Almond Spice Cookies

by Diana 

As much as my colleagues consider me a Gringe because I refuse to play Secret Santa or to wear a thematic-appropriate jumper every year, I truly love Christmas. My childhood memories of this season include the arrangement of the manger under the stairs of the house; wearing new stinging skirts which my mother had bought during the summer holidays;  crisp white sheets for the bedroom changed on Christmas Eve; an irrational fear of Santa Claus (linked to the idea of someone breaking and entry!), Barbies and pertinent accessories all over the living room and delicious, family-heritage-specific kitchen aromas, of course. Although as a child I valued receiving presents, I also developed a sense of giving from a young age. As soon as I got some autonomy around the kitchen and, with the acknowledgement that as a child I did not have any income and couldn’t rely on pocket money to buy presents (as it came from my dad rather than have genuinely earn it myself), I discovered a true sense of reward in taking the time to think and handmade something for the enjoyment and pleasure of others. That was translated mostly in the shape of cookies and, later on, stollen (my German sister-in-law’s recipe of course) as well as homemade Venezuelan Christmas bread. 

I have carried on the tradition of cooking to give for the last 25 years (!). This year I have made various cookies recipes to give away and to be grateful to people that have worked with me over the last 12 months. I am leaving you with the latest batch I did this week, hoping that in the making, you too could reflect on the true meaning of Christmas. 

© The Teaspoon

Spice & Coconut Tray

by Diana

Having a multicultural heritage comes with mixed and confusing cravings of dishes and ingredients. If it wasn't for my profession requirements of constantly ensuring my degree of consciousness is relatively healthy then I could easily question my degree  of sanity or wonder anxiously about hormonal imbalance. 

There are weeks during which I’ll fully embrace Latinamerican flavours. That often comes with vibrant music, colourful table props and a handful of chilli flakes and cornmeal. Other weeks I’ll be Middle East inspired, playing Aleppo instrumental sounds and flipping through the same old late 1940’s black and white photographs of my grandparents. Those days I’ll be topping up my dishes with za’atar, tahini and experimenting with harissa paste. I should say that the latter tends to dominate in accordance with my uneven genetic distribution. 

The recipe I leave you with today represents somehow a fusion of this combined heritage. The coconut brings all the warm tropical textures but the spice mix and pistachio nuts can simultaneously take you on a journey to exotic regions. I hope you enjoy the ride!

© The Teaspoon

Peppered Smoked Mackerel Pâté

by Diana 

One of my New Year resolutions was to avoid any food wastage in the household. Although this may sound like an apparent environmentally mindful driven behaviour, the determination is actually triggered by the food access restraint my family faces in Caracas -alongside the rest of the country, apart from the government officials, of course.  It’s sad to listen to my dad telling me that he is forced to change the ever traditional turkey based Christmas dinner as the price of the festive bird is the equivalent to 10 minimum wages –in relation to the currency rate in the black market. 

On reflection I realise that reducing food waste is nothing but my pain driven behaviour.

Strong emotions tend to activate change though and I feel I am constantly challenged to develop creative skills in the kitchen that would help me fulfil this goal and avoid unnecessary guilt. The recipe today is the result of the meticulous check I now carry out of 'the best before dates' in the products in my fridge, in a conveniently flavourful concoction. 

© The Teaspoon

Bircher Muesli

by Diana 

For a long time now, passports have joined the long list of basic good shortages Venezuelans are brutally faced with. My husband has been waiting since April for his new documentation and we have now reached the point of travel band due to the looming expiration date. As we refuse the government-led black market sale of $1,000 a passport (a bargain considering official employees are shamelessly charging five times that amount), I am going to take us on a comforting food journey across less corrupt countries around the world. We’ll be starting with Switzerland at the top 5 with its 118 year old Bircher Muesli recipe which ingredients I am sure Swiss would never struggle to source. 

© The Teaspoon

Coconut Scones with Coconut Custard

by Diana

I was forever convinced that all my grandma’s cooking was 100% Syrian. Looking back and analysing the brief compilation of recipes we inherited, I can clearly see that she not only had to make pertinent adaptations to match the local available ingredients but would also make her very own versions of traditional Venezuelan dishes which as a child I trusted were of Middle East origin. I find quite moving to go through the pages of her old notebook and encounter recipes of one culture or another, arbitrarily. To me that’s the perfect exemplification of cultural integration and the best model to follow when it comes to writing (or posting) my very own history of migration.

This is Mary Berry's buttermilk scones recipe but adapted with dry toasted coconut and demerara sugar and served with an also versioned custard, enhanced with the humble flavours of this classic tropical fruit. 

© The Teaspoon

Beetroot Maftoul

by Diana


I am not sure if it’s just me (over)coming to the age or actually paying more attention but I seem to be surrounded by new mums, each of them with their very unique approach and conviction about postnatal nutrition. Last week I learnt that sugar and salt was not recommended during the first year of the newborn, and later on, I discovered that any form of lactose does not marry well with breastfeeding. My mother works with neonates and it took her years to develop the miraculous ‘new mum’s diet’ which comprises a long list of unappealing restrictions. Nevertheless, results are surprisingly positive if obediently followed. I am confident dieting alone is not the only risk factor for postnatal depression but a bland meal can certainly contribute to a saddened heart. Therefore, my challenge this week is to offer that lactose-free-devoted new mum of mine a flavourful and colourful recipe that would hopefully make her meal times more attractive so her tummy can be satisfyingly ‘refilled’.

© The Teaspoon

Chocolate & Coconut Loaf

by Diana 

When I chose ceramics as my specialty creative medium during my BA in fine arts, I never imagined that many years later, the closest I would get to the kiln experience would be through my kitchen oven. Back then, I fell in love with the magical alchemy and uncertainty of the process. Learning to be patient cost me several broken pieces and a few tears. It was a painful but therapeutic process -as it tends to be. 

I remembered discussing with my tutors the so many similitudes between ceramic practice and baking. The later would always be somehow more replicable and accessible but, to me, the transformative quality of ingredients through careful measurement and specific procedures and their choice-less  submission to elevated temperatures would forever remind me of my now forgotten ceramist side. This neglected persona emerges on those counted ocasions though, when the outcome of my kitchen experiments turn into textured, volumed and proportioned shapes worthy of brief contemplation, remindding me that it's my choice to see the world throgh the lens of art, either using clay and brushes or relying on flour and baking powder.  

Ps. The lack of ‘interior’ images is not just me conceptualising the cake as a sculpture but it was another office birthday intended cake so giving it sliced was going to compromise the lack popularity I have already achieved. 

© The Teaspoon

Creamy Pumpkin Curry

by Diana

Halloween always makes me think of those very simple yet essential privileges that living in London offers. We never celebrated this 'feast', not necessarily because it was pagan, but possibly because it was dangerous. I never drove my pink tricycle in the streets around my neighbourhood as even in the 1990’s my overprotective parents, rightly so, feared for thieves and kidnappers. I cannot really imagine what could happen now if a bunch of children are out and about in the streets in Caracas, knocking on strangers doors and demanding sweets. Furthermore, with so many basic foods shortages, it’s hard to think of what could people give away, if they can afford to be generous at the moment. There is one other thing in my mind, very much linked to the previous idea, and that is food waste. I am creative, don’t take me wrong, and I strongly support pumpkin carving as with any other art activities, it could be good for your wellbeing, specially if it's done as a family. But if on the following day you could use your spooky sculpture leftovers to cook something together, then that would not just balance out your kids' nauseating sugar intake, but could also give you an excuse of another family gathering during which, in the back of your mind, you could be grateful for those very simple, yet essential moments of freedom that other families are not able to afford. 

© The Teaspoon