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Scientists develop apple that won't rot

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Ever since somebody suggested that eating one a day kept the doctor away, the health benefits of the apple have been trumpeted by grandmothers and government ministers alike. The fruit's only drawback is its tendency to lose its glossy sheen and crunchy texture within a few days – a problem that a team of scientists in Australia now claims to have solved.

Publishers Weekly chooses Best Food Books of 2009

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

When Publishers Weekly, the international news magazine of book publishing and bookselling, released its editors' picks for best US-published books of 2009 in October, five food books made the list. On November 9, the publication revealed an additional ten favorite food books of the year, plus honorable mentions, covering a wide variety of cuisines and cooking styles.

Suka at the Sanderson, 50 Berners Street, London W1

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

There should probably be a rule preventing critics from reviewing restaurants on their birthdays. After the age of 35, no one enjoys celebrating these occasions. It's just a grim reminder that you're one step nearer to the grave. In my own case, the way in which this anxiety expresses itself is to find fault with everything. My wife could give me a suitcase stuffed with £50 notes and my only response would be to examine the fastenings and say, "Where did you get this? Shepherd's Bush Market?"

Typhoid, tyranny and tax havens: The truth behind America's trendiest drink

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Open all night long. Dimly lit, with rows of sleek, modern terminals, the internet café in Fiji's capital, Suva, was packed at all hours with teenage boys playing boisterous rounds of videogames. But one day soon after I arrived, the staff told me they now had to shut down by 5pm. Police orders, they shrugged: the country's military junta had declared martial law a few days before, and things were a bit tense.

Comedian reveals unsavoury truth of food production

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

With his gangly frame and thick-rimmed spectacles, Alex Riley makes an unlikely assassin. Unfortunately for Britain's £182bn-a-year food and drink industry, his wisecracks about its unsavoury practices in a new BBC TV series are little short of deadly.

Onion squash and chickpea soup

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

50ml/2fl oz extra-virgin olive oil
1 red onion, finely sliced
1 dried red chilli
1 small bunch of sage
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
1 onion squash, sliced in half, deseeded and sliced into one-inch chunks
16 small plum tomatoes
Sea salt
1 tin of Italian plum tomatoes, chopped
250ml/8fl oz water
350g/111/2oz chickpeas, soaked and dried
1 small bunch of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
60g/21/2oz grated Parmesan

New tricks, new treats: Skye Gyngell's onion squash recipes

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Halloween may be over but the season for pumpkins and squash is not; these sweet-fleshed vegetables will be with us until the end of the autumn. There are many varieties, each with their own, subtle taste, and a glorious array of colours. The bright-orange onion squash – so called for its shape – is my favourite. Its flavour isn't particularly sweet, but it is deep and rich. It won't disintegrate during cooking, and works beautifully with roast lamb or chicken. Do leave the skin on – it's almost the best part.

Pickled onion squash

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Pumpkins are surprisingly delicious when pickled. I make three or four jars around this time each year. They are good with baked ham, or can be incorporated into a salad with chestnuts and cured meats.

Baked onion squash

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

This dish has its origins in the south of France. It is very rich and very indulgent, but lovely on a cold autumn evening. A salad of autumn leaves is perfect to balance its creamy flavours.

Vintners approach fickle Chinese market with caution

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Mainland China's wine imports have soared more than ten-fold in the past few years but foreign producers hoping to cash in on the boom are warning the market is fickle and not for the faint of heart.

Nibble nirvana: Mark Hix's bite-sized brilliance and tapas treats

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

In the bar below my new restaurant in Soho, we are developing lots of delicious small plates of nibbles and snacks. We tend to just call them "snax", but the influence has pretty much come from the Spanish tapas which most people know and love. Tapas began life as free nibbles at bars in Spain – they would usually consist of the fishermen's by-catch of small fish, which would be put on the bar-top to encourage more drinking. In small villages, men would go out on a tapeo to different bars, drinking and nibbling on tasty free morsels.

Wine: Something for the weekend?

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Queen scallops with bacon and hedgerow garlic

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Little queen scallops are the perfect food to snack on or hand around at parties – you can just slip them in your mouth like an oyster or hand them out in spoons. You can vary what you serve with your queenies, from plain and simple green herbs and breadcrumbs to chopped-up cooking chorizo, simply fried and spooned over the top.

Cured pork cheek on toasted sourdough

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

One of the best discoveries this year, Trealy Farm cured meats, based in Monmouthshire (trealyfarm.com), are producing top-notch cured meats of the finest quality. They are certainly the best I have come across and we have been serving a selection on a meat board in the restaurants and have had great feedback. One of my favourite cuts is the cured cheek – almost like a dry-cured Bath chap – and it is delicious just served on its own or on hot, lightly buttered toast like this.

Quail egg shots

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

I discovered this dish in one of my favourite New York haunts, the Fatty Crab in Hudson Street. It's a scruffy joint that serves great Malaysian-style food.

Anthony Rose: 'To compete with the Wine Societies of this world, you have to deliver good quality at a reasonable price

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Are you in the club? The wine club, that is? Until recently, there was only one major home-delivery service in it– and that was The Wine Society, the venerable Victorian, non-profit-making organisation, whose Postman Pat-like vans deliver high-quality wines to grateful households the length and breadth of the country. You have to have a share to be a member, but a £40 share is a small price to pay for handsome dividends over a lifetime. I say until recently, because for my money, the other hugely successful wine home-delivery specialist, Laithwaites, never really looked like offering the same degree of consistent value.

Woodland mushrooms with chestnuts

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Seasonal wild mushrooms are a great snacking food either on their own or as a selection. You can use a specific seasonal mushroom or use a selection and serve them as a sharing dish or plated up on individual small plates. For a more substantial snack, serve them on some small slices of sourdough just grilled with a little olive oil mixed with crushed garlic.

Spider-crab croquettes

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Croquettes are one of those Seventies snacks that if made well can be delightful. Apart from croquetas in tapas bars, however, they are pretty extinct these days. Spider crab is a bit of a rarity on menus, as it is a shellfish that generally gets exported and not eaten here, but it's one of my favourites.

Age & Sons, Charlotte Court, Ramsgate, Kent

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Despite a rumoured sighting of Samuel L Jackson in a Herne Bay barbers, it's fair to say that the Kent coast has some way to go before it rivals the Italian Riviera as a tourist destination. Anyone who, like Billericay Dickie, fancied a rendezvous with Janet quite near the Isle of Thanet would hardly be spoilt for choice when it came to boutique hotels and atmospheric local bistros.

Former 007 targets top London shop over foie gras

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

British actor and former 007 Roger Moore has paid for and starred in a poster campaign outside a top London shop, pressing it to stop selling foie gras.

Asda recalls figs after maggots found

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:21:54 GMT

Asda advised customers today to return figs to the supermarket after maggots were found.

Michelin-starred chef forced to close restaurant

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:42:01 GMT

A Michelin-starred chef has been forced to temporarily close his restaurant after more than 80 customers were taken ill after eating there. The Health Protection Agency (HPA) was called in to investigate at The Star Inn at Harome, North Yorkshire, after an outbreak of vomiting and diarrhoea.

The ten best autumn cook books

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:32 GMT

Chosen by Jim Cook

Only 50 baking days to go: Why making your own Christmas cake and pudding is a surprisingly exact science

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

All at once I am not so sure this was a good idea. Go to Yorkshire, I'd been told, to Betty's famous tea shop in Harrogate, and they'll teach you how to make a Christmas cake and pudding. Do it now and they will be nicely matured by the festive season. They can teach anyone. Even you.

A spicy little vintage: Can wines tailor-made to suit Indian food persuade us to ditch the lager?

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

It's National Curry Week again next month, and aficionados of Indian restaurants may be startled to find themselves being coaxed to reconsider their choice of drinks by waiters newly appointed as sommeliers. For the reflex choices of old, lager and pinot grigio, are not necessarily the best accompaniments to fine food from the subcontinent. At least, that's the belief of two competing factions who say the ideal partner is a purpose-designed wine.