Heston Blumenthal fears watching TV series The Bear could trigger bipolar episode

Heston Blumenthal has said he fears that watching the high pressure depictions of kitchen life in the TV series The Bear could trigger a bipolar episode.The restaurateur and TV chef announced he was diagnosed with the mental health condition earlier this year, after receiving a positive assessment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in 2017.Blumenthal, 58, runs restaurants including the three Michelin-star Fat Duck, two Michelin-star Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, Michelin-starred Hind’s Head, and the Perfectionists’ Cafe.He said he has not been able to watch the award-winning series The Bear as it depicts the highly pressurised atmosphere in the kitchen.Blumenthal told BBC Newsnight: “There’s a couple of the big chefs that I know, friends of mine, who have been involved in the consulting of it, so it must be pretty accurate

The ‘real’ food critics? Australian chefs on the toughest restaurant reviewers of all

It’s an honour to be well reviewed by a professional. But for these restaurateurs and chefs, the ultimate verdict comes from the harshest diners: migrant eldersMy mother, in all the decades we’ve dined out, has never liked a single restaurant I’ve taken her – even though I’ve written about food for nearly 20 years. Then we went to Yan, an Asian smokehouse in Sydney. Instead of dropping typical complaints about price (too expensive) or the cooking quality (inferior), she gave something rare and unexpected: hard-won Asian-parent praise. For this alone, I consider it an award-winning restaurant

Are there any alternatives to fresh coriander? I hate the stuff | Kitchen aide

Everyone knows a coriander hater who won’t go near the stuff and describes its taste as “soapy” (some studies suggest there may be a gene that causes this). Itamar Srulovich, however, is not one of them: “I adore fresh coriander, and always have,” says the chef/co-owner of the Honey & Co group of restaurants, cafes and delis in London. “In Israel, and indeed in any of the coriander countries, if you go into someone’s house and there’s a bunch of coriander in the kitchen, you really know about it – it’s so potent. What we get in the UK is so tame by comparison, so when people say they can’t stand its strong smell and taste, I often think: what are you even talking about?”The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link

Rukmini Iyer’s quick and easy recipe for chipotle mushroom tacos with celeriac slaw and peanut sauce | Quick and easy

A mixture of chestnut and oyster mushrooms works so well in this easy, weeknight taco feast. I love the spicy mushrooms piled on to warm tortillas with the peanutty celeriac slaw and soured cream (although my husband declines the latter because it detracts from the heat). Don’t hate me for suggesting that you grate celeriac on a weeknight – if you have a food processor with a coarse grater attachment, it is the work of seconds, and one small celeriac will give you enough slaw to go with tomorrow’s lunch, too.Prep 15 min Cook 25 min Serves 2-32 tbsp olive oil 1 onion, peeled and thickly sliced2 garlic cloves, peeled and grated1 tsp hot smoked paprika 1 tsp chipotle chilli flakes 1 tsp ground cumin2 tsp flaky sea salt 250g chestnut mushrooms, thickly sliced200g oyster mushrooms, halved45g peanut butter, smooth or chunky80g greek yoghurt1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil 50g pumpkin seeds1 small celeriac, peeled, trimmed and coarsely grated1 tbsp tomato paste Juice of ½ limeWarm tortillas, to serveSoured cream, to servePut the oil in a large frying pan on a medium heat, add the onion and garlic, and stir-fry for seven minutes, until just turning golden brown at the edges. Add the spices and a teaspoon of salt, then lower the temperature and fry, stirring, for a minute more

Amy Poon’s recipe for golden pan-seared fish with ginger and spring onions

I might be exaggerating, but to nine-year-old me it felt like 5,000 fishes. In 1982, there was a BBC1 TV show called Pebble Mill at One, which featured Glynn Christian as its pioneering TV chef, who I think paved the way for the likes of Keith Floyd and all the celebrity chefs who followed. Glynn used to cook privately for my parents’ business partners, and through this connection my brother Al got his 15 minutes of fame at the age of 13. I don’t remember the whys and wherefores; I just knew that he was going to cook on the television! I don’t know if there was a brief, but my pa decided that Al should cook a fish dish: namely golden pan-fried fish with ginger and spring onions. The Chinese characters for this dish translate literally as “fried, sealed fish”, which loses all of its poetry, but what it lacks in translation, it makes up for in flavour

Customers hundreds of pounds out of pocket after closure of celebrity chef’s Birmingham restaurant

A Michelin-starred restaurant run by the Saturday Kitchen chef Glynn Purnell has left customers with gift vouchers hundreds of pounds out of pocket after announcing its sudden closure.Purnell said he could “only apologise for this difficult situation” after customers were told their vouchers, many worth hundred of pounds, could not be refunded or redeemed.Purnell announced in October that his Birmingham restaurant, Purnell’s, was closing after 17 years, citing economic pressures and the challenges faced by the hospitality industry.He said he was heartbroken and that “in this current climate, no one is bulletproof”, adding that bookings had fallen by more than 20%.Therese Roberts, 58, from Coventry, said she had spent £750 on vouchers for the restaurant for friends and family after dining there herself