

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


Braided bread
"Braiding bread dough is fun and easy to do. If you can braid hair, you can braid bread. If you can't braid hair, then braiding bread is...
Nov 23, 2021


Panko
"Invented by soldiers and cooked only with electrical currents, panko could be the most interesting baked good since sliced bread."...
Nov 14, 2021


Feral pigs - not really wild boar
"Homeowners want them off their street. Animal rights activists want them relocated in a humane way. Hunters prefer the status quo, while...
Nov 3, 2021


Jerk chicken
"Jerk is freedom manifested in food.” Gariel Ferguson Having discovered a new 'family fave' as one member of my family said, I thought I...
Oct 19, 2021


What happened to afternoon tea?
"The morning cup of coffee has an exhilaration about it which the cheering influence of the afternoon or evening cup of tea cannot be...
Oct 13, 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


Worrying about aioli
"Casting salt and a squeeze of lemon juice aside, the recipe only has three ingredients: get one of them wrong and the whole thing loses...
Oct 3, 2021

