

I made some Priddy Oggies
"Their success depends on a certain skill, just enough to be both a challenge and a pleasure." Jane Grigson Last week was a 'guru' week...
Mar 9, 2024


Roasting garlic and shallots
"People always seem to eat incredible amounts of this" Nigella Lawson "It's hard to imagine now, but it wasn't until the middle of the...
Mar 4, 2024


Chaos Cooking - new words for an old thing
"Any food idea that makes you smile is a food idea to be embraced." Erin Shaw/Food Republic "there is no "wrong." Only "try again...
Feb 25, 2024


Quenelles - a forgotten delicacy
"a delicate triumph of French cooking" Jamie Tracey/The Anti-Chef Last week, as I may have mentioned, we dined at Paris Go in Carlton,...
Feb 24, 2024


Cooking as a game
"I like everything more if it can feel like a game." Bettina Makalintal/Eater Yesterday's post about the to do list, was partly inspired...
Feb 21, 2024


Old fashioned grilling
"That tangle of bars that lights up over the food isn't worthy of the name. In my book a grill is where the heat comes from below the...
Feb 19, 2024


Iles flottantes
“a French take on what the English would describe as ‘a nursery pudding’”. We’re reared on suet dumplings and steaming semolina, while...
Feb 5, 2024


Pi or pie? - maths in the food curriculum
"If maths were food, what food would it be? MajorLeagueTeacher I'm not being that clever with my title here - many, many people have...
Jan 22, 2024


Confit - from duck to egg yolks
"Historically, this preservation technique was a necessity to survive times of scarcity. Today, it means we can enjoy produce at its best...
Jan 21, 2024


When the egg meets flour - a skill
"It is in Emilia (half of the now united Emilia-Romagna region) where the everyday act of hand rolling has been elevated into an everyday...
Jan 2, 2024


Burrata - beauty or taste?
“You can use burrata for everything, but it doesn’t need anything. You only have to open it and eat,” Felice Sgarra - Michelin star...
Dec 2, 2023


Should I wear a bib?
"Life's too short to worry about what other people think" This week one pair of trousers has been washed twice because I spilt some food...
Nov 24, 2023


Cutting up onions
"People who are knowledgable are said to "know their onions". It's a great phrase, yet nobody knows exactly where it comes from. It's...
Nov 22, 2023


Noble thistles
"The thistle is a prince. Let any man that has an eye for beauty take a view of the whole plant, and where will he see a more expressive...
Nov 21, 2023


Old or new? - En papillote
"The team in the Ottolenghi test kitchen took some persuading about the benefits of cooking en papillote – they thought it was way too...
Nov 12, 2023


The internet does not know everything
"The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance - it is the illusion of knowledge." Daniel J. Boorstin This was just going to be...
Nov 9, 2023


Solving the leftover problem - 1
"The main flavouring ingredients should be well spiced and piquant; they can vary according to the taste and skill of the cook." Jane...
Oct 29, 2023


My grandchildren didn't eat the sausages
"I live in fear of the phrase "just enough". I regard just enough as nowhere near enough. Just enough means too little. It means one...
Oct 28, 2023


Making pasta
"the essential nature of pasta is simple. Take some flour and water, take some flour and eggs, combine, knead, rest, shape. Or go buy...
Oct 25, 2023


"Stuff the paccheri" (or not)
"it can also be stuffed and baked or just filled." The Pasta Project 'Just filled'. Oh yes? And how do you do that? And why am I...
Oct 24, 2023

