“The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty; not knowing what comes next.” Celebrated science fiction author Ursula K. Le Guin wrote this in 1969, but in the middle of this period of unprecedented world uncertainty I find myself turning the phrase over and over in my mind like a pebble in my pocket. At first glance it is hard to see if the sentiment behind it is hopeful or hopeless – a pretty accurate reflection of where we are right now in the Covid pandemic. On the one hand, the uncertainty of the past year – the tentative steps to normality, followed by the crushing return to social isolation and (for many) economic ruin; the anguishing wait for the recovery of loved ones infected by the virus; and the uncertainty of when families will be able to meet in person again – has indeed felt permanent, intolerable and at times hopeless. Click here for a full portion
Potted smoked salmon with quick pickle apple slaw
Can you remember what your view of the world was like; what your fears were; and what you looked forward to in the future when you were seven years old? Many of us might have recollections if something particularly traumatic or triumphant happened to us at that age, but for most of us it would […]
Click here for a full portionDiscovering the wines of Pays d’Oc
Many moons ago when I first arrived in the UK nearly 20 years ago, I remember being totally baffled by my first encounter with French wine labels. Coming from a country where (at the time) the vast majority of all wines were bottled as varietal wine, I would stare at a French wine label reading […]
Click here for a full portionCranberry pistachio Bircher muesli – a Pret-a-Manger fakeaway
“I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught.” So wrote that master of the nicely encapsulated aphorism Winston Churchill – and how true it is, in light of the events of the past year. At some point in the future when the current global Covid-19 crisis has subsided to […]
Click here for a full portionRoasted Brussels sprouts with chorizo & hazelnuts
Well, there’s no denying that 2020 has been quite a year… It’s a year where we learnt the hard way that drunkenly repeating on new year’s eve how crap the last year was, and how glad we are to see the new one, can come back and bite us. A year where Covid-19 forced us […]
Click here for a full portionMyristica Grenadian supperclub
Pop quiz, friends… Who can tell me: a) what the red item on the right of the menu in the photo above is; and b) what the connection is between it and the excellent Grenada-themed Myristica supperclub that I attended earlier this year, quite literally in the week before all public eating spaces in London […]
Click here for a full portion8 favourite Singapore food experiences
In July 1993, the New York Times published a cartoon by Peter Steiner of a dog sitting on a chair in front of a computer with his paw on the keyboard, saying to his doggy friend on the floor beside him: “On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.” Although the cartoon did not receive […]
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