Esther Clark

ESTHER INTRO

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Etiam eget sapien in tortor tincidunt tempus. Donec in dolor eleifend, imperdiet elit et, congue ipsum. Nullam vehicula placerat efficitur. Phasellus sit amet enim nunc. Pellentesque ac erat quam. Etiam dignissim eget arcu at feugiat. Vivamus vel nisi et erat accumsan scelerisque. Phasellus egestas feugiat libero. Etiam eget dictum nisl. Nulla facilisi. Vivamus sed elementum dolor, sed gravida mi.

Esther’s Life in the kitchen

My kitchen has been mine since February this year, I moved in during the second lockdown which was a strange experience but gifted me a lot of time to spend making the space my own and tinkering around. I work as a food writer and stylist so I often refer to it as my office! When I’m in my flat I spend a lot of my time in the kitchen whether I’m cooking or just sitting and reading or listening to Cerys Mathews on radio 6, I find it a comforting place to be. My flat is rented, I live in a turret in an old Victorian mansion block in Newington Green (an area of stoke Newington in north London that’s steeped in history) and the whole place has a really special almost Parisian feel to it. I cook in the kitchen every day, recipe writing and developing at my stove top, scribbling down recipes and ideas and sticking them to the wall on post it notes. I have squeezed in my huge pots and pans, baskets of linens and countless other cooking equipment to a small space.

I live with my housemate/old friend who’s a teacher and we have an old school desk that we use as a dining table. In the evening when she comes back I make us dinner and we sit at the table chatting about our days, its also often used as a great table for playing cards, Saturday morning rounds of toast and jam and we’ve even squeezed 4 of us round it for (very tight) weekend feasts! On weeknights I will test out recipes on my housemate or make a simple dinner of things like spaghetti, anchovies and lemon or a beany soup with a big fat wedge of parmesan and buttery bread. On weekends I love to make things just for myself, like thick plum jam or quick pickles or a sticky almond and apricot cake to eat throughout the week. I like my personality to come through in my kitchen, pops of colour, favourite cook books, old trinkets and I sort of like to play shop so I have shelves of my favourite ingredients all with lovely packaging. Even though its just a rental property its still so important that my kitchen feels like home and a creative space to write all my recipes in. I really love it. 

1. Spice Rack

My beautiful spice rack was made for me by my lovely dad. Its made of wood and metal wire. He built one for my mum in lockdown one and one for me as a present when I moved back to London. It was measure exactly to fir my taller spices and shorted ones. I once put a picture of it on Instagram and ha loads of requests of where to buy/could he make one! Spices are so important to a cooks kitchen, I constantly buy more and I use them almost every day. Its attached to the back of the kitchen door so I can only see it when I shut myself in, turn on radio 6 and admire it! 

2. Blue Enamel French Pan

I brought this pan in a little shop in Sussex with my mum in my late teens when I really started to hone my cooking skills. Its so sweet and reminds me of summer holidays in Brittany. Ive used it so many times that I’ve almost started to ration its uses in fear that it will wear down too much! Its perfect for anything, I’ve baked eggs in it in spicy tomatoes, cooked a warm strawberry polenta cake in it and even served salads at the table in it. I love its striking blue colour, and handles which are perfect for hanging and I will keep it forever and always!

3. Ingredients Shelf

From a young age I’ve always loved packaging and playing shop. I suppose my shelf in my kitchen is an ode to this. I like to neaten it out on Saturday mornings and add to it. It has some staples on there that I use often like a big box of extra virgin olive oil, tahini, pasta flour and sherry vinegar. There are a few things on their that I adore the look of and often cant bring myself to use but I somehow do in the end then I find something lovely to replace it a few days later! I would love a big walk in larder one day but there’s also something really lovely about having it all on display! Its the first thing you see when you walk in and it inspires me every day. 

Visit Esther’s website here and follow her on instagram @esthermclark