Writer, Eater
So here I am with a new (but old) kitchen which includes a mid-2000s dishwasher. Except for a short period ten years ago, I've never lived with a dishwasher and harbour some suspicion of them. How does one best enjoy a dishwasher?
Duncan
Do you queue for food?
Holidaying in San Francisco recently, it struck me how often the discourse about obtaining or finding good food is about how long you might have to wait to be served (or seated). We watched people queue for ages for ice cream, bread, tacos, fried rice and more. For me, it was the opposite of what enjoying food should be about.
Keeping your knives sharp
One of my greatest fears when someone asks me to cook with them is the prospect of blunt knives in their kitchen. I hate being asked to finely slice an onion or trim a piece of meat with a large dull-edged kitchen knife. Ugh. I believe I've once successfully nagged a friend into getting some decently sharp knives.
OMG I can still make macarons!
Ten months after I last donned my patissier gear and squeezed out a few hundred macarons, I returned to the piping bags for a brief baking blitz. My back hurt for two weeks. So then I made a cake instead.
Pierre Hermé's book on macarons is now in English
The most impressive book on macarons is now in English! Pierre Hermé's 2008 French book "Macaron" is out this month in English.
TASTY PRESERVES
Macarons, desiccation and prettiness
I am lining myself up to compete with Pierre Hermé himself. And I've done something completely new. These beauties are the first completely desiccated macarons ever presented for public delectation. Read more about this limited edition from Maison Duncan. Gasp in awe! (And there's a pretty surprise at the end too.)
Read more Sat 14 Feb, 2009Duncan's Degustations – Betty Crocker Super Moist Devil's Food Cake
This is the opening episode of a new occasional article series on Syrup & Tang, called Duncan's Dégustations. As a public service (or personal torment) I'll be exposing myself to foods I would normally be sceptical about for one...
Read more Fri 04 Feb, 2011Paper Chef: beetroot and ginger kuih with apple purée
I've been following the monthly Paper Chef event for quite a while now. You are given four primary ingredients with which to create a dish. This month's ingredients involved some bold flavours which could go in both savoury and...
Read more Tue 07 Oct, 2008The cruelties of good nutrition – or the day the broccoli came home to roost
I am disturbed, disturbed! An article in The Guardian late last year drew my attention to the existence of a list. A subversive, deeply disturbing list. A list with earth-shattering implications for my hitherto guilt-free...
Read more Sun 25 Jan, 2009Review: Lunch at The Fat Duck, Bray (UK)
An inconspicuous old redbrick building in the Berkshire village of Bray bears a sign of a webbed foot, a feather and a duck's bill, all with cutlery handles. This is The Fat Duck, Heston Blumenthal's...
Read more Sun 11 Nov, 2007
