Food & Drink

Get stuck into the marmalade debate

The Duchess of Argyll | Fortnum & Mason shoppers | Bird spotting | Sugar content of jam I assume that if the BBC drama about the Duchess of Argyll is screened (Report, 31 January) it won’t be billed as A Very English Scandal – divorce proceedings between a Scottish...

Meera Sodha’s vegan recipe for lentil rasam with roast red cabbage

A dal buzzing with spices topped with sweet charred cabbage, guaranteed to revive you when you’re feeling sluggish There are dals to comfort and dals to revive. Rasam is a reviver, the kind of thing I want to eat when I’m feeling sluggish. It’s thinner than your average dal,...

Brasserie of Light, London W1: ‘It knocked the cynic right out of me’ – restaurant review

A twinkling 1940s Hollywood movie set that doubles as a glitzy brasserie Almost everything about Brasserie of Light, a new restaurant at Selfridges in London, sounded atrocious. My mistrust of fancy restaurants hastily tagged on to shops is not unfounded. Who wants to pay top whack for a niçoise salad,...

Dry January is almost over – time to try a new wine

Given the range of delicious options, why not find alternatives to your regular tipple? I was chatting to a friend the other day and discovered that he only ever buys one wine (the Wine Society’s Duo du Midi at £6.25, in case you’re curious), works his way through it, then reorders....

Dry January: it’s never been easier to go alcohol-free

Shunning the booze this month? Luckily, supermarket shelves are now stacked with tasty alternatives to keep you on the wagon So how is it going for those of you who are doing dry January? Struggling? Getting bored with soft drinks? Although I’m not doing it myself (let’s face it,...

Wines to drink with your Chinese new year feast

If you’re planning a Chinese meal to mark the beginning of the year of the pig, here are the wines to go for China may be the most high-profile example, but it’s not the only country celebrating its new year next week: Korea, Laos and Singapore also mark the...

How do I make good stock?

It’s just about putting a few quality ingredients in a pot and simmering it all for as long as possible My chicken stock always ends up looking more like pale, insipid hot water than the golden stuff you see on TV cooking shows. Would I be better off buying...

I Switched Out Cereal for Oatmeal for Breakfast — Here’s What I Learned

Ditching Cereal I love cereal for breakfast — to me it tastes like milk and cookies. Unfortunately, when I realized that it also has roughly the nutritional value of milk and cookies, I figured it was time for a change. Oatmeal seemed like a reasonably similar breakfast option, and although it...