my parents' kitchen and the confines of the school canteen. I discovered food magazines, supermarket aisles, takeaways (real-life food that we didn't have to cook ourselves), markets, restaurants, food stalls, Chinese supermarkets and online shopping!

Since then, I have asked myself the same question I ask even now. What is British food? Is it a fixed set of recipes? Is it the curry I grew up on? Is something British if you pour custard over it? Is it British if you eat it with cutlery? Is it really just full English breakfasts, roast beef, Yorkshire puddings, fish and chips? Type 'what is British cuisine?' into a search engine and it will tell you simply that it is 'a set of cooking traditions and practices associated with the United Kingdom'.30 MINUTES, PLUS CHILLING

COOK 20 MINUTES

##### For the tarts

icing sugar (approx. 20g), for dusting

500g shortcrust pastry

150g cherry jam

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 medium egg, beaten lightly

##### For the almond icing

100g icing sugar, sifted

1½ tablespoons water

¼ teaspoon almond extract

20g toasted flaked almonds

**1.** Dust the surface of the worktop with plenty of icing sugar and roll out the pastry to a 30 x 35cm rectangle. Place it on a piece of baking paper and then on a tray. (This will help you move the pastry in and out of the fridge.)

**2.** Cut right down the middle of the pastry lengthways, giving you two long equal rectangles. Now make three cuts across widthways to give you eight equal rectangles. Place in the fridge.

**3.** Put the jam in a bowl, add the ground