Archive For November 2013
Pousadas de Portugal in Alentejo is a network of quality and characterful hotels that give the guest a chance to experience unique charm. The group was started in the 1940s and now has forty-three properties. The network is mostly owned by the Portuguese government but managed by a private group, Grupo Pestana Pousadas. The first Pousada…
Portugal is on the very edge of Europe and often overlooked in favour of its more vocal neighbour, Spain. But this country has so much to offer to the visitor. Striking landscapes of Alentejo flatter the eye, generous hospitality warms the soul, and gastronomy seems to be a well-exercised hobby practised by all. The Alentejo…
Chef Paul Gayler is one of the food industry’s gems. He is a well respected man with years of worthy career behind him. He is executive chef at London’s celebrated Lanesborough Hotel and has a shelf of cookbooks to his credit. This Great Homemade Soups – A Cook’s Collection is the latest one and it…
The title alone would encourage a bookshelf browser to reach for this volume. A humorous play on words conjuring visions of exuberant Greek revellers ruining a restaurant’s crockery budget, or of polite Brits commenting on some jolly good food. Smashing Plates – Greek flavours redefined does touch on both the passion of Greece and the…
He is, for many of us, the face of Vietnamese food and travel. His easy manner allows him to present informative yet engaging TV programmes showing Vietnam, its food and its people in a positive and inclusive fashion. Luke was in London to promote his latest book, The Food of Vietnam (see my review here),…
Trishna was awarded its first Michelin star last September but to those in the know it’s always been special. Yes, special’s the word, but in a subtle and understated fashion. This is as far from your old-fashioned stereotypical Indian restaurant as you could imagine. It spans the temperature spectrum for ambiance, being cool in both…
We have always had those little red lentils on supermarket shelves. They seemed to be the only ones available when I was growing up. Mum would put them in a beef stew with half a cardboard tub of yellow ‘curry powder’ and call it ‘Indian’. We would eat that with mashed potatoes, as rice was…