It’s all about the butter.

I live in South London and divide my time between work, the kitchen, and taking as many holidays as I can possibly manage.

When at home, I spend an inordinate amount of time cooking, and trying to attune my ardent passion for offal with catering for The Resident Vegetarian. I make it my mission in life to introduce people to new food: I am the opposite of the fussy eater, and will try – and generally enjoy – virtually any edible substance that’s put in front of me.

The holidays are chosen pretty much with a food itinerary in mind, and the packing on return is often a challenge and an embarrassment. Some of the souvenirs we brought back home include a butter warmer, cake carriers, éclair cases, a stone chopping board, numerous bottles of chilli sauce, spices, questionable drinks, many, many aprons, and, to despair of the check-in staff, my beloved red shopping trolley. Once back at home, I’ll feed my friends, family and a persistent neighbour, who descend on us regularly like a pack of hungry wolves, with food inspired by foreign lands – admittedly with generous creative licence and at risk of upsetting purists.

I have a very soft spot for Northern Italian kitchen, but will eat and attempt to cook anything. The rest of Italy features a lot, and so does France. Latin America also gets special treatment, in particular the achingly sweet Brazilian desserts. As for English food, is there anything so underrated? After many years living in London, I am still discovering great ingredients (who ever knew of gooseberries?), and in love with the tenderest, tastiest lamb I have ever had. I am still trying to understand rhubarb, though. I’ll get there.

A few things I cannot say no to: have I mentioned offal? And raw beef, avocado, coriander, guava, mozzarella, yoghurt, sword fish, Portuguese desserts, good morning coffee, Neapolitan pizza, butter. When in doubt, add more butter. I am also on a permanent mission to find the perfect shortbread.

I am building the blog one page at a time, so please bear with me and recipe indexes and other features will come. Along with this blog, I am starting The Green Door Supper Club, based both at my home in South London and at various venues nearby, who have generously agreed to lend me their kitchens for an evening. Look at the Supper Club page for planned dates and how to book. I’d love to see you there, and also to hear from you. If you’d like to comment on what you see here, share your food stories, or just stop to say hi, email me at hungrylarder@gmail.com, or leave a comment.

Thanks for stopping by.

The Hungry Larder