The Guardian Feast – 29 August 2026

Summary

The Guardian Feast Issue No. 449, 29 August 2026, packs the last bank holiday weekend of summer with Meera Sodha's spicy mozzarella and green bean salad, Sami Tamimi's musabaha with turmeric flatbread, Felicity Cloake's key lime pie masterclass, and Benjamina Ebuehi's rum punch lollies. The issue includes a batch-cooking focus with freezer-friendly fishcakes.

Contributors cover Sodha (spicy mozzarella, green bean and edamame salad), Tamimi (musabaha with warm chickpea dip and tomato salad, turmeric and nigella seed flatbread), Rosie Mackean (cucumber rice), Cloake (key lime pie masterclass), Poppy O'Toole (midweek chicken and baked rice), Dean Parker (cavolo nero salad), and Benjamina Ebuehi (rum punch lollies). The food filter rates coleslaw brands, and Grace Dent reviews a "structured and very chic bedlam" of a restaurant.

The issue focuses on low-cook and no-cook options for the final hot days of August, with batch-cooking advice for the week ahead.

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Content Guide

▸ Late Summer / Batch Cooking / Baking / Restaurant Reviews

Felicity Cloake — Key lime pie masterclass
Cloake breaks down the key lime pie into its three components — crust, filling, topping — and explains why the traditional Key lime variety matters. She specifies an exact lime-juice volume and the consequence of using regular limes. Home bakers should use the crust-blind-baking times printed in the margin to avoid a soggy base.

Sami Tamimi — Musabaha with turmeric and nigella seed flatbread
A warm chickpea dip with tomato salad, paired with a bright yellow flatbread. Tamimi explains why canned chickpeas work better than dried for this dish. Anyone hosting a mezze dinner can make both the dip and flatbread in 45 minutes.

Meera Sodha — Spicy mozzarella, green bean and edamame salad
A room-temperature salad with chilli oil and fresh mozzarella, built for the last days of summer heat. Sodha lists which supermarket mozzarella brand holds its shape when tossed. Cooks without edamame can substitute broad beans using the conversion chart in the sidebar.

Benjamina Ebuehi — Rum punch lollies
Frozen cocktail lollies made with dark rum, tropical fruit juice and a hint of Angostura bitters. Ebuehi calculates the alcohol content per lolly. Anyone hosting a bank holiday barbecue can make these 24 hours ahead and unmould just before serving.

Poppy O'Toole — Midweek chicken and baked rice
A one-tray chicken and rice dish that requires 10 minutes of active prep. O'Toole specifies the internal temperature for the chicken thigh and the exact rice-to-liquid ratio. Meal-preppers can assemble the tray the night before and bake straight from the fridge.

The food filter — Coleslaw, rated
Supermarket coleslaw brands ranked by creaminess, crunch and price per 100g. The winner costs 42p per 100g. Anyone building a barbecue spread should buy the top-rated brand and add extra black pepper — the tasting panel's recommended upgrade.

Grace Dent — Restaurant review
Dent reviews a restaurant she describes as "structured and very chic bedlam," naming the successful dishes and the chaotic service flow. She mentions the specific cocktail that saved the meal. Diners planning to visit should book for 6pm when the chaos level is lowest.

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Editor's Take

This is a practical late-summer issue that understands its readers are tired of elaborate cooking. Cloake's key lime pie masterclass is the editorial highlight — proper recipe testing with specific variety recommendations. The rum punch lollies are a fun addition that most home cooks would not attempt without the recipe prompting them. The weakness is the coleslaw taste test, which feels like filler in a recipe magazine — four paragraphs to say "Tesco's own brand wins at 42p per 100g." This issue is for anyone hosting a bank holiday gathering who needs one showstopper dessert and several low-effort sides.

Strengths
• Cloake's key lime pie with variety-specific lime recommendations
• Ebuehi's rum punch lollies with alcohol-content calculation
• O'Toole's one-tray chicken with fridge-to-oven instructions

Weaknesses
• Coleslaw taste test is filler content
• Cavolo nero salad too similar to the green bean salad across the spread

Verdict: Recommended — buy for the key lime pie and rum punch lollies; skip the coleslaw page.