Have you ever had times where you’ve been challenged, where there’s been something that you know you can do much, much better if you just cracked a little piece of technique, if somebody simply showed you how?

Yes? It’s true for all of us, and one of my blind spots used to be French style patisserie.

I’ve made all sorts of things like this before, and I’ve always ended up with reasonably tasty bread, but the results felt like they could have been … tidier.

My croissants looked a bit scratty, a bit too rustic, not French enough. I just needed showing how to roll them out properly, how to form them into a shape that let those glorious laminated layers of butter explode outwards instead of collapsing in on themselves.

It’s all about technique.

So, I took a little trip up the Colne valley to a small town called Slaithwaite (it’s pronounced ‘Slaw-itt’ by the locals, and incorrectly by everybody else) to learn how to make French patisserie properly. More…

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What?

The World Curry Festival draws together the tastes of the Sub-Continent, the Caribbean, Thailand, Malaysia and South America into one three-day celebration of the glorious curry.

When and where?

The 21st to 23rd June, 2013, between the fountains of the brand new City Park in Bradford, in the shadows of the most stunning town hall in the whole of Britain.

Why?

Let’s not be coy about this … we Bradfordians know a thing or two about curry.

We’ve all been eating it since we were very, very young indeed, and we’re quite demanding in our tastes. We like our Asian food to be made properly, with fire and passion, with the  freshest ingredients, full of life and character.

If anything fuels this city, it’s curry.

If you’re going to hold a festival dedicated to curry, it really has to be staged in the mighty city of Bradford, and there are no better places for this sort of thing than the superb City Park. That development, sneered at and mocked right through its incarnation and realisation, has proved to be a revelation – a flexible, inspiring, fun, open space that fits perfectly into the heart and culture of the city.

More information…

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Manly Food, by Simon Cave

June 9, 2013
Manly Food, by Simon Cave

Hmm. Hard to know what to think of this … Manly Food is a cookbook dedicated to food with a distinctly masculine edge. I had to stop and think about that for a while. What does it actually mean? What is ‘masculine’ food, and what makes it so? There are hints, of course, nudges in [...]

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The Sinkstation flat colander

June 5, 2013
Sinkstation flat colander

This has ‘gimmick’ written all over it, but unlike most things that look gimmicky, this actually does something useful. The SinkStation bills itself as a ‘flat colander’, and the general idea is that it’s a largely flat sheet with drainage holes in it that sits in the sink and does the job of making the [...]

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Rhubarb vodka … please be careful …

June 1, 2013
Rhubarb flavoured vodka

Does anybody actually like vodka? I’m not sure they do … it’s just searing alcohol to me, and before the whole of Eastern Europe rises as one and mercilessly hunts me down, I’ve found a way to make it a bit more palatable. To transform it into something worth drinking, rather than merely enduring, if [...]

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Everyday sourdough bread

May 26, 2013
Simple, straightforward and easy sourdough loaf

I’ve baked sourdough regularly for a couple of years, now. There’s been a starter bubbling away in the fridge for the whole time. It’s remarkable in its resilience … sometimes, weeks  of neglect have passed, but a handful of flour and a splash of water cause it to spring back into life easily enough. I’ve [...]

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