Continued confinement is a challenge that’s bringing out the best (and worst) in all of us. Among the positives – and as any cursory glance at our social feeds will reveal – is that we’re putting in serious work in the kitchen, baking, stewing, pickling and preserving our way through isolation. Not only is food one of the few pleasures to punctuate our days indoors, cooking is also an anchoring activity to calm the soul – a worthy pursuit during uncertain times. 

Many of us are also speaking to our families more, picking up the phone, reviving relationships and remembering the common threads that bind us, which often revolve around food. With that in mind we spoke to three chefs and asked them to delve deep in their repertoire and share the dishes enjoyed by their families for generations. 

How did your childhood inform your cooking?

It’s all about understanding where the food comes from. From day one, I’ve been around well-cooked, well-sourced food. I’d help Dad dig up vegetables and pick fruit, and he’d bring animals to the table. It’d be common for me to be playing with the rabbits on a Tuesday and then tucking into a_ lapin à la moutarde_ on a Sunday.

Has food helped bring your family together during this crisis?

The crisis makes you phone the family a lot more and every day we’ve sent photos of what we’re cooking to each other. Food’s all about conviviality and sharing, so even if you can’t physically sit down around the table together, you can still make each other drool with envy.

**Why did you choose this recipe? **

It’s a dish that transcends several generations – octopus has always been a family favourite. It’s a classic way of cooking octopus but is a modern interpretation. My daughter loves this dish so it’s also a nod to future generations. 

Serves 6

1 octopus (approx 1kg), washed, gutted and beak removed

1 sprig of thyme

1 bay leaf

2 slices of lemon

1 tbsp black peppercorns

Sea salt

Half a soft-shell crab

Potato flour

Vegetable oil

Dressing:

6 tomatoes (plum, yellow, green)

1 red chilli

2 spring onions

Juice of 1 lime

1 tbsp cane sugar syrup

2 tbsp olive oil

4 sprigs of coriander

Salt

Cover the octopus with cold water and add the herbs, lemon, pepper and a generous amount of sea salt. Bring to a gentle simmer for about 2½ hours or until tender. Leave to cool completely then drain and carefully place on a double layer of cling film. Roll this into a sausage about 3cm wide. Secure the ends and place in the freezer to set. To make the salad, thaw a little and slice as thin as possible with a sharp thin-bladed knife and layer on a plate.

For the dressing, skin, deseed and dice the tomatoes, add the thinly sliced chilli and spring onions. Season and add the lime juice, syrup, olive oil and shredded coriander. Take the crab and pat dry with a paper towel, then dust in potato flour and fry in hot vegetable oil until crispy. Lightly season with salt and place on top of the octopus and serve.

How important is it to preserve family recipes and traditions?

Food is never just food; behind every dish is a story of a time, a place and a people. For my family in particular, because we have moved from India to Uganda and to England without much historical documentation, food and recipes are a way of preserving our past and our connection to it.

What are your earliest memories of cooking with relatives?

I grew up in a traditional Gujarati family, meaning that the men sat in the living room while the women were in the kitchen. I’m thankful that times have changed now, but I loved sitting on the counter between my aunts and grandma and feel part of their club while they exchanged gossip and made chapatis on the cast-iron tawa [a flat plan]. Plumes of freshly charred flour and laughter would fill the air.

**Why did you choose this dish? **

It was my grandfather’s favourite. Whenever I cook this I always think of him pirouetting around the food market, his nose in bunches of freshly cut flowers.

Serves 4

Rapeseed oil

500g paneer, cut into 2cm cubes

Salt

2 medium onions, finely chopped

3cm ginger, peeled, then grated or finely chopped

5 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 fresh green chilli, very finely chopped

400g cherry tomatoes, halved

1 tbsp tomato purée

1_½ tsp ground coriander_

1_½ tsp ground cumin_

½_ tsp ground turmeric_

½_ tsp chilli powder_

500g fresh spinach leaves, washed

Put 3 tbsp oil into a lidded frying pan on a high heat. Lightly season the paneer cubes with salt and fry them in the pan until golden on each side. Remove using a slotted spoon and place them on a paper towel to one side. Turn the heat down to medium, put more oil into the pan if needed and add the onions. Fry for 8-10 minutes, until they are golden. Add the ginger, garlic and chilli, stir well, then add the cherry tomatoes and tomato purée. Put the lid on the pan and cook the tomatoes for 6-8 minutes, until they start to break down. Then add the coriander, cumin, turmeric and 1¼ tsp salt and stir well, adding chilli powder if you’d like to. 

The mixture should look quite paste-like now with little (if any) liquid running from it. (If not, cook for another 5 minutes.) Return the paneer pieces to the pan, stir to coat them with the paste and heat through. Finally, add the spinach in batches, coating the leaves carefully with the sauce. Cook for a further 5 minutes with the lid on, to make sure all the spinach has wilted, then take off the heat. Serve with hot chapatis or naan bread.

Has this crisis changed your cooking habits?

We’ve all been baking! My sister, sister-in-law and my partner have all been making bread and cookies and I love that. What’s happening is horrible and I don’t know what the future holds for hospitality, but hopefully something good can come from this moment and we can all learn to cook more. 

What makes family recipes so important?

It takes us back to our roots and reveals where we come from. My mother learnt how to cook from her mother-in-law, who passed on recipes from her ancestors and these dishes will disappear if we don’t continue to cook them. When you cook, it transports you back to so many memories with your family, which is a beautiful thing.

**Why did you choose this recipe? **

It’s a family recipe that’s always been with us. Whenever we had something to celebrate we’d cook baby goat and it was the dish my father always wanted for big get-togethers. He’s no longer alive but it’s like he is with us when we cook this dish.

Serves 5-6

_2.5kg of kid goat, jointed _

_Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper _

_6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil _

4 choricero peppers

_4 garlic cloves, peeled _

1 tbsp smoked sweet paprika

500ml oloroso sherry

500ml chicken stock

_2 bay leaves _

Season the meat with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a big casserole dish over a medium/high heat, add the kid goat and the peppers and fry until the joints are browned. Remove the peppers and pound them in a pestle and mortar with the garlic cloves to make a paste, add the paprika. Mix the sherry with this paste and stir it into the meat, leave the alcohol to evaporate and add the stock. Add the bay leaves, then cover the casserole with a close-fitting lid and simmer for about an hour, until the meat is tender. Add water or more sherry from time to time to keep the meat moist.