

The Country captain dispute(s)
"I have yet to find two explanations for the name of this dish that agree!" Madhur Jaffrey Or two recipes that more or less align come...
Aug 31, 2023


Deliciously English
"sometimes it takes years of looking at other countries to realise how wonderful your own actually is." Jamie Oliver I'm sort of killing...
Aug 28, 2023


Crunchy spaghetti
"to move freely, a starting point is required" Rachel Roddy My starting point today is this dish - Spaghetti all'assassina which Rachel...
Aug 23, 2023


Fiddling around with THE cake
"These cakes, which are half pudding, half cakes can never fail. If they are undercooked they make a fine dessert with cream. They are...
Aug 22, 2023


Chapatis - first recipe, first food
"as with all bread-making, this is not the time for guesswork" Bob Granleese/The Guardian I have to say that as I read about chapatis,...
Aug 19, 2023


A goddess steak
"stories and recipes are like sauce in a pan: they move differently in each telling and in each pair of hands. A recipe is advice, but...
Aug 16, 2023


The London Particular
"a fog named after the soup eventually became a soup named after the fog." Londonist David suggested a new 'series' of blogs the other...
Aug 7, 2023


The charm of England - Eccles cakes
"there is almost nothing in this country for which a cake hasn't been named." Nigel Slater Somewhere or other on the television recently...
Aug 1, 2023


A comfort drink - hot toddy
"If it could speak, the Toddy would whisper, “There, there, now. Just rest and feel better.” And who doesn’t need that every once in a...
Jul 31, 2023


An ancient Roman dish recreated
"the food depicted was focaccia, fruit and a goblet of wine, collectively known as xenia, hospitable offerings to guests – a Greek...
Jul 28, 2023


Biryani extremes
"Essentially, it’s your favourite chicken curry (or vegetable or other protein of choice) buried under a mound of delicately spiced...
Jul 22, 2023


Bee or fly? Real or fake?
“It is cutlery, yes. But it’s also culture, it’s heritage and it’s history,” Thierry Moysset - CEO Forge de Laguiole This has been an...
Jul 20, 2023


Welsh cakes
"Unforgettably flaky, tender, almost melt-in-your-mouth texture that’s punctuated with sweet currants and laced with a wonderful hint of...
Jul 12, 2023


Frittata - a dustbin for leftovers or a gourmet treat?
"the tastiest way to clean out your fridge at the end of the week ... Frittatas aren't just good for using up leftovers, though—they...
Jul 7, 2023


Meatloaf - or terrine - or... ?
"meatloaf is just the American name for a very old idea, a way of stretching those expensive scraps of meat a little further by binding...
Jul 6, 2023


Why do Paris when you can do la France profonde?
"To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a...
Jun 28, 2023


Sesame seeds
"Sesame seeds offer nothing until they are toasted, lightly, in a dry pan, when all their deep nutty notes come to the fore. Don’t take...
May 31, 2023


Mare nostrum
"When visitors to France and Spain, in particular, drive towards the sea they say that the sensation at a certain point is of opening a...
May 24, 2023


Italian/American cuisine
"Perhaps the best way to think about the differences between Italian American and authentic Italian is, in the same way, you would...
May 23, 2023


Mundane to trendy and back to mundane
"blandly milky, comfortingly stodgy, and just the thing to use up all the staling half loaves left hanging around by Christmas guests who...
May 21, 2023

