CHEF Philippa Davis spent a fun New Year cooking in a chalet in Val d’Isere, and despite the lack of snow she made sure there was no lack of cake … Cooking for ski parties is another one of those jobs, like the shooting ones, that allows you to be fairly liberal with the butter…
by Simone Sekers “WHY do restaurants have to be so noisy these days?” The friend who asked this question is not normally a peevish person; she is the godmother of our daughter, and has been chosen as great-godmother by our grandchildren; we eat out with her a good deal. She has introduced us to Le…
THE festive season is a time for indulgence, and few things are more indulgent than truffles. Chef Philippa Davis from Shaftesbury was busy before Christmas cooking at parties from the Highlands to Holland Park, and among the delights she served up to her clients and their friends, was this delicious White Truffle and Butter Taglierini…
IF there is one thing you won’t hear at the end of one of Steven Oxford’s baking courses at the historic family bakery near Sherborne, it is “We need more buns!” The five of us who enjoyed a baking day at Alweston before Christmas went home laden with enough mouth-watering baked goods to stock a…
AT this stage in the game season I have noticed it is definitely the keen beans, the obsessed and the hardy that do most of the shooting in Scotland. It is of course still incredibly beautiful up there and yes there should still be a good bag of game to be had – BUT it…
IN late November I joined some 250 white-coated cheese assessors from across the globe, assembled at the NEC to officiate at the World Cheese Awards. Nigh on 3,000 cheeses, (2,727 to be exact) spread across 62 judging tables meant approximately 42 cheeses for each judging team to assess within two and a half hours. It’s…
HAVING recently returned to Plumber Manor, near Sturminster Newton, which has been featured in the Good Food Guide since their first entry 43 years ago, and spending a few days on Orkney, I was keen to try and visit the only Guide entry on the Island, but a friend assured me that the best place…
THE life of a private chef is nothing if not varied – one week Philippa Davis is cooking for a family in Provence, the next she is off to Boston, then it’s a busy few days in Dublin or a shooting party in the Highlands. But the festive season beckons and Philippa’s diary is getting…
by Simone Sekers A WEEK or so ago the excellent Guardian mid-week food page ran a piece about how to pick a good restaurant, written by an anonymous inspector. He, or she detailed the ways you could spot a ‘real’ restaurant from one that buys in food from food manufacturers. Be suspicious of over-designed menus…
OUR “personal chef” (we wish!) has been back to the Highlands cooking for various grouse, partridge and pheasant shoots and in this Postcard Recipe she shows how to make the most of pheasant in season … I should quickly clarify the title as I have already had to dig myself out of trouble from the gamekeeper…