4 conference pears, peeled and roughly chopped

1 cardamom pod

1 star anise

1 stick cinnamon

150g caster sugar

200ml white wine vinegar

Place all dressing ingredients in a saucepan and simmer over a medium heat for 20-30 minutes or until pears are very soft and liquid has reduced and is sticky.  Push the mixture through a fine sieve, discarding fibrous solids.  Stir the dressing well to combine. 

This makes approximately 1 cup of dressing and will keep for up to 3 months in an airtight container.

Cooking Classes

There's no doubt that Christmas is just around the corner now.  I have two festive cooking classes coming up:

- Having a festive drinks party is a great opportunity to try your hand at some impressive canapes. I am running a creative canapes class which will leave you with plenty of ideas for entertaining at Christmas and beyond.

- If you're hosting Christmas this year and don't want to follow tradition to a T, I will be showing you how to put together a stylish festive feast.  I will also give you plenty of tips for timing, shopping and planning in the Christmas dinner with a twist class.

I have added January to the class calendar, so if you're looking to keep busy during the cold dark start to the year, check out the comfort food for family and friends, new year nutrition and around the world in ate-y ways classes.

And remember, if you are interested in private tuition, I can tailor classes specifically for you to cover any area of skill or cuisine you want to concentrate on.  Have a look at the essentials classes I offer – you can choose one or more to create your own program. 

Eating: Bountiful Brazil

We are freshly back from our first trip to South America, visiting Rio & Buzios.  We were treated to some excellent food, and a much wider variety than I had expected.  Rio is a large multi-cultural city, with influences from the Japanese, German, African, Spanish and Portugese immigrants, to mention a few.  Sushi sits happily alongside the traditional churrascaria meat-fest and the tapas style of eating is found at most bars.  Fruit is a real highlight with exotic local fruit alongside the cream of favourites like pineapple, strawberries and mango.  Lemons are never seen for the abundance of limes (sometimes called lemons), which make the traditional caiparinha drink, which are drunk everywhere, and especially satisfying from a plastic cup on the beach.  Buzios is a fishing village north of Rio with excellent Argentinian and French restaurants, but eating in the small bayside restaurants where the fishing boats come in was a real treat.

Pink peppercorns (shinus, no relation to true vine pepper) are native to Brazil and embraced on everything from ice cream and salads to meat and seafood.  One particularly good dish in Buzios was fresh grilled squid with pink peppercorns, oregano and lime - which I've just made at home, to take me back to blue skies, sandy beaches and bare feet.

Buzios-Style Grilled Squid

500g squid, cleaned (ask your fishmonger to do this)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 1/2 tablespoons pink peppercorns, lightly crushed

1 long sprig oregano, leaves picked

pinch salt & pepper

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

mixed leaves, to serve

1 lime, quartered, to serve

Cut the squid open to lay flat and scrape any excess membrane from the inside. With a sharp knife make diagonal slits in the squid 3mm apart being careful not to slice right through.  Repeat going the opposite way then cut squid into 1cm strips (you may want to cut the squid in half horizontally if it's large).  Rinse in cold water and pat dry with paper towel.  Mix squid with oil, pink peppercorns, oregano and salt and pepper in a bowl and refrigerate until ready to cook.  Heat oil in a deep frying pan until hot then fry squid for 2-3 minutes until opaque and curled.  Drain on paper towel and serve immediately on a bed of mixed leaves with a wedge of lime as a starter.  Serves 4.

Spice of the Month: Saffron

Last week saw the annual saffron harvest in Conseugra, Spain, which I was lucky enough to attend 5 years ago.  Saffron is a spice surrounded by mystique, intrigue and quite commonly, deception.  Due to it's sensitive cultivation and therefore high price, saffron adulteration has taken form in dyed corn silk, red gelatine, safflower petals and even ground turmeric.  If you're travelling in the middle east and are offered 'cheap saffron', look closely to ensure it is the slightly flared, deep red stigma of true saffron.

The saffron harvest is usually less than three weeks long, when the violet flowers bloom at dawn to reveal three precious, bright red stigmas, connected by a pale yellow style - see picture above.  These are hand-picked and dried to a moisture level of 12%, giving pungent, earthy, aromatic characteristics.

Saffron can be found in many dishes such as Italian risotto, Indian desserts and rice dishes, Spanish paella, French bouillabaise and Moroccan tagines.  Saffron is produced in Spain, Kashmir and Iran, which has 90% of the World's production.  Spanish and Iranian saffron are excellent quality, but Kashmiri saffron is considered the most premium saffron on the market.

A little goes a long way with saffron, and be sure to infuse the threads in a small amount of warm water or cooking liquid for about ten minutes before adding it to your dish.

Saffron Fish Pie