Every dish tells a story

Salad and Side Dishes

Tangy Carrot Salad

Tangy Carrot Salad

It was December 1972 and I’d been living in Damascus for about 3 months, getting used to the presence of armed soldiers on every street corner; taking the shortages of food, clothes, and basic necessities like bread and bottles of calor gas, in my stride. […]

Orange, Celery and Beetroot Salad with Feta, Olives and Red Onion

The sun is shining, for the third day in a row.  You may think I harp on about the weather but in Scotland, the sun shining and the temperature rising above 15C degrees is cause for celebration. What do we think of when someone mentions […]

Hector’s Waldorf Salad

Hector’s Waldorf Salad is a combination of fresh raw apples, celery slices, broken walnuts and sultanas, mixed with good quality mayonnaise. I like it because it’s quick and easy to prepare, tastes fresh and crunchy and is a change from the quick sandwich I usually have […]

Creamy Vegetable Mash

A winter dish in May? Surely, that can’t be right. It can if you live in Scotland. Our weather is bizarre and unpredictable most of the time.  I used to complain about the heat when I lived in Saudi Arabia and Cyprus. Today, I would […]

Cracked Green Olives

Olives Love them or hate them, in the Middle East and Cyprus, they appear on the table at practically every meal. I can’t remember when I first tasted olives, but I know I didn’t like them. The first ones I tried were small, black and bitter. I […]