Scoff: A History of Food and Class in Britain by Pen Vogler
What is the essence of the book? As a nation it is doubtful that many of us Brits pay much heed to the origins of our beloved dishes such...
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sjfbilton
Dec 31, 20201 min read
Roasted Squash Salad with Lentils & Feta
According to Elisabeth Luard in her European Festival Cooking, lentils are traditionally eaten at midnight on New Years Eve or on New...
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sjfbilton
Dec 18, 20201 min read
Runaway Ginger Cocktail
If you follow me on Instagram you may have seen ‘Gingey’ (the gingerbread man featured on the cover of my book) on the run at various...
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sjfbilton
Dec 14, 20204 min read
A Very Gingerbread Christmas
Gingerbread is synonymous with Christmas. From houses and lattes to lebkuchen and gingerbread Santas there is likely to be some sort of...
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sjfbilton
Oct 28, 20203 min read
Pumpkin & Onion Tourte
Inspired by a recipe from Bartolomeo Scappi’s Opera (1577) Like many recipes of this period the original (which you can see below)...
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sjfbilton
Aug 13, 20203 min read
Crab & Cannellini Bean Crostini with Nasturtium and Calendula
As a child I was mildly fascinated with flowers. Well, OK, I was totally obsessed. Whether it was nodding bluebells in the woods or the...
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sjfbilton
Aug 12, 20203 min read
Victory In The Kitchen by Annie Gray
What is the essence of the book? Victory In The Kitchen charts the life of Georgina Landemare (1882-1978) who spent much of her life...
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sjfbilton
Aug 11, 20203 min read
The Red Currant Conundrum
We had another bumper crop of red currants this year but what are you to do with them? Jelly is all well and good but I still have some...
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sjfbilton
Aug 6, 20203 min read
Oats in the North, Wheat from the South by Regula Ysewijn
Some of the happiest years of my childhood were spent in the small Aberdeenshire town of Ellon. When my parents decided to move back...
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sjfbilton
Jul 2, 20203 min read
Spiced Strawberry Shortcake
We don’t tend to think of pairing spices with strawberries but these sweet red fruits take to the warmth of spices surprisingly well....
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sjfbilton
Dec 7, 20193 min read
Pheasant with Cider & Celery Sauce, Roasted Apples and Sippets
Celery is generally a much overlooked vegetable. In recent times celery enjoyed a brief dalliance in the spotlight as a health food,...
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sjfbilton
Nov 22, 20192 min read
A Proper Plum Pudding
As Stir Up Sunday approaches (this year it falls on 24th November) I thought I would share Great Aunt Eliza’s recipe for plum pudding...
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sjfbilton
Nov 2, 20194 min read
Golden Pumpkin Cake
‘Sturdy’ is not a terribly complimentary adjective when applied to a person’s figure or a cake. It implies something quite solid. But...
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sjfbilton
Oct 24, 20193 min read
Mary Randolph’s ‘Barbecue’ Shote
Before the barbecue aficionados come thumping on my door armed with their forks and tongs, I would like to point out that the ‘barbecue’...
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sjfbilton
Aug 12, 20194 min read
Poulet Reine Elizabeth
Society florist and latterly kitchen doyenne Constance Spry made no apologies for including French terms and titles in The Constance Spry...
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sjfbilton
Aug 11, 20193 min read
The Art of Making a Sandwich
‘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...
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sjfbilton
Jul 29, 20192 min read
Elizabeth David’s Courgette Tian
Do gardens, or more specifically, veggie patches have a special power that allows them to sense when you are on holiday? The minute their...
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sjfbilton
May 2, 20193 min read
Victoria & Albert Biscuits
When is a cake a biscuit? This question was raised in 1991 regarding the humble Jaffa Cake. The manufacturer McVities argued that Jaffa...
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sjfbilton
Mar 10, 20194 min read
Nan’s Almond Tarts
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...
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sjfbilton
Mar 5, 20193 min read
Pink Pancakes
Pancakes are one of those non-binary dishes. They can be served with either sweet or savoury toppings or a combination of the two....
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