I never need an excuse to light a fire outside and cook ‘al fresco’ and now it’s officially barbecue season that’s where I’ll be. The golden rule of cooking on a barbecue, or wood fire, is to cook over embers, not flames and to distinguish whether you are cooking something that requires searing rather than slow cooking. So, it’s always best to cook meats that require a fierce heat as soon as the flames have died down, and the embers are still glowing. Then grill ingredients such as fish, which require slower cooking, as the temperature of the fire drops. By mid-summer the herbs in my garden are at their best and plentiful so can be used liberally on barbecued food. Gutsy herbs indigenous/native of the Mediterranean and Middle East work very well in barbecues and include rosemary which adds an aromatic and resinous flavour working very well with fatty and rich meats such as lamb. I like to use the straight, small woody branches for my lamb, onion and rosemary skewers. Oregano and marjoram are both closely related and I still struggle to identify between the two growing in my garden. Oregano has a more pungent and domineering flavour whereas marjoram is slightly more delicate, also faintly savoury and lightly sweet scented. If using oregano then use a little more sparingly. It has a special affinity with tomato based dishes and sauces and works very well when put with lemon and garlic in a marinade. Coriander can be chopped and mixed into natural yoghurt with Indian spices to create a delicious marinade for both chicken and fish. The pungent, slightly citrus flavour marries well with lime zest and juice to make a herb butter which is delicious served on seafood cooked on a barbecue. Dill is often associated with Nordic or Russian cuisine and is used extensively in Persian cuisine. I love it with fish, particularly salmon which barbecues very well. Combined with sumac a Middle Eastern spice which adds tartness and astringency to food it makes a perfect marinade for salmon. Mint adds another dimension to whole grilled courgettes that have been allowed to cool a little and then drizzled with oil, salt and pepper and chopped mint. The same combination is also delicious on grilled halloumi cheese.

One of my go to recipes when I fancy a meat free meal which is wholesome and healthy. From my Second Chalice Recipe Book and copied into my online Recipe Book now.

What's the best milkshake to throw at a politician? McDonalds (deliciously thick) or BurgerKing (an explosion of flavour in a cup)? Not condoning violence here at SF HQ obvs, but just keeping up with the news.

Bury Wholefoods is a Bury St Edmunds-based organic food shop, established in 2018 by owner and health food fanatic Dawn Carrington. Bury Wholefoods has a regular market stall on Bury St Edmunds market on the 1st Saturday of every month. You'll find a range of organic wholefoods and also be encouraged to adopt a 'zero waste lifestyle' by taking your containers to refill. As well as wholefoods there's a zero waste product range and the opportunity to go plastic-free and help the fight for a sustainable environment. They sell a number of wholefoods that feature in our recipes here on SuffolkFoodie including buckwheat for our yummy chocolate, hazelnut and buckwheat brownies and quinoa for our tabbouleh salad. If you can't make it to the market or want to order online they have a very good website.