As Strong As Soup

For me, summer meals often mean creating a selection of mezze dishes (or should it be meze? I don't know and neither does my dictionary). I'll regularly make French carottes râpées and some classic hummus but, just for a change, here are two alternatives to those classics which should freshen things up a bit.  I use the amounts given here to serve 2, 3 or 4 people as part of a mezze, depending on how many other dishes I can be bothered to make. Spanish Carrot Salad I've had this recipe scribbled in a notebook for more than 30 years but, until recently, I'd never actually made a version using the PX (Pedro Ximenez) sherry vinegar that the recipe called for. It was only during lockdown that I shifted myself to buy some on line. But you could use another sherry vinegar, as long as you add a little extra sweetness (and maybe a dash of PX sherry). I've played around with the dish a little to suit my tastes these days but it's not complicated to make and it's an o...

It's been easier to buy less common ingredients than basic cupboard essentials during the recent strange days. Flour has been the most difficult item to find in my tiny corner of the world. Fortunately, I could find gram flour and I used it to make onion bhajis and socca and, because I like a simple life, I always make very straightforward versions of those treats in the oven.  It might be useful at this point if I try to be quite clear for once in my life: when I say gram flour, I'm talking about chickpea flour. In the UK most chickpea flour seems to be sold as gram flour, unless it's ‘farina di ceci’ imported from Italy. There is technically a difference between gram and farina di ceci but for these simple recipes that shouldn't really matter. It's also possible that you might find chickpea flour called ‘besan’. Once again there is technically a difference between besan and gram flour but the same product is often labelled with both names in this country so let...