Essays on food, drink, travel, culture, sustainability, farming, and more.
It’s no secret that I adore Japan, Japanese food and Japanese culture, and that I’m always dreaming of my next trip to Japan! Sake is one element of Japan’s food and drink that is both fascinating and delicious. It’s a drink I’ve been learning about for several years and I’ve come to really appreciate it. ... Read more »
I bought this delightful little yellow book on an impulse, drawn to it by the simple illustration of cheese on its cover, and its erudite title, The Philosophy of Cheese. After all, cheese is a serious business (as well as a personal addiction). In about 100 pages, McGuigan leads us through the history of cheese. ... Read more »
Stories are powerful, they shape our cultural identity, teach us how to behave in our communities and tell us what is valuable. In the process of storytelling, speaking and listening refer to realities that do not involve just the imagination. The speech is seen, heard, smelled, tasted, and touched. It destroys, brings life, nurtures. ~ ... Read more »
The idea of travel takes on a whole new meaning in the world of COVID-19. To travel beyond a 1 mile radius of your home is a mission – full of trepidation, uncertainty, maybe even adventure. When we think of travel, of holidays, of trips beyond our normal routine, what is it that we look ... Read more »
At the beginning of lockdown, I announced on twitter that I didn’t like cooking. It felt like a confession, an illicit secret. This was the time to find my domestic goddess, to relish in the nourishment of cooking! I write about food, I know about food, I can talk about cooking. I know how to ... Read more »
In the new order of staying at home it can be difficult to navigate what to do. Some of us are furloughed, unable to work on the career we have chosen; some of us no longer have work available to us; and others are frantically trying to work from home despite a lack of what ... Read more »
“Grass-fed” is one of the descriptions I’m starting to see more frequently on beef and lamb (and mutton) in our butchers and supermarkets. But, as is often the case, this one label can cover a wide range of truths. Livestock only have to be 51% grass-fed for their meat to carry this label; the other ... Read more »
Chef Ji Young Kim is the head chef at Balwoo Gongyang, a Korean temple food restaurant in Seoul. Driven by the Buddhist tenets of temple food, the restaurant aims to promote Buddhist culture and the practice of balwoo gongyang, the act of eating as part of practicing Buddhism, and how to appreciate food using all five of the senses. Read on to learn more about this vegan cuisine, and how Chef Ji Young Kim achieved a Michelin-star. ... Read more »
I love discovering specialist food and drink products during my travels, so my visit to Herdade de São Miguel in Alentejo, Portugal was an eye opener. It was at the winery’s modernist head quarters on its Pimenta estate that I first learned about the renaissance of vinho de talha. I have already shared the story ... Read more »
The Chinese lunar new year has just begun. Each lunar year is represented by an emblem of a living creature in a cycle which repeats every twelve years. This year, it is the rooster’s turn. A rooster’s handsome plumage and heroic air as it struts about makes it the logical choice as an emblem for ... Read more »
The Place of Onions, in old Lille. After last night’s rainstorm the intense sticky heat has broken and today is cool, breezy, fresh… I love it! A drop of… [more]
We went to Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire at The Void this morning, an amazing VR experience where we got to be Rebel Alliance members going undercover as… [more]