March 1st: a day to pin a daffodil or leek to your lapel, sing a ballad or two and generally celebrate being Welsh (if you are Welsh. If you aren’t, you may look a little ridiculous, although good for you for carrying on with multiculturalism when it’s so unfashionable). The 1st ... Read More...
Food
There’s no such thing as an aphrodisiac food. There’s nothing you can grill, fry or roast that will have your dining companion casting aside their cutlery and crawling across the table towards you, growling like a lusty tiger on Viagra. Aphrodisiac foods do not work, apart, of course, from when ... Read More...
I came a bit late to oysters: I was well into my twenties when I discovered I'd somehow lost a physical aversion to shellfish brought on by the catastrophic and surprisingly persistent consequences of a dodgy brochette de moule eaten on the harbour at Toulon as a boy. I've been trying ... Read More...
The first Burns Supper took place on the 21st July 1801, on the anniversary of Robert Burns’ death five years before. Nine of his friends gathered to toast his memory and recite his poems over an offal and whisky soused dinner. It was so successful that they met again on ... Read More...
Following up her triumphant venison mincemeat recipe, Jassy attempts a Christmas Mission Impossible: making sprouts edible... Is there a more painful Christmas ritual than the annual passing round of the Brussels sprouts, accompanied by the traditional chant: “You have to take at least one, you have to take at least one”? ... Read More...
A seasonal recipe for venison mincemeat, from the Dabbler's foodie whizz Jassy, who also blogs at Gin and Crumpets. The Christmas tree is up, half the Advent calendar doors stand gaping and the presents are a mess of wrapping paper and Sellotape, but there is still time to make your own mincemeat and have ... Read More...
A Russian doctor takes the connoisseur's approach to combining vodka and food: Russian men drink vodka shots. They drink vodka with gusto while making loud breathing noises. They drink vodka as if their manhood depended on how loud those noises are. After these shots, Russians eat. They eat small morsels of food, ... Read More...
I know that it's winter because the miasmic reek of porridge hangs heavily over our office. It's bought into the building in cardboard cups, thick and stiff like wallpaper paste and glammed up with jam, bananas or compote. And thriftily, instant oats are stirred into milk and heated in the ... Read More...
Continuing today's Dabbler Soup double-bill, we're delighted to present Ian Buxton, our new drinks correspondent. Ian is one of the UK's leading drinks writers, specialising in whisky and spirits, and is the author of the bestselling book 101 Whiskies to Try Before You Die. He will be bringing us exclusive articles on ... Read More...
Bonfire Night, Guy Fawkes Day, Fireworks Night...so odd they named it thrice. Whatever it's called, on this one The Dabbler is delighted to welcome the wonderful Jassy Davis, proprieter of Britain's most delicious food blog Gin and Crumpets, who offers an appropriate recipe. We're hoping that Jassy will be bringing us ... Read More...
