Making Japanese cocktails at Watatsumi

Have you been to Watatsumi? It’s a bit fishy in there. No, not in that “there’s something suspicious going on” sort of way but rather, they’re a bit fish obsessed. Qin Xie was recently invited to an evening of cocktail making at Watatsumi, the high-end Japanese restaurant at The Club Quarters Hotel.

Tom Aikens joins forces with Long Clawson Dairy to produce new cheese cookbook

Celebrating its 100th birthday in style, 2011, marks the centenary of Long Clawson Dairy, a Leicestershire based co-operative started by 12 farmers to produce Stilton Cheese. And to mark the occasion the dairy has teamed up with Michelin starred chef Tom Aikens to produce a cheese-orientated cookbook. Taking you though each of the decades since the 1910’s, there is a chapter dedicated to each ten-year period with an interesting mix of history and some recipes inspired by the times and also the various cheeses that they produce.

Celebrating 35 years of Nicolas Feuillatte

This was the first time I have drunk Champagne throughout a meal and I have to say, it was a brilliant thing to do. I’m not, by any means suggesting that you might pair each of your courses at a restaurant or around your dining table, with different Champagnes as a regular thing; it’s a little decadent. But it’s a fun thing to do,

Inamo St James London

Anita Pati finds that ordering her meal off a touch screen is a touch odd, but warms to the food at Inamo St James the second branch of a concept that’s had a mixed reception for it’s Pan-Asian cuisine and futuristic concept.

African Fusion Cooking – Nina Gaskell

Nina’s book is clearly a labour of love and has a genuineness about it all too often missing from Chef cookbooks (bit of an ego trip) and the pro cookery writers (middle -class women with too much time on their hands and friends in publishing).

Wyck Hill House Hotel and Spa

I’m in two minds what a hotel with flagpoles at the entrance is trying to say. On one hand it denotes grandeur, prestige, an assurance of quality, on the other it smacks slightly of international conference chain, of ‘fur coat, no knickers’ showboating.

Vanilla Nice. Nielsen-Massey Vanilla Bean Paste

Nielsen-Massey are best known for producing vanilla extract; a bakers’ kitchen staple and the antithesis of that nasty synthetic stuff, vanilla ‘essence’. Now they’ve come up with another ‘alternative to vanilla pods:’ Vanilla Bean Paste.

Fried turkey Egg with Spring vegetables

Spring has officially begun today, and this cooking video features Mark Hix (chef, restaurateur, writer and former competitor in Great British Menu) making a great spring dish – fried turkey egg with spring vegetables.