After Passover enticing aromas of our Ottoman Sephardic cuisine permeate our home with freshly baked Rhodeslis sweet treats. The heady scent of rose water wafting from a sublime rice pudding, ‘sutlach’, bubbling on the stove, freshly baked ‘travados’ fragrant with cinnamon and cloves and shortbread filled with date and walnuts, ‘menenas’ – familiar smells that could have been from the kitchens of my ancestors from the Jewish quarters in medieval Spain or the Island of Rhodes.

I love nothing more than preparing a table laden with these home made delectable favourites for a gathering of my friends offering cups of freshly brewed Turkish coffee.