AUTUMN APPEALS
March 18, 2024
Autumn is the mellower season, and what we lose in flowers we more than gain in fruits.Samuel Butler, English author.
So let’s enjoy these seasonal treats: apples, nashi and eggplants plus pumpkin.
Eggplant — commonly thought of as a vegetable — is actually a f...
PETAL PIZZAZ
February 28, 2024
The creative use of flowers and herbs in cookery was a feature of Roman banquets. They were also popular (and still are) in medicines and Chinese and Indian recipes, and plates gaily decorated with flowers were particularly prevalent during Queen Victoria’s reign. It ...
SUMMER SEAFOOD WINNERS
February 16, 2024
When it comes to fishing, I’m an unsuccessful angler. Fish must know what I have in store for them and dart away. It’s most frustrating. But I love a fish fuelled summer. Most seafood is low in calories but high in protein, omega-3, a variety of B vitamins and many ...
FAVOUR SUMMER FLAVOURS
January 22, 2024
Preserving abundant summer fruits and veg provides sun-kissed flavours to enjoy in cooler months. But if you are a family of just two then it’s best to make small amounts. When jams, pickles and chutneys are left forgotten for months on pantry shelves they lose their summe...
SIZZLE SEASON
December 29, 2023
Tantalising smells are wafting across my backyard — it must be time to rev up the barbecue and compete with the neighbours in our annual competition for the best summer aromas.
Whatever the type of cooker or fuel used, the secret to successful barbecues is the quality ...
CHRISTMAS CRACKERS
December 16, 2023
If there was ever a year when Christmas celebrations are particularly welcome then this is the one. But every year there are more whims and wishes to cater for. Vegans, vegetarians, coeliacs, meat lovers and ketogenic dieters will gather round the family festive table this y...
SAVOUR THE SIZZLE
November 20, 2023
My favourite animal is steak,’ quipped American writer Fran Lebowitz.
And yes, there’s nothing quite like a perfectly grilled beef steak. It’s ‘feel good’ food and it can be dressed up in so many ways — including served with a mushroom, mustard or...
OBLIX, OBLIIX & NZ FOREST FLOWER
November 19, 2023
Sir George Fistonich, 83, founder of Villa Maria in the early 1960s, has been developing three new brands made from Hawke’s Bay and Marlborough grapes on family-owned vineyards in both areas: Oblix, Obliix and New Zealand Forest Flower.At present production of the new wine...
COUNT YOUR CHICKENS
November 3, 2023
Chicken is the most universally popular of all meats. And deservedly so. A singularly versatile meal-maker, it features in such national or regional dishes as Arabian couscous, Hungarian chicken paprika, Florentine polla alla diavola, Indonesian sambal hati hati, Indian vind...
HALLOWE’EN HIGH JINKS
October 24, 2023
Evil will be abroad on the evening of October 31 as ghosts, demons and witches roam the land. But don’t worry — they are only the neighbourhood kids dressed up to celebrate Hallowe’en.
It is the Irish and the Scots that we have to thank for Hallowe’en. It was par...
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