by Simone Sekers ALL our friends have just had, or are about to have, holidays which take them, laboriously, to foreign parts. Jordan for one lot, a tour down the Duoro for another. To their surprise, we have just returned from a five-day trip to Bedfordshire (“Bedfordshire?”’ was asked in the tones of Algy’s aunt…
POOR Philippa Davis – one day she’s in Provence being spoiled by the wonderful seasonal produce and the next she’s in the Highlands serving tea by roaring fires. The life of a travelling chef is so hard … Caught between a midge and … WITHIN minutes of arriving at the lodge in…
MY week was not as planned. My diary had me in the dramatic depths of wild Scotland cooking for my first grouse shoot of the season, slapping on the mosquito spray and cooking up a variety of game themed feasts. Tweed cap, puffy jacket, gloves and various layers were ready to be packed. With a…
Looking at the rain pouring down in torrents on our conservatory roof, we can only grit our teeth at this postcard from private chef Philippa Davis! IF one felt so inclined (or capable) the area surrounding St Remy de Provence is perfect for getting on a bike and busting up some crazily steep hills and…
ON the first stage of our home-bound flight from Alaska, from Anchorage to Seattle in Washington State, I got into one of those unpredictable, expansive conversations you sometimes have on a plane. The passenger next to me was a courtly old man who clearly wanted to chat. He was in his late 80s and a…
IBIZA hasn’t had the greatest press over the years. It’s not that the island isn’t lovely, with dramatic scenery and a glorious climate. It’s more to do with the notorious wild partying that tended to put off many who might otherwise enjoy this island in the sun. Philippa Davis says, forget your preconceptions: Let me…
THE New England seaboard is famed for its lobster, so Philippa Davis thought she should learn a little more about this delicious crustacean as well as cooking and eating lobster after lobster for her Boston clients. Theoretically, a lobster can live forever. They have an enzyme called telomerase, which prevents the DNA from becoming damaged…
WHENEVER American broadcasters or politicians talk about Washington DC they always call it “our nation’s capital” and they don’t walk they “power strut,” as Dorset-born travelling chef Philippa Davis discovered on her recent visit to this beautiful city on the Potomac river. In all my travels I have never seen so many dashing three-piece…
WHATEVER the weather, you are guaranteed hot stuff at Littlebredy on Friday 21st August, when cookery writer and teacher Christine McFadden, aka the Dorset Foodie, is running her Cooking with Chillies class. The one-day session, from 9.15am to 3.30pm, is a must for chilli heads! Participants will be cooking and tasting a fascinating range of chillies…
ONE of the great pleasures about shopping at farmers’ markets is that you get to know the people who make the food you are buying. This is stating the obvious, I know, but it never ceases to amaze me that there are those out there who are prepared to work punishing hours, to forego holidays,…