Cooking?

I'm a huge fan of North African food, which means something a lot of people seem to really hate: meat with fruit! Why is pork and apple OK but lamb and apricots or prunes is frowned upon?

Other favourite cuisines are Mexican, Italian, Greek, French, Polish and Chinese. Of course I adore traditional British food, a roast with Yorkshire pud, parsnips and carrots  roasted with honey, toad in the hole, minted peas, really thick gravy and of course, really good bangers with mash. I also love Mountain food: tartiflette, steak hachet, raclette - any cheesy potato combination.
I don't do fish though. Anything that swims, I don't want to know. Who knows what it's been swimming in!

I don't cook though. Well I heat food and occasionally do a pasta dish with fresh filled pasta and a simple tomato passata.











I do however have a bit of a flair for taste combinations.
I recently got my mum, who is a great cook, to experiment a bit. She'd made some cherry shortbread biscuits which were lovely. I suggested she try them with mincemeat instead of cherries and they are now going to be part of our Xmas day.
Then I persuaded her to make apple pie with cardamoms, something she would normally only add to pears. We loved it.


I also like to really go mad and mix up things no one else would ever dream of. My favourite was minced beef with Cinzano.

If I had to choose one food that I love above all others it would be globe artichoke, boiled or steamed and served with unsalted butter. Heaven. (Don't bother with tinned or artichokes in brine. Total waste of delicious food!)

What flavours do you love to experiment with?