MY week was not as planned. My diary had me in the dramatic depths of wild Scotland cooking for my first grouse shoot of the season, slapping on the mosquito spray and cooking up a variety of game themed feasts. Tweed cap, puffy jacket, gloves and various layers were ready to be packed. With a…
Looking at the rain pouring down in torrents on our conservatory roof, we can only grit our teeth at this postcard from private chef Philippa Davis! IF one felt so inclined (or capable) the area surrounding St Remy de Provence is perfect for getting on a bike and busting up some crazily steep hills and…
ON the first stage of our home-bound flight from Alaska, from Anchorage to Seattle in Washington State, I got into one of those unpredictable, expansive conversations you sometimes have on a plane. The passenger next to me was a courtly old man who clearly wanted to chat. He was in his late 80s and a…
IBIZA hasn’t had the greatest press over the years. It’s not that the island isn’t lovely, with dramatic scenery and a glorious climate. It’s more to do with the notorious wild partying that tended to put off many who might otherwise enjoy this island in the sun. Philippa Davis says, forget your preconceptions: Let me…
THE New England seaboard is famed for its lobster, so Philippa Davis thought she should learn a little more about this delicious crustacean as well as cooking and eating lobster after lobster for her Boston clients. Theoretically, a lobster can live forever. They have an enzyme called telomerase, which prevents the DNA from becoming damaged…
WHENEVER American broadcasters or politicians talk about Washington DC they always call it “our nation’s capital” and they don’t walk they “power strut,” as Dorset-born travelling chef Philippa Davis discovered on her recent visit to this beautiful city on the Potomac river. In all my travels I have never seen so many dashing three-piece…
WHATEVER the weather, you are guaranteed hot stuff at Littlebredy on Friday 21st August, when cookery writer and teacher Christine McFadden, aka the Dorset Foodie, is running her Cooking with Chillies class. The one-day session, from 9.15am to 3.30pm, is a must for chilli heads! Participants will be cooking and tasting a fascinating range of chillies…
ONE of the great pleasures about shopping at farmers’ markets is that you get to know the people who make the food you are buying. This is stating the obvious, I know, but it never ceases to amaze me that there are those out there who are prepared to work punishing hours, to forego holidays,…
PHILIPPA Davis is still in Boston, still cooking lobster and other things and still having a good time. This week she shares some insider information about why Americans keep their eggs in the fridge and why you should be very scared of large tanks of molasses. Who knew! I must say I have had a…
ONE of the (many) reasons why we love Philippa Davis – apart from the blazingly obvious that she is a brilliant and inspirational chef – is her ability to make excruciating food puns out of her various travels and commissions. She is now in the USA for several weeks, working in Boston, where her visit…