Marcus Bawdon is obsessed by cooking with fire. It’s an all-encompassing passion that he loves to share with people via his vibrant Country Wood Smoke website, Facebook group and YouTube channel; through demonstrations and appearances at food and BBQ festivals across Britain, and as editor of UK BBQ Mag. He was crowned king of Meatopia BBQ festival, is a judge at BBQ events such as Grillstock, and makes regular appearances in the media to talk all things related to outdoor cooking.
Read MoreThomas David DuBois is a Beijing-based historian who studies China’s immeasurably diverse food traditions. He is the author of a forthcoming book on the history of food in China . His Consuming Passion is doubanjiang which Wikipedia describes as “a hot and savoury Chinese bean paste made from fermented broad beans, chili peppers, soybeans, salt and flour”.
Read MoreShikha Kaiwar is a pastry chef and writer of the Shikha la Mode newsletter. She’s been baking with spelt since the beginning of her career and her desserts often feature this ancient grain. Her piece helps demystify spelt so that other cooks can confidently use it to create more complex, flavourful baked goods.
Read MoreBrought up on pig farms in Essex and Kent, Chris Bulow is the creator of Salute the Pig, a website devoted to “the countless joys of porcine delights”. His piece for our Consuming Passions series is naturally on the subject of all things pig-related.
Read More“My number one desert island food would be feta cheese. It would go beautifully with any tropical fruit I might forage. Just thinking of its crumbly creaminess and saltiness coupled with a lusciously sweet mango makes the prospect of being marooned on a wild and uninhabited island quite appealing. As long as there is a crate of feta drifting behind me.”
Read MoreDina Macki is a British-born cook from an Omani and Zanzibari family. Her ‘Dine with Dina’ Omani supper clubs have been a hit, and later this year will see the appearance of her debut cookbook which will be the first title on Omani cuisine to be published in English. On Instagram, where she has more than 24,000 followers, she is known as ‘The Pomegranate Queen’, so when it came to choosing the topic for her Consuming Passions piece, there was only one option…
Read MoreDi Murrell celebrates the humblest of fish and its dual appeal “My love affair with fresh sardines began quite late on when we lived in France and, strangely enough, my fondness for the tinned sort was rekindled there too. Strange, because in both cases we were in regions that had little to do with the sea.”
Read MoreIn the latest addition to our consuming passions series, Laura Hadland (drinks writer and author of 50 Years of CAMRA: Celebrating 50 years of the Campaign for Real Ale) celebrates the dark mysteries of stout, the style of beer made famous by Guinness, whose rich and smooth flavour makes it a beverage with a vast range of culinary possibilities. Laura also offer recommendations for some of her personal favorite craft stouts and suggestions for their use.
Read MoreGrowing up, I have no memories of a cranberry that didn’t come from a can or bottle. It wasn’t until after I finished university that I made cranberry sauce for the first time. While that one didn’t end up being a winner, it did introduce me to the joys of fresh cranberries. Once I’d tasted the real deal, there was no going back – I’ve tried every cranberry recipe I could get my hands on.
Read MoreOn The Hummus Route leads us through nine Middle-Eastern hummus hubs, from Cairo all the way to Damascus, through Gaza, Jaffa, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Nazareth, Acre and Beirut. Here we take our own hummus route through ckbk’s titles exploring the significance (and deliciousness!) of this dish.
Read MoreOctober is ‘Goatober.’ Founded in New York in 2011, the initiative is now a worldwide phenomenon that aims to prolong the lives of billy goats and to encourage more people to cook with this ethically produced meat. If you haven’t cooked with goat, now may be the time to develop a passion for this wrongfully underrated meat.
Read MoreMarmalade making has been described as a cult or secret society, but if so it is a cult with increasing mainstream visibility.
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