Essays on food, drink, travel, culture, sustainability, farming, and more.
Today’s post is a rare foray into blogging about blogging ; specifically, one of the more useful skills for a food blogger today – Food Styling. I recently attended a session in which professional food photographer and stylist Carole Poirot shared her tips with a group of bloggers. First, an Atelier des Chef class instructor ... Read more »
Are you familiar with umami? Discovered (and named) by Japanese scientist Kikunae Ikeda back in 1908 and known as the fifth taste group (alongside sweet, sour, bitter and salty), umami is most commonly translated as ‘savoury’ or ‘meaty’ and is a flavour profile that most of us enjoy in our food, whether or not we ... Read more »
When cooks from the Indian subcontinent talk of garam masala, they talk of whole or ground. In his seminal and encyclopaedic book, McGee on Food and Cooking, Harold McGee explains that a greater surface area (from cracking or grinding spices) allows flavour molecules to escape more rapidly into the dish. This is why whole spices ... Read more »
From its name you might think it’s a type of tomato. It certainly looks a lot like one, once its husk is peeled away. In fact, although the tomatillo is a member of the expansive nightshade family (which includes tomatoes as well as potatoes, aubergines, chillis and peppers), it actually falls within the physalis genus, ... Read more »
When I was a child back in the Seventies, the only terms I knew for the aboriginal peoples of North America were Red Indians and Native Americans. As a child, I understood that the former was considered offensive, a relic clinging to the clichéd coattails of Hollywood Westerns. It also surprised me that early European ... Read more »
It’s been a gradual (and on-going) learning process over the years to work out which cuts of beef are best suited to which dishes or cooking methods. Although I’m pretty confident about the cuts to buy for my favourite meals, I am still getting to grips with others and constantly on the look out for ... Read more »
Have you heard of supertasters? To my eternal regret, I have, because I’m one of them. The label makes being a supertaster sound exciting, suggestive of a superior palate. The truth of the matter is that a supertaster is simply someone who “experiences the sense of taste with far greater intensity than average”. Yes, that ... Read more »
A few weeks ago, I was invited to Almeria and Murcia, two neighbouring regions in Southern Spain, to learn more about their agricultural practices and produce. 1 Agrobio – Biological Pollination & Pest Control We started with a fascinating visit to Agrobio, a company that produces and sells bumblebees for pollination and a wide range ... Read more »
I have too many cookery books. There, I’ve said it. Despite two major clear outs in the last couple of years, when lots and lots of cookery books were given away to charity shops and fundraisers, the assigned shelves are overflowing. Books are stacked two deep, with extra ones squeezed on their side above the ... Read more »
Chinese New Year falls on the second new moon after the winter solstice, which this year is on the 31st of January. In Cantonese-speaking Chinese communities everywhere, people greet each other with a hearty Kung Hei Fat Choy! to bring prosperity to the new year. Chinese New Year is the most intensely celebrated festival in ... 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]