Food lover Kate Burton tells MAXINE GORDON about the fine art of running her pop-up cafe in a York gallery

LIKE some of the best places in York, Cardamom & Dill is tucked away, awaiting discovery.

It is a culinary pop-up, currently settled into the School House Gallery in Peasholme Green, where visitors can enjoy proper coffee and exotic vegetarian and vegan fare as well as some very fine art.

Kate Burton is the face of Cardamom & Dill, a self-confessed global gourmand, who wants to share her passion for international flavours with the people of York.

"I am passionate about food from the Mediterranean and want people to discover it. That's why I change the menus every week so people get a tastebomb of different flavours."

Exploding on the palate of visitors this week has been the likes of spicy falafel, a warming chickpea fattet – or stew – and a potato salad with a kick, featuring crushed chilli, coriander seeds, turmeric and cloves, as well as a hummus made from sweet potato.

York Press:

Sweet potato hummus from Cardamom & Dill

Food is served Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, between 12.30pm and 2pm and each week there is a different theme. For our visit, the flavours of Lebanon were being explored; the week before witnessed tastes from Provence.

This particular fare is particularly close to Kate's heart because she spent a lot of time in Provence as a child in the 1960s. Her first food memory is of tucking into a pan bagnat, stuffed with cheese and basil. "We used to call them beach sandwiches," recalls Kate. "It was my first taste memory and was just an explosion of freshness and summer."

Kate has a successful career as a brand consultant, while her husband is head of design at Teesside university. Cooking was a hobby – until she popped into the School House Gallery and met curator Robert Teed. Robert had just changed the venue from a white cube gallery into a more relaxing space, complete with shabby chic tables and chairs,a retro radiogram playing an eclectic mix of vinyl (everything from Neil Diamond to Dvo?ák) as well as filter coffee and cake.

"It was late summer when I first walked in," begins Kate. "The furniture was just being put in to make it a place for people to linger and meet. I said I can do lunches and I started straight away! It's great because you get a totally different audience. I think it is important because some people are frightened to come into art galleries like this. But when it is like this, they feel comfortable to sit around. It creates a totally different atmosphere."

York-raised artist Jake Attree currently has the run of the gallery, with his work on display as well as a series of events lined up. It's worth popping in just to see his magnificent and expansive impression of York Minster just seen over the rooftops of the city centre. It's a striking wall of ox-blood reds, greys and whites (and on sale for £20,000 if you are interested).

From January, Kate will also be hosting monthly evenings at the gallery, where a fixed menu dinner will be served along with a welcome drink and a talk from the resident artist for £30.

Check out more of Kate's recipes at cardamomanddill.com

Jake Attree: In Search of the Key is showing at the School House Gallery, Peasholme Green, York, until January 28, 2018. Find out more at: jackson-teed.com

York Press:

Recipe from Cardamom & Dill

Palestinian maftoul tabbouleh

Ingredients

200g maftoul (also known as pearl or Israeli couscous, or you can use a course bulgur wheat)

100g fine couscous

4 ripe plum tomatoes, finely chopped

A bunch of spring onions, finely chopped

60g flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

30g mint, roughly chopped

Juice of 2-3 lemons

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to your taste

Extra-virgin olive oil

Pomegranate arils (seeds), for garnishing

A handful of slivered almonds, lightly toasted, for garnishing

Method:

In a large frying pan gently toast the maftoul over a medium heat, stirring all the time so as to ensure a uniform golden colour. Cover with boiling water, turn down the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes until it is just cooked. Drain, rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process and set aside.

Meanwhile, place the regular couscous in a medium bowl, add boiling water to a depth of 1cm above the couscous itself. Cover and leave for ten minutes.

When ready, loosen the regular couscous with a fork to separate the grains, mix with the cooled maftoul and dress with the juice of two lemons. Add a generous glug of olive oil and season to your taste.

Add the remaining ingredients, mix and, if needed, adjust the seasoning and lemon juice to your taste.

Turn it out on to a pretty plate and garnish with pomegranate arils and toasted almonds.