In 2015, we did a study of the coumarin level in cinnamon, cassia and tonka beans. Following on from that, I decided to get the “active” volatile oils analysed in a few types of cinnamon. In the past, we have done more general tests and found cinna...
Read moreSophie came across the Wonderbag on the radio and then The Guardian, so one arrived several weeks thereafter. Basically, a Wonderbag is a modern and green take on the slow cooker and that you find in books as far back as Mrs Beeton’s and even like t...
Read moreMy parents have recently come back from a wedding in Southern India and they have been to one of my favourite regions, Kerala. They were blown away by the delicious food and already miss the flavours of their staple, the dosa. At about the same tim...
Read moreOn Monday 26th, we had arranged a cookery demonstration by Michael Ibbotson (who owns the acclaimed The Durham Ox); they have, also, recently taken over The Punch Bowl in Marton cum Grafton and breathed life back into it and are developing a reputati...
Read moreA year or so ago I made a simnel cake, but it came out rather squat and a tad heavy. The squatness was easily remedied with a smaller baking tin, while the texture was improved through using a lighter recipe with more eggs. I have, also, used an id...
Read moreOne of my favourite Christmassy things is panforte and I, also, love Nurnberger lebkuchen. It hails from Siena which is probably my favourite city in Italy. There really is something special about sitting out in the Piazza del Campo, looking across...
Read moreIt is not very often that I rip out pages from cookery magazines for use at a later date, so it was a surprise when the other day I found some pages I had ripped from a copy of the magazine, Delicious, from some years back. In it, I had obviously fa...
Read moreOnce in a while, I really need to go without meat of any form and I am going through one of those patches at the moment. So I have tweaked my Chicken Balti Recipe from earlier this year to be more tofu friendly and so usable as a vegetarian dish. At...
Read moreOne of my favourite Christmas cookies are spekulatius biscuits, or speculaas as they are called in the Netherlands. I remember we always used to get a special parcel from Lebkuchen Schmidt in Nürmberg from my Granny. In amongst all the beautiful ti...
Read moreBut the key to the recipe is the meat. You should not just get the nearest pack of mince that you can find, but should go to a proper butcher and get the mince made for you using the right types of meat. The best beef for a burger comes from the top...
Read more