Respectfully, I don’t believe that proximity is a prophylactic or an anti-bacterial. If you’re a city boy who commutes and moves countries a lot, as I am, the only farmers you’re likely to get to know well enough to be offered illegal products are your immediate neighbours. That said, the best unpasteurised cheese I…

We use the tall DVD racks that Ikea used to sell (may still do - I’m not in an Ikea country right now). You can get about eight cylindrical spice bottles into each shelf. Alphabetical order is key. The benefit of the DVD racks is how little floor space they require - about 8*8” gives you enough storage for about…

Lamb and lemon forever: use the juice and the yellow part of the rind in the marinade (not the pith - it can overwhelm the marinade with bitter notes), then throw the pith and some of the used marinade in with the lamb stock when you’re reducing the jus - this tastes especially good if you’re going to make a dish with…

I never felt like I was showing a lack of gratitude or appreciation for the life-saving benefits of pasteurisation when I was buying illegal milk and cheeses from neighbouring farms. I felt like I was gaining access to flavours and textures that don’t survive pasteurisation in return for taking a relatively small risk…

Single most unwilling, shame-faced star I ever coughed up. Damn you.

Small game - pigeon, quail, rabbit: the total lack of fat is often a problem if you’re going to do anything other than grill them. To sous vide them with goose fat or pork fat sounds like a promising alternative to barding or cauls. This one may not be so popular but I really like lamb hearts in stews, tagines and…

It gets better, especially with a hockey player. I’m assuming the rink practice/reservations system still works more or less the way it did when I was in high school but, if it does, it can turn the world’s least-organized, least-interested-in-being-helpful kid (i.e. me) into someone who will cook breakfast for two…

Has anyone found a VPN or other workaround that functions from abroad? The only time I ever resent the licence fee is when I’m overseas...

Great video - really enjoyable. It might be worth pointing out that, if you have a local farmer’s market, that’s a fantastic place to get things for every kind of stock. My last one had game, seafood, fish and meat dealers, as well as the usual fruit and veg. After you’ve reached the know-each-other’s-names stage,…

Ouch. Lived there for five years. I needed the money? I was young and dumb and didn’t inhale? The director said it would be artistic? Not sure which excuse applies but can confirm the 100% accuracy of your comment.

Love the colours on the top one. Will def look into that combo the next time I find several million stuffed behind the couch cushions...

Just realized I can more or less trace my personal history by what I eat for hangovers. University: raw egg, then three mile run. (If the egg stays down, you’ll be fine.) First job: five McD’s hash browns, five diet cokes. First good job: shakshuka, focaccia, ristretto. Current job: white rice with raw egg and soy, 1L…

Ooooooh yes! Make this now a couple of times to get confident with it then, a couple of months from now, make it again with armagnac instead of brandy and about 10 times the volume of baby thyme, marjoram and sage when the first spring herbs come up. It should come out green, not pink, and be the definitive flavour of…

That makes sense to the part of my brain that does logic but the part of my brain that delivers food cravings is still unconvinced. To be both fair and self-critical, I’ve only eaten a half-dozen things that were cooked in Instant Pots and I’m probably conflating the results too much with the things that were coming…

Idiot that I am, I forgot to take my phone to DTF with me, which meant I was looking for a half-remembered dish through their fairly long appetizer/side dish menu. Apologies if I got this wrong but I’m fairly sure what you’re getting is a slightly lunched-up, fancied-up take on tang gan si (烫干丝), which is a really…

Solely to please you, and for no other reason at all (places hand over heart), I will now go and have lunch there to see if it’s on the menu here in Shanghai. And also to eat my weight in pork and crab dumplings.

Imagine you’re testing a head injury patient for orientation and alertness. You ask this sequence of questions: “Where do you live? Where are you now? How did you get here? What day is it? What happened to you? How do you feel?” In reply, you get: “Truro” then “I dunno, really” five times in a row. That would be…

Best edamame recipe I know (which I freely admit stealing from Din Tai Fung in Shanghai - I’m not sure if they have this on their US menus). Stir-fry spongy gluten (ok, don’t eat this if you have gluten issues - late but correct advice) with a similar volume shredded mushrooms (you’re better off with woodsy ones;…

I promise to try it.

First off, Cornwall and Devon are counties, not cities. Second, both counties’ health workers use the chart abbreviation NFC, meaning “Normal for Cornwall” when assessing a patient’s mental state, which should tell you something. Finally, if you really want to see two Brits come to blows, ask them if the milk goes in…