Writer, Eater
Have you ever met one of those people who looks ascance at you when you suggest having an ice-cream in winter? "But it's 8 degrees and raining!" they exclaim. So bloody what? Of courrrrrrrrrrse you should eat it all year round. So here we are at the winter solstice (in the southern hemisphere) and I decided to do a flavour that straddles ideas of cold and wishes for warmer weather.
Five days in Corsica, surrounded by the azure waters of the Mediterranean, dwarfed by mountains and cliffs, eating myself full with sausage and cheese. That was the plan. The food part of it didn't quite come together. I blame the tourists.
Like a gift from the heavens, a PR person offered me frozen pizzas to sample. I'm not the ideal candidate, but with my Duncan's Degustations series underway, how could I resist the opportunity to add to my spectrum of likely-ick experiences? Little did I know I'd end up with a freezer full of Dr Oetker's odd pizzas.
A gorgeous Easter in Melbourne came and went, leaving us full of bready and chocolatey goodness. For me, this Easter brought memories of childhood eggy joy and contemporary disappointment, alongside my special Hot Heathen Buns.
As far as I can recall, I've never voluntarily entered a KFC "restaurant". Occasionally, social pressures mean I have to tag along. Sometimes it means I eat a piece of chicken. If you have to dine in the enemy's clutches, you might as well make it an experiment. As KFC's "The Double" is the latest nutritional-outrage-fuelling fast food product, it seemed like an ideal target for the second epsiode of Duncan's Degustations!
Macaroniers, Macaronistes et Macaroneurs... So you want to make better macarons? Welcome to the third instalment of La Macaronicité at Syrup & Tang! This time it's all about Italian meringue and some...
Read more Fri 14 Dec, 2007
There are so many reasons to visit Paris; so many reasons to enjoy the city and – most pertinently – the food. Lacking the resources to hop from one name-restaurant to another, it seemed much better do markets, shops, and luscious pastries while staying in modest lodgings...
Read more Fri 28 Sep, 2007
Sweet readers, it's time for me to announce the launch of a new website. Book reviews. For you and me. By you and me (and you and you and you). All about food, wine and tummies. I got tired of superficial, uninformative reviews in...
Read more Fri 19 Dec, 2008
You might already have read about my travails with kitchen scales. It's time to write a bit more, this time testing out a model submitted to me for review. The Soehnle Cuisina proves to be worthy of interest if you're in the market for new scales, though not outdoing my...
Read more Mon 21 Mar, 2011
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, 2009
This cookbook is an indispensable reference for modern couples looking to spend quality time together in the kitchen. Inside are more than 130 recipes for both classic and contemporary cooking that are perfect for day-to-day à deux and special occasions with family and friends. 
The Art of Baking Bread accomplishes what no other book has—it teaches the secrets of professional bakers in language anyone can understand. Matt Pellegrini offers home cooks confidence in the kitchen and precise, easy-to-follow blueprints for delicious rolls and loaves that will make you the envy of your fellow bakers. 
Sticky Fingers was voted D.C.'s best bakery by The Washington City Paper, and chef Doron Petersan found herself beating out traditional bakers on the Food Network's Cupcake Wars. Sweet! is packed with one hundred of her beloved recipes. 
Alain Ducasse is a phenomenon, more than just a chef and a restaurateur, he is a force to be reckoned with in French cuisine. This latest book to be published in English is his attempt to 'come back to the bare essentials and regain the pleasure of cooking simple vegetables, cereals and fruit that are so key to a healthy and balanced diet'. A laudable aim but not entirely successful. Although there are some good ideas here 'Nature' seems to have lost something in translation.