Author: Jawdah Hannad Basara

Chimichurri lost some of its geographical identity and evolved into something more akin to a universal sauce somewhere between Buenos Aires parrillas and suburban garden barbecues. It’s not a critique. Spreading this sauce is worthwhile. It enhances almost anything it touches, from a bowl of roasted vegetables that needed something to bring them together to a resting flank steak. It is garlicky, sharp with red wine vinegar, slightly herbal, and just warm enough from the chilli flakes to register without overpowering. It turns out that the debate over whether to use dried or fresh herbs is more contentious than it…

Making something in a hotel dining room in the 1890s and having it continue to appear on menus, in recipe columns, and in home kitchens well into the next century is a peculiar form of immortality. Oscar Tschirky, the renowned maître d’hôtel of the Waldorf-Astoria, most likely did not expect that. Using what was on hand and what would look good in a large dining room, he was putting together a salad for a charity ball. Mayonnaise, celery, and apples. That was the entire situation. So far, no walnuts. Not a single grape. There were just three ingredients, but they…

The Deliciously Ella Nutty Granola is hard to miss when browsing the free-from section of any reasonably stocked British supermarket. The branding conveys a calm confidence that many wellness food companies strive for but only a few truly attain, and the packaging is tidy and the font is not hurried. In most cases, the contents of the bag are actually better than what the packaging implies, though this isn’t always the case. The granola’s recipe, which can be summed up in one sentence, consists of 60% gluten-free rolled oats, a revolving cast of cashews, flaked almonds, and crushed hazelnut pieces,…

When you open the refrigerator on a Monday morning and see a row of well-assembled jars that have already been sorted, layered, and completed, you feel a certain kind of satisfaction. Granola and yogurt pots provide just that—not in the sense of an aspirational lifestyle, but rather in the subtle, pragmatic sense of a choice made the night before that pays off when your mind isn’t completely focused. It’s not the kind of breakfast that’s photographed in golden hour light with a linen napkin next to it; rather, it’s designed for actual mornings. Thick yoghurt at the bottom, a spoonful…

A recipe that won’t go away has a subtle stubbornness about it. For more than ten years, Yotam Ottolenghi’s granola bar has been making the rounds on food blogs. It has been photocopied, handwritten in notebooks, and transformed into health-conscious versions using chia seeds and coconut oil, but for some reason, the original still works. It’s easy to understand. That is, in part, the point. However, there is a difference between effortless, and this recipe occupies a very small but desirable area in between. The dry mix is fairly simple: 190g of rolled oats, 30g of ground almonds, roughly chopped…

Only those who are actively involved can relate to a certain type of tiredness. It’s not physical exhaustion. It’s the specific fatigue that sets in around month four of wedding planning, when every decision — down to whether the soup course should be butternut squash or roasted tomato — feels like it carries the weight of an international summit. That was where Priya found herself last October, sitting at her kitchen table with a catering contract, three conflicting opinions from her mother, and a menu that still somehow managed to please nobody. So she did what a growing number of…

There’s a waiting room in most people’s minds when they think about artificial intelligence and medicine — the image of a robot in a white coat, clipboard in hand, asking you to say “ahh.” It’s a nice picture. Additionally, it is nearly completely inaccurate about the current state of affairs. Instead, something stranger is taking place that can be either more comforting or unsettling, depending on your point of view. In emergency rooms, algorithms are already analyzing brain scans and identifying possible strokes before a specialist has even logged in. AI tools built by companies like Aidoc and Viz.ai are…

When you open your refrigerator after a long day and feel nothing at all, there’s a subtle unease. Not hunger, not inspiration — just a vague sense of defeat. A half-used block of cheese, some tomatoes going soft near the back, a jar of something you bought for a recipe you never actually made. Most people close the door and order something instead. The food stays. Waste builds up. Additionally, it is rarely discussed. This pattern, which food researchers sometimes refer to as “fridge blindness,” is more widespread than it may seem. Unilever’s mayonnaise brand, Hellmann’s, developed a whole product…

For many years, nearly everyone in nutrition science agreed that the Mediterranean diet was effective. Cardiologists recommended it. Dietitians had faith in it. Scholars continued to revisit it. And unlike most diets that spark brief enthusiasm before quietly fading, this one held up. But something shifted in 2026 — not a reversal, more of a sharpening. The recommendations became more detailed, the science became more precise, and a significant European trial basically said, “The classic version is good, but we can do better.” The PREDIMED-Plus trial, the largest nutrition study ever conducted in Europe, followed nearly 4,750 adults over six…

Many people are familiar with a certain type of morning. Phone alarm, coffee machine, inbox — all within about twelve minutes of opening your eyes. It feels productive. You feel like you’re making progress. However, the body is already doing something you didn’t approve of between the first sip of coffee and the third scrolled email. It’s switching to conservation mode. And for your metabolism, that’s a quiet disaster. Although it hasn’t quite become a daily habit, the science behind this is surprisingly clear. As soon as you wake up, your body breaks its overnight fast and waits for cues…