Top Tips For Your Next City Break – Sydney   Why? The Harbour City (Australia's largest with a population of over 4,600,000 people) enjoys a breathtaking oceanic location, a warm and sunny maritime climate, a wealth of great museums and galleries, a fantastic and inexpensive public transport system and offers diverse world class cuisine and wines at competitive prices.   When? The Australian summer runs roughly from November through to March and, provided you are diligent in wearing sunscreen and seeking shade, it is a great time to visit a vibrant and welcoming metropolis. Backgrou ..read more

Lamb Boulangère As the days lengthen and crocuses start to appear and blossom adorns the trees, I take solace in the fact that the season is turning and, let's face it, things are going to improve. One of my favourite traditional French recipes is lamb boulangère. This harks back to the days when people heading off to church on a Sunday would give a prepped up baking tray of the dish to the local baker who would put it in their cooling oven for the duration of the service. They could then repatriate it, wonderfully slow-cooked, on their way back from church and serve a tasty family lunch. I'm ..read more

    David Chandler: "In an absolute first for this podcast, our wine-loving friends spend several minutes drinking something that isn't actually wine. This deviation from tradition, though unthinkable under normal circumstances, is rendered unavoidable by the fact that Jason has decided to answer a question that David wasn't even aware needed to be asked - unless in a past life, his name had been Marie Josèphe Rose Tascher de La Pagerie (i.e. Napoleon Bonaparte's wife) and the question that bothered his pretty, little head had been, "Whatever would mon petit chou like to drink, ce s ..read more

Shakshuka Shakshuka is a restorative North African dish believed to be of Tunisian origin. It is quite quickly and easily prepared and makes for a tasty lunch or light supper dish. There are numerous different twists one can deploy in its preparation so I have deliberately not looked for a recipe online as I didn’t want to get drawn in to an alternative methodology.   Ingredients: (Serves 2 Adults) Chopped Tomatoes 1 x 400g can. Medium Sized Spanish Onions x 2 Red or Green Bell Pepper x 1 Large Garlic Cloves x 4 Medium Sized Free-Range Hens Eggs x 4 Sweet Paprika x half a teaspoon Cayenn ..read more

Yapp Brothers is thrilled to announce a significant milestone in its 55-year history. Established in 1969, the company will shortly be moving to new premises after five decades in Wiltshire.   For half a century, Yapp Brothers has called Mere its home, initially operating out of Robin Yapp’s garage before moving to picturesque Victorian warehouses in the town centre in 1972. The company has outgrown these cellars and is therefore poised to move 15 miles west to exciting, modern premises in Sparkford, Somerset. The new site, located at West 303, Sparkford, Somerset, BA22 7JJ (minutes off ..read more

Kefir-ly Cultivated Last Summer, traversing la belle France on holiday, we stayed the night with our old friends Fred and Laurence Filliatreau in their delightful home, set amongst vines, at Château Fouquet, in the hamlet of Brèze, in the Loire valley. It was great to have our first familial get together since the onset of Covid and it involved the appropriate amount of good food and wine. Over breakfast on the day of our departure Fred served us some of his homemade kefir, which was refreshing, gently-carbonated and, to us novices, fascinating.   Fred duly gave us a jar of his precious ..read more

Seasonal Snackage Package and Festive Libations In the run up to Christmas we always invite a few friends and neighbours round for drinks. Experience has taught us that people like a definite cut off time and it is best to avoid trying to provide a fully catered meal. That said, a few canapés or snacks do provide some sustenance and are always welcome - even a modest selection offers variety and something for everyone. It all got consumed last time which, by my reckoning, means we judged it about right.   Wine-wise, I will be using our Sommelier Selections mixed case as my main festive i ..read more

Chicken with Chorizo, Chillis, Onions, Peppers and Garlic with Rice I've come across a few recipes that are very similar to this, but I devised this version years ago and I like it because there is very little to weigh or measure. Most recently, I cooked it for my long-standing, 5 strong book group and they said they enjoyed it. Praise from them is hard won, so counts for something.   Ingredients: (Feeds as many as required – in this case 5) 2 chicken thighs per person – or a leg cut in 2 if necessary. 1 chorizo – circa 225 grams – peeled and sliced into discs. 3 bell peppers – 2 red and ..read more

Since childhood I've been an avid Francophile. Clearly, that is due, in no small part, to parental influence but I think it goes further than that. We spent almost all of our family holidays self-catering in France and then when I was 15 years-old I participated in our school's French exchange. Cigarettes, mobylettes, bangers, flick-knives, girls, cider, steak haché, Simon and Garfunkel – there was nothing not to love. Then, of course, came wine and a love and career that would define me. There can be very few people that are more irritated by Brexit than me, but at least I can still spend tim ..read more

Scallop and King Prawn Ramen with Vegetables and Rice Noodles This recipe evolved during the pandemic when I was looking for food that was healthy, easy to prepare and versatile. You can switch the scallops and prawns for diced tuna, chicken or tofu and get an equally satisfying outcome. It does come pretty close to 'cheating' in terms of using ingredients that don't require much work but if that provides a midweek supper that doesn't require much heavy lifting or washing up it is a price I'm prepared to pay. I cook this in my beloved 5.3 litre 'Le Creuset' casserole pan – other models are ava ..read more