Recipes

By Thom Ntinas The forested wild mountains near my hometown are full of wild boar which have been hunted since the times of Alexander the Great and Philip II of Macedon. So today’s dish feels celebratory and one for special occasions. Full of spices from the East, which Alexander and his Macedonia soldiers brought back to Greece together with many other ingredients, exotic birds, fruits and vegetables. This wild boar stew recipe makes enough for four people, with a little le

By Alessandra Pino and Ella Buchan (from A Gothic Cookbook) Image: Sam Bilton Ingredients - Serves 10-12 300g butter, softened 350g caster sugar ½ tsp orange flower water 3 medium eggs, plus 3 extra yolks, beaten 1½ tbsp caraway seeds 300g plain flour 1 tsp baking powder Pinch of salt ¼ tsp ground cinnamon Zest of 1 orange Method Preheat the oven to 160℃/140℃/320℉/gas mark 3. Grease and line a 20cm round, high sided cake tin. Beat together the butter and caster sugar with a h

A delicious way to make quince edible using mead.

Sam Bilton's take on the medieval Tartys in Applis (apple, pear and dried fruit tart) made with saffron pastry.

Delicious savoury biscuits which are perfect with a mead cocktail (or any other pre-dinner drink for that matter).

Four thoroughly modern cocktails made with mead.

By Neil Buttery The Christmas Bowl Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a heady, hot boozy snifter and smoking bishop is the best of all, in my opinion; a marvellous mixture of port, roasted oranges and spices, enjoyed by Ebenezer Scrooge and Bob Cratchit in the final scene of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol (1843). The drink is smoking because the oranges – preferably bitter Seville oranges – are roasted until blackened. The drink is a bishop because it is one of

by Sam Bilton A cheeky little cocktail containing Falstaff's beloved 'sack'. Add less sloe gin for a drier drink. Serves 1 30ml Manzanilla or Fino sherry 30ml Gin 30ml Sloe Gin (add less for a drier drink) ½ tsp lemon or Seville orange juice Ice Place the ingredients in a cocktail shaker with a few ice cubes. Give it a vigorous shake then strain into a chilled martini glass or similar. Top with a prune on a cocktail stick. Alternatively drop the prune into the bottom of the g

By Thom Ntinas Serves 5 (with leftovers!) Ingredients 800g - 1Kg pork shoulder in one piece (bone and rolled is fantastic) One teaspoon of each: cumin seeds, fennel seeds, mustard seed and dried thyme 6 long pepper corns (all from Steenberg spices!) 350g white grapes plus a few extra to grill as a garnish 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil 1 teaspoon sea salt 1 small pointy cabbage or a savoy cabbage 2 medium leeks 1 large fennel bulb 2 turnips (roughly chopped to bit

By Neil Buttery You can use vodka or gin for this cocktail – or a 50-50 mix. It’s a delicious savoury cocktail with a touch of sharp sweetness. Once you’re over the shock of the first one, you’ll be quickly making a second. It’s important to get the ingredients and your martini glass good and cold before you make the drink. For one cocktail you will need: 6 pickled cocktail onions + a dash of the pickling liquor Plenty of ice 2 ½ shots gin or vodka ½ shot dry Vermouth Spoon t

By Sam Bilton (from Much Ado About Cooking ) French toast, eggy bread or Pain Perdu (literally ‘lost bread’, a bit like the ‘lost ‘princess Perdita in The Winter’s Tale only to be rediscovered by the end of the play) has been a recipe since the days of ancient Rome. It was (and still is) recognised as a great way to use up left over bread and makes a crackling breakfast or brunch dish. Ingredients – serves 4 2 x manchet loaves or 6-8 small slices of bread 4 whole eggs 4 t

By Neil Buttery You can devil pretty much anything: lamb’s kidneys, mushrooms, paneer, tofu, leftover roast chicken, beef or turkey on Boxing Day. The sauce keeps for two weeks in the fridge. Serves 2 as a light lunch or snack, or three as a first course, or six as a savoury course. For the devil sauce: 2 tbsp English mustard 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce or mushroom ketchup, or a mixture of the two 1 tbsp vinegar good pinch of Cayenne pepper dash of Tabasco sauce freshly groun