

First recipe, first book
"The only way to eat superb Indian food, with a guarantee of variety, quality and freshness of ingredients, is to learn to cook it for...
Jan 2, 2023


Not much to say about asparagus soup
"It sort of goes against the grain to turn the most beautiful of vegetables into a soup." Simon Hopkinson My next first recipe has been...
Dec 18, 2022


One soup or four?
"Our primary purpose in this book is to teach you how to cook, so that you will understand the fundamental techniques and gradually be...
Nov 9, 2022


Genteel sandwiches on the lawn
"Everything tastes better outdoors." Claudia Roden It's such a beautiful day - you can almost imagine that summer is actually on its...
Nov 7, 2022


How we discovered Middle Eastern Food
"It is the fruit of nostalgic longing for, and delighted savouring of, food that was the constant joy of life in a world so different...
Oct 24, 2022


Good things = kippers
"Eat with horseradish sauce, good bread and a poached egg - if you fancy - and tease every last morsel from the spine bones and head. ...
Sep 27, 2022


National cuisines and in defence of the English one
"A tapestry and patchwork quilt that embraces the best of the old traditions as well as the newer additions to our repertoire, which are...
Sep 2, 2022


Jane Grigson and the apple of paradise
“She thought food was the key to unlocking life,” Sophie Grigson This is one of my First Recipe posts - the book in question being Jane...
Jun 27, 2022


Duxelles - a first recipe
"A few spoonfuls can be used to cut out the early stages of those many recipes which begin with onion and mushrooms sweated slowly...
Jun 4, 2022


First recipe, first impressions and a Belgian salad
"we all know how first impressions linger the longest." Robert Carrier I'm not particularly uninspired today, but I'm in a clearing out,...
Apr 9, 2022


Did consommé die?
"Consommé shows skill and panache without shouting, like a Savile Row shirt: crisp, understated, but oozing style and class. Consommé is...
Jan 28, 2022


A favourite fish - first recipe
"Remember that a very good sardine is always preferable to a not that good lobster" Ferran Adria I know I've done sardines before - a...
Jan 1, 2022


Back - to basics and beginnings
It's been almost a week since I have created a post for this blog. Why? Well all sorts of reasons, most of them being just that I have...
Dec 14, 2021


Hors d'oeuvre variés - a first recipe
"The real purpose of the hors d'œuvre cours is to stimulate the appetite, not to drown it." Robert Carrier The picture at left is from...
Nov 28, 2021


Satay sapi - a first recipe
"Inherent in the great tradition of satay is the tendency to tweak—to take a classic recipe and make it your own." James Oseland -...
Nov 5, 2021


Flamiche - a first recipe
"my favourite savoury tart" Gabriel Gaté It could be mine too if I think about it. And I don't make it often enough - probably because...
Oct 15, 2021


First recipe - sesame prawn toasts
"This has to be one of the worst represented dishes on the Chinese takeaway menu. Too often you open your container to reveal...
Oct 6, 2021


Crossing the bridge noodles
"The dish relies on great chicken stock - so much so that restaurants guard their recipes like crown jewels." Tony Tan I'm back to first...
Sep 12, 2021


Preserved lemons - a first recipe
"Pluck one from the jar, rinse it off, and add it to everything that calls for lemon – and everything that doesn't," Clara Ines...
Aug 26, 2021


Cajun 'popcorn' - a first recipe
"Cajuns like to eat and they like to cook. It’s that simple. And like all good French people, they like to talk about food, too." Andrew...
Aug 9, 2021

