A roasted cauliflower 'steak' with harissa, walnuts and parsley, a quick prawn curry, and an audacious sugar pie

I often worry that my writing veers towards reductive, weekly rants about the weather. This isn’t wholly unjustified; I don’t think there’s anything that influences my eating habits more (besides, perhaps, a hangover).

In New Zealand, we are in that peculiar limbo between winter and spring. Yesterday was balmy. Today, glacial. The asparagus is still weeks away. So it’s hard to know what to feel like eating, as we inch toward spring.

I’m not sure where I stand with the use of the term ‘steak’ when talking about cauliflower, but in the absence of more suitable terminology, steak it is. Indeed, a hearty, thick wedge of cauli, all melty tender inside and caramelised and crisp on the outside - resist the urge to relegate this dish to the side. Make it the main event.

When you absolutely can’t be bothered cooking and you’re about to reach for the phone for takeaways - and then you remember about the prawns in the freezer. It really does pay to have prawns in the freezer. You’ll find most, if not all of the ingredients in your pantry. Rich, warming, comforting - but not heavy.

For years I lived within waddling distance from a pretty authentic New York style deli. Several things stood out - matzo ball soup, brisket, latkes and lox - all predictably delicious. A hunk of sugar pie was mandatory, no negotiation.

North America has a big tradition of eye-rollingly sweet pies inherited from European baking traditions. On paper it reads as if it shouldn’t work; an unholy amount of sugar, reckless, vile almost.

But in reality, sugar pie is quite simply perfect. Shameless, like a lot of American cuisine, but perfect nonetheless.

In a world full of seemingly endless tension, why shouldn’t we treat ourselves?

Have a lovely week all.

S xx

ROASTED CAULIFLOWER STEAKS WITH HARISSA, WALNUT AND PARSLEY

Maghrebi cuisine, which encompasses most of North Africa, is defined by flavours like harissa, that warming, often fiery chilli paste (harissa comes from the Arabic ‘harasa’ or to pound), ubiquitous in countries like Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria. The most credible old school version available here is Le Phare du Cap Bon - comes in little tubes with a lighthouse on the front. There are also some very good locally made versions - Alexandras is one to look out for.