

Mint sauce(s)
"when done right, mint sauce is the key to turning casual summer dinners into something special." Salon.com I spent the morning weeding...
Dec 5, 2022


Battenberg cake
"its appearance is a convenient shorthand for a world rapidly vanishing in a puff of Yardley’s lavender." Felicity Cloake I'm not sure...
Dec 4, 2022


Baked apples - so many ways
"All millionaires love a baked apple" Ronald Firbank This all started with a purchase of a big bag of i'Mperfect apples from Coles by...
Nov 26, 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


Charter pie
"the 'Charter'. Was it sweet or savoury? Was it in fact food at all?" Jane Grigson It begins with this man - Parson Woodforde a Norfolk...
Oct 5, 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


Piccalilli
"Traditionally, yellow. A radio-active yellow. And I think, in the interests of nostalgia, it needs to be like this. Otherwise there's a...
Aug 10, 2022


The impossible sponge cake
"It is my belief that no cake should be taken too seriously. Which is probably why I yawn at the baking-perfection police. Those who...
Jul 1, 2022


There's no such thing as Brown Windsor soup
"Colour fades as flavour deepens." Nigella Lawson This is Jamie Oliver's interpretation of Brown Windsor soup (with pearl barley). The...
Jun 24, 2022


Vindaloo - sweet and sour, not hot
"A Goan vindaloo is not the mind-blowingly spicy curry as it has come to be known in the UK, but a rich, hot, slightly sweet and sour...
Jun 14, 2022


Plain is yummy - two tarts
“Plain fare gives as much pleasure as a costly diet" Epicurus (341?-270 BC) A few Guardian newsletters ago there were two recipes for...
May 27, 2022


The continental breakfast
"Nothing illustrates the British disdain for Europe like the concept of Continental Breakfast." The History Woman's Blog Inspiration for...
May 24, 2022


An English last meal
"Feasting is about how you eat as much as it is about what is on your plate. It is rarely about greed or ostentatiousness, large numbers...
May 16, 2022


Trifle - no little thing
“A trifle consoles us because a trifle upsets us.” Blaise Pascal, Pensées This is for you Jenny after your disappointment that morsels...
May 4, 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


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


Welsh rabbit - or is it rarebit - or English or Scottish?
"Rarebit or rabbit? I like the latter; which (so the story goes) is what the hunter had for his supper when the rabbits had escaped his...
Apr 16, 2022


English ingredients - a maligned cuisine
"Our weather may be unpredictable, but it gives us orchards of beautiful fruit, great soil for vegetables and the most wonderful lush...
Apr 7, 2022


4 common leftovers - no.2 Bread
"These starchy staples are happy to soak up all manner of sweet and savoury flavours" Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall Continuing with the...
Mar 8, 2022

