https://www.cooksister.com/ Food, photos & faraway places Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:45:20 +0000 en-US hourly 1 43589177 https://www.cooksister.com/2026/03/chicken-traybake-olives-raisins-sherry.html https://www.cooksister.com/2026/03/chicken-traybake-olives-raisins-sherry.html#comments Sun, 15 Mar 2026 23:07:16 +0000 https://www.cooksister.com/?p=105905 Have you heard the one about Panama hats? The joke is that these iconic woven straw hats actually originated not in Panama but in Ecuador where artisans have been weaving them from the plaited leaves of the toquilla palm plant since the early 1600s. The confusion evidently crept in during the construction of the Panama […]]]> https://www.cooksister.com/2026/03/chicken-traybake-olives-raisins-sherry.html/feed 1 105905 https://www.cooksister.com/2026/02/easy-banana-pecan-loaf.html https://www.cooksister.com/2026/02/easy-banana-pecan-loaf.html#comments Wed, 04 Feb 2026 20:09:06 +0000 https://www.cooksister.com/?p=105778 When is a banana loaf not just a banana loaf? When it is a baked memory. Any pub quiz afficionado can tell you that smell is the sense that triggers the strongest memories, but much has also been written about the emotional connection between your perception of a specific taste and a memory.  In Remembrance […]]]> https://www.cooksister.com/2026/02/easy-banana-pecan-loaf.html/feed 1 105778 https://www.cooksister.com/2025/03/beef-ginger-butternut-squash-stew-wonderbag.html https://www.cooksister.com/2025/03/beef-ginger-butternut-squash-stew-wonderbag.html#respond Sun, 16 Mar 2025 19:35:41 +0000 https://www.cooksister.com/?p=94082   In an era where the message of “every person for themselves” seems to be the rallying cry of more and more political manifestos and empathy for those less fortunate than ourselves is on a downward spiral around the world, what are the chances of an inventor creating a product with a worldwide potential market […]]]> https://www.cooksister.com/2025/03/beef-ginger-butternut-squash-stew-wonderbag.html/feed 0 94082 https://www.cooksister.com/2024/04/deconstructed-avocado-ritz-ruby-grapefruit.html https://www.cooksister.com/2024/04/deconstructed-avocado-ritz-ruby-grapefruit.html#comments Sat, 27 Apr 2024 22:16:29 +0000 https://www.cooksister.com/?p=101593   Last  summer I visited Sicily for the first time – and what a feast for the senses that was! The markets were packed with vendors noisily calling out their wares; the freshly squeezed Sicilian lemon juice was mouth puckeringly tart; the red peppers were intensely re that they looked Photoshopped; and for the first […]]]> https://www.cooksister.com/2024/04/deconstructed-avocado-ritz-ruby-grapefruit.html/feed 2 101593 https://www.cooksister.com/2024/01/latelier-robuchon-mayfair-2024.html https://www.cooksister.com/2024/01/latelier-robuchon-mayfair-2024.html#comments Sat, 20 Jan 2024 11:05:18 +0000 https://www.cooksister.com/?p=101318 “In forming new friendships, forget not old friends.” – Roman Proverb As somebody who loves food and lives in London, it is remarkably easy to form new “friendships” with restaurants – on average, between 100 and 200 new restaurants open every year in the city! But there is always something comforting and reassuring in returning […]]]> https://www.cooksister.com/2024/01/latelier-robuchon-mayfair-2024.html/feed 2 101318 https://www.cooksister.com/2023/01/broccoli-stilton-soup-keto-low-carb-gluten-free.html https://www.cooksister.com/2023/01/broccoli-stilton-soup-keto-low-carb-gluten-free.html#comments Sat, 14 Jan 2023 20:48:48 +0000 https://www.cooksister.com/?p=98619   “The poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese.” So wrote English writer Gilbert K Chesterton in the early 1900s. And it is true – ask a poetry fan for a poem they know about food and they can probably come up with a mention of wine or bread or plums or […]]]> https://www.cooksister.com/2023/01/broccoli-stilton-soup-keto-low-carb-gluten-free.html/feed 2 98619 https://www.cooksister.com/2022/04/masalchi-atul-kochhar-indian-wembley.html https://www.cooksister.com/2022/04/masalchi-atul-kochhar-indian-wembley.html#respond Sun, 03 Apr 2022 13:11:02 +0000 https://www.cooksister.com/?p=96844 One of the odd upsides of the Covid pandemic and London’s interminable lockdowns is that it has now been so long since I visited some parts of London that arriving there (now that things are opening up again) is almost as novel and exciting as visiting a new city. On a recent visit to Soho […]]]> https://www.cooksister.com/2022/04/masalchi-atul-kochhar-indian-wembley.html/feed 0 96844 https://www.cooksister.com/2022/02/barbecued-salmon-blood-oranges-capers.html https://www.cooksister.com/2022/02/barbecued-salmon-blood-oranges-capers.html#respond Sun, 20 Feb 2022 12:52:49 +0000 https://www.cooksister.com/?p=96661 Last weekend I had the great pleasure of seeing the stage version of Baz Luhrmann’s 2001 musical Moulin Rouge – the first stage production I have seen since Message in a Bottle in Feb 2020!  It is an absolute riot of colour, inventive sets, fabulous voices and more songs than you can shake a stick […]]]> https://www.cooksister.com/2022/02/barbecued-salmon-blood-oranges-capers.html/feed 0 96661 https://www.cooksister.com/2022/02/brussels-sprouts-feta-pomegranate-pinenuts.html https://www.cooksister.com/2022/02/brussels-sprouts-feta-pomegranate-pinenuts.html#comments Sun, 06 Feb 2022 12:35:50 +0000 https://www.cooksister.com/?p=96553 I have a good friend who has introduced me to an excellent tradition: whenever she travels somewhere, rather than buying a T-shirt, mug, ornament or some other dust-gathering tchotchke, she tries to buy a piece of original art that will always remind her of the place and/or the trip. As a result of this tradition […]]]> https://www.cooksister.com/2022/02/brussels-sprouts-feta-pomegranate-pinenuts.html/feed 1 96553 https://www.cooksister.com/2022/01/love-yourself-healthy-meal-delivery-review.html https://www.cooksister.com/2022/01/love-yourself-healthy-meal-delivery-review.html#comments Sun, 16 Jan 2022 17:03:35 +0000 https://www.cooksister.com/?p=95724 Does it ever feel as if you are a former citizen of the lost city of Atlantis? As if you come from a world that has sunk without a trace beneath the waves, never to be seen again? I’ve been feeling that way a lot lately as I look through Google’s handy reminders of what […]]]> https://www.cooksister.com/2022/01/love-yourself-healthy-meal-delivery-review.html/feed 4 95724