Probably the most daunting professional kitchen of my whole world tour: this was an authentic Chinese restaurant in one of the historic areas of Chongqing, the largest city in the world. Head Chef, Mr Dong, created two perfect dishes in…
Nothing like those floating-on-stew versions. These are delicate morsels of pork and leek wrapped in thin dough “skins” and steamed for the people of Chongqing to eat on their way to another busy working day – and so much healthier…
Imagine your very first cookery demonstration: not even in a kitchen; supported by a chef who barely speaks English; an audience of the most powerful women in the world’s largest city. Daunting or what? I desperately fell back on the…
Cooking alongside another young blind woman in China, together we learned a classic chocolate Mousse during a session with Intercontinental chef, frank ( ). Lisa was intrigued by the talking thermometer and I was too by the practical demonstration as…
People have often asked me about how I can manage with no sight at all. Here are some of my most important aids: Voice-activated. Voice activated is all about using one’s voice to make things happen – rather than…
Wong Lin is a tiny young woman with very little cooking experience. But she was enthusiastic and fun as together we made her first Waldorf salad (). She was amazingly confident and relaxed to attempt perhaps her first unfamiliar western…
Two young blind masseuses spent an afternoon with the top Intercontinental chefs and me in Chongqing, China. We were all trying to learn from each other: some basic cooking, Chinese medical massage and living with blindness. Head chef Jack taught…
Vegan sausage rolls have been hitting the headlines and national news in the UK. Not just very successful PR but an echo of my Christmas party discussions: a fellow guest had given up eating all animal products because of the…
For years/decades, I’ve yearned for one of those pointed oval tins for raised game pies (the type with clips at either end). Just one of those longings for a classic piece of cooking equipment that carries breaths of nostalgia and…
Flying in to Chongqing was an adventure in itself: first I’d felt very jet-setter by briefly stopping in Helsinki and then flying over the North Pole; landing in the huge and ultra-modern city airport. A limousine whisked us off to…
