Dominic Franks' viral onion tart sparks Upside Down Cookbook
While Dominic has been known for whipping up seasonal and rustic British recipes, he created the onion tart as he wanted 'a savoury version of the tart tatin' that he loved the concept of. 'I've always wanted to write a book, but I could see the potential of the 'upside down' concept as it was so popular on my social media. It took me roughly six months to write the book in the summer of 2024. I had many of the recipes already from trials on social media,' he says.
The 'upside down' method is a culinary technique wherein ingredients are layered in a pan or dish in reverse order, and the dish is flipped before serving. Dominic adds that the onion tart aside, other popular recipes were the beetroot, red onion and feta tart, and the upside down tomato tart. 'The upside-down concept is so simple and once you try it you can see how easily adaptable and versatile it is for savoury and sweet recipes. They're also very easy and quick to create which is why the amateur cook likes it.'
Featuring 85 recipes, Upside Down Cooking includes many of his inverted treats, smaller pies, family-sized pies, and desserts. 'Many people asked me what to serve with the pies and tarts so I wanted to create a selection of side-dishes such as fresh salads, soups. These are perfect to serve with my upside down creations,' says Dominic, who draws inspiration from old cookbooks such as Delia Smith's Complete Cookery Course, and television shows by Nigella Lawson, Jamie Oliver, and Rick Stein.
'I am very much an 'in the moment' cook so I don't spend a lot of time testing recipes,' says Dominic, 'I tend to make something, and if it works it's a go and if it doesn't then I don't include it. I think this is more realistic to how people cook in their everyday life. So, for the book, I would think of my favourite foods and imagine if they would work upside down. If they worked they were in the book!'
And recipes that did make the cut include upside-down versions of an apricot, polenta, and almond traybake cake; spanakopita; banana toffee tart; beetroot tart tatin, among others. A surprising find was the upside down samosa. 'I grew up in London in the 1970s with many Indian friends and so Indian food was always a part of my life. I knew I wanted to include some recipes that reflect that in the book. My favourite Indian dish is the korma and I am working on an upside down version of that,' says Dominic, who is now working on his second book on the same concept.
Priced at ₹2,750, Upside Down Cooking is available online
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
6 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Makeup Mantras with Masaba Gupta: Designer shares her go-to colours, tools and tricks to feel 'brighter and confident'
Masaba Gupta, who wears multiple hats as a fashion designer, actor and entrepreneur, has a playful yet powerful sense of style. She often blends her fashion choices with makeup that is minimal, yet impactful. The 35-year-old's new personal role as a mother hasn't stopped her from innovating for her fashion or makeup brand. In fact, she says motherhood has led to an evolution of her idea of beauty. Masaba Gupta shares her makeup mantras.(Instagram) In Makeup Mantras for HT Lifestyle, Masaba Gupta goes unfiltered about what beauty means to her, her everyday makeup routine, the colours that make her look better, the tools and hacks she loves, and a DIY trick passed on from her mother Neena Gupta. Q. What is beauty to you, and how has the term evolved for you? Masaba Gupta: Beauty to me is a form of self-expression... the bravest form of self-expression. And it has definitely evolved for me ever since I have become a mother, especially to a baby girl. Now I think that more than trying to fit in, one is just constantly and day-to-day in a mode of self-acceptance, because your body is changing every day, how you look in the mirror changes every day. It just comes from a place of accepting that you are doing your best with the change, growth and evolution, and coming to terms with it. Beauty becomes more about embracing the now - the reality of a situation - and the reality that beauty is not really one single definition! That it actually means different things at different phases in one's life. And I truly believe that inner beauty is something that always shows on the outside. Q. How would you describe your personal approach to beauty—minimal, bold, or mood-driven? Masaba Gupta: My personal approach to beauty has always been minimal, but it's also very mood driven. But I think I lean towards makeup that is classic and close to my natural skin as possible. It's just about accentuating what I have - the features, and not trying to look like someone else. Q. What does your everyday makeup routine look like, especially when you're short on time? Masaba Gupta: My everyday makeup routine is very simple. I will only wear a little bit of cream blush and possibly a little bit of color on my lips. If I'm feeling like I want to do matte, I do a nice matte lipstick or I do lip oil. If I do lip oil, it's usually in a berry or a guava tone. And if it's a matte lip colour, then it's mostly in the nude, pink or brown shades. Q. Is makeup more about self-expression or confidence-boosting—or both? Masaba Gupta: It's self-expression. It's also confidence boosting. It's also a coping mechanism for most people. It's something that is transformative. It is something that is a mood enhancer. Because I think when I wear makeup, I feel very much in charge. And I know that, especially postpartum, if I do put on a little bit of colour on my cheeks and my lips, I do feel brighter, more confident, better through the day. Q. What are the five beauty products you absolutely cannot do without? Masaba Gupta: The five beauty products that I absolutely cannot live without are my cream blush, the lip oil, kajal, possibly some serum tint - like a tinted moisturizer that has skin-loving benefits. And the last would be bronzer! Q. What's the one skincare step you never skip before applying makeup? Masaba Gupta: Applying a ton of moisturizer or any hydrating serum. I think when you have a hydrated canvas of a face, it always helps makeup settle better. Q. Which lipstick shade is your signature - the one you reach for again and again? Masaba Gupta: In terms of lipsticks, I mostly will wear a nude brown. That's my signature shade. In my LoveChild range, there is a shade called Touch Me Not 2.0. It's a beautiful nude, almost like a sand, a dark sand brown. And it's very close to my natural lip color. So I like it because it just gives a little pop. But it's also very natural on my skin. Also read: Nude lipstick shades for soft, subtle, and natural looking lips; Top 8 picks for women Q. What's your go-to lipstick formula—matte, satin, or glossy? Masaba Gupta: My go-to lipstick formula is a matte. Q. What is a lipstick colour that works best for the Indian skin tone, according to you - and why? Masaba Gupta: I think the lipstick color that works best for Indian skin is something that is brown but with a hint of pink or mauve in it. That works because Indians do have skin that is slightly uneven and its pigmented, of course. It is also hot here and humid, so we have enlarged pores just naturally. When you have a nice brown lipstick that's soft and when you have something that's a little bit of a matte or a creamy matte kind of shade, it helps in making at least the skin look a little bit even. Masaba Gupta prefers nude lipstick shades for a minimalistic look.(Instagram) Q. Any tricks you use to make your lip colour last longer? Masaba Gupta: Always put a ton of petroleum jelly or any lip balm that you like as a thick layer while you're doing your foundation, so that until you reach your lip, it's nicely hydrated. Never completely take off the lip balm. Just gently dab with a tissue and once you've done your application of the lipstick, you should always just take a little thin film of tissue and dab some setting powder or some loose powder on top of it. Just a little dab and it goes a long way because it really helps in keeping the lipstick on for longer. Q. When was the first time you ever used lipstick - how old were you? Did your mother react with a smile or an angry face? Masaba Gupta: The first time I used lipstick was probably for an annual day in school. I was very young - in the 6th or 7th grade. I remember it was a beautiful brick red lipstick. I was playing a gypsy girl and we had to wear this really dramatic makeup with winged eyeliner and bright lipstick. I found it such a cool look! My mother was very happy because she put the lipstick and the makeup on for me, and she loved the outcome. Q. Do you have any DIY beauty hacks or traditional tips passed down from your mom? Masaba Gupta: Yes! Whenever I have a long shoot day, and I know I'm going to have makeup on me for maybe 10-12 hours, I always carry a muslin cloth and keep dipping it in ice water. I just squeeze all the water out and just keep putting it on my face. It's quite nice because when it's hot on a set and you have a full face of makeup on, you also want to keep looking fresh and not have the makeup just kick up or crack. It's nice because it helps you feel better. It's also nice and cool. The pores stay nice and closed, at least for that much time. (Makeup Mantras is a celebrity beauty series that dives into the makeup and skincare routines of your favourite stars, revealing their go-to products, personal hacks, and confidence-boosting rituals.)
Hindustan Times
6 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Priyanka Chopra has Kal Penn's support for choosing hot dogs over vada pav: ‘Aren't people allowed to like other things'
Kal Penn has defended actor Priyanka Chopra after she recently left a section of the internet heartbroken over her food preferences. Speaking with the Indian Express, Kal asked if people "are not allowed to like other things". Praising Priyanka, Kal called her "completely authentic and wonderful". Kal Penn talked about Priyanka Chopra at length at a recent interview. Kal Penn defends Priyanka Chopra for not choosing vada pav over hot dog Though Kal shared that he didn't know what Priyanka said, he opened up about how, on MasterChef, he was asked about chicken tikka masala when he said his favourite food was tacos. "They were clearly disappointed, and then they asked me whether I could cook something like chicken tikka masala or something Indian. I told them straight away no, and they asked me, 'Do you not like Indian food?' I told them I loved Indian food, and I had even planned on cooking one of my mother's recipes on the show, but now I am definitely not going to do it," Kal said. 'For me, it's just the silliness of the fact that are people not allowed to like other things? I think people just project their own likes and dislikes, so I just laugh it off,' he added. Kal praises Priyanka Talking about Priyanka, he said that he knows and loves her. He added that he finds Priyanka "to be completely authentic and wonderful, and unapologetically so, which is very refreshing". All about Priyanka and vada pav vs hot dog row It all started when Priyanka, at the premiere of her film Heads of State, chose hot dogs over vada pav and did not favour samosas right away. The actor faced mixed responses for not choosing Indian food. Later, Priyanka shared an influencer's video on her Instagram Stories where he questioned why the actor took so much time to choose between Indian street food items and other items when given a chance. In the caption, Priyanka wrote, 'Wow bro! Didn't know there was a syllabus for being desi. Its not that serious (laughing face emoticons).' About Priyanka's new projects Fans will see Priyanka in the highly anticipated second season of the web series Citadel. She is set to play a 19th-century Caribbean pirate in The Bluff. Priyanka will also star in SS Rajamouli's upcoming film alongside Mahesh Babu.
Scroll.in
6 minutes ago
- Scroll.in
A manga artist from Kyoto is winning praise for her delicate drawings of Goa's stately mansions
In 1990, when Japanese manga artist Akeru Barros Pereira visited her husband's ancestral village of Cansaulim in Goa, she was captivated by everything she saw. 'I'd walk around the quiet village with my baby on my back,' she said 'I had a camera and was fascinated by the village scenes – especially the houses around.' She was so charmed by stately Goan houses, she took pictures of them even as the family drove to the airport to return to Japan. A few years later, when their children had finished high school, her husband, Joao Barros Pereira, a university professor in Kyoto, encouraged her to start drawing again. In the 1970s and '80s, as an undergraduate at Nara University, Barros Pereira had drawn 13 books of manga – the distinctive Japanese style of comics and graphic novels. She had published them under the pen name Toto Akeru. She had stopped when their first child was born. But now, with more time on her hands, Akeru Barros Pereira decided to get going again. 'I remembered those pictures taken all those years ago, and based on those pictures, I began drawing Goan houses,' she said. Using colour pencils, water colours and fountain pen, sitting in an apartment in Kyoto, Barros Pereira began to make her drawings on Japanese paper. In her work, she recreated all the graceful elements of the Goan house – the elegance of cornices and pilasters, plinths and pediments, ornate stucco work, arched doorways, sloping red-tiled roofs, finials, balcaos, decorative gate posts, oyster shell windows, eaves boards, corbels and wrought iron railings. The contrast between the homes in Japan and Goa could not be more striking, the artist said. Rural homes in earthquake-prone Japan are built of wood and paper screens, while the apartment blocks in space-starved Japanese cities are compact. They are quite different from the stone and lime plaster structures of Goa. Her pictures are enveloped with coconut trees and dense foliage. They attest to her fascination with Goan flora and give her works an ethereal, mysterious air. The drawings were so atmospheric, architect Gerard da Cunha decided to publish them as a book in 2013. The Indo-Portuguese House, with text by da Cunha, features 50 of Barros Pereira's works. 'The Indo-Portuguese house is the richest legacy of Goan society,' the book declares. 'It is the result of European rule and all its cultural influences melding with its Indian subjects and their sensibilities, creating an extraordinary house. A house which is neither Western nor Indian, but having the attributes of a well-developed style, as rich and independent as any in this world.' Da Cunha's professional association with Barros Pereira predates the book. In 2008, he bought some of her drawings at an exhibition at the Kala Academy in Panjim to display in his highly regarded Houses of Goa Museum in village of Torda. In the preface to the book, da Cunha explains why he admires Barros Pereira's work. 'Here was somebody who really understood the nuances of the Indo-Portuguese house and could capture its many forms,' he writes. '…Akeru's paintings of the Goan house have been taking up an important corner of my Museum for the last five years and it has helped explain this wonderful house in a way I never could. It has also brought great pleasure and understanding to all who visit.' What makes her work so remarkable? Perhaps it is because she has the keener eye of the outside observer? Sitting in the airy, light-filled antique drawing room of the Barros Pereira mansion in Cansaulim, with an array of French windows opening onto a wrap-around verandah, it is easy to understand Barros Pereira's enchantment with the architectural style. All around are similar manors, all equally grand, all seeped in centuries of family histories in rural Cansaulim. Barros Pereira, who studied mathematics and philosophy, is a self-taught artist. Publishing manga at university honed her skills, she said, though those comics used only pen and ink. The 1970s and '80s were considered the Golden Age of manga, with dozens of magazines being published in a range of genres, aimed at a variety of demographics. 'In every elementary, junior high school, there'd be one or two manga writers or anime style artists,' Barros Pereira said. 'Everybody wanted to become a manga writer…' Her own fantasy genre manga novels were set in a fictional country, definitely Eastern. 'I wanted to introduce Japanese young women and girls to countries other than Europe and the US, which held steady appeal at that time,' Barros Pereira said. Since she began drawing Goan houses around 2005, she almost never created her work in Goa. Two- or three-week annual vacations to the state after a 24-hour journey there made it too hectic for anything more than site visits, she said. Instead, she would take lots of photographs and begin work when she was back in Kyoto, as time permitted. Her work is lent some of its uniqueness from the ultra-thin Japanese paper she uses: it crumbles when wet and is usually mounted on board or cloth or ready purchased as pre-mounted shikishi boards. There are many varieties of Japanese calligraphy paper, each of which gives the work a different effect, she said. 'Japanese calligraphy paper works amazingly well with colour pencils,' Barros Pereira said. She says it adds a soft tone to the colouring that gives it the stand-out effect that characterises her work. She has experimented with pens, using a fountain pen earlier, and more recently switching to a calligraphy pen that does not fade as easily. Over the years, Barros Pereira has drawn more than 200 Goan houses. But she avoids drawing derelict houses, or ruins – preferring to present houses as they are meant to be, renovating them in her paintings, even if the structures she has shot require a little maintenance. 'These houses are living entities, heaving with the family histories and dramas of generations past,' said Barros Pereira. 'I like to capture the hope and promise that they will live on, with new generations.'
