Best left a few days ...

Dogs exemplify so many things well. Loyalty. Playfulness. The kinds of eating habits you never want your children to imitate.

While I was living on the farm, a special treat for our dog Jess was a large shin-bone from the butcher's. The bone could be enjoyed au naturale, just as it came from the fridge. Or even better it could be taken to the soil heap in the nursery, buried and left for a few days (or even a week) till the flavour improved. It could then be dug up and slowly savoured, the meat falling off the bone as if it were slow-cooked (I can hear you licking your chops now).

Of course, Jess was teaching the rest of us a simple lesson: some meals are best left a few days for all the flavours to fully interact with each other.

Late last week I cooked up a large pot of chicken tikka masala. We had our dinner, and then packed the leftovers away in the fridge. It made a reappearance yesterday, and was definitely more flavoursome. So also a mocha date pudding made at a similar time. With a couple of days' 'cellaring', the flavours enjoyed a more subtle integration. Time accomplished what cooking techniques and ingredients alone could not.

Thanks, Jess. Nice one.