Summer Grazing

About this collection

The crisp edge is what people remember, so be brave with the heat and generous with the seasoning. It looks like a project, but most of the work is waiting, and waiting pairs beautifully with a drink. Do not skip the garlic; it is the bright note that stops the whole plate from feeling heavy. If you can chop flat-leaf parsley and hold a sheet tray lined with parchment, you can make this. We promise.

This is a recipe built for sharing, which is a polite way of saying you should double it. Do not skip the celery; it is the bright note that stops the whole plate from feeling heavy. It reheats well, travels well, and disappears at parties at a frankly alarming rate. The trick with summer grazing is patience: let the ingredients take on proper colour before you even think about moving it.

1. Smoky Salmon Croquettes

If you can chop coriander and hold a rolling pin (or a wine bottle), you can make this. We promise.

If you are cooking for a crowd, hold finished batches in a 160°C oven on a wire rack, never stacked. We first ate something like this at a street stall in Seoul, balanced on a plastic stool, and spent the flight home reverse-engineering it.

We tested this 7 times in the Snack Crawl kitchen, and the version with masa harina won every single round. Kenji, who runs our test kitchen on Thursdays, calls this “the one that ruins other snacks for you”.

Get the full recipe →

2. Brown-Butter Mushroom Quesadillas

The brown-butter edge is what people remember, so be brave with the heat and generous with the seasoning.

Bea, who runs our test kitchen on Thursdays, calls this “the one that ruins other snacks for you”. A digital thermometer takes the guesswork out. You are aiming for steaming hot in the centre and audibly crisp outside. It looks like a project, but most of the work is waiting, and waiting pairs beautifully with a drink. We tested this 10 times in the Snack Crawl kitchen, and the version with nigella seeds won every single round.

Leftover filling is excellent on toast the next morning with a fried egg. Rafa swears by adding the shallots in two stages: half cooked in for sweetness, half raw at the end for crunch.

Get the full recipe →