Time to learn your A to Z's with Nigel Slater. Over the past few weeks Nigel has taken us from Apples to Zaatar in four savvy and signature installments with umami, wasabi, fairtrade and farmers' markets in between.

Here are a few letters to get you started, followed by links into each of the four essays:

B is for berries, the scarlet and purple superfoods loaded with antioxidants and vitamins. Richly flavoured in their own right, berries make a sensually delightful dessert with a little sugar and grated orange zest and left over a low heat. Add a splash of Cassis as they cool for a heady dessert and eat warm with slices of hot, toasted panettone.

O is for organic. A force to be reckoned with, the organic shopper has probably done more than anyone else to change what is on the shelves of our shops and supermarkets. Demanding, enlightened, challenging and not afraid to spend money, organic shoppers have proved that it is the customers, not the supermarkets, who are in charge. The organic high street has come a long way from the lonely, wizened swede in the local health-food shop, and in some cases can now support entire stores devoted to chemical- and pesticide-free living. We demanded it, we got it. What we must do now is to encourage the business by putting our cash in its tills. Things can only get greener.

P is for pomegranate, the fruit of the moment. The fruit's deepest ruby red seeds, both sweet and tantalisingly sour, and its glowing juice have long been appreciated in the Arabic-speaking world, and now at last we have caught up. Scatter the glistening seeds over thick slices of baked aubergine, dressed with a splash of pomegranate molasses, lemon juice and yogurt. Or add the seeds to a salad of watercress and fresh mint, to sit aside chargrilled, garlic-scented lamb. Few things edible are as seductive to look at, but beware their juice - refreshing and vitamin-rich it may be, but it will stain impermeably everything it touches.

Y is also for yogurt. No self-respecting foodie would buy theirs sweetened and flavoured; only the natural live stuff, preferably made from goat's or sheep's milk, is considered now, fortified with acidophilus-bifidus and preferably with a Soil Association logo to boot. It is worth straining some, occasionally, through a muslin-lined sieve, then stirring into it a little very softly whipped double cream. A mean scattering of unrefined sugar and some wild strawberries and you have dessert close to heaven.

Nigel Slater's A-Z of modern eating in four installments:

A-E - Sunday January 8, 2006

F-L - Sunday January 15, 2006

M-R - Sunday January 22, 2006

S-Z - Sunday January 29, 2006

Comments (1) | February 2 - 2:15 PM

category: Lists