South Farm Autumn Squash and Roots Timbale

Be creative with your mash. All sorts of hearty winter roots can be combined with squash to make brightly coloured, chunky mashes. Coarse chopping preserves the individual flavours within a scrumptious matrix, so you get a whole symphony of autumn tastes and colours from one simple dish.

Fevertree mixers – raise your spirits

Apparently they serve Fevertree mixers at the Fat Duck and El Bulli, so one assumes they must be good. Nothing like a bit of Blue Peter-ish practical testing though is there, so we lined up some Fevertrees against some of the more usual suspects and did a blind (drunk) testing.

Taste Japanese Whisky

Tsuru, a Japanese restaurant behind the Tate Modern is to host a tasting of Japanese whisky on Tuesday 24th November. Jen Dickson, an expert in Japanese whisky will guide guests through a range of whiskies from world-renowned producers Nikka and Suntory.

The Soup Book – Edited by Sophie Grigson

What is it about soup that makes it so, well, so super actually? I don’t think there’s anyone who doesn’t like a nice bowl of soup, be it a gin-clear consommé or a potage you could stand your spoon up in. Soup makes us feel comfortable, cosy and warm. It’s like a big cuddle from a favourite aunt.