Cooking
Man vs lobster
She was doing a postgrad course in a town by the sea, and a strange thing happened to us one…
How to win MasterChef
‘Warmer, sharper and funnier than ever,’ claims one reviewer of ‘the BBC’s disgraced cookery show’ MasterChef. But this is nonsense.…
The extraordinary simplicity of oeuf mayonnaise
‘Sometimes, in the search for originality, the most obvious dishes are forgotten,’ says Elizabeth David, the doyenne of cookery, in…
My shameful confession: I’m not a good baker
Contrary to popular conception, I’m not a great baker. I was hired by Bake Off for my judging experience, not…
How do you make a tart that doesn’t really exist?
There are few things more delicious than falling down a rabbit hole. No, don’t worry, I’m not serving up a…
Expect toddlers and parlour games at today’s dinner parties
The cost of babysitters can make accepting dinner invitations very expensive, so a host should ensure that friends feel free to bring their children too, says Jago Rackham
This Easter, eat rabbit
Dissonance is necessary around Easter. Fluffy lambs and chicks are everywhere: on cards and decorations, in countless chocolate forms and…
Why rabbit makes the best Easter lunch (yes, really)
Dissonance is necessary around Easter. Fluffy lambs and chicks are everywhere: on cards and decorations, in countless chocolate forms and…
The perfect 15-minute chocolate mousse
There’s an inherent pleasure in having something by heart. Poetry at school. Lines in plays. Song lyrics. The things that…
My take on marry me chicken
I am not in the habit of bringing viral TikTok recipes here. It is a safe space, away from digestive…
There’s no beating the comfort of cabinet pudding
The British hold a steamed pudding close to their hearts. Like a culinary hot-water bottle, it may not be terribly…
Cheese and onion pasties: how to make a Greggs classic at home
‘That’s not a pasty!’ my husband declares loftily, eyeing up what most definitely is a veritable clutch of cheese and…
Why are roast potatoes so hard to get right?
Roast potatoes shouldn’t be complicated. We’re talking two ingredients, plus some salt and maybe herbs if you’re feeling fancy. It’s…
I’m a Christmas pudding convert
I used to be a Christmas pudding denier. I couldn’t see the attraction of a dense pudding made mostly of…
The glory of gravy
In Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, when Ben Gunn is found by Jim Hawkins, sunburnt and wide-eyed after three years…
How to get Britain eating healthily again
Another week, another government offensive against childhood obesity. This time it’s a fresh round of pleas for new levies on…
How to make the perfect pecan pie
A pecan pie has been on my kitchen table for the past few days, due to circumstances rendering every other…
The secrets of sachertorte
My theory is that sachertorte is a victim of its own success. Over the past 150 years, it has become…
Bacon and egg pie, the perfect throw-it-together, please-the-whole-family dish
There are a handful of elements that make me nervous about tackling particular classic recipes. First, if it’s a dish…
The secrets of a British apple pie
‘As American as apple pie’, or so the saying goes. But what happens if the apple pie in question isn’t…
Whatever happened to chicken à la king?
As sure as eggs is eggs, what was once comfort food will be reinvented as fine dining. Lancashire hotpots will…
The glorious richness of rillettes
I admit to feeling a little intimidated by charcuterie. I have a clutch of books on my shelf all laying…
The magic of Danish dream cake
I am, for the most part, a rule follower and a people pleaser. It’s one of the reasons I love…
I love sausages!
‘Sausages,’ my son says to me, leaning forward from the back of the car, with the authority and confidence only…
Should family history, however painful, be memorialised forever?
What to hold on to and what to let go of is Samantha Ellis’s dilemma when trying to explain the complexities of their Judeo-Iraqi heritage to her young son
