Something for the Weekend?

As any regular reader will know I’m always mentioning the products of AGA Rangemaster, possibly because I’m a Brand Ambassador, but mainly as they are British and all designed and manufactured in the UK.

Did you know? Rangemaster cookers are made in Leamington Spa on the site where the worlds first Rangecooker, The Kitchener, was developed by Sydney Flavel with a history of over 800 years. There’s one to wow your friends with over dinner!

Let’s hear it for New York – London, Belfast and …..

Looking back through old blogs, and reflecting upon the thousands of words scribbled here, I’ve begun to realise something. There are two recurrent themes in my writing: food and travel. These, one could argue, are your most basic human imperatives. I might complain about it, but I’ve always felt the need to go exploring, to discover new worlds – brave or otherwise.This urge gives my life a strange, often frustrating propulsion: I get twitchy if I stay in the same place for too long, yet I get homesick when I’ve been away for too long. And I’m away from home a lot.

Of course, the reason that I find myself in a state of perpetual motion is because of food and kitchen appliances. If I had never chosen the profession in which I am now ensconced, I sorely doubt that I would have trotted as much of the globe as I have. People all over the world need food and kitchen appliances, and in most instances they like their food to be tasty and not too much hassle to prepare. It’s that need which has led to me demonstrating cooking techniques from Land’s End to John O’ Groats, and from The Great Wall Of China to Toronto’s CN Tower.

Cooking in Living History

As I type this, I am on a work trip to France, where I am trying my best to disguise the fact that, when it comes to speaking the language, I am about as useful as a glass trampoline. Last night, I found myself positively ravenous, and ended up in a quaint back street restaurant. Not wanting to appear to be an idiotic British tourist, I amazed myself by confidently ordering a duck dish. The most amazing thing was that a deliciously cooked portion of duck arrived on my plate – the waiter had understood my mangled voyeelles françaises, after all.

But that’s by the by. I could be anywhere as I type this. I was in Germany two days ago, but now I am in France. I should be outside, exploring the web of streets, meeting the people and soaking up the culture (along with the wine), but instead I’m in my hotel room, typing away on my computer.

Turkeys and Jetlag

I can live with a lot of things (cold snaps in December, congestion charges in London, traffic in London – for that matter, anything related to driving through London), but jetlag is one of them.

testing, testing, 1,2,3,4,5…….

In 1982, the German and, frankly, slightly crazy, director Werner Herzog made a film called Fitzcarraldo. It tells the story of an Irishman named Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald, who hopes to makes his fortune by collecting rubber in Peru (surely “mining” isn’t the correct word – insert joke about hitting rubber with pickaxes here). Fitzgerald hatches [...]