I firmly believe a bowl of sausage pasta and the prospect of a night watching films with your best people should be prescribed as a cure for all ills. There are no hard and fast rules. You could add a few peas to the sauce, use crème fraîche rather than cream, omit the chilli and use any kind of soss you fancy, from a proper Italian fennel-flecked number to a pack of Sainsbury’s Cumberland.

 Stale or leftover bread can be used to make picada which thickens and enhances this tomato-based braise

A staple at every Southeast Asian restaurant around the world, satay, or sate in the local tongue, is said to have originated in Java. One of the most loved versions is satay chicken, served with sweet peanut sauce that has a hint of spice.

your butcher should be able to provide you with ox cheeks. If not, you can use featherblade, shin, or even oxtail. The art of braising and slow cooking – which is not simply putting a chunk of meat with some seasoning and herbs in the oven at a low temperature – seems to be in danger of disappearing, which is a shame because it’s a great skill to have and makes great use of cheaper cuts of meat.