Lady Fat

A Fava Fanatic June, 2010

Do you have a food fantasy? I have several and one was inspired by an article a food magazine …………it’s spring, I’m in Rome, sitting in a restaurant on the edge of a beautiful piazza. In the centre of the piazza there is a fountain, water cascading over stone gods and out of the mouths of weird beasts. I have a glass of chilled white wine and on the table are slices of the local ham and a basket of bright green fava beans in their pods. I break open a pod and ease out the small beans, no bigger than my fingernail, and eat them. So young and tender these beans don’t need to be peeled.

For the Love of Butter May, 2010

When you cook and write about food for a living there is a general assumption that your mother, or your grandmother sparked your interest in food. People imagine a childhood spent in the kitchen soaking in the smells and tastes of food and learning the art of cooking. I too like this image of the younger me watching wonderful food lovingly prepared by my mother and grandmothers. I can almost see myself perched on a stool at the edge of the stove so that I can reach the cooking pot and stir it under a maternal gaze.

Confessions of a Risotto Expert April, 2010

“The Chinese, the Arabs, the Greeks, the Indians, the Spaniards, the Turks, the Persians, have marvelous national rice dishes:……The Italian risotto is a dish of a totally different nature and unique.”
Italian Food Elizabeth David, 1954

Welsh Rabbit March, 2010

With the release of the new Tim Burton film, Cheshire probably conjures up an image of a grinning cat with the melodious voice of Stephen Fry before one of a delicious tasty cheese.

Cheshire rarely gets the respect it deserves. It languishes in the shadow of its more famous compatriot Cheddar, a cheese that has so conquered the world its name no longer refers to a specific cheese but a technique of cheese making.

A Chocolate Love Rekindled February, 2010

As I look around my kitchen I realise that I’ve been invaded by chocolate. There are books on chocolate: how to make it, how to bake with it, explaining its history and origins. There is chocolate in all forms: bars of chocolate, different flavoured truffles, delicate chocolates with exotic fillings from lemon verbena to Douglas fir and a variety of fruits and nuts dipped into chocolate. There are also old metal moulds for forming chocolates. Not so strange you might think after all this is the month of love and chocolate. But I am no longer a serious chocolate lover.

There is Comfort in a Ham Bone January, 2010

“This ham bone, far from being a melancholy reminder, is still a treasure”-- Edouard de Pomaine.

How very true Pomaine’s words are. For me just knowing that there is a ham bone in my fridge or freezer is very comforting.

Comfort food is closely linked to childhood, I remember my mother taking a ham bone and turning it into a large pot of split pea soup. That bone, with pieces of juicy ham still attached would simmer away in a large pot with some yellow peas, vegetables and water.

Saint Sylvestre January, 2010

Remember Y2K? Well that was 10 years ago and even with the threat of our airplane falling out of the sky and the end of the world looming we bravely set off to celebrate the new millennium in Paris. Where better to spend one’s final days?

Well it wasn’t the end of the world and no doomsday scenario thwarted our plans, it was Mother Nature who intervened. A fierce storm delayed our arrival and when we finally reached Paris we were shocked by the devastation wrought especially in Vincennes woods and the Versailles park.

Quebec Foie Gras December, 2009

As the holidays approach, there are certain foods that I crave, and one of them is foie gras. Although it’s available all year long, foie gras is at its best from autumn to late winter, when the birds naturally accumulate fat, particularly on their livers. France is the biggest producer and consumer of foie gras, but, luckily for me, very high quality foie gras is produced just next door in Quebec.

Paris' Edgar Quinet Market November, 2009

Located behind the busy Boulevard Montparnasse celebrated for its famous cafés, is the Edgar Quinet market. Every Wednesday and Saturday morning the boulevard’s quiet, central tree-lined alley transforms into a lively, animated meeting place.

Saturday is the busiest and best day to explore it. Even in the late autumn, leaves still cling to the trees overhead and the cooler weather yields a rich selection of food and goods forgotten during the heat of summer. Everything from olives and exotic spices to fresh seafood and cashmere scarves to ward off the cold winds is for sale.

SERIOUS TRUFFLE ENCOUNTERS September, 2009

Tucked into a corner of a restaurant with a glass of prosecco, I was perusing the menu when it ambushed me. Suddenly, I was overwhelmed by an incredibly powerful smell. Someone had ordered a dish with white truffles and the instant it breached the kitchen the heavy fragrance of truffle engulfed enveloped the room. And how to describe that seductive, intoxicating, primal perfume? Imagine a thick cloud of ripe cheese, tinged with garlic, layered with forest floor, musk and sex descending on you. This is the allure of the white truffle its rich, strong, smell, not its looks.

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