food

Pumpkins are everywhere in my life at the moment. The restaurant is decorated with an array of beautiful specimens, the racks on the verandah are full of them and there are crates of little ones stacked neatly out of the weather. As with so many...

Making pasta is commonly associated with machinery and complex home set-ups, but it is possible to make pasta purely by hand. Small rolling pins or specific hand-shaping tools will allow for the myriad shapes and styles to add to your repertoire...

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but all eyes see beauty differently. For the past few years I have had the great pleasure of working with Earl Carter, the man whose vision is behind The Saturday Paper ’s food page photographs. Our shoot days...

Pot-au-feu in France, bollito misto in Italy. This “peasant” hotpot of cheaper cuts is an absolute staple in many European households. It’s a bit of a contradiction of a dish, as at no point in the process does it show any semblance of the absolute...

Nothing says “I love you” more to my mother than a bit of pastry frippery for afternoon tea on Mother’s Day. And what could be better than a slightly more modern take on the vanilla slice? A lovely pistachio and raspberry mille-feuille. While the...

I’m making a huge assumption but, due to last year’s Covid-19 lockdowns, I figure most people now have access to a sourdough starter/mother. If you don’t have your own, I recommend sweet-talking a friend into lending you some of theirs and building...

The pomegranate tree is a delightful specimen in any garden, and at this time of year its amazing fruit is ready to be harvested. It is a fruit that fascinates me on every level. From its etymology to its symbolism, it is full of wonder. Its English...

One of the best things I ate in a time before Covid-19 was a pepper pickled by a guy named Pete. Pete took some peppers at their peak (although I can’t be sure if Pete picked those particular peppers), passed them through a wood-fired oven and...

As we have tripped over the autumn equinox, it is time to start farewelling the vegetables that have filled our summer and early autumn months. It is also the time to start thinking about what to do with green tomatoes. I have to confess that my...