The Best of British Gin

The Best of British Gin

Like most of us I love a tipple….. or maybe two. My tipple is gin and tonic. Not any old gin but one that comes from near to where I live. I was joking a few weeks ago to some friends about how my gin consumption was ethical as my “gin miles” (well, we all know of food miles!) are low. My favourite gin is distilled 4 tube stops from my flat in London. A distillery on the door step! I’m proud of this fact which something that people like Betty Ford may cringe about, but when you have a London Dry Gin that has won more awards than any other gin and is the only premium London Dry Gin still distilled in London, one can be proud of of what they are enjoying as they sup.

Raindrops keep falling…

Anyone who knows me knows that I find it difficult to switch off. Whenever a holiday approaches I always find myself doing the same thing: I promise that I will take a break this time, that I will put away the laptop, tidy away the notes, stop thinking about work for a while and rest up. Of course, this never happens – or at least it only does so for a day or two. Believe me, I’ve found myself lying awake in a cool bed in an air-conditioned room in everywhere from Miami to Jamaica, my mind swimming with ideas for cookery books, television programmes and new forms of cooking technology.

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.

What’s Love Got To Do With It?

A constant thorn in my side is my inability to speak French. Or at least speak it correctly. This is partly due to the fact that the delicate poetry of the language and the Northern Irish accent do not make for good bedfellows. You can imagine my embarrassment when, during another intolerable school lesson, I opened my mouth to hear, “Bonjurr, juh muh-pell James” clunking out. It was as if someone else was speaking. But there was not. It was me, rolling the words around my mouth like acid-flavoured gobstoppers.

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.