Food and Drink
Discover the latest in food and drink news, try our delicious and easy recipes using fresh seasonal produce and read our pub and restaurant reviews.
Here at Country Life we love to cook and we love to eat. Seasonality is important, whether you’re growing your own or visiting the farmers’ market for your ingredients – but we love to cook seasonally. Whether it’s our brilliant collection of elderflower recipes in the summertime, our ultimate sloe gin recipe in autumn or gorgeous roast goose recipes in the winter, we have collected the best seasonal recipes by ingredient on dedicated pages
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A foolproof recipe to make an easy apple and almond cake
Our kitchen garden cook Melanie Johnson shares her recipe for an apple cake that's as easy as it is scrumptious.
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How to store apples
Once you know how best to store them, almost any kind of apple will keep for months. Arabella Youens recommends some top tips
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John Lewis-Stempel: Why autumn is the time to go nuts
Whether enjoyed as a healthy snack or deployed as the playground weapon of choice, nuts are versatile, abundant and plentiful now, says John Lewis-Stempel.
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How to make pear, rosemary and sea-salt focaccia
Melanie Johnson's recipe makes the most of the season's fresh, juicy pears alongside a delicious bread recipe.
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How to make a fig and goat’s-cheese galette — and a fig creme brûlée for pudding
With figs in season, Melanie Johnson shares a beautiful galette recipe that really lets them be the star.
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Red Mullet: The beauties of the sea, and the one intractable rule for those looking to cook them
Whether deep fried, grilled or poached in acqua pazza, there’s nothing like the subtle, gently rich flavour of red mullet. But always cook it on the bone, warns Tom Parker Bowles, as filleting a fish this fine is plain rude.
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How to make plum upside-down cake with cardamom, vanilla and pistachios
Melanie Johnson shares a beautiful late summer recipe which makes the most of the plum harvest.
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How to make honey chicken and sweetcorn flatbreads
Fresh sweetcorn is an annual treat that is at its best; Melanie Johnson shares a recipe to make the most of it.
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Jonathan Self: The crisp sandwiches so good they were delicious even with a light coating of sand
A spell of time with a reduced sense of taste and smell proves a boon to Jonathan Self when it clears, giving him a new appreciation of some of life's joys.
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Curious Questions: Why was absinthe banned?
Absinthe is almost unique among alcoholic spirits for having been outlawed in even some of the world's most liberal countries — but how did that happen? Martin Fone traces back the story to find the tales of debauchery, hallucination and even murder that once gave the drink its bad name — and looks at how it's returned to prominence.
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'70% of the flavour and colour of whisky comes from the cask in which it is aged'
Crafting wooden casks is an ancient art form that requires traditional makers to jump through hoops to construct vessels strong enough for the task of maturing precious Scotch whisky, says Joe Gibbs. Photographs by Jeremy Flint.
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Scotch eggs: Tom Parker Bowles on the delights of this 'absolutely magical thing'
The jury is out as to whether the humble Scotch egg is a snack or a ‘substantial meal’. Either way, this headline-stealing, hand-held hero is outrageously delicious, says Tom Parker Bowles.
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How to make an apricot pavlova that makes amazing use of 'the golden jewels of summer'
Pavlova is always good. Now it's even better.
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The strawberry and raspberry fool: Who but a fool could say no?
Tom Parker Bowles on the unbeatable joy of the fool, and his favourite strawberry fool recipe.
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Curious Questions: Who came up with Gentleman’s Relish?
Martin Fone takes a look at one of the all-time great toast toppers: Gentleman's Relish.
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How to make harissa lamb cutlets with garlic and almond runner beans
Homegrown runner beans turn this lovely lamb cutlet dish into something memorable.
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Why the great British pub is better than ever
The numbers show that pubs across the country are shutting down — but those that are still thriving are doing so because they're better than ever, says Giles Kime.
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How to eat seasonally in August, by Tom Parker Bowles
'August may mark the end of summer,' says Tom Parker Bowles, 'but it’s a time to revel in the moment.' Especially when it comes to enjoying the best foods of the height of summer.
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Curious Questions: Who invented the vending machine? (Clue: they've been around for 2,000 years)
Coming across a bizarre statistic prompts Martin Fone to look at the creation of the vending machine, unearthing an incredible tale.