More from life
Why I won’t accept the Laurels of Dante
Dante’s Beach, Ravenna I have just refused to accept the local equivalent of an Oscar, which was to have been…
Sole meunière: simple one-pan sophistication
Picture the scene. The year is 2004. The setting, a British field or maybe a beach. There is a small…
In defence of red velvet cake
I will admit to having been dismissive of red velvet cake in the past, considering it to be bland in…
The secrets of the perfect potato rösti
You may be forgiven, if you are a regular reader of this column, for thinking that my primary motivation in…
Drinking with The Chemist – and God
Dante’s Beach, Ravenna The closest I get to a social life these days is when I sneak off into town…
The time-poor woman’s perfect chocolate cake
Isn’t it awful that the older you get, the more you know yourself? It’s supposed to be a good thing,…
Hunter’s chicken: the ultimate cheer-me-up-quickly recipe
Pub food in Britain has had a mixed reputation over the years. For a long time, the most a pub…
My night with Mussolini’s ghost
Dante’s Beach, Ravenna I came to Italy to write a biography of Benito Mussolini in the summer of 1998 and…
My YouTube rabbit hole
How do you live with yourself when 179 air passengers are burned alive on a South Korean runway, and you’ve…
January deserves lemon pudding
January kitchens are my favourite. This isn’t anything against Christmas – I love the spice, the frenzy, the ritual of…
The Spectator’s 2024 Christmas quiz
Events, dear boy In 2024: 1. Twenty-two tons of what were stolen from Neal’s Yard in London? 2. Down…
How to make chocolate salami
For as long as we’ve been serving food, we’ve been unable to resist a bit of culinary deception. Making one…
The glamour of the scallop
There is a gentle irony to the dish coquilles St Jacques: a decadent, rich preparation of one of our most…
Mince, glorious mince
Sometimes, when it comes to culinary history, Britain is its own worst enemy. For a long time, British food has…
The slippery business of catching a snake
Dante’s Beach, Ravenna It is strange how events elide and create a pattern whose significance remains elusive. I had just…
The secret to making great oysters Rockefeller
There’s nothing more intriguing than a closely guarded secret recipe. Coca-Cola and KFC are two famous examples, with the precise…
The joy of tarte Tatin
When it comes to traditional recipes, there are few things we love more than an unlikely origin story, ideally one…
Should I grow old gracefully – or disgracefully?
Now that I’m about to turn 70, I’m wondering: shall I grow old gracefully, or disgracefully? Everyone I know, young…
Give vitello tonnato a chance
I am sure there are beloved British dishes that inspire horror in those from different cultures, that are truly unappealing…
My teenage Interrailing adventures
Dante’s Beach, Ravenna In my life I have nearly killed myself mainly with cigarettes and alcohol and dangerous journeys into…
The no-bake bliss of icebox cake
Standing in the biscuit aisle of my local supermarket, I’m overwhelmed by possibilities. This isn’t unusual for me, but normally…
My Egyptian mau pyramid scheme
Dante’s Beach, Ravenna Was it chance or destiny, I wonder, that caused the eldest of our six children, Caterina, to…
American salads are weird – but an egg salad is perfect
The Americans are weird about salad. I’m sorry, but somebody had to say it. Really, their use of the word…
Yorkshire curd tart: a well-kept, delicious secret
There are many old dishes in the UK that are hyper-regional, whose reach has never extended beyond geographical boundaries but…
