and small!

The after-lunch FAMILY QUIZ

The Easter feast has been devoured, but the washing up can wait… Appoint a quizmaster and enjoy Phoebe Stone’s three-course menu of brain-teasing fun

THE ALTERNATIVE EASTER ROAST

Easter has its food traditions, but if you’re not cooking

NATHAN OUTLAW’S OUTRAGEOUSLY GOOD PIES

The Cornwall-based chef is famed for his artful ways with seafood, but that isn’t all he cooks. These recipes from Nathan’s latest book prove crowdpleasers are always welcome – especially if they involve a crisp crust or cloud of buttery mash

Sticky, gooey and very, very chocolatey

Set all thoughts of guilt aside… These recipes put a grown-up spin on childhood chocolate bars – the ones that had you rushing to the sweetshop after school

EASTER BAKING

Even if you haven’t been giving up those luxuries for Lent, the bank holiday is still a fine time to bake something more adventurous. Debbie Major’s innovative recipes will go a long way to guaranteeing a happy weekend for all

COMING NEXT MONTH IN…

• The big bank holiday brunch • Gill Meller packs a

Mary Berry’s GUIDE TO PERFECT SCONES

PHOTOGRAPHS GEORGIA GLYNN SMITH FOOD STYLING LISA HARRISON

Nonna taught me the importance of food

Easter for reader Emma Marijewycz starts with upholding her Italian grandmother’s tradition of baking this creamy, zesty tart

JUST ONE PAN TO WASH UP

These hassle-free recipes are packed with flavour – and save time afterwards… Brilliant!

NEW! THE LEFTOVERS RECIPE

Make the fishcakes up to the end of step 3; keep covered

NEW! THE BUDGET RECIPE

Make up to the end of step 2 up to 24 hoursahead and

NEW! THE BATCH-COOK RECIPE

Cook to the end of step 2, then cool completely and

NEW! SOUP OF THE MONTH

Make the soup up to 48 hours ahead and keep covered

Minced beef

It may lack the glam factor but it’s a dream to cook with – the perfect ingredient for a host of crowd-pleasing midweek dishes

HOW TO EAT WELL ON A FAST DAY

Are you one of the many people who’s taken to the 5:2 diet, restricting your calorie intake to 500 a day for two days a week? These low-cal recipes from Laura Herring’s latest book give so much satisfaction, you might want to eat them every day

STUFFING

A decent chunk alongside your roast can be surprisingly calorific, so we’ve cut the fat and cals but kept all the flavour

WATERCRESS

RECIPES AND FOOD STYLING ELLA TARN PHOTOGRAPHS ANDREW

QUICK COOK VEGAN

With no meat involved, vegan food lends itself well to speedy cooking, and the fresh-tasting results are all the better for the blissfully minimal prep time. Food blogger Katy Beskow’s recipes from her new book are the opposite of slow cooking – in the very best of ways

THIS MONTH IN THE delicious. KITCHEN…

While the delicious. food team are testing recipes

HOW TO TEMPER CHOCOLATE AND MAKE EASTER EGGS

Tempering chocolate may seem fiddly at first, but once

CANELÉS

The perfect canelé has to have a uniform golden-brown