Wines to drink with your Chinese new year feast
If you’re planning a Chinese meal to mark the beginning of the year of the pig, here are the wines to go forChina may be the most high-profile example, but it’s not the only country celebrating its new...
The Battle Between Smoking And Grilling Meat
When the summer period approaches, people get to enjoy cookouts and barbecues. To prepare meat accordingly, you must learn more about grilling and smoking. These techniques are different regarding the preparation time, the equipment, and the preparation style. In...
Cocktail of the week: Bo Bech’s bittersweet ginseng
Once you’ve acquired a taste for it, there’s no going backServes 130ml Kamm & Sons (see introduction)20ml red vermouth – I use Punt e Mes10ml orange curaçao liqueur – I use Giffard’s5ml CampariKamm & Sons is a British spirit that features more than 40 botanicals,...
I enjoy airline food, but in a restaurant? Pass the sickbag
AirAsia is to open an eatery serving its dishes. It seems crackers – who would choose to eat plane fare on terra firma?People harrumph more at 38,000ft. It’s a sort of iron rule of air travel. Fifteen minutes...
Annabel Crabb’s Sri Lankan butternut and cashew curry recipe
Spice up summer entertaining with a rich curry served with a traditional sambolThis dish is the product of Wendy’s patient, repeated attempts to get into a particularly popular London restaurant specialising in Sri Lankan street food; you know,...
Nigel Slater’s red cabbage with cider and steamed potatoes recipe
A cheap, cheerful, colourful and quick dish that’s tasty tooCut half a large red cabbage into 4 wedges. Tuck the cabbage into a large pan and pour over 500ml of dry cider. Season with 10 black peppercorns and...
Cocktail of the week: Aji margarita
Using chilli-infused tequila gives the classic drink a bit more of a kickTo make the infused tequila, use any brand you have to hand. It’s preferable to use fresh jalapeño, because you want it good and spicy. Failing...
The end of small plates: why the dinner-ruining dishes may finally be over
The trend for small-plate menus in restaurants has tested friendships and defied logic. They have to go – here’s whyThe news that Russell Norman’s Polpo restaurant group is in financial trouble (unpaid £550,000 VAT bill, sites for sale, company voluntary agreement...
Caractère, London W11: ‘A bit of a trip’ – restaurant review
Playful, satisfying and occasionally baffling, there is lots to love at Emily Roux’s new restaurantHaving the name Roux hanging around your neck must be a mixed blessing. It’s terrifically handy, I’m sure, when you’re starting a new restaurant...
Harriet Birrell’s delicious dal bowl recipe
Easy to digest and guaranteed to satisfy the grumbliest of stomachs, dal with steamed rice is a nutritious dinner optionDal is a traditional dish from the Indian subcontinent, usually a lentil-based soup that is served with steamed rice....
Rachel Roddy’s recipe for lemon risotto
The fruit cuts through the starchy rice, butter, stock and cheeseWhile they are as much a year-round fixed kitchen component as milk, flour, forks and washing-up liquid, lemons particularly come into their own at this time of year. For,...
Cocktail of the week: Zuma’s lillet blanc
A luxurious white wine aperitif with fig liqueur, whisky and bubbles that is sure to cheer up any dark February eveningServes 150ml Lillet Blanc15ml fig liqueur – Figaro, ideally, but if you can’t find that, try Briottet or even pedro ximénez sherry10ml...
