“With enough butter, anything is good.” Julia Child For decades, butter has been demonised, labelled an artery-clogger contributing to high cholesterol and obesity, and replaced with low fat spreads and margarines. An ingredient at the very heart of western cuisine for centuries, butter is one of the purest fats available, tastes ambrosial and now, rather…
Tag: Regional
The Pheasant Philsopher’s Christmas Diaries: Party Punch and Mulling
No Victorian Christmas party was complete without a gleaming punch bowl full of inhibition-removing deliciousness. In richer households, these bowls would be silver or silver gilt, with matching chased cups and ladle, in middle class houses cut glass or crystal was offered, whilst lower down the social pecking order china, wood or pewter was most…
The Pheasant Philosopher’s Christmas Diaries: Easy Entertaining.
I am extremely proud of my Welsh heritage and although there aren’t many exclusively ‘Welsh’ traditions, we do have some excellent recipes to satisfy the hungriest of guests over the Christmas period. Feeding a party is quite a challenge, but sometimes, especially in the colder weather it’s nice to offer guests something a little more…
The Pheasant Philosopher’s Christmas Diaries: Day 2, The Butcher’s Order
Today I’m turning my attention to planning my Christmas butchery order. Last year I chose one of Holt-Wilson’s Monmouthshire Turkeys and I was extremely impressed with the bird – it served far more mouths (with leftovers) than recommended, and was firm and flavoursome – not gamey, but rich and a real treat! I do feel…
The Pheasant Philosophises in Gascony: Market Musings
Almost twenty-five years ago, my parents bought a large, honey coloured stone village house on the borders of three French departments; the Lot-et-Garonne, The Gers and The Landes. Three departments with extremely different culinary influences yet all exceptional in their own way.My first ever piece of food writing was for my GCSE English coursework portfolio….
Digging for Ancestral Roots in our Cookery…..?
I think that most of us were probably taught to cook by family members; whether Mum, Dad, Grandparents, Great-Grandparents or the more extended family. I learnt a lot from my Grandmothers; though each was very different in their approach to cookery. One was very much a bake-from-scratch cook; still alive today (at 106) she taught me…
The Pheasant Philosophises Part 1
I spent last Saturday on a bit of a foodie mission. I tried to prove that my theory about city folk having better access to organic and artisanal producers than we country folk (who make and farm said produce), was wrong. I have to admit that I was, in many ways, right. I think that…
Delicious, Inspiring and Fun-Filled! Family Fun @ Abergavenny Food Festival 2017
The countdown has now officially started and in just under two weeks Abergavenny plays hosts to its internationally renowned food festival, and food festivals have come a long way since they comprised a few stalls of locally produced food, a beer tent and several catering vans. Now, perhaps you would, initially, think twice before…
Back to school, foodie festivals….and sticky buns!
For years, those words, banded about from about mid-June terrified me. I admit that I did not enjoy school; I was classic bully fodder and suffered terribly. Now, Master A is about to start secondary school; luckily he takes after Mr D and is very popular albeit a little geeky around the edges and after…
Seasoned with Slow from The Pheasant Philosopher 