Editor's letter

Within moments of arriving at the Kerestes’s home to celebrate patriarch Zoltan’s birthday (page 47), I felt as though I was, well not actually Hungarian, but definitely remotely related in some way. The kitchen was full of friends and laughter, and as I sprinkled caraway seeds onto some pre-dinner pastries, I reminded myself, yet again, how fortunate we are here at Feast to be invited into homes around Australia to share family celebrations and hear wonderful stories. Europe is the focus for our tastebuds this month. For Dinner And A Movie (page 80), we discover some flavours of regional Italy – travelling to Liguria in an ode to the stunning I am Love, which screens on SBS in May. We also join Food Safari’s Maeve O’Meara on a trip to Sardinia to meet local producers and chefs. Her journey includes a skip across the strait to the French island of Corsica, and continuing in the Gallic vein, we have an exclusive extract from the French Food Safari cookbook (page 100) – the companion to Maeve and Guillaume Brahimi’s TV series.

Closer to home, to celebrate Mother’s Day, we ask four home cooks and two well-known chefs for the one recipe that reminds them most of their mothers. Guy Grossi shares his mother’s veal cannelloni, while Dan Hong of Ms G’s and El Loco whips up the pork ribs that were a childhood staple. Aside from the recipes, they also offer moving memories of the lessons learned in their mums’ kitchens. What memories or inspiration do you have from your mother’s cooking?

P.S. Our new star symbol denotes our Everyday Feasts. As some of our recipes can involve unfamiliar ingredients and techniques, they can appear to be trickier than they actually are. We wanted to make it easier to spot the recipes that we think are surprisingly simple and quick (under 1½ hours), with ingredients that are easy to source (or substitute).