Underated Vegetable of the Week: Parsnips.
I must admit I was never a fan when I was a kid. It sat on the unpopular side of the Christmas dinner plate, relegated even below the sprouts in my pecking order. There was something unsettling about the sw[…]

While all the other Pumpkin-heads are floating in alcohol, I discovered there’s such a thing as… PIMIENTO CHEESE (aka the pat’ of the South)! It still can’t beat spray cheese though.[…]

I love the idea of fortified wines. That someone felt that wine by itself was just not strong enough to be satisfying. Sherry is a perfect example of this, a Spanish drink certainly but also a very British one. In the 19th century when everyone was l[…]

The heroic era of my Pringle consumption is behind me, of course. Those were the days when it was discovered that Sour Cream and Chive pringles must contain heroin as a secret ingredient, so addictive were they – and also that eating a whole ba[…]

When I was a kid ‘ continuing our accidental theme of children and booze ‘ there were certain drinks I thought would be sophisticated and adult. Usually I thought this because my parents drank them. In many ways my parents were sophistica[…]

THE ADVENT CALENDAR OF ALCOHOL – 15 December (14%-15%) – Martini & Rossi Bianco
Rossi must feel a bit pissed off, up in the great cocktail bar in the sky. It was a clever trick naming the key ingredient in the flagship suave cocktail[…]

THE ADVENT CALENDAR OF ALCOHOL – 14th December (13%-14%): Green Ginger Wine
It’s a wine, made from green ginger and dried grapes (i.e.raisins), and left for 9 months, which sounds pretty disgusting. I’ve never actually tasted it on […]

THE ADVENT CALENDAR OF ALCOHOL – 13 December (12%-13%) – Champagne
I’m sure there are lots of good reasons why champagne has become so set as an international festive drink, but it wouldn’t surprise me to learn that its mass p[…]

THE ADVENT CALENDAR OF ALCOHOL – 12th December (11%-12%): Westvleteren 12 11.3%
In ye olden days (actually often not that olden but this is myth, give me a chance), ye godly Belgian Trappist monks took inspiration from the Lord and brewed heave[…]

THE ADVENT CALENDAR OF ALCOHOL – 11th December (10%-11%): White Zinfandel
Its a red grape. But its a white wine (well pink – maybe even rose). WOW!
That is not what I am going to be talking about here. If you want tasting notes there are[…]