Peach jam is often overly sweet, so to counteract this I like to add soft herbs to balance the sweetness.
Attention to detail makes Divino, a little suburban gem complete with its own successful formula, the benchmark for authentic Italian cuisine.
How fitting that something as civilised as the dinner party is as old as, well, civilisation itself.
In the 1980s, my brother Godfrey used to make sponges using this recipe, which came from the local public health nurse, Ailsa Gathergood. Godfrey, then a sheep farmer, busy entrepreneur and father of five, reckoned the secret was to ‘beat the s--t out of it’. Use electric beaters, even if you have forearms honed by wrangling sheep and small kids.
When it comes to plums, my all-time favourite is the Black Doris, followed by the heart-shaped Omega. Coming in hot in third place is the mighty Humdinger, a giant of a plum with sour, rosy flesh.
