The filth and the furry: inside Jay Rayner’s fridge
My yearly deep clean exposes all sorts of horrors – from mouldering vegetal matter to the disgusting contents of old jarsIt is high summer, a time when many of us are forced to face up to a deeply...
View ArticleWelcome to August’s Observer Food Monthly
Jay Rayner’s report on the future of British pig farming reminds me of my own childhood afternoons at the farm gateI spent much of my childhood on one farm or another. There was the daily walk after...
View ArticleSymmetryBreakfast recipes: five hits from the Instagram favourite
A celebration of love and breakfast from Michael Zee’s book Cook Love Share plus five recipes from around the worldThis is as much a story about love as it is about Dutch pancakes, churros and congee....
View ArticleHeston Blumenthal: The meal that made me a cook
Top cooks Blumenthal, Clare Smyth, Stephen Harris and Asma Khan reveal their culinary epiphaniesChef owner, the Fat Duck, Bray, BerkshireRelated: Heston Blumenthal interview: the Fat Duck flies...
View ArticleMick Jones: ‘Spaghetti House was the place to go when we were writing in Joe...
The Clash guitarist recalls spying on Mick Jagger eating dinner and life as a vegetarian in the 1970sWhen I was eight my parents divorced. Dad movedon, and Mum moved to America, so I was looked after...
View ArticleMiddle Eastern fusion: recipes from the Palomar
From ‘Thai-bouleh’ to fast shakshuka, exclusive recipes from Observer Food Monthly readers’ 2015 restaurant of the yearThirty seconds from the hot mess that is London’s Leicester Square, the Palomar...
View ArticlePigs, Brexit and China: what’s the future for Britain’s farmers?
The UK breeding herd has halved in 30 years, with a volatile global market squeezing pig farmers. Can they survive in the face of European upheaval and China’s bid to expand pork production?Anna...
View ArticleNigel Slater’s al fresco summer recipes
Poussin and runner beans, prawns with tomato pesto, plums and syllabub: flavours best eaten outdoors in the late summer sunAugust’s saving grace is the chance to eat outside, those last days of long,...
View ArticleAre expensive wines worth the money?
Not every £100 bottle tastes better than a £20 one. But then you can spend just as much on a dull 0-0 football match …If you had around £100 to spend on an evening’s entertainment for two, what would...
View ArticleHere’s a tip for Sam Cam after that Hellmann’s gaffe at No 10
Miriam González Durántez got sniffy when Sam Cam served mayonnaise in a tube. Why bother when mayo is so easy to make?Interesting things you find out when flicking through The Oxford Companion to Food,...
View ArticleWhy it’s OK to play with your food
US students have protested against the use of ciabatta in their banh mi, but there is never just one way to cook a dishIn the 1970s there was a Chinese restaurant near where I lived that served a dish...
View ArticleWelcome to September’s Observer Food Monthly
As autumn blows in, we have some suitably nutty recipes, home cooking from Marcus Wareing, and Rachel Cooke reports on how the Real Junk Food Project is tackling food waste on a global scaleWe don’t...
View ArticleHealth without wealth: eat well for less
Bin the pricey coconut oil, goji berries and acai. Stick to simple ingredients and principles, say our experts Dara Mohammadi and Dr Ali KhavandiA healthy diet is not about Instagrammed asparagus,...
View ArticleJosie Long: ‘At 15, I was eating most of my meals at Orpington’s New World...
The comedian on hecklers throwing fruit, surviving on a desert island and getting drunk with Bob MonkhouseMy parents were religious and going to church was a really big part of growing up in Orpington....
View ArticleMarcus Wareing: 'Everyone thought I was too unforgiving for Masterchef. I'm a...
With his name above a Michelin-starred door in Knightsbridge and a leading role on prime-time TV, is Marcus Wareing really happiest when he’s cooking at home?The day before I interview Marcus Wareing –...
View ArticleThe Real Junk Food Project: revolutionising how we tackle food waste
The Real Junk Food Project started in Leeds and has grown into a global phenomenon. Its mission? To end food waste (and help local schools along the way)Adam Smith is blunt and to the point when I call...
View ArticleJoe Wicks: ‘People say I’m a cross between Jamie Oliver and Mr Motivator’
The food and fitness phenomenon on his bestselling cookbooks, being ‘lean’, and why his life is all about online ‘content’A ripe Thursday afternoon in Richmond, and for Joe Wicks it is a “content day”....
View ArticleNational treasures
Welcome to the new world of English and Welsh winesVineyards carpet the valley in neat rows, the sea just visible in the distance. I could be somewhere in southern Europe but as I trace the dotted...
View ArticleNigel Slater's fruit and nut recipes for early autumn
Roast quail with figs, pork with plums and pistachio, chocolate cookies with hazelnuts. Nigel Slater reaps the autumn harvestThe weather has cooled, the garden is turning gold and there are nuts...
View ArticleThe Ethical Carnivore: 'I no longer feel we should all visit a slaughterhouse'
In her new book, Louise Gray tracks her project to spend a year eating only meat she has killed herself. Here, she describes visiting an abattoir for the first timeI wasn’t prepared for my first...
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