hecichera – alchemy in my kitchen

Hello there! Welcome to my resurrected food blog.

Why Hecichera? It is an adaptation of the Spanish word for witch  – hechicera. I like a bit of alchemy and frequently cook up a culinary storm in my kitchen. As those who visit us will confirm!

Why resurrected? When I checked the back pages, I found I had  started this blog on April 10th 2016. It was a great repository for recipes and experiments. It becamee more of a diary than a blog.  Over time, it became the single most accessible space for mates to access the recipes they asked for. And some they didn’t!

Why the gap? After Covid  – like so many things, it all felt a bit irrelevant to be honest – though mid-Covid we had a laugh creating recipes for three ingredients nominated by friends. After lockdown, my work as a full-on Humanist Celebrant and was very busy.  And to be honest, blogging had taken up a lot of time over Covid and I wanted a break. And I didn’t want to bore people. So I stopped. I closed it.

But so many people continued to ask about it. The incident of the blackcurrant icecream. What to do with all those pickles. Making pies.

 I have set up a new Instagram page just for the food.  Followed by resurrecting the blog!

Now we no longer have an allotment, we get all our fresh organic vegetables and a lot of fruit from Norfolk-based veg-box company Goodery.  If you subscribe to Goodery and get their newsletter you will also receive recipes from me in the newsletter so hop over there and subscribe!

 

Why do I cook? It’s all my nan’s fault. As a child my memories of her kitchen are tangible.  I’d run down the passage, open her back door, she’d be there in her wraparound apron, broad of hip, curly white hair. She’s point to the chair behind her and say ‘come and help me’. I did. Pastry, cakes, bread, pies, preserves.

It turns out she was a single parent at 40. Her husband had died. She had been in service as a kitchen maid at the turn of the century and gradually became queen of the kitchen in many large households in Wales and in Suffolk. She also did mass-catering for large gatherings (I remember going with her to a national Scout Jamboree – all stainless steel tables and boiling cauldrons). She had a mortgage. She ran the house. She worked. She took in B&B guests. She cooked magnificent food.

She is my heroine.

So welcome!  Come on in!  Have a root around and let me know if you want me to post anything specific.  There’s a search bar at the top if you are looking for specific ingredients or dishes. Please ‘like and follow’ in the box and you’ll receive regular blog updates. Let me know what you think!