Early-Autumn Dinner for 6

This is the sort of food I want to eat when I’m holding on to summer, despite the sad, grey-skied truth of the actual weather on the streets. These are the strong flavours of hotter climates – lime, chillies, coriander, the honeyed saltiness of cured ham – banked down, with mashed potatoes, cod, buttery sage, for northern palates. After this starter, the culinary equivalent of a mariachi band, you need to strike some calmer notes, and the unexotic fish, the sage-and-onion-spiked lentils, do exactly that.