HEADING north on the M5 has just become a bit more enjoyable. There is a new motorway services station that promises more than congested fast-food eateries, noisy slot machines, crowded chainstore shops full of grumpy travellers and toilets at least half of which won’t be working on any given day. And that’s without mentioning the…
A QUESTION that I’ve been asked more than a few times in my time as a cheesemonger is for a recommendation of a cheese or cheeses to impress the French. The identity of the person who appointed the French the arbiters of the world’s cheese eludes me, but there are world-beating cheeses from our area…
TRAVELLING chef Philippa Davis from Shaftesbury has crossed the Atlantic for her latest project – and has had some uncomfortable company at night … But she is “happy as a clam,” she says. Arthur kept me up for most of the night, boisterously crashing around and showing off and with repeated spectacular flashes I began to…
“I’M sure it’s here somewhere,” said my friend, gazing hopelessly at a dog-eared map. We were looking for the pepper shop, a shop my friend had told me about so often, and now here we were, or rather, weren’t. “It must have closed down,” she said resignedly. We are all resigned to our favourite small…
THE Apple Tree Farm Shop at the Gardens Group’s Brimsmore Garden Centre in Yeovil has passed a Horticultural Marketing Inspection with flying colours. The annual audit, which checks that the fruit and vegetables on sale in the Farm Shop are honestly sourced and labelled, was carried out by the Rural Payments Agency on behalf of…
WE love France as much as the Dorset-born travelling chef Philippa Davis does, so when we saw her latest Postcard Recipe was cherry clafoutis, we couldn’t have been more pleased. It is one of our favourite puddings, redolent of warm days in the Midi, just totally French. Philippa has been down in the south of…
IN Deadwood, where almost every shop offers gambling and Wild Bill Hickock is shot five times a day on Main Street, Mary Tautkus started her Chubby Chipmunk Chocolate shop ten years ago. She trained with the best in Belgium, and now makes truffles and various caramel delights, often with a gold flavour to match the…
MANY towns no longer have an independent green-grocer (Shaftesbury, Bridport, Wimborne and Glastonbury are among the lucky ones) but if you have a Somerset or Dorset farmers market locally you will be able to get some of the freshest, most delicious and locally grown vegetables around. A couple of years ago Somerset Farmers Market organisers…
TRAVELLING chef Philippa Davis from Shaftesbury visits some of the most beautiful places in the world, cooking for clients in locations from the south of France to the north of Scotland. She was back in Scotland again in May, cooking for a dinner party for 18 people outside Edinburgh. After several trips to Scotland’s capital,…
FOOD writer Christine McFadden, who runs classes at her home in the beautiful village of Little Bredy, visited Morocco in January, particularly to learn more about the country’s food and its unique and magical argan oil. She shares some of her experiences and discoveries at her Spicy Journeys class, Taste of Morocco, on Friday 13th…