As the year draws to its inevitable close, my thoughts turn to Christmas. For me it will be a more muted celebration, as this year we suffered loss on so many levels that we would never have thought possible before 2020. It will be a chance for my sister …

Dry biscuits. I remember the standards from when I was a child. Saos and Saladas. Ritz, Savoy and Jatz. And Vita-Weats. All still readily available and all living up to their name. Dry by name and dry by nature. The word biscuit has its roots in Latin, …

Of all the pretty green spring vegetables, it is peas that bring me the most pleasure. I find them at their most sublime when they’re small and sweet and tender, so early in the season I harvest them as soon as the little globes start forming in their …

I came across a very unnerving statistic the other day. Apparently 24,000 cookbooks are being published annually. This doesn’t include the bloggers and other contributors to recipes on the internet, or, of course, weekly columns such as this one in …

I’m not sure if it’s a professional hazard, or if I’m just a bit odd about numbers, but I love restaurant maths. I was never a good mathematical scholar when I was at school, but my basic arithmetic has always been solid and I’m not too shabby …

The colour yellow. Not a colour I wear very often, except for the odd raincoat, but a colour that is all around me at the moment in the form of daffodils and wattle. It is a cheering colour, especially when it acts as the harbinger of warmer weather. Yellow …

I feel a little like I have fallen down a rabbit hole and joined Alice’s tea party in Wonderland. It started when I asked a long-suffering locked-down Melbourne friend if there was anything she particularly wanted me to write about. Her suggestion was …

2020. A year that’s grinding its way past notable occasions to its inevitable end in 125 days. A year of broken dreams, fear, frustration and grief. Grief for all we’ve lost; grief for what we might yet lose. For most of us, a year like no other. I’m …

There are some food combinations that are absolute winners. One is cauliflower and cheese – especially when the cheese component is a good gruyere. Add a little truffle, sage and browned butter and you have a real winter treat. That does not suit everyone, …