Everybody has words and phrases that just put them inexplicably on edge, and the wonderful world of food writing seems to be blessed with more than its fair share of mildly irritating little pieces of language. You see these words everywhere…on websites, in adverts, on the TV, in cookbooks, on menus. Sometimes, they just come [...]
The other evening, we had a Chinese takeaway. As normal, it was great. Spare ribs, prawn toast, wontons, sweet and sour, salt and pepper chicken, all delivered conveniently to our door from the Chinese round the corner and down the road. All was good. But at four AM the next morning, I woke up, feeling [...]
Do you know how many units are actually in a glass of wine? Do you know the difference in alcohol content between a large glass of red and a pint of strong beer? The answers to both of these questions is probably ‘no’. Either that, or your guesses are way off the mark. Mine definitely [...]
Britain’s new coalition government is rumoured to be considering scrapping the Food Standards Agency, the non-ministerial government department responsible for public health in relation to food. Officially, the FSA is ‘under review’, which is usually a process that can only really end in one way’. The FSA’s duties would be absorbed by the Department of [...]
You ordered something that sounded tasty. The waiter arrives with your meal, puts it down in front of you and you start eating. You realise quickly that the expected juicy steak has been grilled to within an inch of total carbonation, or that the chicken is salmonella pink in the middle. The waiter reappears, a [...]