When four young friends fresh from a couple of years international travelling as digital nomads settled down in a small town in the south of England they found the UK in the midst of a gin frenzy, with hundreds of new varieties on offer. From hand bottled, small batch offerings such as the citrusy Sacred […]
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Catch the light on the right day and the south Devon, England port of Salcombe could double for a town hugging a coastline in the Caribbean. Vivid blue and green seas, soft yellow sand and wind battered trees leading up to whitewashed houses create an atmosphere of beach life. Indeed, the relationship between south Devon […]
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Holding a giant wooden spoon Nicole Bineau stirs huge copper pots full of simmering, boiling fruit in the back of a shop that welcomes the curious cook. A passionate jam maker, Nicole works in the kitchen at the back of her family shop Maison Herbin, in the southern French town of Menton. She works behind […]
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Taking a generous sip of chilled Marourde craft Blue Label mead, I taste centuries of history and a very modern twist on an ancient brew. Served chilled with a refreshingly smooth feel, this modern mead has none of the sickly sweet flavours of home-brew, but delicate tones of fruit, and floral honey. It’s a palette […]
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When two tousled-haired teenage friends drove home with a couple of buckets of olives bought from a Provencal farmers’ market in southern France one day in the early 1990s little did they see how their culinary future would unfold. Always on the look out for new ingredients George Bennell (whose culinary CV includes working […]
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18th – 21st May, 2018. 10am – 6pm Great Orangery Schlosspark Schönbrunn, Vienna, Austria. Citrus fruits are complex, endlessly fascinating and so useful in the kitchen. Around the world they are a staple ingredient to homecooks and chefs and have botantists asking questions such as: is the kumquat a sister of the orange or […]
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When two London-based chefs heading up a two star Michelin restaurant are welcomed on stage for a cooking demo it’s time to grab a seat; I was there to look and learn. So it was when husband and wife team Shauna (pictured above) and Mark Froydenlund, joint chef patrons at Marcus Wareing’s flagship restaurant […]
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Pasta making is a family affair in Italy. Secret recipes, sauces, fillings for raviolis are passed down from nonnas (much loved grandmothers) to future generations of home cooks. And for one Italian family in one of the busiest shops in Menton, France this is happening right now. The star of the show is a deliciously […]
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So, when you invite a few friends around for a mid-week dinner in the middle of gloomy February, you might expect guests may offer a bottle of wine, a few bottles of beer, some flowers or even a chocolate selection to finish the evening off sweetly. But a tub of crème fraîche? Well, probably not. […]
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Every since explorer Christopher Columbus landed at Caribbean island of Guadeloupe and saw his first pineapple, the fruit has held a spell over cooks, cheese and wine party hosts and the American canning industry. My interest in the knobbly fruit was piqued during a lecture at the Royal Academy art gallery in London, as part […]
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