Category Archives: Memories

Deh-Ta Hsiung – The Quiet Revolutionary

When Deh-Ta Hsiung walked down the gangway of the P&O  SS ‘Corfu’ and came ashore at Tilbury on Boxing Day in 1949, he was young man arriving in the right place at the right time. He was just 17 and that time … Continue reading

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Posted in Alcohol, Burgundy, Chicken, Classic Rice Dishes, Dim-Sum, Fish, Food Influencers, Foraging, Game, Ginger, London Dining, Memories, Onions, Pork, Real Chinese Cooking, Rice, Traditions at Table, Vinegars, Wines | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Liguria: Plotkin’s Paradise, Panizza’s Pesto

Paradise is a word never to be employed lightly, it being too special to be devalued by mis-use. I’ve been in touch with a man who uses the ‘paradise’ word with every last gram of passion and meaning that it is due - and I … Continue reading

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Posted in Basil, Best Pasta, Coffee, DOP, DOP Basilico Genovese, Food travel, Genoa, Il Genovese Restaurant, Ligurian, Memories, Mercato Orientale, Pesto alla Genovese, Pesto alla Genovese, Real Italy, Terroir, Veal, Vitellone | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Fiddleheads and Pig Cheeks

Friday morning and up well before 06h00 to prepare and cook Pig’s Cheeks so we have special dinner when our boys and a school friend come home tonight – and we return from a very cold East Sussex. Follow the thread and … Continue reading

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Posted in Alcohol, Alliums, Kitchen Tips, Memories, Seasoning, Simple Food | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Carrette & Schtick

Ah the joy. I met a young Michelin-starred chef recently in Tournus. His cooking was all we’d expect from a boy who come through Peter Kromberg’s kitchen in London to then finish his training at the eminent Troisgros restaurant in Roanne, with … Continue reading

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Posted in Alcohol, AOC, Burgundy, Capon, Chicken, Foie Gras, Food travel, French Regional Foods, Great Chefs, Guinea Fowl, Hen's and Bantam's Eggs, London Dining, Memories, New Chefs, Perfect Eggs, Pigeoneau, Poulet, Poulet Fermier, Speciality Chicken, Terroir | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

‘In Search of TASTE’

I’ve some big news to share with all – and especially those who doff their hats to Blue Collar Gastronomy and have followed my writing these past two years since I kicked off in an icy Pont de Vaux (Bresse) … Continue reading

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Posted in Alcohol, Blue Collar Gastronomy, Food Influencers, Food of the Ancients, food politics, Food Scams, Food travel, Ingredients, Memories, Nature, No Compromise Shopping, Techniques, Terroir, The Food Business, Traditions at Table, True Innovation, Wine Making and Viticulture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

The Joy that’s Dim Sum

Dim-Sum slipped quietly and without fuss into London’s then new Chinatown district in the late 70s. Like so much of the Chinese kitchen, they like to keep stuff to themselves.  The Dim-Sum was mainly to attract the then growing bands of Chinese … Continue reading

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Posted in Alcohol, Alliums, Blue Collar Gastronomy, Brassica's, Chicken, Dim-Sum, Fish, London Dining, Memories, Oysters and Shellfish, Real Chinese Cooking, Rice | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Cicchetti with Mozart, Utopia and Friendship

If history writes right, pity that first barman down in Seville who is famously recorded to have placed a slice of bread over a customer’s glass of wine on the marble-topped bar to keep out the flies – and with that, tapas … Continue reading

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Posted in Alcohol, Aubergine, Basil, Blue Collar Gastronomy, Bread, Cicchetti, Memories, Real Italy, Venice | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments