With chefs' guilty pleasures, Tinie Tempah and an interview plus recipes from Jack Monroe, this month's issue is full of treats
If ever there was a person in the right place at the right time it is Jack Monroe. Food blogger, cookery writer and activist, Jack's recipes have come like a breath of fresh air in the cookery world. Recipes that at their heart and soul are the product of a life spent cooking on a limited budget. They come seasoned with the first-hand frustration of a parent on a tight budget, but who wants to eat decent, homemade food. In this month's OFM, we celebrate the publication of Jack's first cookbook with a healthy handful of recipes.
Food is not just about sustenance, about getting something on the table at the end of a working day. Sometimes we eat for pleasure alone. A pleasure we are happy to share. But occasionally food is something we prefer to eat in secret. Not out of a sense of shame of course, more out of the desire to experience the frisson that comes from doing something that might be disapproved of. You know, the secret fag behind the school bike shed. The cream cake when we are on a diet. The …well, lets not go there. The sort of food that somehow always tastes better simply because we know we shouldn't be eating it.
Few things make me happier than tucking into something guaranteed to raise the imperious eyebrow of a humourless foodie. This month we have persuaded some of our favourite chefs to share their secrets, including Claude Bosi, Hélène Darroze and Tom Kitchin. And I keep them company too.
We also toss pancakes with Eric Lanlard, investigate fake meat and eggs, and Yotam Ottolenghi takes us shopping for Middle Eastern food in the high street.
And as always there are plenty of good things to eat. I have put together a series of recipes for something dear to my heart: the little fritter lifted sizzling from a hot pan. Oh, and we have Tinie Tempah and of course Jay Rayner and Rachel Cooke. In all, I think you will agree, quite a lot to digest.