Get a little zing for spring with fragrant citrus in pretty hues

Halfway down the fridge is a drawer where I keep the citrus fruit. Bracingly bitter marmalade oranges in winter; knobbly limes for green curries; pink grapefruits and blood oranges for their rose-tinted juice. This year they were joined by tiny clementines the size of golf balls, and yuzus, for which I paid a king’s ransom, simply for their spirit-lifting scent.

Their juices, which differ in sweetness, can be fun to blend. I particularly like the spicy marriage of orange and lime. A blend of lemon and blood orange – say, one of lemon to three of orange – is as fragrant as walking through a citrus grove on a winter’s morning. A glass of it is an uplifting start to the day, but it is also a refreshing base for dressings or for a tropical fruit salad with mango and papaya.

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Lesser sung fish and cricketing doldrums feature in our pick of the best of the broadsheets’ cryptic clues

In the sample clues below, the links take you to explainers from our beginners series . The setter’s name often links to an interview with him or her , in case you feel like getting to know these people better.

22d It may bring tears to your eyes about India (cricket side) (5)
[ wordplay : synonym for “about” + India in Nato alphabet + cricket terminology for one of the sides ]
[ ON + I + ON ]
[ definition : it may bring tears to your eyes ]

2d ‘Enemies of Trump’ in retreat after revolution? Not your concern (5,4)
[ wordplay : term used by Trump inside (“in”) synonym for “retreat” backwards (“after revolution”) ]
[ VERMIN in reversed DEN ]
[ definition : “not your concern” ]

21a Fish out of water, or one on the bed (6)
[ double definition ]

12a Turkey say Foreign Office is oversharing with member of parliament (4)
[ wordplay : abbreviation for Foreign Office overlapping with bird for which collective noun is said to be parliament ]
[ FO overlapping with OWL ]
[ definition : Turkey say ]

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The singular delights of one-person dishes

Sometimes, it is good to have something all to yourself. An individual dish of something delicious that is all your own. I broke the habit of a lifetime this week, bringing dinner to the table in small pots or dishes, one per person, rather than putting a large pot on the table for everyone to tuck in. It felt strangely special, as if it was everyone’s birthday.

An individual dish of smoked fish and cream threaded with emerald green spinach, its surface bronzed and bubbling, was a recipe so simple it was barely called cooking and yet delighted everyone. I put hot brown toast on the table, too, with which to mop up the sauce, and a crisp salad to balance the creamy notes of the fish. Rather than making a classic cream sauce, the smoked fish was mixed with cream, parsley and a little smooth, mild mustard then spooned into the individual dishes. I used hot-smoked salmon for their thick fillets and deep, smoky notes, but could have just as easily used smoked haddock or even kipper fillets.

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There is two Michelin star-level ingenuity going on here, even when they’re only slinging oysters in the deep-fat fryer or doling out bread

Pearly Queen , a newish seafood restaurant in east London, refers to the majesty of oysters, though there will be readers, older ones especially, who associate the phrase with those pearly queens (and kings) in suits and dresses festooned with mother-of-pearl buttons. They were always on the telly back in the 1970s, on shows such as That’s Life! and The Good Old Days , belting out Knees up Mother Brown and offering a route back to a golden time when all of London loved jellied eels and the pavements were clogged with folk doing the Lambeth Walk . Pearly Queen, the restaurant, instead takes a regal attitude to the likes of Carlingford Lough and Gallagher Atlantics , and serves them with scotch bonnet hot sauce and lime. It also serves crisp buffalo oysters, which involve dredging Carlingford number twos in panko breadcrumbs, deep-frying them at 190C, then drizzling them with a sauce made with sriracha and clarified butter, and finishing the whole, crisp, jammy, hot, salty mess with ranch dressing.

Pearly Queen isn’t slap-bang in the middle of Shoreditch’s head-thumping epicentre, but is instead, and rather wisely, down the quieter end, between Aldgate and Spitalfields, and opposite the fantastic pulled noodle spot Xian Biang Biang Noodles and the ever-reliable Sunday lunch spot The Culpeper . Just like chef Tom Brown’s first solo restaurant, Cornerstone , his new place isn’t terribly formal, even if the food is certainly serious. There are no strings of pearls or cummerbunds required, but you’ll definitely need the capacity to eat Cornish brill poached in squid stock and butter, with a potato velouté and white asparagus and dotted with squid ink, or cuttlefish lasagne topped with a 36-month aged parmesan-enriched bechamel.

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The fish do not actually ring the doorbell – you do!

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Crisp hake fillets with clams basted in a power-packed sauce of chorizo and dry sherry – let everyone dig in straight from the pan

Today’s recipe epitomises the vibrant spirit and rustic charm of so much Spanish cooking. I’ve always cherished the incredible power that food has to unite people, and to infuse gatherings with warmth and joy. This dish, a big favourite of my mother’s, uses succulent hake fillets and hearty clams, all bathed in a flavourful chorizo and sherry sauce. It’s essentially a tribute to Spain’s rich coastal traditions, but it also blends the earthiness of the land with the freshness of the sea, creating a glorious chorus of flavours. Perfect for sharing, it captures Spanish conviviality and the simple pleasures of a meal cooked with love.

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Charity blames the decline of invertebrates on farming, sewage and run-off from roads and homes, months after the Environment Agency told them the water in Wiltshire river was clean

A citizen science programme has revealed the decline of one of the country’s most significant chalk streams after claims by Environment Agency officials that it had not deteriorated. The SmartRivers programme run by the charity WildFish, which surveys freshwater invertebrates, reported “strong declines in relation to chemical pressure” on the River Avon in Wiltshire. It said its data indicated a decline in the condition of the river over the last five years.

The charity compiled a report on its findings after the conservation groups say they were told at a meeting by the Environment Agency in August that “the Avon has not deteriorated in water quality in the last five years”. David Holroyd, head of water quality for Wiltshire Fishery Association, said the numbers of invertebrates collected in spring and autumn samples from 2019 and 2023 at 11 sites on the upper Avon had shown a decline.

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Make an impression with burrata and blood orange salad, baked trout with tahini and peppers, and tinned peach tarte tatin topped with ice-cream to finish

What makes a good Valentine’s meal? Something to share, maybe, Lady and the Tramp-style? Or food to eat by hand, signalling informality and ease? For some, it’s a full-on steak and champagne feast, eaten under candlelight, while for others a baked potato eaten on the sofa while wearing PJs does the trick. All good meals are a relationship match of sorts. Some pairings are clearly going to work from the start, while others take a bit longer to persuade, not least because they seem an odd fit: trout and tahini, say, are hardly the most obvious couple but, once tried, they make so much sense. It’s tempting to force the analogies when it comes to food and love, so let’s leave the ingredients to do what they do best.

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Researchers say they have found how anemonefish identify unwelcome guests of their own kind, by counting white markings

Unlike the star of Disney’s Finding Nemo, real-life common clownfish are not keen on sharing their home with members of their own species.

Researchers say they have discovered how they kick unwelcome guests out, by counting the stranger’s vertical white markings.

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