Travellers visiting Lisbon and keen to experience Portuguese culture often head out at night for a Fado show after pounding the city’s cobbled pavements during a packed day of sightseeing. Pausing for a coffee, though, can be just as effective a way of finding a window to view the nation’s soul.
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Spaghetti carbonara is a dish that I ate for the very first time in Rome years ago. It’s remained one of my favourite Italian dishes. That’s possibly because of my fond memories of dining in the Italian capital but more probably because it’s tasty and easy to cook....After a day exploring the Vatican Museums and being impressed by the vastness of St Peter’s Basilica, I ambled about looking for a suitable place to dine. Eventually I chose a traditional trattoria a few streets away from the Vatican. It had red and white checked tablecloths and a personable waiter who made me feel very welcome.
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I first met Vijay Bakshi during 2005 in Bangalore, while I was looking to learn Indian cooking techniques. We arranged a ten week cookery course, invited expats, and became friends.
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If you’ve ever visited Tenerife, you’ll know one of the island’s staple foods is papas arrugadas – boiled potatoes served in their wrinkled, salt-crusted skins. The potatoes are often served with a coriander-laced green mojo sauce. The red version of the sauce, mojo rojo, has a spicy kick thanks to the presence of chilli.
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In recent years, immigration to Britain and Europe has become a point of political discussion and proved a key issue in the Brexit debate. On entering Poppies Fish and Chips Emily suggests that British people might not have had their national dish without immigration. In 1860 Joseph Malin, a Jewish immigrant, came up with the idea of serving battered fish with fried potato chips — a snack which had been popularised by Belgians.
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Espresso martinis are delicious. They’d taste lovely even if they were served in a jam jar. Ultimately, though, pouring the cocktail into a long-stemmed, cone-shaped espresso glass looks that little bit more special. Garnishing the drink with three roasted coffee beans really sets it off aesthetically.
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Stuart Forster interviews master distiller Christian Krogstad of Westward Whiskey, a distillery based in Portland, Oregon. Christian Krogstad founded his company as House Spirits Distillery in 2004. Its flagship products include Casa Magdalena rum, Krogstad aquavit, Volstead vodka and Westward American Single Malt whiskey. Disclosure: Some of the links below, marked with a (£), are
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The lockdown has resulted in a surge of interest for virtual tours of the world's leading museums and art galleries. By contrast, the UK's Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) has reported that, on average, sales of its members beers dipped by 82 per cent. The majority of SIBA's members offer free local deliveries. I've placed orders with two outstanding local breweries during the lockdown. Alpha Delta Brewing and Two by Two Brewing both delivered beer to my door.
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The sky is leaden and the air has a distinct chill. Perhaps this isn’t really a day for al fresco dining, I reflect, as I crunch my way across the gravel terrace towards a seat under an umbrella at Ibérica la Terraza on Cabot Square, at London’s Canary Wharf.
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While travelling in South Carolina, I had the pleasure of eating pulled pork plus a range of other succulent barbecued dishes at Piggyback’s BBQ and Catfish in Lake City. Served with the likes of grilled shrimps, sauce-lathered barbecued ribs and sweetcorn, the food — and southern hospitality — made a positive impression.
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