Category: Food

You don’t need a dozen expensive spices or a degree in pastry arts to get this right, despite what those glossy magazines in the village shop might suggest. Most people think that learning how to make a fruit cake is all about the complexity of the recipe, but after forty years of seeing people overcomplicate […]

I was standing in the kitchen last Tuesday, looking at a bunch of coriander that had turned into a dark, weeping heap of sludge only three days after I’d bought it from the shop in Salisbury. It’s a damn shame, really, because most of the advice you find online about how to keep herbs fresh […]

You don’t need a degree in chemistry or a cupboard full of expensive, lab-grade equipment to master the art of summer in a bottle. I’ve seen plenty of people get themselves into a muddle with complicated ratios and fancy additives, thinking that’s the secret to how to make elderflower cordial that actually tastes of the […]

You don’t need a linen tablecloth or a selection of imported preserves to do this properly; in fact, the moment you start looking for “gourmet” ingredients, you’ve already lost the plot. I spent years valuing properties in the Test Valley, and I can tell you that the best lunches I ever had weren’t served in […]

I’ve sat through enough parish council meetings to know when someone is trying to sell you a load of old rubbish, and frankly, the modern obsession with “gourmet” techniques for wild meat is no different. You don’t need a sous-vide machine or a degree from a culinary institute to understand how to cook game properly; […]

I saw a spread in the local paper last week suggesting you need expensive chia seeds, organic agave, and a specific type of almond milk to have a decent breakfast. It’s absolute nonsense. If you follow that sort of modern, overcomplicated rubbish, you aren’t eating breakfast; you’re performing a chemistry experiment. I’ve spent thirty years […]

You don’t need a culinary degree or a kitchen full of fancy gadgets to get this right, despite what those glossy magazines might tell you. I spent thirty years looking at the structural integrity of flint cottages and Victorian terraces, and if there is one thing I know, it is that a solid foundation is […]

I was standing in the aisle at Miller’s last Tuesday, watching a young man spend ten minutes debating the “ethical provenance” of a jar of honey, when I realised we’ve made a right mess of things. There is a growing myth that knowing how to shop at a farm shop requires a degree in agricultural […]

I was clearing out the back of the pantry last Tuesday—the same cupboard we had installed back in ’94, which, if I recall, was a bit of a rush job by the previous owners—and I found a bag of carrots so limp they looked like they’d been left out in a summer drought. It’s a […]

You don’t need a collection of exotic spices or a degree in culinary arts to master a proper midweek meal; in fact, I’ve found that most recipes online make things far more complicated than they need to be. People spend far too much time worrying about reducing expensive red wines or sourcing organic shallots when […]