The Cocktail – 200 Fabulous Drinks by Jane Rocca – review
Ths is Sex in the City for cocktail sippers! It’s this year’s book for girls to give their girlfriends. It’s frilly, fluffy, gorgeous and a...
Vegetarian Dishes from the Middle East by Arto der Haroutunian – review
First published in 1983, Vegetarian Dishes from the Middle East is a classic and I am so pleased to see its re-introduction. It’s a book...
Authentik Gourmet Guides – London and Paris
These Gourmet Guides are quite exceptional little books. Small in format, I should say, but full of the most useful information sufficient for any enthusiastic...
Wine Travel Guide to the World by Robert Joseph – review
This is yet another Footprint guide and it’s well up to the standard of their regular travel books, but this one is rather unique. It’s...
Gourmet Cornwall by Carol Trewin – review
This is another from that marvellous collaboration of Alison Hodge Publishing, author Carol Trewin and photographer Adam Woolfitt. This book is of the same glossy...
Absinthe – The Green Fairy
Originally produced in the Val-de-Travers region in Switzerland and in Pontarlier, France, Absinthe is a distilled anise-flavoured spirit made from herbs including the flowers and...
La Ferme, Carcassonne – food store review
If you only have time to visit one shop on a quick trip to Carcassonne, then this must be the one. This little up-market deli/wine/coffee/tea/sweet/fine...
Beans – A History by Ken Albala – review
I was expecting a pamphlet. What is there to say about beans? Well, lots and it’s much more interesting than I had supposed. The author,...
Rick Bayless – American chef-restaurateur – interview
…from Oaxaca to the Windy City. Award-winning chef-restaurateur, cookbook author, and television personality Rick Bayless has done more than any other culinary figure to introduce...
Essential Scottish Cookery by Carol Wilson – review
We hear so much about the Scots’ passion for deep-fried chocolate bars and not nearly enough about the wealth of fine food that represents the...
Simply Lebanese by Ina’am Atalla – review
This is a wonderful and well-designed book on Lebanese cuisine. It has plenty of pictures in both colour and sepia. The recipes have lots of...
Cornish Fishing and Seafood by Carol Trewin – review
Fishing is Britain’s most dangerous peacetime occupation. Now, there’s a thought! This is a gorgeous, full-colour volume (photographer Adam Woolfitt does fantastic work) that I...
Some Asparagus Tips – story and recipe
Asparagus officinalis is a flowering plant species in the genus Asparagus, a member of the lily family, from which the popular vegetable known as asparagus...
A Handful of Honey by Annie Hawes – review
Annie Hawes, the bestselling author of Extra Virgin, has another cracking book. It’s A Handful of Honey and should be on the required reading list...
Traditional Irish Cooking by Andy Gravette – review
I confess that the book was bigger than I had expected. I should know better, considering that I am half Irish by blood. Probably there...
Ode to the Chippie! or From Odeon to Chip Shop
It’s a magazine about Food, Places and Faces, OK? Sometimes all of those things will come together and today is one of those days when...
Honey from Clova by Clova McQueen – review
Or to give the book its full and poetic title: Honey – A handbook for home, health and happiness by Clova McQueen. That has got...
The Indian Bible – cookbook review
We in the UK have a very particular view on Indian food. For most of us it’s visits to restaurants that introduce us to those...
Jekka McVicar – interview
Celebrity chef Rick Stein counts her among his “food heroes”, Jamie Oliver wouldn’t trust the design of his herb garden to anyone else. Jekka McVicar...
Flunch for Lunch? – restaurant review
Let’s not be snobbish about this. If you travel in France you might need a quick meal that isn’t too pricey. It’s quite OK to...