A highly anticipated debut season

At a major university, the first woman of colour to become chair tries to meet the dizzying demands and high expectations of a failing English department.

Starring Golden Globe winner Sandra Oh and Emmy winner Jay Duplass, this academic dramedy is set at the fictional Pembroke College. After the darkness of Killing Eve, The Chair will transport viewers into the hilarious high-pressured world of a university professor.

Watch it on Netflix today!

Six-bottle case of planet-friendly wines

An ever popular buy from The Great Wine Co. this is a wonderful collection of wines from some of their most environmentally conscious producers. £75.

1 x 2020  Rioja Blanco, Sierra Cantabria

1 x 2019  Yealands Estate Single Vineyard Gruner Veltliner, Yealands

1 x 2019  Más Amor Rosado, Massard

1 x 2019  IGP Côtes Catalanes Organic Rouge Canon du Maréchal, Domain Cazes

1 x 2017  Renegade Shiraz-Grenache, Ken Forrester Wines

1 x 2019  Gallardia Cinsault, De Martino

Hot, sweet and distinctively, delectably tasty, Peri-Peri chicken (originally a Portuguese dish with origins in Angola and Mozambique) has, courtesy of a certain 'hip' Johannesburg-based restaurant chain, slowly but surely secured a foothold on the upper reaches of Britain's Favourite Takeaway Dish charts. Little wonder, then, that when reports of a supply chain issue leading to several branches of that chain having to temporarily close hit the news this week, there was panic on the streets of... well, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, at least. 

But panic not! You can still get your fast food Peri-Peri Chicken fix at home this weekend, using very few ingredients; if you know what I'm referring to when I say this is a definite High Five recipe, you're in for a real treat.

Ingredients (serves 4)

4 plump, free range chicken legs, skin on, bone in

For the chicken marinade:
Whisk 4 plump garlic cloves (peeled and crushed), with the juice of ½ a lemon 

For the Peri Peri sauce
2–4 red chillies (to taste)
2 plump garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
Juice of 1 lemon
1 level tbsp smoked paprika
1 level tbsp soft brown sugar (or runny honey)
1 level tsp salt
50ml olive oil
To serve: fries or spicy rice, coleslaw and buttered corn on the cob.

Method

1. Lay the chicken legs in a large roasting tin and coat thoroughly with the marinade. Season well, cover and allow to marinate in the fridge for at last 1 hour.  

2. Meanwhile, either put all the Peri-Peri sauce ingredients into a blender and blitz until smooth, or mash the dry ingredients in a pestle and mortar before adding the olive oil and stirring thoroughly (yup, it really is that easy).

3. Preheat the oven to 190ºC/gas mark 5 and take the chicken out of the fridge to allow to come to room temperature while the oven heats up. Roast the chicken for 35–45 minutes until cooked through, basting occasionally.

4. When the chicken is thoroughly cooked, heat a large frying/griddle pan (or grill) to medium hot, brush the cooked chicken legs with Peri-Peri sauce and pan fry or grill for a few minutes on each side, until charred.

For the past six or seven years, Bao Buns – those seductive, fluffy little pillows of steamed, yeasty delight filled with all manner of tantalising, deeply umami fillings – have dominated the fashionable foodie's consciousness.

From hundreds of super-hip, Bao-dedicated eateries all the way down to most supermarket shelves by way of multiple pop-up street food ventures or meal kits containing a bag of premixed flour, yeast and sugar alongside a sachet of barbecue sauce and a splash of pickling vinegar, nationwide Bao mania has reached a market saturation point that makes it clear that, this time next year, Bao Buns will be “last year” enough for KFC to introduce them to the menu.

The thing is, since Bao Buns were first made in China circa 300BC, I didn't know they'd ever gone out of fashion.

I was born and grew up just a stone's throw away from Liverpool's Chinatown, where a fully-laden Bao Bun was, in my very early days, a little something piquant to nibble on while we were waiting for our order to be cooked. This was circa 1968, before the Chinese takeaway was convenient, let alone ubiquitous; if we wanted Chinese food 'to go', we'd have to take our own bowls and containers to the restaurant, and sit on rickety little ex-restaurant chairs adjacent to a hot kitchen while waiting for our Very British Order of Chow Mein, Sweet and Sour Vegetables and Special Fried Rice for 4.

I remember gazing, partly in horror (I was bought up vegetarian) and partly in yearning-to-try fascination, at the whole, fluorescent red roast ducks that hung by their feet over the wok station, and watching in awe as the chefs effortlessly turned massive bowls of whole red peppers, onions and daikon into shreds in seconds. Our Bao Buns, packed with unctuous fatty globules in a thick, smoky sauce, would turn up unbidden while dad and I waited, and I watched. “What's in it, dad?” “Probably pork, so don't tell your mum.”

In the 1980s, Bao Buns were late night post-club snacks to eat while we waited in the taxi queue before giving up on a ride and tottering home on foot, high heels in hand, sticky sauce all over our clothes. In the 1990s, they were the familiar old friends that kept me sitting comfortably throughout a dim sum extravaganza at New York's legendary Jing Fong, where the jellyfish, chicken claws and turnip cake were as scary as the prospect of David Bowie (allegedly a Jing Fong regular) taking a seat at the table next to ours.

My Bao Bun friendship rolled across the globe, taking in tofu Baos at Berlin's Quà Phê, a satay version at Indochine in LA, and a surreal Bao that arrived as a side dish, cold and naked, in a Swiss restaurant where my order was lost in translation. For decades, I've ordered them out at any and every opportunity and I make my own, at home, on a regular basis. But just yesterday...

Email from a fast food restaurant PR: “Hey Melissa, you're probably not familiar with the Bao Bun – so let me be the first to introduce you to the new UK food revolution that's guaranteed to Bao WOW your world!”

Bao Buns: after 1721 years waiting in the wings, their moment in the spotlight has finally arrived.

Woods

This is quite simply a Bath institution. With Georgian elegance and a warm, informal atmosphere, Woods has created an enviable reputation as one of Bath best independent restaurants, a firm favourite with locals and a must for visitors to Bath. Established in 1979 by David and Claude Price working alongside the head chef of the past 28 years Stuart Ash and Gaston Price who runs the front of house. A truly family-run business offering personal service, dazzling food, modern British cooking with classic French influence, and sourcing local ingredients to give you a mouth-watering sensation that will leave you coming back for more. The menu changes seasonally with specials of the day. The wines to accompany the delicious dishes are specially selected and tasted by David. 

Woods cater for all; the small terrace and bar are great to meet friends for a glass of wine, a dish of olives and a catch-up, the main dining room is ideal for intimate or informal dining and the private room is perfect for corporate entertainment, family celebrations or weddings. Woods has also recently opened a Wine Shop and Deli which operate from Tuesday to Saturday to eat in or take away.

9–13 Alfred Street, Bath BA1 2QX
Tel: 01225 314812 Web: woodsrestaurant.com

Looking for more delicious foodie inspo?

Click through to browse our full new look Delicious Guide below!

The Courier (12A)

The Courier is a true-life spy thriller, the story of unassuming British businessman Greville Wynne (Benedict Cumberbatch) recruited into one of the greatest international conflicts in history. At the behest of the UK’s MI-6 and a CIA operative (Rachel Brosnahan), he forms a covert, dangerous partnership with Soviet officer Oleg Penkovsky (Merab Ninidze) in an effort to provide crucial intelligence needed to prevent a nuclear confrontation and defuse the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Showing at various times, book your tickets here: picturehouses.com

Image courtesy of Lionsgate

Review by Saskia Hayward

The Angels of L19 by Jonathan Walker

The Angels of L19 is the most recent release from the wonderful new indie publisher Weatherglass Books.

It tells the story of Robert, a teenage outsider who has become increasingly religious following the death of his mother, and begins to see what he believes to be angelic apparitions. But the ambiguity of their purpose and supposed benevolence is troubling, casting them as a disturbing and unresolvable presence that pulls at the centre of the book.

It's beautifully written and subtle, set against a perfectly captured backdrop of 1980s Liverpool. What Walker does brilliantly is capture the surreality of biblical realities coexisting with mundane domesticity. As I understood it, it's all about language: about what happens when the literal and allegorical begin to collide and swirl, and reality begins to collapse in on itself.

Weatherglass Books, £10.99; toppingbooks.co.uk