It’s funny what you take on holiday. I packed less for a month in India a few decades ago than I did for last week’s break in north Norfolk. Maybe it’s an age thing, maybe it was because we were taking a car and had no luggage restrictions. Continue reading
Pretty but inedible (I know now)
Like a lot of Brits I’m leery about picking wild mushrooms. Hedgerow fruit, no problem. Wild garlic, absolutely. But in spite of the fact that I often picked field mushrooms with my dad when I was a child, I’m funny about funghi. Too many Agatha Christie novels at a formative age, perhaps, along with a yawning gap of ignorance.
“Mushrooms have got a bad PR agent, that’s all,” says Carl Shillingford Continue reading
She’s a wise bird, that Diana Henry. I know from my own experience here on Mrs P that chicken recipes are hugely popular. Maybe it’s because people try to avoid red meat, maybe it’s because it’s easy to knock up a quick supper with a couple of chicken joints you’ve picked up on the way home from work. Maybe it’s just because a good chicken is so very tasty and versatile.
Ms Henry has written an entire cookery book dedicated to chicken recipes and I imagine it’s flying off the shelves (sorry). Continue reading
I’ve been racking my brains but I can’t for the life of me remember which murder mystery it was that I read where the victim’s last meal had been Suffolk Black Ham. Continue reading
All images courtesy of stevieparle.co.uk
I was in the fortunate position recently of being able to interview one of my favourite chefs and cookery writers, Stevie Parle. The feature, for a business magazine, was about Stevie’s business model and the gamble he’s taking in opening his new restaurant, Rotorino.
There was a lot of foodie stuff discussed that it wasn’t appropriate to include in the piece, then I went to eat at Rotorino with a friend, so I thought I’d share both experiences with you here. Not warmed-up leftovers, hopefully, but an insight into the background of a young but already very successful chef and his food. Continue reading
Good restaurants are in short supply in my part of Suffolk. If you know different, please feel free to message me. Please, I’m begging you.
I’ve tried everything from fayne dayning through ethnic to pub grub and although there are some decent pubs (and a lot of very average ones), there are two restaurants that I think stand out. Continue reading
I haven’t been this excited about a cookery book since I first got my hands on Yotam Ottolenghi’s. Are you sniggering at the back again, Portly Minor? Take 100 lines.
Persiana, published by Mitchell Beazley, is Sabrina Ghayour’s first book and it’s crammed full of wonderfully cookable recipes. I really struggled to decide which ones to share with you because I’d like to cook and eat everything in it. Continue reading
“The waiter approached.
‘Would you like to see the menu?’ he said. ‘Or would you like to meet the Dish of the Day?’
‘Huh?’ said Ford.
‘Huh?’ said Arthur.
‘Huh?’ said Trillian.
‘That’s cool,’ said Zaphod. ‘We’ll meet the meat.”
– Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
Do you remember that scene when the cow is not only still alive as it’s wheeled in on the serving dish but helpfully gives diners its advice on the best cuts to eat? Continue reading
Three brothers in Girona have just bagged the title of the world’s best restaurant, and no wonder. They have some of the world’s best produce.
Four years after Ferran Adria’s El Bulli closed its doors, the prize, awarded by the British magazine Restaurant, has returned to Catalunya. Continue reading