'Why do you insist on using all these odd ingredients that no one has ever heard of? Can't you cook with normal stuff that we can get in any supermarket?" These accusations have been thrown at me since I began writing for the Guardian six years ago.
Well, today's unusual is tomorrow's commonplace. I heard recently that hummus is now the most widely sold spread in UK supermarkets, which says it all, while olive oil, fish sauce, flat-leaf parsley, chorizo, mozzarella, lemongrass and countless others have crossed the line from strange to ordinary in the last 20 or so years.
This is not to say that sourcing is always easy – you may have to go to a farmers' market or specific shop to get this unfamiliar veg or that unusual spice. But isn't cooking meant to be an adventure? And would Ihave this column if I cooked only potatoes, button mushrooms and bacon?
And anyway, why should we be confined to items that happened to be grown or imported here 50 or 200 years ago? Only the other day I found shiso leaves that had been grown in East Sussex. How exciting! I have near me a Thai grocer and a Spanish supermarket, and Lebanese and Turkish places not too far away.
Of course, that's pretty irrelevant if you don't live in a city, but the biggest revolution of all is taking place online, which is good news forall of us. The list of specialist outlets these days seems endless: Steenbergs Organic was one of the first to sell online organic and ethically-sourced spices and ingredients, and is still going strong; and I've bought soba noodles, yuzu and mirin from the Japan Centre for years. There are also several general Asian stores where I go for Chinese sausages and Thai curry pastes – Wing Yip and Wai Yee Hong both have vast ranges, while the Spicery in Bath brings in dozens of wonderful exoticspices and makes its own aromatic blends.
Recently, I've even started sellingsome of my own favourite ingredients online. Iam especially proud of our association with Moon Valley, which promotes peace in the Middle East by helping Palestinian farmers on the West Bank sell their produce abroad.
But all these online shops are just the tip of the iceberg – there are thousands out there to suit every taste and whim. And in doing so they've broken down barriers and made the world a bit more exciting, accessible and delicious.
Saffron and chilli lamb skewers
These are as tender as can be and come with a wonderfully rich, spicy sauce. Serve them with saffron or plain rice topped with a spoonful of yoghurt sprinkled with urfa chilli flakes. The recipe draws inspiration from one of the most exciting cookbooks I've seen in a while, FoodOf Life: Ancient Persian And Modern Iranian Cooking And Ceremonies, by Najmieh Batmanglij – I highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in Iran's glorious food culture. Serves two to four.
1.5kg leg of lamb, with bone and fat, trimmed and cut into 5cm pieces (togive 800g of meat)
Salt and black pepper
3 medium tomatoes
60ml olive oil
1 medium onion, very finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
¼ tsp saffron threads
1 tsp ground dried Iranian lime
3 fresh or frozen lime leaves, finelyshredded
1 tsp urfa chilli flakes (or other mild chilli flakes)
½ tsp ground cardamom
½ tsp caster sugar
Heat the oven to 200C/390F/gas mark 6. Season the lamb with a quarter-teaspoon of salt and some black pepper, then spike the cubes of meat on to eight skewers. Arrange these side by side in a roasting tray just large enough to accommodate them and set aside.
Coarsely grate the tomatoes into abowl (so most of the skin stays in your hand), and discard the skin.
Heat the oil in a medium frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onion, fry gently for a couple of minutes, then add the garlic, saffron, ground dried lime, lime leaves, chilli flakes, cardamom, sugar, half a teaspoon ofsalt and some black pepper. Cook for a minute, stirring once or twice, then stir in the tomato flesh.
Spoon the mixture evenly over the lamb skewers, so that all the meat is coated. Cover with foil and roast for 15 minutes. Lower the temperature to 150C/300F/gas mark 2 and cook for two more hours, basting once, until the meat is very tender.
Place two skewers on each plate, spoon over the thick sauce from the bottom of the tray and serve at once. If there's quite a lot of runny juice left in the tray, transfer the skewers to a plate, cover and keep warm. Pour all the juices into a sauté pan, place on a high heat and cook until reduced and thickened.
Walnut and halva cake
Use plain or vanilla Arab-style sesame halva for this rich cake. To serve as a dessert, have thick whipped cream alongside. Makes one large loaf.
85g unsalted butter at room temperature, plus extra for greasing
100g caster sugar
2 medium eggs, lightly whisked
200g plain flour
¾ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp bicarbonate of soda
Salt
130g soured cream
For the topping
60g unsalted butter
120g walnuts, roughly chopped
1 tsp ground cinnamon
25g dark muscovado sugar
170g plain sesame halva, broken into large, 3 cm pieces
Heat the oven to 160C/320F/gas mark 2½. Grease a 12cm x 25cm loaf tin with a little butter, and line the base and sides with greaseproof paper.
First, make the topping. Put the butter in a small saucepan on a low to medium heat. Leave to melt, thenlet it sizzle for a few minutes until it's light brown and smells slightly nutty. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool. Once cool,mix the butter, walnuts and cinnamon, divide the mixture in two and stir the sugar into one ofthe portions (you may need to useyour hands to break up the sugarand spread it evenly through the nuts).
Now for the cake batter. In an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar on a medium speed until light and fluffy, then add the eggs a little at a time. Sift together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and a pinch of salt, and bit by bit add this and the cream alternately. Make sure not to over-mix.
Spread half the batter on the base of the cake tin and evenly scatter over the sugarless nut mix. Dot the halva on top, and spread the remaining batter over this – the halva will drag a bit into the batter, but don't worry about that. Finally, sprinkle the sugary nuts on top.
Bake for 40-45 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool for 20 minutes, then gently remove from the tin by lifting the greaseproof paper. Take off the paper and leave the cake to cool onawire rack (it may crumble otherwise). Wrapped, the cake willkeep for a day or two.
