Category Archives: Food & Wine

A Gastronomic Road Trip

“If I just keep putting one foot in front of the other, it stands to reason that I’m going to get there. I’ve begun to think we sit far more than we’re supposed to.” He smiled. “Why else would we … Continue reading

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Down the Dart: from Dartmoor to Dartmouth via a vineyard

The Dart. A picturesque and tidal river that rises on Dartmoor and meanders down through voluptuous hills and green leafy valleys to Dartmouth on the South Devon coast. Here the estuary is guarded by a pair of stone forts, somewhat … Continue reading

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Reconnecting with Nature

The best thing I have discovered this week about the people of Devonshire is their huge pride in their beautiful, largely rural county. It has been a week of delightful discoveries. At the risk of sounding like a tourist brochure, it … Continue reading

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A Birthday Surprise

An unexpected shake-up of carefully choreographed plans found me spending my birthday, not in the south of France with a good friend, but in the country lanes of Hampshire with our older son, on the rim of the South Downs … Continue reading

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Purple Yam Comes Home

I first came across Amy Besa in her beautiful coffee table cook book, Memories of Philippine Kitchens. A chance meeting at Enderun, a few emails, and I finally introduced myself properly at a Christmas Fair in New York, where she … Continue reading

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The Goose Station: Reinventing Philippine Cuisine

“Of all our senses, taste, such as Nature has created it, remains the one which…gives us the maximum of delight.”  ~ Brillat-Savarin Last month I had the joy of meeting Rob & Sunshine Pengson at Madrid Fusion Manila (MFM). Rob’s … Continue reading

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Simple Joys

Tokyo. A shopper’s wonderland. My friends are green with envy at my good luck. Sadly, I am not a woman who lives to shop. Basement food halls, malls and department stores make my eyes blur with panic. Too much stuff. … Continue reading

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An Aubergine Anniversary

Aubergine is French for eggplant. The word aubergine comes from the Catalan albergínia, and the Arabic al-bādhinjān. An aubergine is a vegetable, that firm, smooth, shiny, pendular vegetable that soaks up olive oil like a sponge or grills into a … Continue reading

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The Flying Fish Café

The Flying Fish Café at Port Elliot on the south eastern lip of the Fleurieu Peninsula. A 42 degree day in February. A jetty. Scalding sand. Basking children. A lapis lazuli sky reflected in a glittering sea. Norfolk pines march … Continue reading

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“The Air is Full of Spices”

Where would the world be without spice? That pinch of fairy dust that transforms the simplest dish into something other, heightening our senses with their exotic aromas, and adding a glorious depth of colour and flavour to our cooking. From … Continue reading

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