Category Archives: Feasts & Fancies

Using senses instead of scales.

FEASTS & FANCIES: Of Chocolate and Chestnuts

Posted on May 14, 2023 by Scribe Doll

My mother didn’t particularly care for food.  She seldom expressed any joy towards it and made sure I was trained to show no more than polite enthusiasm when praising a dish. One of my early childhood memories is of being … Continue reading →

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FEASTS & FANCIES: Reblochon & Asparagus Sandwich

Posted on May 7, 2023 by Scribe Doll

“Bad table manners, my dear Gigi, have broken up more households than infidelity,” says the ageing Belle Époque courtesan to the niece she is training in the MGM musical based on Colette’s novella. When I was six years old, I … Continue reading →

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FEASTS & FANCIES: Borsch for Easter

Posted on April 9, 2023 by Scribe Doll

Easter brings back memories of my Armenian grandmother perhaps more than the other Christian Festivals.  The large bowl with the dough for the kulich resting on a warm hot water bottle on her bed, wrapped in her grey woollen shawl, … Continue reading →

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FEASTS & FANCIES: Sometimes, you just need a subterfuge…

Posted on April 2, 2023 by Scribe Doll

It was always the same pattern.   “Dearest, what vegetables would you like?” “I don’t know.” “We need some greens… they’re good for us.” “Okay.” “You never have any greens.” “Yes, I do.” “No, you don’t.” “I do, sometimes!” This … Continue reading →

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FEASTS & FANCIES: Spaghetti with Artichokes – my favourite comfort food.

Posted on March 26, 2023 by Scribe Doll

There is something about pasta that warms the cockles of my heart.  I reach out for pasta the way some people reach out for chocolate or a glass of wine.  I eat pasta when I’m feeling sad or vulnerable, when … Continue reading →

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FEASTS & FANCIES @ CHOCOLATE NOTES: Chocolat à l’Orange

Posted on March 19, 2023 by Scribe Doll

It sounds unmistakeably early Franco-Flemish, but as I am nearer the ignorance end of the musical knowledge gamut, I hesitate to hazard a guess that might land me not only in the wrong country, but the wrong century all together.  … Continue reading →

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FEASTS & FANCIES: CHICKEN SOUP WITH SPINACH AND MUSHROOMS

Posted on March 5, 2023 by Scribe Doll

My acupuncturist  takes a quick look at my tongue. “You’ve got a low blood count,” she says.  I smile with admiration: my GP had to draw blood, bruise my arm and have the lab process the sample for a whole … Continue reading →

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FEASTS & FANCIES: OMELETTE à la Gregoryan

Posted on February 26, 2023 by Scribe Doll

In Lasse Hallström’s heartwarming film, The Hundred-Foot Journey, Helen Mirren plays Mme Mallory, a Michelin-star restaurant owner with very definite ideas about what cooking should be.  Before she decides whether or not to employ a new cook, she sets them … Continue reading →

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FEASTS & FANCIES: VEGETABLE STOCK

Posted on February 19, 2023 by Scribe Doll

Another thing that never ceases to surprise me in England is the amount of processed food consumed.  I remember that it struck me even when I first arrived here, nearly forty years ago.  In most homes, the world-famous English custard … Continue reading →

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Feasts & Fancies: Chocolate Notes

Posted on February 12, 2023 by Scribe Doll

One of my favourite haunts is Chocolate Notes.   Norwich, where we live, could possibly be described as the city that always sleeps, in that – unless you resort to a chain (and I prefer independent cafés) – it’s near … Continue reading →

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