It’s the season of short ribs
I hereby officially declare autumn open! I am picturing myself bedecked with a wreath of perfect autumn leaves. The bright…
A literary romp: Our Noble Selves, by Kate Atkinson, reviewed
All is chaos in the lead-up to the 1951 Festival of Britain in this riot of colour and pageantry with Kafka-esque undertones
There is no substitute for homemade cannoli
A criticism often levelled at cookery writers is: ‘I could just buy that at the supermarket’, which is an apparent…
Aunt Bessie did not need a ‘glow up’
Society has always had an issue with women aging. As cosmetic surgery becomes cleverer, more subtle, and more widespread across…
The myth of authentic English food
We think we know the story of our own classic staples, says Lewis Bassett, but ‘there is clearly a lot of romanticism at work when we talk about tradition’
For me, cornbread will always be romantic
My early days of baking coincided with the early days of dating the man who became my husband. It is…
Blackberries wait for no woman – so make jam
My kitchen is not ready for blackberry jam. I am not ready for blackberry jam. The heat of summer is…
How to do a salade Lyonnaise justice
Salade Lyonnaise is often translated as ‘bacon and egg salad’ and I can’t stand it. Not because it’s inaccurate –…
Grasshopper Pie is like a teenage fever dream
Grasshopper pie is an unlikely dish: bright green, mint-flavoured, combined with obscure liqueurs and set with marshmallows, all sitting in…
All aboard for Paisley: a trip round unloved Britain
Chris Moss sings the praises of many ‘improbable, bypassed’ towns, finding beauty in the unlikeliest places
My quest for the perfect muffuletta
Everyone knows the story of the Earl of Sandwich: keen not to interrupt a late night card game at his…
I’ve fallen in love with crème caramel
If you’ve stuck out my cookery writing for long enough, you’ll know that I am a bit of a Labrador…
Goat is tasty. But don’t force it on me
‘Laws, like sausages, cease to inspire respect in proportion as we know how they are made,’ John Godfrey Saxe warned…
Do single women bother to cook for themselves?
Eli Davies and her spinster friends admit to a mostly ‘feral’ diet – of Kettle Chips and a satsuma, or a handful of grated cheese, or toast, washed down with vodka
Will a VAT cut save our restaurants?
The hospitality industry is in trouble. The last few years have seen an already low-profit, labour-intensive sector battle with a…
Chicken Milanese is the king of homemade fast food
When it comes to home cooking, we’re obsessed with optimisation. Today this manifests itself in reels on Instagram offering a…
Embrace the squidge of a custard slice
Ihad a culinary revelation this week. I like to think I’m an egalitarian when it comes to food – I…
Beef olives – classic comfort food, without an olive in sight
We all did mad things during the first Covid lockdown. For some it was getting a dog or starting up…
