Food politics

Leeds Kirkgate Market vs. Mercado da Ribeira

Mercardo da Ribeira, Lisbon, Portugal

I spend a lot in markets, in terms of both time and money. A lunchtime trip to the fruit, veg, fish and meat stalls of Kirkgate Market in Leeds has become a weekly ritual, and I return to the office with one of those blue IKEA bags full of stuff. My colleagues ask me what unspeakable things [...]

Food politics

The dawn of the supermarket meat counter

http://youtu.be/9dqQblZYQ1w “In his way, the meat cutter is an artist”. Here’s a wonderful little American promotional film from the Fifties, that walks through the process of butchering a side of beef into cuts suitable for selling shrink-wrapped in those new-fangled supermarkets. Just look at the marbling on that beef. Try to ignore the naïve sexism [...]

Food politics

How to kill and cook a lobster

How to kill and cook a lobster

Every time I wander through Kirkgate Market in Leeds, I end up walking up the row of fishmongers towards the exit to Vicar Lane, and past the very last fishmonger, the best of the lot, the one with the stall laden with bright, clean fish and shellfish, packed in ice. There’s always a box of [...]

Food & drink, Food politics

Semolina bread

Tartine Bread’s semolina loaf

The more I bake bread, the more I realise that I know so little about it, the more I understand why being a baker is a calling as much as a profession. I’ve started to experiment more, recently, started using different techniques and methods to home in on the things that I really like about [...]

Food & drink

Slow cooking in the sand

The importance of slowness in food, and food in celebration.

It started with a text message. “Chris says can you pack a tie. You’re off to a wedding or something”. I looked down at the carefully packed bags at my feet and realised that ‘bring a tie’ actually meant ‘bring a whole set of smart clothes, including shoes, not just a tie’, and started to [...]

Food politics