Blessed are the peacemakers
The make tea not war mug – useful for households divided by Brexit perhaps, or perfect for seaside picnics
Make Tea not War mug £8, from the Imperial war museum www.iwm.org.uk
Smeg Portofino range
Smeg’s newest cooker has five cooking levels, three fans inside the main oven, closed door grilling and air cooling systems. It has an easy-cleaning enamel interior and comes in eight colours representing, to Smeg at least, the colours of the Amalfi coast (yellow, green, red, burnt orange…)
Smeg Portofino Range Cooker, from £2,399, from www.smeguk.com
Rockstirs
Guitar-shaped stainless steel teaspoons in four different designs. Impossible to resist. From Wow Factor kitchenware, who also do a camper van-shaped toaster.
Guitar-shaped teaspoons, £4.99 each or £17.99 for a set of four from www.thefowndry.com
Five of the best spring cookbooks
The Fod Map Friendly Kitchen by Emma Hatcher, Yellow Kite £20
Spin-off from Emma Hatcher’s lifestyle blog, She Can’t Eat What?!, the Fod Map Friendly Kitchen offers 100 recipes designed to help those with stomach issues ranging from IBS to Crohn’s and Coeiliac disease. Hatcher is a fellow sufferer and her book makes use of the scientific {recommended by the NHS) FodMap* diet (*one low in fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols ie processed foods and poorly digested short-chained sugars…)
On the Pulse by Georgina Fuggle, Kyle Books £16.99
Easy recipes for health-giving food involving the full monty of pulses (chick peas, lentils, endamame, soya and so on…). Dishes such as roasted aubergines with puy lentils, tomato black bean and nigella seed tart and fennel and fava bean soup or cabbage kale and aduki bean salad feature
Citrus by Catherine Phipps, Quadrille £20
Bound in lemony yellow boards, this evocative book includes 170 citrus-starring recipes ranging from Middle-Eastern salads and salsas to curries, curds and condiments. Highlights: orange blossom clafoutis, chicory braised with grapefruit, mandarin and soy and chicken with lemon and sorrel sauce
Street Food of the World by Genevieve Taylor and various Masterchef champions, Absolute Press, £26
Possibly more interesting as a commentary on the street foods of the Middle East, Africa, India and Asia than an actual DIY recipe book (street food may be easy to eat, but it’s often incredibly complicated to make and dependent for its deliciousness on circumstance, sun, palm trees etc) but even so you should find plenty to amuse – tiropita (Greeek feta and filo pies), Bunny Chow (breadroll stuffed with curry), Brik a L’oeuf (crisp-fried parcels of chickpeas and harissa}, satay sotong (squid skewers)
Mary Berry Everyday, BBC Books £26
The title refers to the type of food rather than Ms Berry’s ubiquitous presence on TV – so, recipes for daily meals given a bit of an oomph (cottage pie with venison rather than beef, eg, or haddock and cauliflower gratin, or Mojito cheesecakes) all delivered with Berry’s familiar no-nonsense clarity
