Titbits & Crumbs

Crème de la crème

Whether perched atop a wedge of spicy ginger cake or spooned over more traditional crumbly fresh-baked scones or shortcakes with strawberry jam, Rodda’s Cornish Clotted Cream is what summer is all about. Its rich, gold cratered crust, like crème brulée, invites swashbuckling ransack. Try a glob over average ice-cream and witness an opulent transformation. Rodda’s Cornish Clotted Cream £1.99 for 227g at Waitrose.

New kids

Stevie Parle and Alice Hart debut Quadrille’s ‘New Voices in Food’ series with My Kitchen: Real Food from Near and Far and Alice’s Cookbook. Both have top-notch cooking pedigree: Parle worked with some of London’s best chefs before opening his acclaimed restaurant, The Dock Kitchen; while Hart, a food editor and stylist, ran popular supper clubs showcasing her signature easygoing cookery style. Two highly original reads to snap up at £14.99 each.

Hot plates

Given that the Winemakers’s Dinners at The Providores are advertised inside the café, a destination deservedly beloved of homesick Antipodeans and sun-hungry Londoners, tickets are some of the hottest around. Chefs Peter Gordon and Cristian Hossack design tasting menus to match offerings from some of New Zealand’s finest winemaking talent including Vin Alto (July) and Pegasus Bay (August). To book at £70 a head call 020 7935 6175 or visit www.theprovidores.co.uk.

Milked eggs

Mottra Caviar ‘milks’ mature roe from farmed sturgeon without killing the fish, producing one of the only sustainable caviar products available today. Mark Hix is a fan, as are buyers at Harvey Nichols and Selfridges. Spoon over Melba toast for a retro appetiser, or scatter the dainty eggs over asparagus and hollandaise. From £49 for 28g. www.mottra-caviar.co.uk

Stacked palates

The Flavour Thesaurus (Bloomsbury, £18.99) contains more than 150 recipes subtly interwoven into Niki Segnit’s compelling prose exploring the world of flavour. Flavour ‘fills in the details’ of taste: try holding your nose, suggests Segnit, to observe how the olfactory sense is crucial to determine the subtleties of how you experience and enjoy a particular food. This imaginative and beautiful little book deserves a place on the shelves of every serious home cook.