The modern speakeasy
Felicity Cloake celebrates a new and sophisticated golden age of the cocktailCool can be a perverse concept. Take the current vogue for speakeasy bars - faithful re-creations of which would seem, to...
View ArticleCore values
Britain is rich in apples, but we eat only the boring ones.In theory, the new apple season should present the conscientiously egalitarian shopper with the ideal opportunity to show their disdain for...
View ArticleCrunch time
Felicity Cloake mulls the protein benefits of an insect-filled diet."What kind of insects do you rejoice in, where you come from?" the Gnat enquired. "I don't rejoice in insects at all," Alice...
View ArticleGo with the grain
Britain is progressing past “bake me a loaf as fast as you can” and rediscovering the pleasures of wOnce upon a time, not so long ago, there were only two kinds of bread in Britain - dark, knobbly...
View ArticleThe Aztec history of your festive dinner
Dare to challenge the orthodoxy by refusing to incinerate your Christmas turkey.If the mere thought of turkey is enough to send you scurrying back into the bunker of festive denial, then be thankful...
View ArticleA diet is for life
Feeling a bit on the porky side post-Christmas? Thought of taking that new wonderdrug that friends sWith the possible exception of the credulity of the bald-headed man in the field of hair-growers,...
View ArticleFame of the game
Once seen as the preserve of kings, game is cheap, nutritious, flavourful, and a healthy choice. AndOnce seen as the preserve of kings, game is cheap, nutritious, flavourful, and a healthy choice. And...
View ArticleHungry for love? Forget the chocolates
As we've been forcibly reminded in recent weeks, Valentine is the patron saint of love (as well as of bee-keepers, epileptics and plague victims) - so that many of us chose to mark his feast day with...
View ArticleLiving life in the fast lane
Lunch is for wimps: many of us relish giving things up occasionally.No sooner has the smugness of the dry-January brigade worn off than we're confronted with another opportunity for self-indulgent...
View ArticleGoing overboard at the captain's table
The excesses of buffet dining.There’s a scene in James Cameron’s Titanic that has irritated me ever since I first saw it as a teenager, crammed into a cinema so busy we watched the entire, bum-numbing...
View ArticleStuffed with cream cheese – and love
The allure of Jewish food.Chopped liver, boiled fish balls, beetroot soup – to the uninitiated, a kosher restaurant menu reads like printed proof of that famous Jewish sense of humour. Even Ruth...
View ArticleExpensive tastes can ruin your appetite
You aren't always getting what you've paid for when eating out.The American economist Tyler Cowen is a man after my own heart. His latest book, An Economist Gets Lunch (Dutton, £17.23) is based on the...
View ArticleRace to the finish, via a chocolate shake
The London Olympics will boast the biggest McDonald’s in the world.By now, we all know two things about the catering arrangements at the forthcoming Olympic Games. First, a bottle of beer (German! and...
View ArticleThe world on a plate, all in one city
What takes your fancy? If you’ve got the time and hunger, you can sample every style of cooking known to man in the Big Smoke. From Jamaican jerk and Southern ribs to Turkish kebab, London is the place...
View ArticleFelicity Cloake: I’m being a guinea pig for Peruvian food
The latest gastro trend.Until recently, if you knew anything about Peruvian cuisine, it would probably be its penchant for cuy – the guinea pig, and a startling thing for any tourist to find...
View ArticleSix of the best, fresh from the sea
An oyster's gnarly shell holds many wonderful secrets.Recently, I wasted half an hour watching an American try, and fail, to eat a record-breaking 422 oysters on the television show, Man v Food. All I...
View ArticleSeason of mists and curried fruitiness
Felicity Cloake's food column.As a dedicated omnivore, I returned from a recent holiday in Spain stuffed with salty jamón and sheep’s cheese, sweet peaches and rabbit paella – and in need of spice. I’m...
View ArticleThe rise of eating competitions
Felicity Cloake tries to devour 2.5kg of ice cream . . . and discovers that a hearty appetite isn't enough to succeed.On 6 October 2012, in Louisville, Kentucky, I attempted to eat a dessert as big as...
View ArticleEmperors’ new cloves, cumin and cardamom
The Mughals secured a culinary legacy that lives on today - you just can’t beat a biryani.I suspect the British Library’s major new exhibition on the Mughal empire will spark a boom for Euston’s many...
View ArticleIn praise of the traditional Christmas dinner
Rib of beef or baked turbot? Noel way.Nothing says good times to the British like a spot of self-flagellation. The country rejoiced in the ghastly weather that marked the Jubilee, delighted in the...
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