The dominant flavour for today’s evening meal was bay, harvested from our garden and dried or partially dried.

The main course was roast belly pork, marinated with crushed bay and garlic as well as salt and pepper and mixed in olive oil. I don’t think I’ve used bay with pork before but I pulled the idea from Nigel Slater’s Appetite, one of my go to cookery books. I love his writing style, sharing ideas but also inspiring creativity. In this case, it was the suggestion of accompanying roast pork with something aromatic (bay) and something hot or sharp (I used garlic but it could have been ginger or lemon or a number of other choices instead).

For pudding, I made malabi – sweetened milk set with cornflour. It was left to firm up in the fridge and then topped with chopped pistachios, dessicated coconut and a simple syrup infused with fresh vanilla and, yes, more bay. Hurrah for Laurus nobilis, an excellent and versatile flavouring.