Winter flavours

Warming. Hearty. Comforting. Joyful. From roast meats to sumptuous stews, the dishes of winter really make the season sing. We asked several leading chefs and food writers to share the dishes, ingredients and destinations that make the colder months worth celebrating

- ELLA WALKER

Nisha Katona

Founder of Mowgli Street Food restaurants

What do you most look forward to eating in winter? Things like lamb shanks, oxtail, slow-cooked curries with meat on the bone — no Indian would ever cook a meat curry without meat on the bone. And this is the time of year where you can get those really unctuous, marrow-releasing cuts of meat. That’s what I really have a passion for in the winter: my slow-cooked curries. You get that wonderful, golden veneer of fat on the top and it’s almost the colour of fire, reminiscent of warm evenings. Because you’re cooking with turmeric and paprika and chilli powder, those fiery colours rise to the top. When it’s grey outside, you want sunshine to emanate from the food you’re eating.

What’s your favourite winter ingredient to cook with? Every year, I grow cavolo nero — no matter how grim it is outside, you can go and cut a few leaves of cavolo nero and you’re still eating from your own garden. And that’s what we Indians love about British veg — this chlorophyllrich, robust leafage and foliage that stands up to a real hammering in the pan. You’re getting those wonderful, iron-filled, deep flavours that come out with things like mustard seed, a bit of lemon, turmeric, a little bit of garlic.

What’s your biggest winter indulgence? Persimmon — sharon fruit. I can eat 12 in one sitting. They taste of caramel, but the way I like to eat them best — and this is really messed up but I urge you to try it — is with salmon roe. I use slices of sharon fruit like a cracker, then pop some salmon roe on them and you get this salty, poppy sweetness. I just can’t get enough of it.