October has to be our most fragrant month, with nutty celeriac, creamy salsify redolent of oysters, honeyed quince and earthy mushrooms just some of the aromatic gems jostling for our attention. As October heralds the start of the wild...

(Competition has now closed) Calling all steak-lovers! To celebrate National Barbecue Week - and in anticipation of some more glorious barbecue weather - we're launching a...

Many of us in Britain know and love Thai food, but have you ever wondered what makes it such a universally appealing cuisine? On my first trip to Thailand recently, I discovered more about the food and the guiding philosophy behind it. Like...

It's being hailed as the perfect storm, worse than BSE, worse even than foot and mouth, and because of it our farmers are feeling the pinch like never before. It's the weather that's done it. The constant drizzle of 2012 has ruined farmers' crops,...

Lazy Sunday , no timetable and the perfect opportunity to enjoy our most indulgent and leisurely meal of the week. These are our favourite kind of Sundays. It is an occasion not only to share food but also our time, humour and the odd heated...

"One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating." - Luciano Pavarotti, 'My Story' Having a lovely meal isn't...

August 2010, sipping a freshly squeezed, perfectly chilled orange juice at Café Thalassa, I was admiring the stunning view along the coastline of white washed "sugar cube" houses and miniature churches set against a flawless blue sky. I have...

Cook your own food from scratch Supermarkets tell us that we are 'time-poor/cash-rich', and encourage us to buy their ready-made convenience foods. These foods are generally joyless to eat, and particularly poor value for...

When supermarkets began taking control of Britain's shopping basket in the late Eighties and Nineties, many of our traditional food treasures seemed doomed for extinction. Supermarkets weren't interested in small amounts of regional, local...

When the nights draw in, leaves fall and temperatures drop, it's the perfect time for putting lamb on the menu. What with all the annual brouhaha that surrounds the arrival of new season's lamb in April and May, you'd be forgiven for getting the...

Normally, I'm the opposite of an internet shopper. To be frank, I can't remember ever buying food online, except as a present to send to a friend. For all I've surfed food home delivery sites and drooled over the product descriptions and pictures,...