By Judith Abrahams (London, England)

Sadly I had no grandmother to induct me into mysteries of the trad Jewish kitchen. However, I did have advantage of Hungarian mother who would allow me into her kitchen only for baking experiments and until I left home for university I had never cooked a meal.

Ma gave me her goulash recipe. Armed with this, and operating on the principle “if you can read (a recipe) then you can cook” I bought Around the World in 80 Dishes and travelled through it. En route I discovered that universal truth: the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.

Beetroot and sweet potato soup

Everyone seems intrigued by the colour of this brigh pink soup

Serves 4

Olive oil
Pumpkin seed oil (available from healthfood stores)
1 onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 celery stick, finely chopped
2 raw beetroots, peeled and chopped
375g (about 2) orange-fresh sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 litre vegetable stock, from bouillon cube

Garnish: toasted pine kernels or basil leaves or swirl of creme fraiche…or all 3!

Splash a little of each oil into a medium-sized pan and heat. Add the onion, carrot, garlic and celery and fry gently. After 5 minutes or so, when they are soft, add the beetroots, sweet potatoes and vegetable stock. Simmer for 30 minutes.

When all the veg is very soft, remove the pan from the heat and leave the soup to cool for 10 minutes. Then using a processor, or stick blender, blitz until the soup has a creamy and smooth texture. Serve immediately.

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