Viva Vanilla!!
Virgil Evetts As a decidedly amateur grower of exotic and impractical food crops, I almost choked on my toast yesterday morning when I read about the big food news out of Tauranga – that a New Zealand company had achieved … Read more
Features
Swimming with the Onions
Swimming with the Onions – Elaine Davey There’s much to be said for having a gadget-free kitchen. Especially when, like mine, its dimensions are about the same as a medium-sized executive home’s bathroom. And when I say my kitchen is … Read more
Plantains-a-plenty
Virgil Evetts I was recently reminded of the buzz caused on the Foodlovers Forums by the arrival of Plantains (starchy cooking bananas) in local fruit shops earlier this year. Whilst shaking my head and smirking my way through an … Read more
Long-haul gluttony
Virgil Evetts Being on the receiving end of long-winded holiday recaps can be so bloody boring don’t you think? It’s like hearing about a really great party that you wern’t invited to. So, as much as possible, I like to let the … Read more
iDon’tSnack 2.0- UPDATE!!!!!!
Virgil Evetts Yes. Hello, I’m back at home now and I’ll be sure to bang on about the wonders of Italy, Singapore and London in gratuitous detail shortly, but first I need to address a more urgent matter. Vegemite iSnack 2.0. … Read more
Asparagus Fever
Virgil Evetts I’m one of those people who sulks and pouts their way through the dark months. I loathe the short days, cold nights and the lack of vital produce, and so desperately wait for the first tell-tale signs of … Read more
Thailand Tell All
Virgil Evetts I’m just grabbing a moment here in Florence to say a quick buongiorno, and to rub your nose in how very pleasant a time I’m having abroad. Thailand was wonderful, peaceful, pressure cooker-hot and, most importantly for the … Read more
Mince Words
Virgil Evetts Mince gets a bad rap these days. It’s gained a low-rent reputation, and is subject to so many scurrilous lies and rumours about its origins – nought but snouts and sphincters according to some. But preciousness and pretensions … Read more
On the road again..
Virgil Evetts Did I mention I was going away? Probably not. Ive got this whole middleclass guilt thing going on so, the fact that I’ve been planning a holiday in Tuscany has been more than a little embarrassing to me. Its … Read more
Wine snobbery….
Lou Davey “It’s a naive domestic Burgundy without any breeding, but I think you’ll be amused by its presumption.” As wine opinions go, I have never found a pronouncement more indicative of the hoo-hah surrounding a bottle of plonk than … Read more
Budding Love: Spring at last!
Virgil Evetts My garden is awash with the heartening signs of spring right now. One peach tree is already covered in tiny, fuzzy peach-letts, another is bursting into blousy pink bloom. My plum tree is a froth of honey-scented … Read more
The Virtues Of Snacking
Virgil Evetts I don’t know about you, but I just can’t go anywhere near the supermarket on an empty stomach. I’ve done it a few times and ended up stumbling around the isles in a starved stupor, eventually getting home … Read more
Fromage Fort- And Won.
Virgil Evetts Fromage fort- meaning strong, or possibly fortified cheese- is an exercise in frugality that only the French could have dreamt-up. Conceived, no doubt as way of using left-over cheese scraps and wine-dregs this ancient Gallic delight is sadly … Read more
Rice up!
Virgil Evetts One of the topics that bounced around the table at our very convivial Foodlovers get-together last week, was how hopelessly smitten we Aucklanders are with the cuisines of Asia. I have a bad habit of forgetting that not everyone shares this very regional … Read more
