From fairly modest beginnings near Lake Orta in the Italian Alps, the Alessi brand has become one of the world’s most recognisable. Founded in 1921 with the aim of producing metal utensils for eating and drinking, it has helped to shape our expectations of how a household object should look. (more…)
Recently Kettner’s, that old stalwart of London’s most fascinating neighbourhood, Soho, has undergone a transformation. Unlike most makeovers this has not resulted in the usual employment of glass, steel and metal, presumably intended to bring to mind Kubrick’s ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’, but instead evokes memories of this famous brasserie’s past.
First opened in 1867 by Auguste Kettner, chef to Napoleon III, this historic venue gained popularity due to its proximity to London’s theatres and was regularly frequented by such luminaries as Edward VII, Lillie Langtry, Oscar Wilde and Agatha Christie.
Most people in Britain are aware that they have Germany to thank for many of their Christmas traditions, via Prince Albert’s influence, but now people in Birmingham are discovering yet another aspect of its festive season via the city’s twin town, Frankfurt.
Over the past few years the Birmingham Frankfurt Christmas Market has brought a touch of traditional Germany to the people of the Midlands, and this year its organisers promise 180 stalls full of festive food and gift ideas. Every year more than two million visitors flock to this event, the largest Christmas market to take place outside Germany and Austria.
It’s a familiar enough scene; you visit a foreign country on business or pleasure and somehow find yourself, at some ungodly hour of the night, sitting in a bar with a few new acquaintances who persuade you that the best way to cement your incipient friendship is to down a few shots of the local firewater.
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The capital of an autonomous region within Spain, this dynamic city of almost one million people is the third largest in Spain – and certainly one of the most beautiful. Valencia has the elegant boulevards and classical architecture of Madrid, the dynamic, artistic spirit of Barcelona and a character all of its own.
There is even a local language, Valenciano, which features elements of Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and French due to their common old Latin roots, as well as a suitably attractive flag, a local parliament, many regional delicacies such as paella, horchata and agua de Valencia, and a fair share of famous sons and daughters, both past and present.
As the price of gold skyrockets a new phenomenon has hit the restaurants of the world’s financial capitals.
Gold leaf has been used in food and drink for centuries in some countries. Japan, for example, has produced gold leaf in Kanazawa for many years and visitors today can still find shops selling products such as green tea and sweets, all of which contain this most luxurious of foodstuffs.
Most parts of the world favour a particular type of outdoor cooking when the summer arrives and the thermometer hits the high spots. The British barbecue is frequently a soggy affair, characterised more by enthusiasm than skill, the Australian barbie is a gourmet affair as likely to involve shrimps and lobster as red meat, while the South African braai can involve the greater part of a cow, along with marinated chicken and a type of rough, spicy sausage known to South Africans as boerewors, or farmer’s sausage.
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