When a cook starts blending together eggs, garlic, a touch of lemon juice and olive oil the expected result is mayonnaise. And yet when the eggs are fish roe the outcome is taramasalata. Having made it recently, I’ve only just realised that the classic Greek dip is in fact a form of mayonnaise ....

For the last few years I have added the Russian roulette thrill of eating padrones to our Christmas holiday tradition. A kilogram box, picked and posted from Queensland’s Midyimeco and delivered the next day in Sydney, holds a wealth of....surprises....