It is a quiet winter’s afternoon, a good few years ago, and there is a sound recordist in my kitchen. I am chopping, frying, slicing and washing up, carefully making every clunk, snap, whizz, pfft, swoosh and sizzle as clear and well defined as I can. Each thump, click, snip and crackle must have its own space, so no multitasking today. These sounds of cooking are being recorded for a production company’s archive of “kitchen noises” that will be used whenever someone needs to drop in the sound of a tin being opened, a carrot being peeled or a sausage being fried. Even the hearty gurgle as the water left the kitchen sink had to be repeated until we got it just right. Years later I wonder, when I listen to a radio play or podcast, whether the pop of a champagne cork or a kettle whistling is one of mine. The sounds of dinner being prepared are as much a part of the anticipation of a meal as the smell of it cooking. This month, author and broadcaster Danny Wallace encourages us to listen to our supper as well as smell and taste it. And he’s right, the enjoyment of dinner should start long before it reaches our plates. We have a host of money-saving ideas to help “purse and planet” for you from cook and author Rosie Sykes, including her glorious Catalan-style beans and chorizo, spiced rice and lentils with mustard seeds, cardamom and chilli, and a “big old soup”, her brilliant way to use up those bits and pieces in the fridge. A recipe I am truly grateful for. We also have some eating out hints for you. Koya Bar’s Shuko Oda and Aktar Islam of Birmingham’s Opheem are just two chefs who have opened their address books for us in search of good value eating. From chicken panang and beef massaman to reuben croissants and chicken heart skewers, we have a cornucopia of ideas for eating out on a budget from one end of the country to the other. And there’s more: Beverley Knight is the subject of our Life on a Plate, Jay Rayner takes healthy eating advice from Arnold Schwarzenegger and we celebrate Veganuary’s 10th anniversary.