APPLES and the drinks we make from them have an ancient history, buried deep both in the wild fruit forests of Kazakhstan and in European myths and legends. There is something irresistible and indomitable about our mutual relationship. Here’s a story from Ukraine, via the American food website and newsletter Broken Palate. It is both…
VENICE is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Perhaps the most beautiful. And it has some famous (and famously expensive) hotels and restaurants. But with the emphasis on seafood, of course, and the traditional dishes such as fegato, it doesn’t have any kind of vegetarian food culture. So when we went to…
THERE was a time when the only spices in the average kitchen were nutmeg, pepper (usually white and finely ground) and possibly cinnamon. Names such as baharat, sumac or zaatar were, literally, foreign to the average British cook. Tastes and cooking knowledge have moved on hugely and nowadays, in part thanks to inventive and inspiring…
… a walk along the River Otter WE can’t fly anywhere and all our favourite places in Scotland are booked up into 2022, so it’s day trips for us this summer. When we read about guided walks to see beavers on the River Otter, we booked up for one immediately. The best holiday we…
WE can’t travel to our favourite places, thanks to Covid-19, but we can still dream. Take a virtual tour of some of Europe’s most beautiful areas and finest vineyards, courtesy of Property Guides online, which has drawn up a list of ten top locations for wine. Stunning landscapes and fascinating history often go hand-in-hand with…
IF you were born with the name Codd, raised by a loving, close-knit circle of family and friends, grew up by the sea on the Dorset coast and swam like a mermaid, the last thing you would expect is to develop an all-consuming fear of the creatures that live in the ocean. What are the…
WE went up to Edinburgh for a concert at the festival (John Eliot Gardiner conducting West Side Story, if you are interested, and it was brilliant) and stayed somewhere new to us – Portobello. On the Forth coast, between Leith and Musselburgh, Portobello is a slightly faded 19th century seaside resort that has not been…
IF you thought Sardinia was just about sun, sea and sand, think again. It’s got all those glorious holiday basics, of course, but this Mediterranean island has plenty more to boot. It’s part of Italy, after all, so it was certain to have layers of history beneath its shiny surface, but it can also boast…
SOME of the country’s finest cheese makers, including Montgomery and Westcombe, will be featured on a special five-day tour, Cheese Journeys, introducing cheese lovers to the unique culinary culture of Somerset. The Cheese Journeys visit in April 2019 will include cheesemarkers and affineurs, and begins at London’s historic Borough Market, including a visit to Neal’s…
THE beaches of Normandy may resonate around the world with the history of the D-Day landings but before and since those momentous days of 1944, its sands have been associated with happier events. Just along the coast from the likes of Omaha and Sword, the little town of Trouville – correctly Trouville-sur-Mer – and its…