Celebrate the Diamond Jubilee Bank Holiday weekend with this new Celebration cheesecake, cut cheese collections and shopping bag from Royal Cheesemonger Paxton & Whitfield.

Having braved the torrential rain showers and the flood of office workers streaming the other way into Canary Wharf station, I was very grateful to receive on arrival a warm green tea, followed by an equally warming champagne cocktail made with aged sake – a new and enjoyable variation of the old theme.

Head down to the Truman Brewery this weekend or the Raw natural wine fair. Amongst others, Soho joint Ducksoup, Elliot’s Café and Hansen Lydersen are providing the fodder, and if that isn’t enough to persuade you, some people claim that the lack of additives in natural wine means less of a hangover!

Ok it was all about selling in the Kenwood kMix,their new rather cool looking stand mixer, but Sophie Morris found that getting a biscuit baking lesson from Miranda Gore Brown thrown into the mix, a protege of legendary Mary Berry, made the occasion a special one.

Having held colonial status for nigh-on half a millenium, Goan cuisine is a melting pot in the truest sense of the word- indeed, so fiery it’s in danger of burning through the toughest cooking vessel. As Gregg Wallace might phrase it, ‘cooking doesn’t get hotter than this’.

Raymond Blanc sings the praises of his home Departement, the Franche Comté in France and he’s a particular fan of the eponymous cheese. Nick Harman goes out to see how Comté cheese is made in this region of mountains and Montbeliarde cows

Rasgulla. Balushahi. Rajbhog. Jalebi. Gulab jamun. Halwa. Barfi. Malpua. Ladycanny. Chum chum. Kalakand. Laddoo. Imarti. Pinni. Mohanthal. Sandesh. Pera… Even the names are enough to send me into a sugar-fuelled revelry. The draw of the old fashioned ‘by the quarter’ sweetshops on every corner bear nothing of the lure of the Indian mithai wallah- whose counters are a haphazard rainbow at the end of which lies the ultimate pot of gold- a selection box, size large.

I’ve fallen down the rabbit hole. This is pure Alice in Wonderland stuff. In fact, our surly guide is called Alice- although she’s less wide-eyed innocent, more mad-eyed schoolmarm. She barks a bit about Bowmore’s 15 year-old ‘Darkest’ whisky at us, then dramatically throws open a door demanding we enter ‘the chocolate room’. Yes, ma’am!

What comes to mind when someone mentions Dubai? Ludicrously tall buildings, luxury leisure projects, endless […]