Citrus, sunlight, capsaicin: what’s not to love? — This is another recipe that came to England from the Raj, and from England to Mars in the back pocket of an old India hand, or at least his cook’s or housekeeper’s. Mrs B’s stillroom is a wonder to behold, and this is one of its brightest jewels. Two dozen…

with a chilli-paste coat to keep it warm… — Mrs B hangs pork shoulders on butcher’s hooks above a low slow fire when she wants to make this (except on Guy Fawkes Night, when the girls build a giant bonfire in the grounds and the meat is set up on the margins, on iron tripods, on the downwind side). …

Winter comfort, in a bowl… — This is another dish that Mrs Bailey makes for her private dinner parties, rather than in quantity for the school; she deems it rather too rich for little girls, besides being hard labour for her kitchen to turn out two hundred portions and more. She likes to garnish each plate…

Mrs B’s Advent Calendar: Day 5 — Any British cook worth her salt has a repertoire of pickles and chutneys at her fingers’ ends, along with her jams and other preserves. …

Mrs B’s Advent Calendar: Day 4 Shellfish of all kinds abound in Martian waters, and thus on Martian plates. None are native; the first were brought in by early settlers, as part of the Ark of Life voyages wherein every type of creature farmed or domesticated was fetched over from…

Mrs B’s Advent Calendar, Day 3 — Given the broad diversity of its people and cultures, Mars offers many and many a festival throughout the year, not to mention all the individual dinner parties, birthdays and other celebrations occurring every day in private homes. Every Martian cook of any experience has a deal of dishes suitable to…

Mrs Bailey’s Advent Calendar, Day 2 — The Crater School kitchens turn out these flattish, dimpled loaves by the dozen, on an almost daily basis. Mrs B developed this particular recipe to be easy and quick for her kitchenmaids to learn, and to take up as little of their time as possible. Their time is her time…

Mrs Bailey’s Advent Calendar: Dec 1 — Mrs B doesn’t actually prepare this for the Crater School girls, but it’s likely that most of them encounter it at least once before they leave, at a tea with parents or one of Miss Leven’s gatherings for prefects and staff, or some other special occasion. …

(unless they’re samoseks) — From your classic British pork pies and sausage rolls and pasties via the sambouseks of Palestine and the samosas of India to the steamed pork buns of China, almost every human culture has some variation on pastry-or-bread-dough stuffed with meat. Of course Mrs Bailey has her own variations; this is…