Holy Cow is a film about underdogs and a bid to make a prize-winning cheese, set against a rural backdrop of sozzled fetes and demolition derbies. Director Louise Courvoisier talks about shooting where ‘people are kind of wild’

Louise Courvoisier grew up the daughter of farmers in France’s eastern Jura region and, by the time she was 15, was desperate to leave this backwater. So she chose a boarding school 100km away in Besançon that happened to offer a cinema course. “I really needed to get out, for sure,” says the director, now 31. “But after my studies I needed to come back, and I had a new point of view. Leaving let me look at things differently and see what others don’t see. And I think that, without getting that distance on the region, I couldn’t have made this film.”

The film in question is Holy Cow, a rough-edged, sharp-tongued but good-hearted tale about one teenager’s quest to make a prize-winning wheel of comté cheese, a Jura speciality. The story appears to be comparable to the likes of The Full Monty or Brassed Off – British underdog comedies that Courvoisier admires for their social conscience.

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They may be America’s least popular fry, but some chefs are still devoted to them.

A cheesy broccoli, bean and walnut bake, and a baked carrot and crisp bean salad doused in orange, tahini and sesame oil

I am so here for the butter bean renaissance. No longer are they reserved for soft, brown stews (although I love those, too); you can use these legumes to make so many vibrant, flavour- and texture-packed meals. Both of today’s dishes are nourishing and would make excellent sides for a weekend feast, but they’d equally also be fabulous for a midweek dinner.

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Frying and grilling steers gnocchi away from their familiar doughiness and instead gives them a delicious, nutty edge

I like pre-packed gnocchi as much as the next person, but it has never been something I can get particularly excited about (I’m obviously not including handmade gnocchi in this statement, because that is heaven sent). However, frying ready-made gnocchi so they are golden and nutty on the outside, elevates them to something lighter, tastier and much more interesting. I love to finish them under the grill, to accentuate that crispness, together with the oozy sweetness from nuggets of gorgonzola. A fancy-feeling dish that is incredibly easy to throw together.

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Frozen peas are the small but mighty vegetable heroes of this satisfying dish that’s just made to be enjoyed as quickly as it comes together

Peas freeze quickly because they are small. And, because they are small, so are the crystals that form when the water in their taut cells (imagine many minuscule balloons) turns to ice. And small crystals cause far less damage, puncturing and ripping to cell walls, which means that, when the pea defrosts and the ice returns to water, the cell walls are able to hold it, resulting in a firmer pea.

Larger items, on the other hand, see the formation of larger ice crystals, which can puncture the walls (again, imagine minuscule balloons, but this time with lots of tiny rips), making them leaky when they defrost and causing mushy vegetables. This is why peas survive the industrial freezing process so much better than, say, carrots or a slice of aubergine.

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Having scoured the eastern Med and Balkans for the definitive take on this delectable stuffed filo snack, our resident perfectionist unveils her ultimate recipe

“Few dishes,” according to food writer Zeynep Betul , “embody the spirit of Turkish cuisine as perfectly as börek”. This family of crunchy, flaky pastries in various shapes and fillings are “immensely popular” throughout the country, says award-winning author Özlem Warren : “Even the fussiest child,” she assures readers of her book Özlem’s Turkish Table, “will … ask for seconds.”

So foundational do börek seem to be to Turkish life that a conservative female politician made headlines a few years ago for a tweet claiming that, if a woman didn’t know how to make them, “her family is doomed to disintegration”. In reality, as others were quick to point out, though börek aren’t difficult to prepare (and, with practice, perfect), many Turkish women, as well as men, choose to buy them instead, without obvious domestic repercussions. As journalist Belgin Akaltan puts it : “You can make börek for your own pleasure, for your own pastime. Just for fun. For your kids, for your husband, for your friends, for your guests, for your lesbian partner, but do not put it in the middle of your life as an objective, unless you are a professional cook.” They are indeed fun to make – but, I must concede, even more fun to eat.

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Pizza, but not as you know it, featuring mushrooms, potatoes, cheese and greens on a crunchy cornbread base, plus a rice pudding treat baked into pastry squares for afters

Why should pizza and focaccia get to have all the fun? Cornbread, with its subtle sweetness, golden hue and earthy flavour, is a welcoming canvas for the kinds of toppings that more commonly adorn Italian flatbreads. Similarly, today’s satisfying dessert features the familiar flavours of rice pudding but delivers them in a gloriously snackable, transportable and plate-able form. Thanks to a reformulation influenced by flan patissier (Parisian custard tart), the pudding, which bakes atop a simple pastry crust, ends up firm enough to slice while remaining silky and custardy.

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Greek and Turkish flavours flourish in a spinach and feta filo pie and yoghurt and spinach soup with fried bulgur dumplings

I’ve been on a journey to make the easiest börek without compromising on deliciousness, and I think I’ve peaked. Shredding the filo and mixing it with the filling gives a cake-like effect and a great rise, and creates the magic of multiple layers without really having to do any work. Yoghurt is a staple in Kurdish and Turkish meals; the acidity cuts through dishes and works so well in soups, which is why one of the most classic soups in our regions is yayla çorbası , simply made with yoghurt and cracked white rice and topped with a mint butter. There are many different regional iterations but this is mine, with chickpeas and spinach, and topped with bulgur köfte in mint butter.

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Whose tortelloni are pillows of pasta perfection, and whose taste like postage stamps? Our quick-cook columnist has the answers …

• The best food processors and mixers – chosen by chefs

Shop-bought ravioli and tortelloni are staples in my kitchen – I’ve even been known (with some chutzpah) to serve bowls of the stuff to friends, including well-known food writers, albeit improved with brown butter, crisp sage and hazelnuts, or in my signature ravioli lasagne .

In an ideal packet, I’m looking for a well-seasoned filling, nice and light from the ricotta, and not too processed or stodgy in texture. Similarly, the pasta shouldn’t taste plasticky; the closer it is to homemade, the better.

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