A Flare for Food

‘I just sort of got fed up with fiddly food,’ he says leading us up the stairs to his first floor kitchen. ‘I wanted to get back to simple, fun food.’ As well as the Chicken Kiev, whose origin is as much a mystery as what goes into the hideous things that call themselves Kievs in the supermarket, he does Gala pies and Arctic Rolls too, all things that appeal to the 70’s schoolboy in us all.

The Alchemy of Food by Peter Schleicher and Eckart Witzigmann

In his book, Dr. Peter Schleicher guides us with a thorough historical explanation of the power of alchemy, and the healing attributes of plants and other natural products, toward chronic illnesses, primarily cancer. By using the highest quality of ingredients and exact combinations, followed by traditional methods of alchemy like separatio (separation), purificatio (purification), Cohobatio (combination), to name a few, we get a pure result, a natural remedy which can be used towards the treatment of a specific ailment or disease.

MasterChef at Home 2010

Personally I miss Lloyd Grossman, who was running the MasterChef kitchen when the majority of Twatters were in nappies. The twisted vowels, the rather odd people who applied to be on and the palpable non-tension of the studio setting were all rather charming.

Pão de azeite/Olive oil bread

In this region of Portugal people bake a type of bread which I adore. Fluffy, light, like a cream cloud. Usually it is served during Easter, baked in fierce wood ovens, but nowadays can be found all year round in the village bakery. It’s taste is so evocative of this place in the country, the olive harvests and reminds me of my Grandad who loved it and would crumble some slices when stale, in more olive oil and garlic.

Cafe Luc, Marylebone, London

Café Luc is open all day and serves very good food from breakfast to dinner. The menu is strongly French with Mediterranean hints. This is the sort of place you might take your mother after a morning of shopping in Marylebone if you wanted something a bit more special in a brasserie style environment.