Food News

Our chocolate issue is out now

Our April issue is out now. In his editor's letter, Pat Nourse walks you through what to expect.

By Pat Nourse
Our April issue is out now. In his editor's letter, Pat Nourse walks you through what to expect.
Were you a hoarder or a gorger? Did you gloat over your Easter takings like a depraved Gollum (another Cadbury Creme Egg, preciousssss?), or did you approach the haul with a take-no-prisoners gusto more akin to a dangerously starved Pac-Man? When I was a nipper, I was firmly in the Pac-Man camp, biting the ears off chocolate rabbits and smashing into chocolate eggs with glee. Come to think of it, not much has changed since then, which might be why I love these chocolate special editions. Speaking of smashing things, my new year's resolution was to treat every dessert put in front of me like a crème brûlée, hitting it very hard with the back of a spoon. Working my way through the recipes in this issue, I can tell you that a heavy spoon and caramel crémeux make a winning combination, though giving Mimi Thorisson's grandmother's crème caramel a good whack gives quite impressive results.
You can't, of course, have too much chocolate, but if the process we went through testing these dishes is any guide, there certainly comes a time when you hanker for something savoury in the mix, like O Tama Carey's superb Sri Lankan-accented dishes, and the radical takes on the Easter table from Grant Achatz. Then you can widen your horizons further still with our insider's guide to eating in sunny Tulum, immersing yourself in Southern culture in Charleston and exploring the Tuscan coast. For something further off-piste, join Richard Cooke in Macedonia or, to really (really) get away from it all, walk the Kokoda Track with Bryce Corbett.
And then smash a bit more of the good stuff all over again.