The Botanical Kitchen
Recipes, travel and the occasional rant
I had my very first Gin and Tonic at The Lake Palace Hotel which is in Udaipur in Rajasthan and most well known as the location for the James Bond Film Octopussy. I cannot imagine there are many Indian girls who haven’t dreamed of staying there in one of the regal suites looking out across […]
I wanted to share with you the story of Draupadi. She’s a mum like me. She’s also a grandmother that I aspire to be one day. She lives in a remote village in Uttarkhand in Northern India. She’s part of a unique, tribal community that sadly suffers from discrimination, violence and exploitation because of this […]
This is one of Anjum Anand’s recipes kindly shared at the launch of Curry for Change. A campaign to raise funds for the wonderful Find Your Feet charity. I’ve adapted the method in my own words. I’m not a huge fan of soufflés as I can usually taste over eggy-ness. But there is not one […]
Ragini Dey runs The Spice Kitchen restaurant in South Australia which has now expanded to include cookery and spice appreciation classes. What I love about her is that she makes everything from scratch – spices mixes, pickles and chutneys and these are all covered in this wonderful book. First off the look and feel of […]
You’d never find this town if you weren’t told about it. It’s a quiet, laid back place about five minutes drive from Woodstock, two hours from New York City, and best of all – smack bang in the middle of the Catskill Mountains. Essentially it’s one main road with the odd house down a track […]
The Phoenicia Diner sits on Route 28, about two hours from New York City. It’s right in the heart of the Catskill Mountains and is a must visit if you are in the area. It was built in 1962 in Brooklyn and moved to the Catskills in the early 80s. The owners at the time […]
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbour. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain I love that quote. It’s a key thought in my life. I want to do. To live. […]
Vanilla is probably one of the most popular flavours and ingredients in my household and one that I certainly took for granted until I discovered its history. Origins in Mexico Vanilla beans originated in Mexico. For hundreds of years the Totonaco Indians guarded the secret flavour until they were defeated by the Aztecs and had to handover […]
I was inspired by a visit to the flower market today. I saw wonderful tulips in all sorts of colours and got very excited about using them again for summer dinner parties. I also came across this amazing infographic which does a lovely job of summarising popular edible flowers. You’ll find this and lots of […]
Would you eat something if you knew it could kill you? We all know there are plants and foods that can cause a lot of adverse and painful reactions. Mushrooms immediately come to my mind. But there are more – many more. Let’s take Green Tea. It’s benefits have been linked with cancer prevention but drunk […]
A dark church crypt was the setting for this unique pop up created by Remember A Charity. It was all very atmospheric. Bare brick walls and sweeping black curtains. I was one of the first and saw no familiar faces so to be honest I was a bit worried. Was I about to eat my last […]
Decadence is such a beautiful feeling yet the dictionary defines is as ‘the act of falling into decay or deterioration – especially of the moral kind’ I think that’s just so sad. It’s a wonderful feeling. Complete and utter indulgence every now and then never did any of us any harm. And this is exactly […]