Sam Bilton

Before the barbecue aficionados come thumping on my door armed with their forks and tongs, I would like to point out that the ‘barbecue’...

Society florist and latterly kitchen doyenne Constance Spry made no apologies for including French terms and titles in The Constance Spry...

‘Fortunes are made in the City of London out of sandwiches, yet to the average household a sandwich is merely two slices of bread and...

Do gardens, or more specifically, veggie patches have a special power that allows them to sense when you are on holiday? The minute their...

When is a cake a biscuit? This question was raised in 1991 regarding the humble Jaffa Cake. The manufacturer McVities argued that Jaffa...

This post has been more difficult to write than I imagined. The past few days I have been restless, wanting to write, and knowing that it...

Pancakes are one of those non-binary dishes. They can be served with either sweet or savoury toppings or a combination of the two....

Great minds think alike… Or so the adage goes. Even so when you ask a dozen or so cooks to make a dish inspired by a single word, it...

When the Normans invaded in the 11th century they discovered a proliferation of vineyards in southern England. Chiefly managed by...

Here’s a suggestion for how to use up any left over Christmas pudding you may have. Makes around 600-650g Ingredients 1 tbsp vegetable...

Treacle is a bit of a Marmite confection. Made from the syrup that remains after sugar is refined it has a slightly bitter flavour and...

It’s a shame that Leaves from Our Tuscan Kitchen (1899) or its author Janet Ross not more well known. The book’s sub title is ‘Or How to...

The quince is the trickster of the fruit kingdom. The scent and colour of these deeply aromatic golden globes hints at a succulent,...

Pumpkins and squash are surely the antidote to dull and gloomy autumn days? Their often gnarly exterior encases vivid and sweet tangerine...

If you take a stroll around any large garden attached to an historic building (like Charle’s Darwins home Down House) you are likely to...

Agnes Bertha Marshall is widely recognised as one of the first pioneers of modern ice cream making. This recipe is from her Book of Ices...

Offal is a sorely neglected source of protein in this country. One of my all-time favourites dishes is steak and kidney pudding. My...

Adapted from The Experienced English Housekeeper by Elizabeth Raffald (1769) The Bride Pie was the forerunner to the wedding cake (you...

Recently I was given some wheat berries by Trenchmore who are growing heritage grains as well as producing delicious beef and cider. I...

Although in French the word ‘maigre’ means thin or skinny in terms of it’s English usage it was used to describe non meat eating days...