So, you have embarked on a journey to healthy eating, and maybe even regular exercise, you buy mostly organic food and you take great care in choosing fresh wholefoods and in cooking everything yourself. However, did you know that what cookware and cooking utensils you use, and how you store your food, can undermine all […]
The month of September marks not only the end of summer and beginning of autumn, but also the back to school period. As temperatures begin to drop, and the weather changes, sometimes dramatically and unpredictably from one day to another, so our body needs to be in top shape to avoid getting ill. Mother nature, […]
It is no secret that I am always on the lookout for ways to try new recipes, add more vegetables to my diet, and generally make healthy swaps. My latest culinary experiment has been with wholegrain spelt couscous rather than the more traditional couscous which is (white) semolina milled from hard durum wheat. What is […]
Whenever I surf the internet in search of a healthy recipe to satisfy my desire for a particular flavour the recipes are just a big disappointment. Promises of sugar-free desserts are full of syrups, honey, molasses, artificial sweeteners or even coconut sugar. Necessity being the mother of invention, my latest experiment was with French Almond […]
Earlier this week Muslims around the world marked the beginning of the month of Ramadan. Unfortunately for many, fasting goes hand in hand with digestive problems. Whether you are fasting, and therefore break the fast with a large intake of food all at once (which is a sudden shock and never good for your body’s […]
Empanadas de atún, or tuna empanadas, are a classical dish from Spain. You might be more used to seeing the Argentinian version which is usually filled with meat rather than fish (tuna). Usually the crust of these savoury pastries is made from plain white (wheat) flour and often they are fried rather than baked in […]
Once upon a time there was an Emperor in China who had his own rice which no-one outside the Palace walls was allowed to eat. Crops were limited and all harvests of this rice were strictly reserved for him and the royal household. So the story goes of why Chinese black rice (Oryza sativa) is […]
If you live in the Northern hemisphere chances are you are right in the middle of a heatwave with soaring temperatures at the moment. Many of you will be thinking about what to cook for lunch or dinner, something which doesn’t require a lot of effort and is also healthy, as well as a crowd […]
The first time I heard of, and tasted, Bottarga, was at the macrobiotic restaurant in the town I was living in. It was not quite what you would call a mainstream restaurant. Tucked away in a courtyard, with low lighting and a very zen atmosphere. This was sometime in the early 90s. Bottarga di muggine […]
This time last year I was suffering from what I can only describe as chronic fatigue. No matter what I did, I always felt like all my energy had been drained from me. I knew something was wrong when this feeling started on waking up, before I even got a foot out of bed! Those […]
Run out of lemon? Use Sumac instead! The world of spices is full of colourful and flavoursome surprises. Not only do spices add depth to your dishes, they also hold medicinal properties few of us are aware of. Sumac is one such spice. Read More Spinach, the versatile Superfood Spinach comes right at the top […]
For some reason in many Western societies the (liberal) use of spices is still considered something exotic. Despite the fact that many spices have a number of nutritional and health benefits which should be enough encouragement by itself to drive more people to learn how to use them, it is still relatively rare to find […]
Whilst planning a holiday in a hotel wedged between a lagoon and the ocean, and aware that this year’s local weather has been a boon to a sudden invasion of small flying insects including flies and mosquitoes, I decided it was time to find a natural repellent I could make myself, with natural (read non-toxic) […]
Our immune systems develop according to our environment, developing the necessary bacteria and antibodies to fight infection. If we over-sterilise our environment our immune system will not develop as it should, so we should avoid doing this if we want to say healthy. However, you might be surprised to hear that researchers in Norway have […]
