Book excerpt: The Modern Pantry restaurant serves some of the most exciting food in London. Anna Hansen's flavour combinations are wholly original; her dishes combine the best of seasonal western ingredients with the freshness and spice of Asian and Pacific Rim cooking. In this, her first cookbook, Anna introduces the reader to his or her very own 'modern pantry', a global larder of ingredients to use at home. Recipes include snacks and sharing plates like crab rarebit and grilled halloumi and lemon roast fennel bruschetta, salads such as wild rice with charred sweetcorn, avocado, feta and pecan, and delicious main courses like miso-marinated onglet steak. Other highlights are her luscious desserts: honey-roast pear, chestnut and oat crumble and home-made coconut sorbet, and cakes and bakes including date and orange scones and banana and coconut upside-down cake. Anna aims to broaden the everyday home cook's ideas of what he or she can prepare, to create simple, inspiring dishes for family and friends. The Modern Pantry Cookbook is stylish and groundbreaking, and the innovative recipes are illustrated with beautiful colour photography.