A weak hello from the late-summer sweatbox. Each day I walk out our door with a full face of makeup and trudge back in, ten hours later, with none, my cream blush having melted away with the humidity and my will to turn on any kind of heat-bearing appliance.
It can be hard to muster the energy beyond servo Frosty Fruits this time of year, so it pays to eat easy. I prefer, most of the time, to just assemble plates of delicious ingredients willy nilly, like some kind of Tuscan villa contessa, rather than attempt anything that feels like true cooking. But that could also be the toddler mum in me, the urge to snack plate is strong.
So rather than instruct you on too many specific recipes and fiddly bits, approach this newsletter as broad-brush summer inspiration, a way to reawaken your dinner mojo that may have leached away with your concealer. The produce right now is so good, needing such little intervention, that it’s almost impossible to not eat well and fresh. The vibe? A ball of good mozzarella in the fridge at all times, some silky prosciutto, plush stone fruit, crisp cucumbers, tinned fish, fresh seafood, ripe tomatoes, all the herbs, simple pasta, things on toast. It’s giving heavy Nigel Slater. Ok, let’s go: