Food and Wine Pairing with Szechuan pepper

According to lifestyle and happiness guru Gretchen Rubin, you ‘bring your own weather to a picnic’. Ms Rubin, I’d suggest, has never shivered under a tree watching raindrops turn her fish-paste sandwich to mush because the weather forecast was wrong. There are, it’s safe to say, picnics and Picnics. It’s a term that takes in everything from a rubber baguette in a French ‘Aire’ off the Autoroute du Soleil to a four-course spread while listening to opera at Glyndebourne. What’s definitely true is ...

Inside the May 2022 issue of Decanter Magazine: FEATURES: The new ‘Super-Italians’ Michaela Morris, Richard Baudains, Aldo Fiordelli and Susan Hulme MW highlight 12 innovative wines opening the door to Italy’s future Campania: 20 top Fiano & Greco dry whites selected by James Button Sicily: sustainability driving change Filippo Bartolotta Brunello di Montalcino latest releases: 2017 and Riserva 2016 Michaela Morris Regional profile: Lugana Richard Baudains California: the Italian influence C ...

My father worked in the wholesale supply of fruit and vegetables. He would often come home with a box of the day’s best produce, and so I became interested in what was in season. Both my parents often worked late, so cooking dinner to help take some weight off them inspired me to want to learn more. My first kitchen job at age 14 was at a Greek restaurant in Southampton, and it inspired my love for foods of the eastern Mediterranean. Today, I’m lucky to be able to obtain the best produce from ‘O ...