Archive For The “Food” Category

Eating arrangements, like much else in my childhood, were very controlled not to say regimented, therefore delicious Sunday roasts and, for a short period, grilled sausages, were a welcome relief. Sunday lunch and the atmosphere were dominated by the main course, which might be roast chicken with bread sauce, a shoulder of pork with crackling and apple…

My wife, Rohan, suggested that we eat out at Vince et Versa, a restaurant nearby. I agreed but on one condition, that I be allowed to bring my own cutlery. My proposal was rejected – it would be an affront. A day later, I hatched a less obtrusive plan and a table was booked. I…

Nostalgia for a classic dish sends Joe off on a breadcrumb trail By rights there should be few things duller than breadcrumbs. However, these apparently characterless granules have now been one of my preoccupations for weeks. My problem was, ultimately, a case of taste coupled with stubborn determination. My wife and I share the cooking. We each have our…

Graham Dukes and partner Elisabet Helsing have just produced a book… No, we must be truthful. All that we produced on our own was an electronic bundle of words and notions; to turn that into a book we were reliant on a creative and sympathetic publisher, a typesetter with nimble fingers, and a professional printer with…

In general, my French lessons follow a fairly standard format. After a session in which we catch up on the French news and on any important student news, our teacher goes round the table asking each of us in turn if we have a presentation to offer. Most of us will have prepared something and,…
This is Joe Collier’s famous QPR stew. It is not known whether King Alfred famously burnt his cakes whilst listening out for match reports of his football team (Winchester Albion) but this is Joe’s explanation for how he charred the beef, and accidentally added a certain je ne sais quoi to the dish! The stew is best accompanied by baked potatoes…
This is a quick and delicious smoked mackerel pate, which tastes great served with hot buttered toast. All of the ingredients can be varied according to your own taste, and the horseradish and/or spring onion can be left out altogether. Serves 4-6: Preparation 7 mins. Ingredients 4-5 smoked mackerel fillets handful flat leaf parsley, chopped 3-4 spring onions (or…

It began a fortnight last Saturday. I had settled down for an evening in front of my computer, intending (as I do on occasion) to get to the bottom of these stories one hears about the possibility of cultivating better, bigger and healthier potatoes in one’s back garden. Not that a more presentable output from…