Iraqi white bean soup - Telegraph 2 tbsp Baghdad Bharat (see below) 1 small bunch of coriander, stalks and leaves separated and finely chopped 250g canned whole plum tomatoes, washed of their juice 2 x 400g cans of cannellini beans, rinsed Heat a generous amount of olive oil in a heavy-based saucepan. Fry the onion and celery with the spices, coriander stalks and salt for about 30 minutes. As always this long, slow frying process is very important to give flavour to the whole dish. Add the tomatoes and continue to cook, breaking them up a little with the back of your wooden spoon. Add the white beans and enough water to give a consistency you like (don't use too much) and continue to cook for 10 minutes more. Adjust the seasoning and stir through the coriander leaves. Serve with chunks of crusty bread. Hamish Anderson's wine choice 2010 Finest Picpoul de Pinet, Languedoc, France £7.29, Tesco. Picpoul de Pinet is southern France's answer to muscadet: clean, crisp, herbaceous but with more weight and citrus than its Loire cousin. It supplies lip-smacking refreshment on a warm day and its understated charm will not be disturbed by the soup's spices. Baghdad Bharat Makes a small jarful Having a few spice mixes up your sleeve is really useful. It's like having magic powders, each of which makes things taste truly delicious. This can be scaled up or down according to how much you need. It's a really useful mix, you can use it to flavour beans, lentils or any kind of grain as well as for roasting meat, especially lamb. Don't worry if you don't have one of the ingredients, it generally works pretty well anyway. 60g black peppercorns 30g paprika 10g cayenne 70g cumin seeds 40g turmeric 60g coriander seeds 35g cloves 40g cinnamon sticks 40g whole nutmeg 50g dried limes 20g cardamom seeds 10g ground ginger Grind all the whole spices separately in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder, then mix them together. Store in a jar with a tight-fitting lid.