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Apr 20, 2021
"The past is always present"
Alan Garner wrote those words - the title of today's piece - in a wonderful very short children's book called The Stone Book. The...
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Mar 30, 2021
Bring a plate
"Yes, bring a plate is an Aussie thing, but what does it mean? According to the Australian National University’s ‘Meanings and origins of...
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Mar 16, 2021
Pork pies - uniquely English
"The thing I can't resist is a pork pie. That's my idea of a lovely treat." Delia Smith My granddaughter and grandson, who both go to the...
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Feb 25, 2021
High tea and other in between meals
"The high tea is a meal that must be eaten and the afternoon tea is one we have because we can." Helen Razer That picture above is sort...
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Feb 24, 2021
The spice loving English - first recipe
"these oriental and Arabian and Mediterranean flavourings are no longer status symbols; they no longer possess the charm of the...
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Feb 23, 2021
A wonderful incongruity = dinner tomorrow
"Ingenuity and incongruity always cheer me up." Terry Pratchett So there I was sitting in the doctor's waiting room, not exactly feeling...
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Feb 7, 2021
New is old, old is new
and sometimes old is old and new is new and what do old and new mean anyway? I was very struck by Elizabeth David's quote about food...
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Jan 30, 2021
Portuguese custard tarts - evolution
"The Portuguese pastel de nata are so wonderful that it is almost pointless trying to replicate, let alone better them." Jeremy Lee -...
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Jan 25, 2021
Waffles
"a culinary gilded lily that is impossible to resist." Felicity Cloake "If you love someone, you make them pancakes. If you really love...
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Jan 13, 2021
Palamitha plaki, kakavia or psarasoupa?
"It was traditionally made from the smallest fish caught by fishermen, along with olive oil, onions, and saffron." The Essential...
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Jan 6, 2021
Chop suey and Immigrant food
This is the inspiration for today's post. It's a painting called Chop Suey by the American artist Edward Hopper, recently sold for...
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Dec 31, 2020
Pigs in blankets or pig in a blanket - not the same
Still on Christmas - sorry still a couple more things to say about Christmas. Maybe it's not having cooked the Christmas turkey for the...
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Dec 29, 2020
Marzipan and Eccles cakes
I have made a list of topics to write a post on - currently mostly with a Christmassy bent even though Christmas is now done and dusted...
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Dec 28, 2020
Saying goodbye to leftover turkey
"All that leftover turkey traditionally calls for curry" Felicity Cloake Now when did that tradition begin, if indeed it is a tradition?...
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Dec 22, 2020
Bread sauce
"everyone loves bread, even in a conceptually questionable form such as a goo." Ruby Lott-Lavigna - Vice I seem to have started a mini...
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Dec 21, 2020
Brandy snaps
" the name brandy snap has no reference to brandy, the spirit. The name "brandy" is related to "branded" (as in burnt)." Wikipedia When...
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Dec 14, 2020
The Christmas ham takeover
"always surplus to requirements given the 6kg of cold poultry sitting in the fridge" Felicity Cloake I know I've said it before but it...
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Dec 9, 2020
Gingerbread
"An I had but one penny in the world, thou shouldst have it to buy ginger-bread" Shakespeare Following on from my Christmas hamper idea...
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Nov 27, 2020
Antipasti - a first recipe from Elizabeth David
"Among Italian antipasti (hors d'œuvre) are to be found some of the most successful culinary achievements in European cooking. Most...
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Nov 24, 2020
Salade Niçoise and breaking rules
"Call me old-fashioned, but surely the whole point of a classic recipe is that the punter knows, within an olive or two, what they are...
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