Xanthe Clay

Cress is enjoying a revival, with Waitrose reporting a 147% year-on-year rise in searches as consumers rediscover retro foods. The article counters Gary Neville’s criticism by highlighting cress’s vitamins, minerals, peppery flavor and versatility in sandwiches, salads and potato dishes. Although chefs and meal-kit companies have largely overlooked it because of transport concerns, cress stores well and is simple for anyone to grow at home, including in eggshells.

Hot weather and limited rainfall may cause smaller or less reliable harvests of several fruits and vegetables, although supermarkets say supplies should remain unaffected. The article offers practical substitutes: sweet potato, squash or beetroot for carrots; shallots, leeks or frozen onions for onions; fennel or frozen celery for celery; dried, split or tinned peas for fresh or frozen peas; shaved vegetables or massaged kale for lettuce; frozen or dried garlic for fresh; plums for tomatoes; peaches or nectarines for apples; and blackberries or frozen blueberries when fresh blueberries are unavailable. It presents adaptable cooking as a useful response to both temporary shortages and increasingly extreme weather.

Government preparedness advice and expert warnings prompt practical guidance on building sensible food reserves for emergencies, emphasising non‑perishable staples, tinned goods, freezer use, and long‑lasting fresh items. Recommendations cover quantities, storage methods and flexible cooking options to ensure households can manage during power outages or supply disruptions.

Xanthe Clay assesses supermarket ranch dressings through an anonymized blind tasting, sampling each plain and with lettuce. She argues that most products contain more oil than the traditional dairy-based recipe and rely on preservatives, resulting in bland, salad-cream-like flavors. Despite these shortcomings, one supermarket dressing is judged worthy of serving, while the article also provides a homemade recipe, storage guidance and serving suggestions.

Xanthe Clay and tinned-fish expert Patrick Martinez assess 14 supermarket varieties of tuna in olive oil for appearance, aroma, texture and flavour. The test finds that higher-quality tuna tends to contain large flakes or whole belly fillets, while cheaper products may use compressed scraps. The article also explains tuna species, sustainable fishing labels and the nutritional benefits and mercury risks of tinned tuna, noting that skipjack generally has the lowest mercury levels and albacore the highest.

Xanthe Clay argues that traditional British teatime deserves to be reclaimed as a simple, restorative daily ritual rather than reduced to a tourist-oriented hotel experience. Drawing on royal history, family memories and her own loose-leaf Assam routine, she praises teatime for providing a low-effort opportunity for food, conversation and genuine social contact without the demands of a formal dinner or alcohol. She suggests that this pause may be especially valuable amid the artificiality of social media and AI.

A blind taste test of 21 supermarket strawberry boxes finds that premium varieties generally offer better flavor and texture than budget ranges, although price differences can be small and some budget products may not be the cheapest. The test assessed appearance, scent, flavor and texture, while highlighting broader changes in British strawberry farming, including robotic harvesting and year-round production. All strawberries are recommended to be brought out of the refrigerator for several hours before eating.

Xanthe Clay compares supermarket chocolate caterpillar cakes, including Marks & Spencer’s 36-year-old Colin, Aldi’s Cuthbert and Lidl’s newly launched Cooper. The cakes are anonymised and assessed for appearance, taste and the amount of chocolate used for their faces and feet, with a chocolate face considered essential for a birthday cake. The test also highlights that even premium supermarket versions are highly ultra-processed, while emphasizing that these cakes are primarily associated with celebration and tradition rather than nutrition.

Xanthe Clay taste-tests picnic foods from eight major UK supermarkets, selecting four standout products from each. The recommendations favour strongly flavoured, portable foods that remain appealing when eaten cold, including red-pepper dips, tortillas, salads, olives, cured meats, quiches, cakes and desserts. Waitrose, M&S and Tesco receive especially enthusiastic praise, while Aldi, Lidl and Asda offer several good-value choices. The guide advises shoppers to avoid heavy quiches and pasties, pair dips with sturdy vegetables or bread, and choose foods suited to outdoor eating.

Xanthe Clay conducts a blind taste test of supermarket salad creams with a fellow enthusiast, judging them on flavour balance and familiarity when tasted alone and with tomatoes and lettuce. The article contrasts salad cream’s traditionally downmarket reputation with mayonnaise and highlights Dame Mary Berry’s RH Amar dressing, which uses rapeseed oil and real cream and contains fewer ingredients associated with ultra-processing, although it is more expensive. Heinz serves as the established, cheaper benchmark, while M&S is noted for avoiding modified maize starch but still using preservatives.

Chef Angela Hartnett argues that Neapolitan-style pizza should be eaten by hand, rejects pineapple, chicken and prawns as toppings, and favors thin, moderately crisp bases. Drawing on her Italian heritage, she also recommends freshly grated Parmesan, cooking spaghetti whole without rinsing, and simple pasta sauces made with only a few ingredients. Her Waitrose range is praised for avoiding palm oil and largely avoiding ultra-processed ingredients, while Italian cooking’s inclusion on UNESCO’s intangible cultural heritage list is cited as evidence of its cultural importance.

Xanthe Clay blind-tastes 23 supermarket chicken Kyivs, comparing budget, mid-range and premium versions on flavour, texture, price, weight and welfare standards. The cheapest products often use reformed meat and can have rubbery textures, while more expensive Kyivs generally contain whole chicken breasts, more meat and stronger welfare credentials. The article argues that a premium Kyiv may offer better value per 100g and recommends the Better Chicken Commitment as the preferred welfare label among the products tested.

A blind taste test of eight unsmoked back bacon products finds that none matches the best traditional bacon, but several offer good options with less disappointing shrinkage. Products made without added nitrites or nitrates are potentially less associated with bowel-cancer risk, although they remain red meat and may contain saturated fat. Producers either cure the pork with salt, sugar and seasonings or use fruit extracts and other flavourings to recreate conventional bacon flavour. The article also explains that “nitrite-free” is an imprecise label because pork naturally contains trace nitrates.

Rising ingredient, energy, tax, business-rate and employment costs are pushing restaurants toward extremely lean staffing models. Restaurants including Daise, Eórna and Restaurant Folium operate with only a chef and one front-of-house worker, reducing costs while giving diners direct access to chefs and sometimes allowing lower prices. The arrangement requires long hours, shared domestic and operational responsibilities, and difficult solutions for illness or holidays. Although the model can preserve food quality and help small businesses break even, its limited capacity may constrain chefs’ ambitions and make expansion necessary.

Buying British produce in season can improve flavor and freshness while supporting domestic farmers and, in some cases, reducing environmental costs. The article recommends British rhubarb, lobster, green beans, strawberries, asparagus, blueberries, apples, lamb or hogget, and soil-grown tomatoes, with specific optimal eating periods. It cautions that environmental benefits depend on production and transport methods: heated British greenhouses may offset gains, while air freight and water-intensive overseas farming can make imports more damaging. Supermarkets are urged to stock more British produce despite consumers often paying a premium.

Loose-leaf tea can provide a richer, more sustainable and cheaper cup than tea bags when brewed correctly. Experts recommend using fresh water, neutral-material teapots, roughly 2.5–3 grams of tea per 250ml of water, and removing the leaves or pouring out the tea once brewed to prevent bitterness. Brewing times vary from about 90 seconds for a delicate cup to three or four minutes for a stronger brew, while whole-leaf teas can generally be infused multiple times.

Olive oil prices have risen sharply because of drought and disease, although wholesale prices have recently begun to fall. Xanthe Clay and expert taster Judy Ridgway assess nine oils across budget, mid-range and luxury categories, emphasizing harvest freshness, fruitiness, bitterness and pepperiness over price. The tasting suggests that flavour and personal preference, rather than cost alone, determine whether a bottle is worth buying.

Xanthe Clay recreates Gentleman’s Relish after AB World Foods discontinued the traditional anchovy spread, citing its limited commercial appeal and inability to find a buyer for the brand. After testing uncooked and cooked versions, she develops a recipe using anchovies, butter, mace, allspice, ginger, cinnamon, lovage or celery leaves, breadcrumbs, water and salt. Cooking the anchovies produces the darker colour and mellow flavour she considers essential, while the article also offers several other anchovy-butter variations.

Air fryers can produce crisp roast potatoes, leftovers, fish, chicken, root vegetables and kale with substantially less fat than deep-frying. Their compact, powerful hot-air circulation promotes browning and dehydration, but they cannot fully reproduce the texture of deep-fried foods. Wet batters, fresh cheese, runny doughs, churros and delicate leafy greens tend to fail, while models with paddles and solid bases can handle dishes such as risotto. The appliances also require considerable counter space.

Food writers Xanthe Clay and Andrew Baker anonymously taste-tested 28 Easter eggs priced from £7 to almost £160, judging them on taste, texture, aroma, appearance and packaging. The 2026 selection reflects fashionable flavours such as salted caramel, pistachio and orange, alongside crunchy inclusions. The testers found that expensive luxury eggs often offered superior presentation but that high prices did not guarantee better chocolate, with some supermarket products competing successfully with premium offerings.