What the Broadsheet Team Is Cooking Their Mums for Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day is coming up fast. If you’ve left booking a meal too late, or a restaurant is out of your budget this year, we have the next-best option: cook for mum (or your mother figure) at home. You’ll get bonus points for effort, be able to linger around the table well beyond what a restaurant reservation would allow, and can tailor your recipes to suit mum’s favourites. Need inspiration? Here’s what the Broadsheet editorial team is cooking for their mums this year.

Sara Oteri’s Sri Lankan-Style lamb curry

“Mum’s always been a sucker for lamb. I’ll have to ask her, but I think it’s partially nostalgia. She grew up in Australia at a time when it was the cheapest, most widely available meat, and chicken was only for special occasions. Chicken! Living with a fussy, flavour-averse eater (hi Dad), she also doesn’t get to eat Desi food much, even though she adores it. That makes this aromatic curry a total slam dunk.” – Nick Connellan, Australia editor

Ottolenghi’s parmigiana pie (and something sweet by Amber Guinness) 

“My mum and I text every day. Her first, around 6.45am, starts with her (often impressive) Wordle result and a ‘Good morning lovely darling’. Me next, with ‘Great Wordling, mum!’ and well wishes for the day. It’s as simple, comforting and regular as nightly family dinners when I lived at home – that’s the vibe I’m aiming for this Mother’s Day. Ottolenghi’s parmigiana pie is my ticket: a veggie-filled one-pan number, with cheese and crunch, plonked on the table in help-yourself fashion (lemon-dressed leafy greens on the side, of course). Then slices of this lemony choc-almond cake to finish. Love ya, mum.” – Grace McKenzie, Sydney food and drink editor 

Katrina Meynink’s tomato, harissa and Jatz pie

“During high school, Mum basically gave up trying to feed me and my brother any semblance of a balanced diet. Single parent on a tight budget, two teenage sons in their bottomless pit phase – it was tough for her. The only alternative to cooking around the clock was to buy tins of what I now call ‘apocalypse chow‘ in bulk. That, and Jatz. Boxes and boxes of Jatz. So, I’ll bring this tomato, harissa and Jatz pie around on Mother’s Day. Because mum gave me the precious gift of life, and a shitload of Jatz.” – Dan Cunningham, food and drink features editor 

Joseph Abboud’s tahini chicken

“Phone calls with Mum always start the same. She reels off the five dinner dishes she’s making – usually a combo of extra-charred lamb chops, a garden veggie salad and golden potatoes. In the background, I can hear her third child (an anxious blue heeler) yapping and the smoke alarm going off (the chops). Sadly, I can’t join Mum’s feast this year. But I’ll whip up Joseph Abboud’s tahini chicken in her honour. And after mains? I’ll give her all-time fave dessert a crack: tiramisu. They’re the kinds of dishes she’ll drop her phone over when we chat on Sunday night, looking at the photos I’ve sent her and asking: ‘Can you send me the recipes?’” – Holly Bodeker-Smith, newsletter editor

Andrew McConnell’s trottole pasta

“My mum is almost entirely responsible for my relationship to food today. Her organised chaos (read: very Italian) approach in the kitchen fascinated me as a child, and is a big reason why I always try to grab a seat in view of the chefs whenever I dine out. As homage to the thousands of pastas she’s made for me over the years, the least I could do is make one for her myself. This one by Andrew McConnell, whose restaurants I might never have visited without Mum’s influence, feels like a perfect tribute.” – Scott Renton, Hot List editor

Becca Wang’s sage cream roast chicken with cabbage

“Our twenty-something hosting columnist Becca Wang is my Martha Stewart. I often struggle to choose dishes that’ll go together for a dinner party, so I’m fully nabbing one of Becca’s $50 Supper Partying menus. (My mum knows I need to save money so she’ll be thrilled I’m being thrifty.) I’m going to use Becca’s recipe to make sage cream roast chicken with cabbage. The perfect celebratory Sunday lunch.” – Lucy Bell Bird, national assistant editor

Helen Goh’s miso-spiked sticky date pudding

“My mum has a killer sweet tooth, so there’s not much point making something for her unless it’s a dessert. This year, it has to be the miso-spiked sticky date pudding from long-time Yotam Ottolenghi collaborator Helen Goh’s debut cookbook Baking and the Meaning of Life.” – Audrey Payne, Melbourne food and drink editor

Flour and Stone’s chocolate, raspberry and buttermilk cake

“Flour and Stone’s Nadine Ingram describes her chocolate, raspberry and buttermilk cake as “the fudgiest of all the chocolate cakes”. It’s what lured my family into making this a lockdown passion project. And it’s what keeps us coming back. This fudgy beauty is a labour of love (you’ll need about four hours between beating and serving) but so was raising me and my sister. Mum deserves it. For a special Mother's Day touch: whack it in a heart-shaped pan – you’re (the) golden (child).” – Stephanie Vigilante, head of social media