Melissa is one of our regular columnists as well as running food and recipe project Fowl Mouths (fowlmouths.co.uk) and appearing on BBC One’s Saturday Kitchen. She is a vocal advocate for the promotion of black and minority people in food.
Born in Taipei, Tiffany moved to the US as a child, then moved to London in 2006. She started a Taiwanese bento box business and supper club in 2015 and is now a stay-at-home mum of two. She also competed on Channel 4’s Crazy Delicious in 2020 and won episode two. @tiffcooksalot
Benjamina is a cookbook author, recipe developer and food stylist. She appeared on the seventh series of The Great British Bake Off, and finished as a quarter-finalist. Find more of her recipes on her blog, carrotandcrumb.com.
Born in Istanbul, Kurdish chef Melek grew up in north-east London. Inspired by the food of her roots, she opened her own café in 2013. Since then, she’s taught and written about food, culture and identity, and worked with food charities Made in Hackney and The Felix Project.
photographs LOUISE HAGGER
@fowlmouthsfood
@bakedbybenji
@mels_place_east
MELISSA THOMPSON’S
One-pot chicken, pumpkin & pepper rice
Ideal for bring-a-dish parties, you can time this one-pot so it’s ready for when it’s time to leave, then transport it in the pot it’s cooked in, so it won’t take up already limited fridge space and there will be no scrabbling around, looking for containers. This is an easy, tasty and comforting dish with warming spices that give it a Christmassy feel. I make it with chicken, but you can use leftover turkey, too – ideally leg meat.
SERVES 4-6 PREP 15 mins plus resting COOK 45 mins EASY
1.8-2kg whole chicken, jointed and the breasts divided in two, or use four legs, jointed into drumsticks and thighs
5 garlic cloves
5cm piece of ginger, peeled
5 spring onions,
2 roughly chopped,