The generation of cooks before me bemoan the price of lamb shanks. Lamb shanks were once a really cheap cut, they say, but chefs made them trendy and demand and costs went up and, oh no, now they are just so expensive. And I nod, because I didn’t discover them in the days when they ... 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 »
Fried rice is a joyful food! A one-dish meal of rice, colourful bits of meat and vegetables, it is basically cold rice quickly reheated in a frying pan, to which you add tasty ingredients to make a fast and enjoyable hot meal. Fried rice is my favourite food for lunch at home on the weekends, ... Read more »
On a Saturday lunchtime, as I make my way from tube station to The Courtesan restaurant, Brixton is buzzing. I love walking down the long curve of Atlantic Road, peering at all the fish mongers, butchers and grocers, particularly fascinated by the number of items on sale that I don’t recognise and can’t identify. Only ... Read more »
This evening I had dinner by myself and made a dish the way my grandmother would have done – simple, nourishing and delicious. We are Cantonese, from the south of China. After living many years in Europe I have observed that the Cantonese and Italians share a common approach to good food – take the ... Read more »
Back in June I spent a lovely weekend attending the Oxford Food Symposium, held in St Catherine’s College, Oxford. It’s very remiss of me not to share the experience here on the blog, as I had a wonderful time attending delightfully diverse lectures, meeting fellow delegates and appreciating the excellent catering. But I made few ... Read more »
A food blog will rarely give a full picture of a blogger’s eating habits, not least because of repetition of favourite recipes, which are cooked often but only blogged once, naturally. But the other reason is that we seldom blog takeaways. I’m sure a few bloggers do, now and then. And I imagine there are ... Read more »
Roasting an enormous shoulder of lamb (1.6 kilos) for just three people meant we had a lot of leftovers. More than half, actually! All gently infused with garlic and the merest hint of rosemary. Some went into sandwiches and some into a beautifully rich and meaty ragu that Pete cooked up. The rest I turned ... Read more »
I’ve never cooked beef short ribs before. I’m not sure if I’ve even eaten them before but I think I may have. Certainly I’ve seen much talk about them being a great value cut that benefits from long slow cooking such as a braise. My beef short ribs came from The Ginger Pig, and I ... Read more »
Sedap is a small neighbourhood restaurant along London’s Old Street, offering Chinese-Malaysian cuisine. With a well-priced weekday lunch menu, it was a good budget choice for meeting up with a friend who works nearby. The space is small and has an informal cafe vibe. Service is efficient and helpful. Priced at £7.80, the lunch menu ... 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]