Notes on…

Why Gen Z worships the pickle

15 February 2025 9:00 am

If something can be squeezed into a jar with brine, Polish grandmas will do it. Walk into the kitchen of…

What makes a good obituary?

8 February 2025 9:00 am

My obituaries habit gets ever stronger. I find there’s nothing as inspiring or instructive or entertaining as reading a few…

Gossip is good for you… so I’m told

1 February 2025 9:00 am

The Pope hates gossip. In his Christmas message to his Vatican advisers last year, Francis warned that it is ‘an…

Confessions of a Costco Guy

25 January 2025 9:00 am

Those who use TikTok, or are familiar with Ed Davey’s dance routines on social media, may have heard of the…

How to serve smelt

18 January 2025 9:00 am

Donald Trump has form with the smelt. In his 2016 presidential run, he complained that California’s authorities were prioritising the…

Claudia Winkleman understands the power of a cape

11 January 2025 9:00 am

The cape is having a moment thanks to the Highland wardrobe of Claudia Winkleman, who is currently presenting The Traitors…

The unwritten rules of visitors books

4 January 2025 9:00 am

Two things come to mind when I think about visitors books. The first is the memory of leaving the home…

What carols owe to Martin Luther

14 December 2024 9:00 am

It’s 500 years since Martin Luther, along with the preacher Paul Speratus, put together the first Protestant hymn book, the…

The many faces of pigs in blankets

7 December 2024 9:00 am

There are not many phrases that offend me more than ‘pigs in blankets’. The correct name for this dish is,…

The rise and fall of Smithfield Market

30 November 2024 9:00 am

Smithfield has been the beating heart of London’s meat industry for more than 800 years. Located at the middle point…

Babycham is back!

23 November 2024 9:00 am

Babycham, the drink you perhaps last sipped while tapping the ash from a black Sobranie as Sade played on the…

The thrill of the Beaujolais Run

16 November 2024 9:00 am

‘Le Beaujolais nouveau est arrivé!’ If that phrase means anything to you, you’re likely of a vintage that remembers pre-Clarkson…

My time as the speaking clock

9 November 2024 9:00 am

Ask young people today if they know that they can dial a number to hear the time and you would…

Toffee apples: a dangerous food for frightening nights

2 November 2024 9:00 am

Bonfire night is more about burning Catholics than haute cuisine and it shows. I’ve always felt for Catholic friends at…

Halloween is the time for fairies

26 October 2024 9:00 am

Among the many options available for Halloween costumes and decorations these days, from witches to zombies, from mummies to serial…

Make pirates scary again

19 October 2024 9:00 am

If there’s one thing to bring out your inner Herod, it’s the twee tendency in younger children’s books. It’s at…

The art of swearing

12 October 2024 9:00 am

Sometimes it’s the only word that will do. Every journalist at Max Verstappen’s press conference last month understood him perfectly…

Bring back the stiffy!

5 October 2024 9:00 am

The other day, clearing out boxes, I stumbled on a sheaf of invitations from childhood. Decorated with trains and fairies,…

Trams make a comeback

28 September 2024 9:00 am

Earlier this month, the fortunate folk of Frankfurt were entertained by the 11th annual tram-drivers competition, with entries from 26…

Cheers to corkscrews!

21 September 2024 9:00 am

For the first 50 years of the corked bottle, there was no easy way to get into it. The combination…

How to roll the perfect cigarette

14 September 2024 9:00 am

I recently estimated that, in my smoking life so far and at the age of 29, I have rolled 87,600…

Bring back the briefcase!

7 September 2024 9:00 am

The final straw was seeing Jeremy Hunt wearing one shortly before the summer recess – and not just when riding…

The unappetising truth about tasting menus

31 August 2024 9:00 am

The tasting menu has fallen from fashion, and this is good. They are a curio – a window to the…

A connoisseur’s guide to collecting matchboxes

24 August 2024 9:00 am

We’d been told it would be a ‘brat’ summer, characterised by its inventor, the singer Charli XCX, as ‘a pack…

How bus travel lost its magic

17 August 2024 9:00 am

At the former Chiswick Works in west London, I recently celebrated the Routemaster’s 70th birthday. I owe my existence to…