The extraordinary rise of bakery tourism: ‘People travel from all over the world. It’s mind-blowing!’

Beer crawls are out and bakery crawls are in, with people arranging whole days, weekends or even holidays around the search for the perfect loaf or croissantJust one day into a 225-mile hike across the width of Scotland last August, Dan Warren was feeling the burn, his old trail shoes wearing painfully thin. But neither sore feet nor swarms of midges would stop the librarian and his scientist wife, Dee Johnson, from reaching their goal: the promise of pastries at the Bakehouse in the west coast fishing town of Mallaig, a 14-day trek plus two ferry hops away from their home near Montrose.The pair are so-called “bakery pilgrims”, travelling significant distances in the pursuit of a fine loaf or bun. “Some of the time we were pushing through overgrown tracks, and there were lots of bogs,” Warren says of their journey. But their eventual reward was a soft brioche bun, filled with crème pâtissière and finished with crumble and berries

Georgina Hayden’s recipe for spring onion flatbreads with smoked salmon

Yoghurt flatbreads make a weekly appearance in our kitchen, because they are so effortless and versatile. If I have forgotten to pick up a loaf, I will often panic-make them for breakfast or packed lunches. While they are great on the side of stews, soups and curries (or on the barbecue, if that’s the way the weather is going), I’ve made them the hero in this elegant but easy brunch/lunch-style setup. You can make one flatbread per person (as instructed), or you could make multiple mini ones that are almost like little herby pancakes. The dill-spiked cream cheese, however, is a must with smoked salmon

Rukmini Iyer’s quick and easy recipe for roast hake with tomato and chilli sambal | Quick and easy

This is a lovely, fiery variation on my favourite weeknight dinner, namely “any fish topped with harissa”. Hake is my new go-to white fish: it’s sustainable, it has a lovely texture, it roasts beautifully and it’s the perfect foil for a spicy topping. My sambal pays homage to the Indonesian versions made with tomatoes and chilli – it starts off as a light, fresh sauce that cooks down beautifully with the fish and tomatoes.For ease, I use a high-speed blender to make the sambal.Prep 15 min Cook 25 min Serves 2300g cherry vine tomatoes, halved4 echalion shallots, peeled and quartered1 tbsp neutral oil 1 tsp sea salt flakes 2 thick hake fillets (about 160g each)30g salted peanuts, roughly chopped5g chives, finely slicedHot white rice, to serveFor the sambal2 large long red chillies, like really large ones, deseeded60g cherry vine tomatoes½ lemongrass stick, roughly chopped2 echalion shallots, peeled2 garlic cloves1 tsp sea salt flakes, plus extra to serve20ml neutral oil1 tbsp palm sugar, or dark brown sugar½ lime, juiced, plus extra to serve Heat the oven to 220C (200C fan)/425F/gas 7

Rachel Roddy’s homage to Anna del Conte and Vincenzo Corrado’s fennel with pistachio, lemon and anchovy sauce | A kitchen in Rome

I am looking after a pile of cookbooks at the moment. They belonged to the late cook and teacher Carla Tomasi, who wanted them to be useful, so gave them to the Latteria cooking studio. However, until the studio has more shelves, I have 15 of Carla’s 60 books sitting by my desk. They are a well-loved pile, but five in particular stand out as having been used and used. The first is Dan Lepard’s Short and Sweet, which, thanks to grey duct tape, is just about holding together, and the second is Thane Prince’s Perfect Preserves, also duct-taped

‘It was very difficult to hold on to’: are Michelin stars a blessing - or a curse?

The esteemed restaurant guide has struggled to stay relevant, with some leading chefs even barring reviewers or asking for their stars to be removed. Is this the end of fine dining?Time was, the ultimate honour for any ambitious chef was to gain a Michelin star or two. Better still, three. But these days, the world of fine dining is in a state of flux. Far from going to any lengths to schmooze critics or diners, restaurateurs are taking them on, from publicly berating customers who don’t spend enough to ejecting anyone who even threatens to leave an unfavourable review

From kumquats to lime caviar: UK foodies embrace a whole new world of citrus

When life gives you pithy cedro lemons and sweet Tacle mandarins, what exactly do you make with them?British chefs and home cooks are increasingly embracing new and unusual varieties of citrus in recipes, with supermarkets and greengrocers offering a rising number of speciality fruits. Retailers like M&S now offer punnets of kumquats, while Waitrose has reported a 27% rise in sales of yuzu juice.Riverford, which offers boxes of organic produce for home delivery, has noticed a similar trend. The company has seen steady sales of kumquats, with sub-varieties and hybrids like Tacle mandarins (a cross between a clementine and a Tarocco orange) and Ruby Valencias (which have the sweetness of orange but the flavour of grapefruit) performing especially well.“It’s generally unknown just how much variety there is in shape, size, flavour, and use of citrus,” said Dale Robinson at Riverford