Europe
Prague, the city with a holiday resort vibe
During our first night in Prague, we weren’t sure we were going to enjoy our stay. The problem was that although it looked like a historic European city, it didn’t feel like one. […]
gastronomy
Food & drink
Pass the salsa, sauces from the Canary Islands
Some mojo picóns can be wowser hot, something of an anomaly in mainland Spanish cuisine, but then Canarian gastronomy owes as much to its fiery relatives to the west as it does its forebears to the north. […]
Emilia Romagna
An introduction to Bologna, the food capital of Italy
Some cities can be standoffish at first, even slightly moody until you get into their groove. Others are like meeting an old friend you haven’t seen for a long time. Bologna falls into the latter. […]
Emilia Romagna
Learning the rules of Italian cooking
We fell foul of the rules of Italian cooking in a kitchen tucked away the end of a shadowy courtyard off a nondescript street on the western edge of Bologna’s old centre. […]
Madeira
Which is better, Tenerife or Madeira?
An article in The Telegraph pondered the question ‘which is better, Tenerife or Madeira?’ The article didn’t reach any kind of conclusion, instead it listed the attributes of both. But it included a poll so […]
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
A sweet and sour taste of Lisbon & travel writing
In the last couple of days I’ve read two articles about Lisbon, and watched an episode of the Netflix show Somebody Feed Phil set in Portugal’s classy capital. In two of the three, the information was presented as being by provided by Lisbon experts … […]
Europe
Adventures in another world, Velika Planina in Slovenia
Forget jaw-dropping, breathtaking, mind-blowing, awesome or any such word. All are too feeble to describe first contact with Velika Planina. The feeling of standing on a ridge looking down on this scattering of wooden herdsmen’s homes is one of a sense of discovery. […]
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. […]
Europe
What is the couvert in Portugal?
The first time we encountered a couvert was in Porto when it a waiter brought a tray of small dishes to our table. We weren’t sure if they were a complimentary amuse-bouche or we’d have to pay. […]
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
Learning to live with eating seasonal fruit and vegetables
Travelling around rural parts of Europe we regularly spot roadside fruit and veg stalls, a good way of seeing what are the seasonal ‘in things’ in any destination. […]
Europe
Gastronomy in the Cloud at Nub, La Laguna
If we were in any doubt as to the importance of the cloud analogy to the restaurant, ‘snacks in the cloud’ dispelled it, providing six contrasting bites, two of which were placed on white clouds atop tall spikes […]
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 […]