Spirits focus: How Merser & Co is bringing rum back to London January 25, 2021 When we refer to London gin, we know exactly what we’re talking about, for London has long been considered the global capital of gin. But London’s rum history has very little awareness. Very few Londoners seem to know the history of the city’s rum blending houses and how London was a hub of rum in the [...]
How to host a lockdown Burns Supper, from haggis to whisky January 23, 2021 Monday marks what may be the most pared back Burns Night in living memory. While on a normal year swathes of the country head to special dinners to celebrate the life of the Scottish bard, this year we’ll all be stuck in the house watching reruns of Jools Holland. Still, there are a few ways [...]
Forget substandard pasta – try this new delivery service January 22, 2021 You know what I miss? Pasta. Not dried pasta, or the supermarket “fresh pasta” which is somehow worse than the dried stuff. Proper pasta, made by an Italian in a white hat. Proper pasta is hard. Making it is an art, but one that has correct and incorrect ways of going about it. Everybody knows [...]
How loose leaf tea could ease your lockdown stress January 21, 2021 As the reality of another few months of lockdown sinks in, we could all do with a lift right now. Young entrepreneur Katy Spalter believes she may hold the key with her loose tea business. Importing the finest teas and selling them alongside her super-handy portable tea filter, Spalter believes her restorative blends may be [...]
Why online masterclasses will be the hot food trend of 2021 January 20, 2021 While virtually every other industry has been busy digitising for the last decade or more, the restaurant world remained resolutely analogue. Modern kitchens are still built around the Brigade de cuisine hierarchy developed by Georges Auguste Escoffier in the 19th century, and the idea of giving up the level of control afforded by the walled [...]
Travel South Africa through its top vineyards January 19, 2021 Like most people in the UK right now, I’m well overdue a holiday. Last year was the first I’ve not left the country in a very long time. The majority of the trips I take involve wine. Some of the most beautiful places I’ve travelled to have been wine growing regions. I can’t think of one [...]
Best of travel: A food odyssey across the South China Sea January 16, 2021 Throughout January we’re remembering better times and sunnier climes by reposting some of our favourite travel stories from the last decade. In this instalment, our Life&Style editor Steve Dinneen eats a path across the South China Sea. ••• Hong Kong’s most celebrated restaurants are the kind of Michelin-rated palaces to gastronomy that you can find [...]