Christmas cheer: seven cocktails from Mr Lyan
Port and pony for a party, apple seed punch for the abstainers and a bloody Claus for a pre-lunch sharpenerThese drinks are reflective of the season; flavours reminiscent of the aromas, nostalgia and...
View ArticleClove, cinnamon, chocolate boxes – quite frankly, Christmas stinks
There is no other time of the year that is so completely enveloped in aromas. No wonder our memories are in overdriveIt was the smell of Elnett that did it to me. One moment I was a fiftysomething...
View ArticleSometimes the best Christmas dinner is sausage and mash | Rachel Cooke
In the frantic pursuit of pleasure, it’s too easy to end up cross, drunk and dissatisfied. Go for something simple insteadWaiting to leave the plane at the end of a recent flight, I listened as a...
View ArticleLuke Evans: ‘I had to drink Charles Dance’s blood’
The actor and singer on baking with his mum, the joys of a kebab after work and which films have the best on-set cateringI remember once spending a Christmas with a friend’s family as our guests and as...
View Article'Utterly delicious': top chefs on the best thing they ate in 2019
Eggs in Mexico City, pickles in New Delhi, king crab in Vancouver – chefs and cooks including Rick Stein, Clare Smyth and Angela Hartnett on the mouthfuls that made their yearRick Stein, chef and food...
View ArticleLen & Alex Deighton’s Spanish Cookstrips: Albondigas
Alex: Albóndigas or James Bond-igas? Meatball or thunderball?Len: I’ll never say never again to a good meatball. Alex: You’d know, Dad, you wrote the first draft of that script.Len Deighton is the...
View ArticleChristmas taste test: cakes, mince pies and panettone
Melissa Hemsley tastes traditional and modern takes on mince pies, fruit cakes and rouladesAndi Oliver tests cheese and chocolateFred Sirieix tests party food and drinkMorrisons The Best Classic...
View ArticleChristmas taste test: the best party food and booze
From champagne and smoked salmon to paté and negronis – ranked by Fred SirieixMelissa Hemsley tests cakes, pies and panettonesAndi Oliver tests cheese and chocolateWaitrose Blanc de Noirs NV Champagne,...
View ArticleChristmas taste test: cheese and chocolate
Potted stilton, salted caramels and festive boxes of chocs – it wouldn’t be Christmas without them. Andi Oliver rates the classicsMelissa Hemsley tests cakes, pies and panettonesFred Sirieix tests...
View ArticleFrozen in time: Kate Moss, Paris, September 1993
The model holds court at celebrated Paris restaurant Brasserie Lipp. But did she have the pickled herring?In 1993, Kate Moss had the world at her perfect feet. And to prove it, here she is, dancing on...
View ArticleMark Gatiss: ‘We live in an age of popinjays – Rees-Mogg, Johnson – and we...
The Sherlock writer and actor on his new adaption of Dracula and why apple crumble is the answer to our doom-laden timesMark Gatiss is running an hour late for our lunch, but I can forgive him. He...
View ArticleFive foolproof recipes to get you through Christmas
A make-ahead curry, a classic Italian ossobuco and a crowd-pleasing black forest cake – dishes for every occasion over the festive periodWhile there is nothing black forest about sesame seeds, they...
View ArticleWelcome to December’s Observer Food Monthly
Jay Rayner on Christmas aromas, 2019’s most memorable meals, and lunch with Mark GatissWe dragged the Christmas tree in the other day, tugged off its corset of netting, and watched as the branches...
View ArticleThe 20 best food books of 2019
From Fuchsia Dunlop’s deep dive into Sichuan cuisine to Jonathan Safran Foer’s exploration of food and the climate crisis – OFM’s books of the yearBy Fuchsia DunlopContinue reading...
View ArticleNigel Slater’s meat-free Christmas recipes
A centrepiece of a golden pumpkin, pomegranate-jewelled basmati rice, and a mouthwatering apple and mincemeat tartThis year’s Christmas dinner will have at its heart a great golden pumpkin, full to the...
View ArticleFrom avocados to Instagram: the decade in food
The 2010s brought seismic change to the UK’s culinary landscape says critic and restaurateur Tim HaywardTalking about the British food renaissance is easy for those of us in the industry. Depending on...
View ArticleThe best Christmas spirits and sweet wines
David Williams on the drinks to keep that cosy winter feeling through Christmas to the new yearTis the season of the weird drink. Or, at the very least, the season of the drink you’d never usually...
View ArticleWelcome to November’s Observer Food Monthly
Get Christmas planned early with recipes from Simon Hopkinson and Nigel Slater, gifts for food lovers, and delicious seasonal cocktails and mocktailsHey ho, it’s that time of year again. Well, not...
View ArticleThe 50 best wines for Christmas 2019
High street bargains, best value buys – and reds, whites and fizz to splash out on, chosen for Observer Food MonthlyVoyage au Sud VermentinoPays d’Oc, France 2018 (£5.99, Waitrose)A white grape variety...
View ArticleWelcome to November’s Observer Food Monthly
Get Christmas planned early with recipes from Simon Hopkinson and Nigel Slater, gifts for food lovers, and delicious seasonal cocktails and mocktailsHey ho, it’s that time of year again. Well, not...
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