Living with blindness.
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…
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Good taste in China.
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…
Pressing the flesh: rare, medium or well-done?
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…
Tofu or not Tofu, that’s the question.
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…
Kitchen cupboard-love.
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…
First taste of China
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…
China starts the New Year.
Chongqing is the largest city in the world – and the most exhilarating. Rather than me trying to describe it without sight, my intrepid videographer and nephew, Toby, explored the excitement, dynamism and visual magic in his video () cityscape. …
Meet the sourdough professionals
California’s Cheeseboard Collective is an inspiration to anyone who wants to make, smell and greedily devour absolutely fantastic sourdough bread (). Watch my day with them () and learn some true tricks of the trade. The recipe is giant sized: …
Classic American cooking in Californian heartland
What could be more delicious and traditional than light crisp waffles dripping with cider syrup, made to order in the vibrant Brown Sugar Kitchen in Oakland? Learn with me how to make them () and check out the recipes at…
Ben and Blanche saved us
Genuine friendship and generosity was the hallmark of my baking Blind tour (). It made all the difference right from the very start when, by complete chance, I met Ben and Blanche over dinner in San Francisco. They were fellow…