This October, in recognition of Black History Month, we are thrilled to welcome Melissa Thompson and Marie Mitchell whose recipes bring food, identity and culture to the forefront:
Melissa Thompson, an award-winning writer, cook and broadcaster, delights in exploring the intersection of food, culture and identity. Born in Dorset to Jamaican and Maltese parents, Melissa celebrates global flavours with an eye for provenance and tradition. Her culinary creativity comes to life in recipes like her irresistible Curry Prawns, and her writing has graced the pages of BBC Good Food, The Guardian, Stylist and Waitrose Magazine. Beyond the kitchen, Melissa is a passionate advocate for diversity and representation in the food industry.
Marie Mitchell is a cook, writer and champion of inclusive, sustainable food culture. From hosting her beloved Pop’s Kitchen supper club in 2015 to creating the acclaimed Island Social Club, Marie has brought communities together over rum, roti and shared conversation. Her dishes—Ackee and Salt Fish Tarts, Pop’s Mac Pie and Pina Panna Cotta—reflect her dedication to diversity, self-care and mental wellbeing, reminding us of the power of food to nourish body and soul.
This month, we invite you to savour not just their recipes, but the rich heritage, stories and joy that come with them. Whether you’re stirring a pot of Curry Prawns or spooning into a Pop’s Mac Pie, each bite is a celebration of culture, creativity and community.
Curry Prawns
By Melissa Thompson
I have Jamaican heritage, and the food there is a literal melting pot of different countries and cultures – like curry. While mostly associated with South Asia, there is a strong tradition of curry in many Caribbean islands.
Curry goat, curry chicken – the verb always comes first so it’s never ‘chicken curry’ in the Jamaican gastronomic lexicon – are mainstays thanks to migration from southern India at the beginning of the 19th century after emancipation.
Plantation owners, who had made their fortunes on the back of the barbaric enslavement of millions of people from Africa, turned to British colonies in Britain and China to recruit indentured servants to make up the labour shortfall. These workers brought with them methods of cooking, namely what we call curry. Fast-forward 150 years and today curries are an integral part of the Jamaican culinary cannon.
Curry goat is the most well-known, but chicken, mutton and oxtail are also to be found curried on the island. Curry Prawns is a relatively quick version. The base is a classic Jamaican curry powder, which features pimento berries – better known in the UK as allspice – as well as cloves and a bit more turmeric than you find in most spice blends. I always suggest making your own, but you can use a madras curry powder with a little bit of extra turmeric and ½ tsp ground pimento (allspice) berries.
Serves 4
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
24-32 king prawns
½ brown onion, finely diced
3 stalks of fresh thyme
2 spring onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
2 tomatoes, chopped
½ Scotch bonnet chilli (optional)
1in piece of ginger, grated
200ml coconut milk
Curry Powder:
1.5tsp turmeric powder,
1tsp ground cumin
½ tsp ground coriander
5 cloves, ground
½ tsp ground fenugreek,
1tsp paprika
½ tsp ground pimento (allspice)
Vegetable or coconut oil
Method
- Heat 1tbsp oil in a wide pan over a low-medium heat. Add the diced onion, spring onion and thyme and cook for 15 minutes until soft and starting to caramelise, stirring regularly. Add garlic, ginger, tomato and if using, the Scotch bonnet chilli and cook for another 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, prepare the prawns – remove the head and using a pair of scissors, cut down the back of the shell until you reach the last segment of shell that’s attached to the tail. Remove the black line going down the back of the prawn. Remove the shells if desired – I prefer to keep them on.
- Mix the spices with a couple of tablespoons of water and add to the onion mix. Cook for five minutes until the spices are fragrant and most of the water has evaporated. Add the prawns and stir to completely cover. Stir in the coconut milk and cook
- Stir in coconut milk and cook for 5-10 minutes until it’s reduced to a thick gravy, and then add prawns. Cook for 5 minutes until they are just pink, and remove from the heat. Serve with rice.
Ackee & Saltfish Tarts
By Marie Mitchell
Makes 6
Ingredients
For the Pastry:
½ quantity of pattie pastry (see page 51), chilled
For the Filling:
100g saltfish
½ tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
¼ Scotch bonnet, deseeded and finely chopped
3 thyme sprigs, leaves picked
¾ tsp ground black pepper
2 tomatoes, diced
165g drained ackee
Lime wedges (optional), to serve
Method
- Rinse your saltfish, then soak it overnight in cold water in the fridge.
- Discard the soaking water and place it in boiling water to soften. Taste a pinch of the fish to check the salt levels – if it’s still too salty, soak it for another 5 minutes in warm water and check again.
- Once you’re happy, shred the fish into flakes. Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/Gas 6 and grease and flour six 10cm individual tart tins.
- Remove the chilled pastry from the fridge. Dust your rolling pin with a little flour and lightly press the ball of dough with the palm of your hand to flatten it.
- Roll out your pastry to a rough circle about 4mm thick, then, using a 12cm pastry cutter, cut out six circles, re-balling and rolling the pastry trimmings just once, if necessary.
- Press the pastry circles into your tart tins, trimming the excess.
- Line each tart case with a piece of scrunched-up baking parchment and baking beans and ‘blind’ bake the cases for 15 minutes, until lightly golden.
- Remove the beans and paper and return the cases to the oven for 10 minutes, until crisp and golden. Set aside, but leave the oven on.
- Finish the filling. Heat your olive oil in a frying pan on a medium heat. Sweat the onion for 5–7 minutes, until softened, then add your Scotch bonnet, thyme and pepper. Cook for 2–3 minutes, add your tomatoes and flaked saltfish, and cook again for 2–3 minutes.
- Add your ackee and cook for just 1–2 minutes more (the tomatoes and ackee should hold their shape).
- Take the pan off the heat and split the mixture equally between the tart cases.
- Bake the filled tarts for 5 minutes to warm through, then serve with lime wedges for squeezing over, if you like.
Pop's Mac Pie
By Marie Mitchell
Serves 6
Ingredients
500g macaroni
40g unsalted butter
2 eggs, beaten
1 tbsp tomato purée
200ml whole milk
400g strong, hard cheese (I like mature cheddar)
8g flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked and finely chopped, plus extra for sprinkling
½ tsp Top Spice Mix (cumin, coriander, black pepper, cinnamon and cloves)
1 tsp ground black pepper, plus extra for sprinkling
2 tsp Ginger Chilli Sauce or Hot Pepper Sauce
Fine sea salt
Method
- Preheat your oven to 190°C/170°C fan/Gas 5.
- Cook the macaroni in boiling salted water for 6 minutes, or until it’s al dente.
- Drain it in a colander, tip it back into the pan and stir through the butter until melted.
- While the macaroni is boiling, combine the beaten eggs, tomato purée, milk, and three-quarters of the cheese in a bowl.
- Once you’ve stirred the butter into the macaroni, add the egg mixture to the pan, mixing until well combined. Then, add the parsley, spice mix, pepper and ginger chilli or pepper sauce and mix again. Season with salt to taste.
- Transfer the macaroni to an ovenproof dish, one that will nicely nestle the pie to about 4–5cm deep. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top, along with a little extra black pepper and parsley.
- Bake the pie for 30–40 minutes, or until it is firm and golden. Remove the dish from the oven and leave the pie to cool and set for 10–20 minutes before cutting and serving.
Pina Panna Cotta
By Marie Mitchell
Serves 6
Ingredients
For the Panna Cotta:
Coconut oil, for greasing
5 gelatine leaves
400ml full-fat coconut milk
300ml single cream
2 tbsp light brown soft sugar
Up to 3 tbsp dark rum
Up to 1 tsp vanilla extract
For the Caramelized Pineapple:
4 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp light brown soft sugar
¼ pineapple, cored and cut into 5mm chunks
Grated nutmeg, to taste, plus extra to serve
Method
- Grease six individual pudding moulds with coconut oil if you want to turn out your panna cottas; otherwise, use six individual dessert dishes.
- Soak your gelatine in cold water for 5 minutes.
- While the gelatine is soaking, place your coconut milk, cream and sugar in a saucepan on a low–medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
- Take the pan off the heat, squeeze out the gelatine and stir it into the mixture to dissolve.
- Strain the mixture through a sieve into a clean bowl. Stir in the rum and vanilla to taste.
- Pour the mixture equally into your moulds or dishes. Chill for at least 4 hours, or until set.
- For the caramelized pineapple, melt your butter in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the sugar, stir to combine, then cook over a medium–high heat until the sugar has dissolved.
- Add your pineapple, and cook, stirring from time to time to make sure it doesn’t catch, until any liquid has evaporated, the sauce has thickened and the pineapple is nicely coated. Add the nutmeg to taste and leave to cool.
- To turn out the moulded panna cottas, dip each mould for no longer than 30 seconds in hot water and invert each on to a serving plate. Serve with the caramelized pineapple and sauce drizzled over and an extra grating of nutmeg.