July Welcome to

I’m still here in my kitchen. It’s the hottest day of the year so far and I’m counting down the hours until I can hear the clink of some large chunks of ice hit a glass and crackle as I pour over a satisfyingly blush cider from the West Country. I’m also itching to light the barbecue because, this issue, I’ve got all the inspiration and info I could need. Skewers are ideal for scaling up or down, they’re quick and simple to make, and you can mix and match. I’ve also discovered (thank you, cookery team) perhaps the biggest time- and stress-saving hack of pre-cooking meat, too.

We’ve some seriously hard-working recipes that are ripe for adapting, should you not want to waste time traipsing round the shops for that one missing ingredient. There are colourful and quick recipes to keep you sane and healthy during the week, and technical bakes and fruity cocktails for the weekend (or any time, let’s be honest). And, of course, more great ideas from restaurant chefs who are hopefully set to open their doors in July. Listen to the O magazine podcast for more great barbecue tips, and stories from our favourite chefs on how they’re adapting their businesses to welcome us all back this month.

I’d also like to reflect on the most important work we’ve been doing this month. We know we can share more stories and celebrate more fully food cultures from diverse communities here in Britain and around the world. We know we can do better, and we will – some changes will be immediately visible (such as more Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic-owned businesses represented in our ‘O loves’ pages and more varied cuisines and cultures shared in our recipe pages), some will be longer-term, all will be meaningful and sustainable. We are committed, as a brand and as a company (see right), to better representing our audience by listening to and reflecting our wonderful community.