table for friends
Skye McAlpine
The English food writer talks lockdown rituals, Italian comforts and the magic of mealtimes
How do you think our relationship with cooking has changed during lockdown? For me, cooking has always been about the people I cook for – a way to bring together family and friends, new and old. And while I still love cooking for the people I love, during lockdown I have learnt to love cooking for myself, too. That can be very rewarding, if in a different way. Breakfast, lunch and dinner became the highlights of each day and I found myself putting effort into each and really enjoying it.
What is comfort food to you? Risotto is my ultimate comfort food – when I was a child, my mother would always make it on Sunday nights to banish the end-of-weekend blues. And chocolate: I have a very sweet tooth.
What’s your go-to quick weeknight meal? I love a good pasta, because it takes moments to throw together; I almost always have the ingredients kicking around in the kitchen and it always feels like a treat to eat. One of my favourite pasta dishes is with creamy mascarpone and crisp, salty pancetta and there’s a recipe for it in.
