Whether grainy or smooth, spicy or sweet, Dijon, American or English, mustard accompanies our food and flavours our life around the globe. It has been a source of pleasure, health and myth from ancient times to the present day, its tiny seed a symbol of faith and its pungent flavour a testimony to refined taste. In this delightful global history, Demet Güzey takes readers on a tour of the ubiq…
What do we really know about the food we eat? A firestorm of recent food-fraud cases, from the US honey-laundering scandal to the forty-year-old frozen "zombie" meat smuggled into China, to horse-meat episodes in the United Kingdom, suggests fraudulent and intentional acts of food adulteration are on the rise. While often harmless, some incidents have resulted in serious public health consequen…
Today fortified wines are enjoying a renaissance, re-discovered by discerning imbibers and modern mixologists all over the world. Once a popular tipple to savour before or after dinner, fortified wines – Sherry, Port, Madeira and the like – had fallen out of favour in recent times. But now, in pubs and wine bars, high-end restaurants and homes, these wines are finding their way into innovat…