French techniques and cookery are so ubiquitous in our cuisine that we seldom acknowledge or even consider where the skills or processes originate. Fine-dining know-how is not what I’m talking about here, rather the comfort cooking that most of us enjoy the most: gratins and casseroles, one-pan chicken dishes and well-flavoured soups – dishes that build up flavour by giving each ingredient the time it needs to shine.

Using what’s locally available and making substitutions are practical solutions to gaps in ingredients; it’s how cuisines adapt, shift and change and then become entrenched as local favourites.