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While today watercress is often relegated to a garnish, and at best allowed to perform a solo as a soup, the peppery leafy green was lauded by the ancient Romans, who called it ‘nasturtium’, meaning twisted nose, and used it as an aphrodisiac, breath freshener, and to treat insanity by mixing it with vinegar. EvenContinue reading “The Watercress Queen”

Known as ‘the king of chefs and chef of kings’, culinary legend Auguste Escoffier named his mushroom soup in honour of Agnès Sorel, the favourite of King Charles VII and France’s first officially recognised royal mistress. Charles was so besotted with Sorel that in 1443 he held a joust in her honour in Nancy, duringContinue reading “Much ado about mushrooms”

There are some dishes that are worth the extra effort, and prawn bisque is one of them. No matter how good you get at making it, you can’t cut corners with this soup, so save it for special occasions and serve it to people you want to impress. While the soup was originally made withContinue reading “Sexy bisque”

While the thought of garlic soup may have many of you running for the hills, bear with me. I was a doubting Thomas too. While I adore garlic, I’m acutely aware of its ability to dominate and overpower dishes. Like truffle oil, a little goes a long way, especially when recipes require raw garlic. IContinue reading “Aïgo crazy for this soup”

You may be wondering what a Caesar salad has to do with French cooking. Very little, but I want to feel free with this blog to veer off message every now and then when I get the urge to cook something outside of Julia Child’s culinary canon. I’ve always been a fan of the humbleContinue reading “Hail Caesar!”