Virgil Evetts My best beloved has spent a lot of time scolding me in recent days for my apparently shoddy daytime eating habits. Of particular concern is my wanton disregard for breakfast, by far her favourite meal of the day, and yes, … Read more
Virgil Evetts Cane sugar is one of the most widely used ingredients in our pantries today. Its popularity and use is pan-cultural and it ranks as one of the most important tradable commodities on the planet. We stir it into … Read more
Virgil Evetts In the make- believe world of food media all foodstuffs are made from scratch. Nothing shop bought can ever be as good as homemade. Surely??? Meanwhile in the parallel universe of bombastic supermarket sales strategies, the very opposite … Read more
Virgil Evetts I’ve always said that my blind terror of hospital food is what keeps me healthy. All that overcooked cabbage. But to be fair to the much-maligned kitchens for the poorly, it’s been a few years since I’ve spent … Read more
Virgil Evetts Rick Stein got me thinking. After attending his all-too-brief press conference last week, where he praised the rude health of the New Zealand food scene, I started compiling a mental list of the flavours that really set … Read more
Virgil Evetts Diana Clement has a genius for frugality. She can spot a bargain at 50 paces, smell a decent garage sale from several streets over, and is a Trade Me trawler of formidable prowess. And so she should be. … Read more
Virgil Evetts To the average consumer there’s nothing very sexy about brassicas. Oh sure, we go through the motions with broccoli and cauliflower and even the odd cabbage from time to time, but they’re usually approached with grim determination rather … Read more
Virgil Evetts So ubiquitous is the humble chicken among the world’s myriad cuisines that it has become the default point of reference for all other meats. Any unfamiliar flesh is described in terms of how much it tastes like chicken. I think … Read more
Virgil Evetts I’m breaking with convention this week. No more seasonality. Enough already. I know it’s bitterly cold out, but there’s only so much slow cooking I can handle. I don’t like winter, not one bit, and over exposure to slow-cooked stew-y things … Read more
Virgil Evetts Is it terribly un-Kiwi of me to admit that I can’t stand oysters? The way they smell, they way they taste, the way they slither down your throat with slug-like viscosity… my stomach heaves. I’m not much moved … Read more
Virgil Evetts In terms of food fashion, this article is probably about 20 years too late. Tiramisu has long since passed from being the darling of the supper club set to mainstream world domination. Few chefs in high-end eateries would … Read more
Virgil Evetts Where would I be if it weren’t for Elizabeth David? She nurtured and coddled my love of great food from beyond the grave and across time. She figuratively led me by the hand as I tried so many … Read more
Virgil Evetts When I was a pup, biscuits were mostly regarded as a treat food for children. At least that was my self-serving perception. There always seemed to be a packet of shrewsberries, digestives or their various average kin in the … Read more
Virgil Evetts I find that analysing people’s pizza preferences is a useful, if highly unscientific, means of personality profiling. For example, people who favour thin-crust wood-fired Margheritas are typically dashing, intelligent and in possession of the most discerning tastes and rapier-sharp wit. … Read more
