Chef Nicole Pisani made the news last week when she accepted a job at Gayhurst community school in Hackney, east London. Having worked for the likes of Yotam Ottolenghi (Nopi) and Anna Hansen (The Modern Pantry), Pisani is now serving lunch to 500 hungry school children. Cook has had a leaf through her first book, Magic Soup, which features over 100 nourishing bowlfuls. Our prediction for school hall favourite? Squash and peanut butter soup. , and chicken and stars – a chicken broth strewn with a constellation of stelline pasta and star-shaped veg. The book will be published by Orion on 12 February.
Hailing from Limpopo, the northernmost province of South Africa, Mokhado is a new brand offering healthy, pure cold-pressed oils. Cook has drizzled the macadamia nut oil on a simple salad, and added the avocado oil to a coconut chocolate mousse, and urges you to do the same. Order your starter pack from mokhado.com
Always on the look-out for pleasing kitchenalia, the Cook desk can confirm that splatter patterns are everywhere. We are coveting Labour and Wait’s marbled enamel dinner plate (£8.50) and mug (£7). Though not together. And not with Ruby’s marbled brownies. Too much of a good thing etc.
The latest exhibition at the Science Museum, Cravings, asks: can your food control you? Exploring how food affects your body, brain and eating habits, it will attempt to show how your appetite has been shaped by food. Cook will be hoping to find the answer to our own cravings, namely “the finest Jabugo ham known to humanity” and, er, “cheese, mainly.” Opens 12 February. sciencemuseum.org.uk
Cook recently watched Ritesh Batra’s 2013 film, The Lunchbox. It follows the famously efficient dabbawallahs of Mumbai on a journey of mistaken (lunchbox) identity. One particular peripatetic tiffin tin transports missives from an unhappy homemaker who unwittingly delivers a tower of lovingly crafted curries to an appreciative, if picky, widower. Available to download on Netflix.
What have you discovered in the world of food this week? Share your finds with us in the comments below.
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