Lime juice · Balsamic vinegar · Olive oil · Honey

If you stumble on lime basil in the markets, this is a perfect way to use it. This vinaigrette dressing is tangy and fresh.

Heston likes to use these cubes in his perfect mash potatoes, but they are also a delicious inclusion in a plated dessert. Friend’s children irritating you? Stick one onto a toothpick and tell them it’s mint flavoured.

Ice · Lemon juice · Butter, unsalted · Capers, drained · Butter, unsalted · Lemon zest · Pepper · Parmigiano reggiano, grated

This recipe is a great way to use ground meat. We use ground pork with chicken stock for an interesting variation but this recipe works just as well with ground beef and stock. You can find versions of this dish everywhere with lots of variation in the name, such as ‘ma pa dofu’ and ‘mapa tofu’. Translates to ‘grandma bean curd’.

This fluid gel recipe started with Grant Achatz and was adapted by the team at The Cooking Lab for Modernist Cuisine as ‘Umami seasoning fluid gel’ (volume 4, page 183). Our adaptation here was borne from a desire to intensify the flavours in our standard Ma Po Tofu. We found ourselves writing long notes to accompany the recipe—how to create a thick and flavoursome liquid to combine with the ground meat which forms the base of the dish. The basis of this recipe is simply a flavoursome, umami-rich gel stock which can be used for other purposes.