Thanks to everyone who left a little food story in the comments and also all those who sent entries via e-mail. I’ve chosen the winners and they are:

Krista, with the tale of her 6th form years spent living with a family in Paris and how the “scary, dominant” “witch” matriarch used to feed her broken dog biscuits as a “treat”, passing them off as regular biscuits. Krista manages to see the positive side of things though as she advises, “they are not overly disgusting and go well with hot chocolate.” Good to know.

The second winner is an e-mail entry, and I will assume therefore that she wishes to remain anonymous. I will tell you though that her story begins thus, “my late grandfather was a diabetic, compulsive gambling, Russian-Jewish diamond dealer.” She had me from the off.

Tyelperion is the third winner, for giving me three stories involving a salty meringue, a champagne cork to the face and a pea lodged between a cheek and a nostril.

And last but not least is Danielle, who touched me with the tale of her struggle with an eating disorder and how she is re-discovering the pleasure of food. Good for you girl. Free tickets coming your way.

Let’s not forget the runner up prize of a 2 for 1 ticket deal though; that goes to Gav, who offered to give me a glass of wine and some bacon. He also complimented me on my curry goat. I’m easily bought, what can I say.

I’ll e-mail all the winners. Thanks to everyone who entered.

I actually can’t stop eating outrageous amounts of garlic. One or two cloves is no longer an acceptable amount. The obsession gently rumbles on. In contrast, I like to think that my immune system is racing ahead, building lymphocytes faster than you can say ‘flu’. In reality, rather than glowing with shiny health I’m sure I just gently whiff of garlic. Constantly.

Gorgeous little soup though, even if it is rather rich. I based it on this one but reduced the amount of regular cloves, omitted the sage and added a small handful of the wild garlic I picked at Riverford Farm. The soup is interesting because it goes from looking like hot dishwater with a few pearly cloves bobbing on the bubbles to a creamy, velveteen elixir; pretty amazing considering it doesn’t contain even the merest smidgen of cream. It is instead enriched with the rather wanky sounding ‘binding pomade’ – a combination of eggs, Parmesan and olive oil. You slowly whisk the oil into the cheese and amber yolks, then a ladleful of the broth into the ‘pomade’ and then the whole lot back into the broth. It’s really rather a calming and leisurely process. I used the time to reflect on important issues such as where I might have left the key for the bin room, whether it was too early to open a beer or not and when I might find time to make Ottolenghi’s caramelised garlic tart. Actually that last one really is important.

The original recipe suggests pouring the finished soup over day-old pieces of baguette, which I did, but found the combination of rich soup and soggy bread paste rather unpleasant. Really unpleasant, actually. Like eating a piece of sodden bog roll. The second helping was much more enjoyable with a bit of traditional dunking and of course, the terminal wiping of bowl.

It is extremely garlicky but deeply savoury; the wild garlic brings its sprightly green bite. I would advise you to use good Parmesan, as it makes all the difference and a nice grassy olive oil that isn’t too strong. The finished thing is really rather pretty and spring-like I think, with a cheeky richness that makes a stealthy approach, soothing and satisfying with every mouthful.

Two Garlic Soup (adapted from this recipe)

950ml water
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
6 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon salt

For binding

1 egg
2 egg yolks
40g parmesan
Pepper (white might be nice actually)
50ml olive oil

Bring the water to a boil in a pan and add the thyme, bay leaf, garlic cloves and salt. Bring to the boil then turn down and simmer for 40 minutes. Strain into a bowl, then remove and discard the bay leaf and return the garlic and the infused water back to the pan but off the heat. Taste and add more salt if you like but remember the Parmesan is coming later.

Whisk the egg, the yolks, Parmesan and pepper together until creamy. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil, whisking constantly, as if you were making mayonnaise. Then, take a ladleful of the broth and do the same, whisking it really slowly into the oil mixture. Now tip the whole thing into the remaining broth in the pan and set over a low to medium heat, stirring all the time until it starts to thicken. Heidi mentions in her recipe that the creator of the original recipe, Richard Olney, says that it should be cooked, “just long enough to be no longer watery” but I agree with her that it is nicer when it’s a bit thicker.

Serve over bread or not – up to you. I prefer it not. I drizzled a bit more oil and grated a little extra cheese on top.

Other garlicky goodness:

Chicken with 40 cloves of garlic
Garlic Curry

So I’m doing a Big Lunch this year. The people behind it saw me banging on about food and community for The Observer and asked me to put my money where my mouth is. Fair enough. The idea is that you get all your neighbours together and have lunch in the street. I’ve never even met most of the neighbours in my block so the idea of a get together is really exciting and a bit scary at the same time. What if no-one wants to do it? Think of all the things that could go wrong!

The set up process and actual lunch itself will be documented on the slightly scary medium that is video, thanks to the Big Lunch people who are sending me a ‘flipcam’ for the purpose. You can therefore actually watch me tearing my hair out rather than just reading about it. Lucky you.

It seemed like an excellent opportunity to raise some money for charidee and it took me all of two seconds to decide that I’ll be raising money for Maggie’s – it’s a Scottish cancer charity I used to work for. I have never felt so inspired, humbled, scared, elated, sad and generally in awe of others as I did when I worked in that place. Maggie’s are experts in supporting  people when they are truly vulnerable and I was honoured to work with some very unique and experienced people. Since I no longer work there, this is another way to give them something.

So, watch this space. Oh and if any lovely helpful generous folks want to get in touch to help out on the ingredients front then that would be much appreciated. I’ll be making cakes, scones, sandwiches – basically anything English tea themed (with a Peckham twist, of course) because it’s simple and most of it can be cooked in advance. I think that trying to cook hot food on the day would be complete self sabotage and therefore utterly insane.

So, wish me luck! I dare say I’m going to need it. First update will follow shortly and the actual lunch is happening on Sunday 18th July. In the meantime, I need to contact Southwark council, and my neighbours. Over and out!