Fast Ed's Articles

Barbecue

There’s a beautiful synergy there between the sacred message of the season and these eager cooks being born into Christmas. Hopefully it goes a bit better for them at Easter.

BARRAMUNDI

Female barramundi lay billions of eggs that cling to the reeds and weeds. Along come the males and they, um, take care of things.

BASIL

Hearty, earthy flavours are needed to ground and contextualise food, much as a frame gives proportion to a picture.

BAY LEAF

For the cook, there is a world of difference between fresh and dried leaves – the wondrous aroma of fresh leaves is unmistakeable, whilst dried leaves are politely musky.

BEEF SHIN

No cut of meat is better suited to slow cooking than beef shin. Served as shanks in France and osso bucco in Italy, shin is one of the most flavoursome treats your butcher can offer.

BEETROOT

Beetroot’s popularity with chefs has much to do with its sweet flavour. In fact 30% of all the world’s sugar production comes from a member of the beet family.

BERBERE SPICE

It’s named for the Berber tribes who inhabited the Tunisian and Moroccan deserts in ancient times, they were a nomadic people and successful spice traders.

I first spied him on top of the fridge, way out of reach. How a dinosaur could climb so high was beyond my reasoning, but I hoped he’d hop down soon so we could get better acquainted. I was four, and he was my birthday cake.