Recipes: Step inside Tessa Kiros' kitchen with Now & Then

Tessa Kiros' upbringing and lifelong wanderlust has seen her collect culinary experiences from all over the world. In her new book, Now & Then, Tessa gathers the recipes she returns to, time and again - the diverse and colourful array of go-to dishes that grace her table and connect the threads of her life. And as a result, how that affects what she keeps in her kitchen.

This is an edited extract from Now & Then, by Tessa Kiros. Murdoch Books. $59.99.

There is no method in here, just familiarity, so I remember always what is what. These are the things I generally have in my kitchen, plus always some special thing from a friend, nonna or a recent journey somewhere.

In my spice basket I always have black and brown cumin, coriander, mustard seeds, small green cardamom pods (plus a great ground one from Finland), turmeric, asafoetida, tamarind, fennel seeds, cloves, cinnamon and cassia sticks, sumac and za'atar - along with a variety of dried chillies including Mexican anchos, tiny Portuguese piri piris and large Indian red chillies, chilli flakes and gochugaru.

In a Bordeaux-coloured roasting tin I store my larger black cardamom pods, star anise, Chinese five-spice, Sichuan peppercorns, ground toasted rice and dried plums.

In my small, pale grey cabinet I keep vanilla beans and extract, masticha, nutmeg, all-spice, paprika, two or three types of sugar, maple syrup and dried yeast. English mustard powder as well as a small stash of dark chocolate.

My kitchen shelves have my friend Jo's fennel pollen from the Macedon mountains, olive oil that Giovanni gets from his friend from Bolgheri - a great one for drizzling over food to serve, and a lighter one that I use for cooking and sometimes I might spice up a bit and make a chilli oil or add a peel or two of lemon or orange or whatever feels right. There are lemons pickling for chutneys and a few homemade jams in their jars ready for crostata. The salts I use are Guérande (grey sea salt, coarse and fine), Maldon, plus a smoked one and fleur de sel, for scattering onto food; I love to taste that bit of salted fresh crunch when I eat. And there are some which I have given a little perfume to myself - roses, lavender, pepper - or crushed dried herbs and garlic, and a good honey.

I always have a collection of things like soy sauce, rice vinegar, fish sauce, sesame oil (both toasted and untoasted), Worcestershire sauce, home-made chilli oil, sriracha, Tabasco and Mexican Valentina chilli sauce, and chipotle and jalapenos in jars. Rosewater, pomegranate molasses and coconut milk.

On top of the fridge I have two lovely wooden boxes where I store dry pasta and other dry goodies. I always always have mung beans, split mung, red lentils and basmati rice, as well as a medium-grain rice and a risotto rice.

In a closed basket in the pantry I keep dried oregano from Greece, along with mint (dried in its leaf form for crumbling into dishes) and Greek mountain tea. Also a few flours: ancient grain, oat, spelt, rye, wholewheat, Tipo 0 (bread flour) and 00 (all-purpose).

Our fridge always has a few essentials, and some interesting things in. A jar of good anchovies, olives, parmesan, good unsalted butter, my mother's special Finnish mustard, trachana (a Greek/Cypriot wheat dried with sour yoghurt), haloumi and achiote paste, a jar of ghee and perhaps a jar of date and apricot chutney. Also Giovanni's sourdough starter as well as yoghurt and a kefir on the go.

My freezer often has an ice cream in that I have made, a loaf of Giovanni's sourdough bread - sliced, a bag or two of sour cherries, lime leaves, curry leaves, lemongrass (frozen when fresh), coriander stems and fresh small green and red chillies (which I stash in the freezer once I've used the two or three I need).

I have fresh herbs growing outside: bay leaves, rosemary and sage. And in summer - basil, mint, parsley, chives, spring onions and lettuces in plant pots. And lemon verbena, which we dry and then use in winter.

In winter, we often cook in the open fireplace: potatoes in jackets and grilled sausages, fresh fish, artichokes, peppers and corn on a rack placed over the embers.

We often get our wine loose from a barrel from Montalcino and the surrounding vineyards.

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Once a week, Giovanni likes to bring home a few slices of hand-cut prosciutto from his friend. Another friend Cristian from Napoli brings us tomatoes that his grandfather has grown and canned himself, and beautiful Amalfi lemons when their trees have them (and at Christmas he generally arrives with a panettone, which I love with amarene). Our friend Marco arrives often with vinsanto, a wonderful nut tart, truffles and porcini when it is their time.

I couldn't be without my spatula for scraping every drop out of something (one for savoury, one for sweet). My mortar and pestle are well used for pounding garlic, ginger and chillies, and I have a small electric coffee grinder for grinding fresh spices if I'm not crushing them in the mortar. As well as a hand-held blender, a good rolling pin and a few wooden spoons - one of which is flat-bottomed and a small one I use only for caramel and fruits in sugar syrup. (I am thinking of getting one of those large Thai mortar and pestles that you can mix a whole salad in.)

I have a couple of faithful knives that I love - a large, flat Japanese chopping one for just about everything, and a small paring knife that is useful for so many things. I also have a few lovely tools, like a gadget to shred a papaya into long thin strips. An ice-cream machine. And a pasta machine.

For pots and pans, I have a large cast-iron pot, a wok, two or three loyal big pots (a wide one too) and a few small ones, with a few varying lids even if not exact. And two or three small pans or metal dishes for warming food in (either in the oven or fireplace). Plus a non-stick crepe pan, which I use a lot for cooking chapatis and tortillas. And a pressure cooker, which I use really often. To avoid things catching on the bottom of the pot and burning, I have a simmer mat (which is really helpful) and a splatter screen for frying things like calamari. And a reliable timer and measuring spoons and cups. I have digital scales. Wooden skewers, metal skewers.

Other than my regular roasting dishes, I have three or four flat round pizza trays (about 32 cm/12 1/2 in diameter) which I find very useful. I also have a few large trays for putting my mise-en-place out on and for things like drying out pasta on that I have rolled, or drying mint and bay leaves on to store in jars on my shelves.

I have several lovely tins for storing biscuits and cakes, nuts, a few teas, and a good collection of different plates for eating and serving, along with a few good-sized large bowls for pasta and oval dishes that I love for serving. And nice tea towels, some of which I still have from my Cypriot grandfather. And a few good jars for storing jams and pickles and that can also be used as vases for flowers.

There really is nothing like using your hands. Even to mix wet ingredients (for example, distributing apples marinated in brown sugar into a pastry case), hands are the best.

I love lemons and use them generously.

I use red onions and have grown to lately love white. And spring onions - generally I don't chop the very middle parts of spring onions into salads, but I save them for soups.

I usually always use unsalted butter.

I often use lemon juice and vinegar together in my salad dressings.

In salads I love red umeboshi vinegar (the liquid from salted sour plums), apple cider vinegar and nice balsamic.

I use organic vegetable stock cubes often when I'm cooking to add depth and flavour, especially for quick and sudden meals.

The piri piri chillies I use are TINY. Some measure as small as 5 mm (1/4 in). They are wonderful. Use whatever chillies you can get in your area and adjust the measures I have given accordingly. The amounts of chilli you use can really make or break a recipe - depending on your personal threshold and, of course, the type of chillies you have. Start off with a little less to test them out.

Every few days I think it is a great idea to make something easy like a wild salad to use the odd straggly one ingredient left, or a mixed vegetable soup, simmered then whizzed to smooth and served with a good drizzle of olive oil and parmesan.

I do think that parsley is the most underrated herb.

1 teaspoon = 5 ml

1 tablespoon = 15 ml/3 teaspoon (if you are using a 20 ml/4 teaspoon tablespoon, add one less teaspoon of the ingredient for each tablespoon specified).

1 cup = 250 ml (9 fl oz)

juice of 1 lemon = 4 tablespoons (60 ml)

juice of 1 lime = 2 tablespoons (30 ml)

I currently have gas on my stovetop. For roasting I sometimes use the fan-forced setting on the oven which distributes the heat well and helps things get golden quicker. Adjust times and temperatures accordingly depending on your oven and check on the dishes during cooking time.

When you need to pull together a quick dinner, this is perfect and really delicious. I love the mixture of green and black olives here with the citrus. I like this with simply sautéed greens.

Serves 4.

This is the cake that we make for celebrations. I love it with strawberries, raspberries and a handful of wild strawberries when I can get them. The beauty here is being able to get this all done beforehand, and then just pulling it out of the freezer to soften 20 minutes or so before you cut and serve it, piling the fresh berries and scattering the chocolate on. It is also nice when it has thawed completely. Leftover cake can be frozen with the berries and chocolate on.

Serves many.

These are the ones my mum always made in the oven at home - a big trayful. I loved scraping the bottom of the dish with chips!

I get the butcher to cut the lamb chops thin and I leave some fat on the chops as it's meltingly delicious when roasted with the lemon. They must be served warm and, if it is cold outside, serve on heated plates.

Serves 4.

This is my friend Rebecca's wonderful tart and one of my favourites. She is a most excellent baker. Two sugary, gooey, lemon butter tarts - you will need two 20 cm springform tins. Two are lovely - you can give one to a friend. I sometimes serve it with a spoon of crème frache or thick cream.

Base:

Filling:

Makes 2 x 20 cm tarts.

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