

Nationalist sausages
"Pride is all very well but a sausage is a sausage" Terry Pratchett There was a short article in The Australian Financial Review at the...
May 23, 2022


Jalfrezi - fusion, leftovers - what's not to love?
The picture here is from The Times of India, and so, one assumes a truly authentic version. Well yes and no, because Jalfrezi is another...
May 14, 2022


Worcestershire sauce
"Worcestershire sauce, it seems, is out — the craze for umami has come and gone, and entirely passed Worcestershire sauce by." Sam Worley...
May 1, 2022


Grains in a salad - ancient or new?
"The vast array of grains marketed as ancient—from quinoa to millet to spelt—are, yes, old. Maybe 3,000 years. Maybe 8,000. Who knows?...
Apr 25, 2022


Smithfield and a London pub's story
"Its a bit cloudy in London but people are already drinking out on the streets - God Bless the pubs." Guillermo del Toro I'm not sure...
Apr 20, 2022


Is there such a thing as mulligatawny soup?
"a cornerstone of the classic British Indian restaurant repertoire, always there, yet never ordered." Felicity Cloake I think this...
Apr 18, 2022


Good Friday, and the Lamb of God
so many questions Let me say up front that I am not at all religious. However I was brought up a Christian - a good Church of England...
Apr 15, 2022


Cooking made us brainy
"fire is needed to fuel the organ that makes possible all the other products of culture, language included: the human brain." Jerry...
Apr 8, 2022


It's Friday
“Friday's a free day. A woman's day.” Neil Gaiman, American Gods I'm starting with that quote, though really I have no idea what it...
Mar 11, 2022


On groundhogs, angels and the number two
"February 2, 2022 is a palindrome date. Because all the digits in the date when written in the d-m-yy (2-2-22) or m-d-yy (2-2-22) format...
Feb 2, 2022


On magic, perfection, mystery, Elizabeth David and Mère Poulard's omelette
"one of life's simplest, quickest and most pleasant dishes." Delia Smith "Once upon a time" begins Elizabeth David's classic essay An...
Jan 24, 2022


Strawberries - Manet, Renoir, Jane Grigson and Snow White
"When Chardin lived, wild strawberries were the only ones. His contemporary, Diderot, described them as being like 'the tip of a...
Jan 12, 2022


Indian picnics - a relic of the raj
"In India, eating is a private affair not to be witnessed by onlookers, and it is regarded as improper to eat in the open. Besides, it...
Jan 9, 2022


On wine - ancient and modern
"Save the planet; it's the only planet with wine." Journey Through Wine: an Atlas This was just going to be something on a Christmas...
Dec 31, 2021


Jane Grigson's Chocolate pie - a lucky dip
"Chocolate pie chocolate pie! This is the best thing he’s made so far hands down. Dark chocolate, cream, booze, icing sugar, sugar,...
Dec 7, 2021


Rocky road and some detours
"The best thing about rocky road is that you can add anything you like! From white chocolate bits to glacé cherries, you can go down any...
Dec 5, 2021


Don't mess with Christmas dinner
"not in our family anyway" Above are two shots from our recent Christmas dinner with the family before half of the family left for Spain...
Dec 3, 2021


The dilemma of Christmas pudding
“It is a problem certainly, that Christmas plum pudding. There is here something that I do not understand at all.” Hercule Poirot in...
Nov 29, 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


Turkish sweets - a lucky dip
"Let's eat sweet, talk sweet" Turkish saying My lucky dip book this time is one of Claudia Roden's, and actually one of my favourite...
Nov 26, 2021

