Food & drink

The problem with vegetarian food

I know a lot of people who balk at the idea of vegetarian food, as if the very mention of might be contagious. Maybe they’re worried the next time they bite into a meaty fillet their taste-buds will have become infected and the flavours will disgust rather than delight? […]

Europe

Is food in Britain boring?

Food in Britain is boring. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve heard a variation of this statement in online travel discussions. When I hear the evidence generally provided to back it up, I tend to wonder about the travel habits of those who make it. […]

Alentejo

It is simply Alentejo, not the new Tuscany

Driving through an endless savanna where mounds rather than hills rolled lazily toward infinity, a travel article I’d read in The Guardian a couple of years ago popped into my head. It was called ‘A foodie tour of Portugal’s Alentejo’ and claimed that Portugal’s largest region was being touted as the new Tuscany. […]

Food & drink

7 steps to culinary enlightenment

If you’re the sort of person who, in culinary terms, likes and dislikes exactly the same things you enjoyed as a child, stop reading. This will be meaningless. On the other hand, if your palate has evolved over the years, then you might want to try this little exercise yourself. […]

Europe

Choco frito, the taste of Setúbal

The obsession with choco frito is said to have started in the days when cuttlefish had no commercial value. So the fishermen who sailed the waters south of the Tagus, from the Sado Estuary down to Sines, tended to keep chocos for themselves […]