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Harvest time
We might be heading towards the end of summer, but I do love this time of year for the rich bounty of produce that comes in to season. Maybe it is because I grow some of my own food (I have loads of courgette at the moment!) but just looking around when you are out […]
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Chef’s gadgets: progress or cheating
The average kitchen nowadays is full of gadgets – mixers, blenders, bread makers, you name it. But for the professionals, there’s a whole other level of gadgets – sous-vide (vacuum packers with water-bath slow cookers), dehydrators and thermo mixers to name but a few. But do these improve what gets presented at the table? If […]
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12 years, and still my favourite restaurant
Having spent yesterday in London, I thought I’d make the most of my visit and catch-up with my friend Mike. And it wasn’t really a surprise that we ended up at Pierre Victoire on Dean Street. Why? Because although I don’t get to go there that often, I loved it from my first visit around […]
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Grill Stock
A couple of weeks ago was Grill Stock: “a BBQ themed two‐day food & drink festival” in Bristol. It was great – BBQ competitions, demonstrations, chilli eating contest, and plenty of food stalls. I might have overdosed a little on burgers (hard not to when you have a choice of duck & plum sauce, saltmarsh […]
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The Misunderstood Gooseberry
They are in season now, but they aren’t everyone’s favourite fruit. In fact I think I know more people who dislike them than like them. But I think that’s such a shame. Granted, they are pretty sharp, but then you don’t tend to eat them straight off the bush! Like some other native fruits (such […]
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An Evening of Biodynamic Wine
I had a great evening on Wednesday. I went along to an event organised by the Bristol Slow Food group at the 3 Coqs in Bristol. It was a four course dinner with a wine flight of biodynamic wines. If like me, you haven’t come across the term before, it’s worth a little explanation: Biodynamic […]
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Emotional tastes and smells
Do you ever taste or smell something that evokes an old memory you didn’t know you had, or just stirs an emotion without warning? It happens to me every so often. I may be walking along somewhere and there is a subtle smell which as soon as I detect it takes me back – often […]
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Farmers Markets
We have a farmers market in my town – it’s a smallish market mid-week every couple of weeks. The problem is that like many people, I’m out at work away from town by week. But then we do have a “food festival” (larger farmers/producers market) every quarter on a Saturday with one of the main […]
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Strawberry Season
The start of Summer is a great time of year for food in the UK, with a positive bounty available to you. And that most quintessential of British fruit, the strawberry is suddenly very abundant. Traditionally the season was only a few weeks and the fruit wouldn’t keep for long at all, but with new […]
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Recipe: George’s Piccalilli
My dad has been making pickles since I can remember. Picked onions. Pickled cabbage. Picked eggs (it has to be said not my favourite!) In fact, a childhood memory that still makes me smile is the thought of cold left-over beef with bubble-and-squeek and pickles on a Sunday evening. But of all the pickles, my […]