Suckling pigs
You can hear me on BBC Radio Four’s The Food Programme, talking about suckling pigs in Chinese culinary culture. Â The programme went out yesterday, and will…
Hairy crabs in London!
Imagine my surprise to find that hairy crabs, that legendary Chinese delicacy of the autumn, eulogised by the seventeenth century Chinese playwright (and erotic novelist) Li…
Pig’s head
One of the highlights of my recent trip to China was a lesson in braising a whole pig’s head. I couldn’t resist posing for a few…
Saving animals from the pot
According to this report in the Guardian, student groups in China are beginning to challenge the custom of eating endangered animals for their supposed health benefits.…
On not eating shark’s fin
European Union ministers are demanding urgent action to protect sharks in European waters, because a third of shark species are endangered because of chronic overfishing.  It’s…
Cheese for Chinese
Apparently the makers of Stilton, that delicious blue-veined English cheese, are to start exporting it to China! As is widely known, the Chinese traditionally have little…
Braving the shark
A journalist friend of mine passed through London last week on his way back from Iceland, with all kinds of goodies, including a sheep’s head, horse…
Goji berries, a.k.a. gouqizi or Chinese wolfberries
I’m quoted in Wednesday’s Boston Globe, on the culinary uses of trendy ‘superfood’ goji berries, otherwise known as 枸 æžÂ å  , gouqizi, or Chinese wolfberries. The…
What a lovely breakfast
Even by my usual standards, the breakfast I had the other day in Beijing was a bit weird. When I talk about my usual standards, I…