Category Archives: BBQ

thank your lucky stars…and stripes..

Posted on November 24, 2016 by

This is hardly the right time for right minded  Americans (I use the phrase advisedly) to be saying a hearty “thank you” but that’s exactly what a large swathe of them will be doing today although I’m not sure that a … Continue reading →

Posted in 2016, Baking, BBQ, Chicken, Christmas, Cooking, desserts, Digital photography, Expectation, food, Food and Photography, Food photographer, Humour, Photography, Poultry, Pumpkin Frittata, Rachel Roddy, Recipes, Thanksgiving, turkey, Uncategorized, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 36 Comments

NEW Food Photography Course with Olia Hercules 2017

Posted on November 8, 2016 by

 In June 2017, together with Olia Hercules, I will be running a food photography course at the Villa Le Mazeau in West France. This wonderful location. which is one of Big in France’s holiday homes, is set in the heart of … Continue reading →

Posted in 2016, BBQ, clay oven, Cookery School in France, Cookery Writers, Cooking, Digital photography, Food and Photography, Food photographer, France, French countryside, Olia Hercules, Photography, photography course, Photography holiday, Photoshop, pizza oven, summer, swimming pool, Uncategorized, Vendee, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Food Photography Course – September in the Vendée

Posted on July 11, 2016 by

From the 12-16 September 2016, I’ll be hosting a food photography course, run by Vendée Holidays.UK, at a beautiful old house deep in the heart of the Marais in the Sud Vendée of West France. The area is a treasure … Continue reading →

Posted in 2016, Art photography, BBQ, beef, Chicken, Chicken, clay oven, Cookery School in France, Cooking, cote de boeuf, Digital photography, Fish, fish cookery, food, Food and Photography, Food photographer, France, French countryside, Meat, Photography, photography course, Photography holiday, pizza oven, seafood, skate wings, Uncategorized, Vegetables, Wine, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Why put all your eggs in a basket when you have a frying pan….

Posted on December 9, 2013 by

I watched a sporting match at the weekend that failed to live up to its name. It was not the expectation, nor in fact the event itself, in which lay the failure: it was in the naming…..it was not a … Continue reading →

Posted in 2013, Baking, BBQ, Cooking, Cream, Cuisine bourgeoise, Digital photography, Edouard de Pomiane, Eggs, Emotion, Expectation, food, Food and Photography, Food photographer, Fried eggs, gigot, Humour, Meat, Memory, Uncategorized, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 45 Comments

Who called the cook a c…t?.. Who called the c…t a cook?…..

Posted on June 14, 2013 by

Apparently mackerel skies can herald an approaching depression in the same way that the look in my wife’s eyes heralds her approaching depression at the sight of a bag of charcoal in my hand. With our fridge  packed with mackerel, … Continue reading →

Posted in 2013, Art photography, BBQ, Chicken, Cookery Writers, Cooking, Coriander, Digital photography, Emotion, Excellence, Excess, Expectation, Fish, Flat parsley, food, Food and Photography, Food photographer, France, Fresh peas, Garden, Health, Herbs and Spices, Humour, Kitchens, Luck, mackerel, Mint, offal, Photography, photography course, Photography holiday, Poultry, Prosciutto, Recipes, seafood, Shopping, Spiced mackerel, summer, Tom Parker Bowles, Uncategorized, Vegetables, Weather, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 30 Comments

Algy’s gone and Al Fresco’s arrived….

Posted on July 26, 2012 by

It’s rush hour. It must be as I can just hear a motor bike in the distance over the deep silence that is the beginning of a summer’s day. This is the summer moment that I wait for throughout the … Continue reading →

Posted in Almonds, BBQ, Cheese, Cooking, Coulommiers, Digital photography, Fish, Flat parsley, food, Food and Photography, Food photographer, France, French countryside, Fruit, Herbs and Spices, lifestyle, Mediterranean food, Nuts, peaches, Photography, photography course, Photography holiday, Pine Nuts, sardines, seafood, Writing | 37 Comments

At last, a cookery book for the working classes….

Posted on March 19, 2012 by

We live in a time when soon, to be working class, will be a state to which we will aspire. The carefully crafted plans of elected, and unelected, politicians and economists across the globe are managing daily to reduce the … Continue reading →

Posted in BBQ, Cooking, Digital photography, food, Food and Photography, Food photographer, Francatelli, Meat, offal, photography course, Photography holiday, Pork, Writing | Tagged , , , , | 28 Comments

What are two sheep tied to a tree called in La Moussiere?

Posted on October 3, 2011 by

Oddly enough, much to Celtic amazement, not a leisure centre. However, these two sheep in the meadow adjacent to our house are looking closely at the leisure centre of a, sadly now deceased, local farmer which is encapsulated in this tiny … Continue reading →

Posted in BBQ, cherries, Cooking, Cuisine bourgeoise, Digital photography, eels, French countryside, Fruit, gigot, Landscapes, Matelote d'anguilles, Meat, mulberries, peaches, Photography, photography course, Photography holiday, pike, Vendee, Wine, Writing | 4 Comments

Ruminating on the dangers of rumination

Posted on September 3, 2011 by

Sitting outside the house last night, as the sun was going down, I thought I was ruminating, but luckily I wasn’t as Wikipedia has made it clear to me that, if I had been, I would be  a suitable case … Continue reading →

Posted in aubergine, BBQ, buffalo mozzarella, Cooking, creme fraiche, Digital photography, eggplant, food, Food and Photography, France, goat cheese, Italian food, Mary Cadogan, Photography, Photography holiday, summer, tomatoes, Wine, Writing | 13 Comments

And the meat goes on…..Parthenaise cote de boeuf

Posted on August 7, 2011 by

The question “What would you recommend for a barbecue?”so often results in a tired litany of burgers and the like, whereas  a butcher in France will immediately recommend a côte de boeuf ( prime rib) of the best available local … Continue reading →

Posted in BBQ, beef, Cooking, cote de boeuf, Digital photography, food, Food and Photography, France, Photography, Photography holiday, prawns, summer, sweet paprika, Vendee, Writing | 13 Comments