Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Blog, page 4

The brightest bulb: Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's garlic recipes

A kitchen without garlic would be dull indeed. So let's stop taking it for granted and show it some respect

There are few things I depend on in the kitchen more than garlic. Salt and pepper, perhaps. Butter and lemons are in the frame. But garlic stands shoulder to shoulder with such essentials, able to enhance and define, to add both sweetness and savour. None of its allium relatives – onions, shallots, chives – does quite the same things in quite the same way.

It's a shame, then, that we...

Heaven scent: Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's most fragrant recipes

Add a little rose, lavender or lemon verbena to your dishes – and give your nose a treat as well as your tastebuds

I like dishes where the boundaries between flavour and aroma are blurred, where the scent starts working on you before you've even opened your mouth. Technically, of course, they're always blurred: scent plays a vital role in the sensation of taste. But highly fragrant ingredients – particularly plants whose essential oils are released by bruising and/or cooking – play even more i...

No need to laugh … Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's melon recipes

Melons are glorious on their own, fabulous partners to other fruits, and bring out the sensuous best in savoury foods

Call me puerile, but I struggle to say the word "melons" without smirking. It brings out my inner Sid James. That's ironic, really, because though they're a gift to the adolescent humourist, and are certainly sexy, put them in a kitchen and melons reveal themselves as among the most sultry, sophisticated fruits you can get your hands on.

The taste and scent of ripe mel...

Cukes' tour: Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's cucumber recipes

Served cold and underseasoned, cucumber can be the most disappointing of vegetables. But if you treat it with respect…

The cucumber has a bit of a hard time these days. Not blessed with good looks or a particularly enticing form, it struggles to shake off the 1970s aura of "something green to put in a salad that isn't lettuce". Indeed, if it's not prepared thoughtfully, cucumber can be the most forgettable of vegetables (or fruits, technically). But cukes have great potential. A...

Summer barbecue recipes by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

Bored with bangers and burgers? Then try these fab alternatives

Grilled carrot and halloumi

This robust yet refreshing dish is inspired by chef Sophie Wright, who cooked something very similar on my Three Good Things TV show. Grilled carrot is a revelation, and the orangey dressing brings the dish together beautifully. Serves four.

250g carrots
Extra-virgin olive oil
Juice and finely grated zest of ½ medium orange
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Cider vinegar
4 handfuls salad leav...

Guardian Weekend: summer food and drink special

In Guardian Weekend magazine this Saturday, a summer food special featuring 23 brilliant recipes by Britain's favourite chefs and restaurateurs, plus top tips from the people who know on how to make your summer party go with a swing

Yotam Ottolenghi's sensational salads

The sweetest tomatoes balance the bitter lemon in a winning dish that just screams: "Summer!"

Plus:
• Smoked mackerel and pickled walnut salad
• Butternut tataki and udon noodle salad

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's brilliant alternat...

Green fingers: Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's courgette recipes

Stuff their flowers, eat them raw, fry them, marinate them… just get to them quickly, before they turn into marrows

I could never get overexcited about a marrow. Unless it was diced and made into a chutney with apples and lashings of ginger. Or stuffed with chorizo, breadcrumbs and pine nuts. Or scooped out, filled with sugar and the resulting juice fermented into rum. OK, maybe I could get excited about a marrow, but I rarely get the chance, because I am a fiend for courgettes...

Here comes the summer: Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's raspberry recipes

From salads to tarts to cocktails, you can do so much with raspberries that you'll want to grow your own

I can't believe I haven't done it before. In nearly seven years of writing this column, I've yet to devote one to raspberries. How can this be? They're one of my all-time favourite, top-five, couldn't-give-them-up fruits. In fact, I love them a little more each year, that exquisite blend of acidity and sweetness, underpinned by that rosaceous aroma, seeming ever more pleasing. So...

Grill seekers: Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's barbecue side dish recipes

It's worth paying as much attention to what you're serving with your barbecued meat, fish or veg as you do to the main event

Once we've made the brave decision to fire up the grill for an outdoor feast, I don't think many of us have much trouble deciding what to put on a barbie. Even if it's just the classic burgers and bangers, so long as you have good-quality examples in the first place, you won't be disappointed. There's something about smoky, caramelised, a-little-bit-burnt-at-th...

Gee whisk: Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's meringue recipes

Simple, scrumptious and versatile puddings: yours for the whisking…

Today I'm going to harangue you to make meringue. If you can make meringue, you can always make an amazing pudding. And anyone can make meringue. Well, anyone with a whisk.

The crucial thing with this classic concoction is the whipping, first of the egg whites – which must be taken to the stage where their proteins are stretched to the max and they hold stiff peaks – and then of the sugar-and-egg mixture. The sugar must di...