News & Reviews

This filling came about because I had a bit of leftover brie in the fridge. I threw it in and decided I loved it.

These pillowy pancakes are what you would call drop scones in the UK. They are also delicious made with wholemeal flour if you want a more substantial afternoon treat.

If you decide to make these but have no buttermilk, just put 2 tablespoons of lemon juice into 300ml/ pint of milk and let it sit for 5 minutes.

The French and their vegetables, huh? My sister and I are sitting in a French restaurant, and we're definitely eating soup, but its identity is eluding us. It is labelled with the musical word "topinambour", but that's as far as we get. The waitress isn't a huge amount of help; though we speak French and she speaks English, none of us possesses a specialist knowledge of vegetable translation. "It's a bit like a parsnip," she tells us finally, and we take another sip of soup, which is a weirdly frustrating experience when you don't know what exactly it is that you're eating.

My earliest food memory... I have a photo of me aged two sitting in my mum's kitchen and licking the beaters from her mixer after she'd made a pavlova. I can't remember that particular occasion, but I do generally remember always wanting to give the beaters a lick.

Sunday lunch

My family is pancake-crazy, but I must admit that I haven't always been the biggest pancake eater.

I suppose it was inevitable. We've had the posh burger, the couture hot dog, mac and cheese deluxe ? and now kebabs are getting the attention of foodies. Two enterprising young men, Oliver Thring and James Ramsden, writers and bloggers with sharp eyes and a fork into every emerging trend, have started Kebab Kitchen ? a roving grill serving lamb and chicken of good provenance with ritzy accompaniments.

A coupe is a great summery dish to serve at a lunch party in the garden. You can create your own bespoke version by adding nuts, varying the ice-cream, serving mascarpone instead of cream, etc. I've given a recipe here for tuile biscuits, but you could also use a suitable off-the-shelf ice-cream biscuit.

These are perfect to serve with ice-cream and sorbets. Start by making a circular template from an old plastic container(an ice-cream box lid, for instance). It needs to be roughly the size of a cereal bowl ? it's handy if you leave a thumb-sized piece at the end to hold on to.Cut out a hole in the centre to about 1cm from the edge, and you have a template over which to spread the mix. Keep it in a safe place with your pastry cutters for next time.

This is a bit of a version of a feuillette, but using thin meringue instead of puff pastry. I've used hazelnuts but you could use any nuts, or even a mixture; the same goes for the fruits.

The custard mix will make more than four spring rolls, so I suggest you freeze the extras for another time. If you can get hold of the red dessert gooseberries, it will give a good splash of colour.

You can use either fresh or frozen fruit to create this fresh version of redcurrant sauce to go with your Sunday roast.

We can really brighten up our desserts now the British berry season has begun. Planning pudding for a dinner all of a sudden becomes less of a chore ? we can add some natural colour to the bowls. And berries or soft fruits also liven up mains, of course.

Couch potato

I find it hard to say the word chablis without my mouth starting to water. While most chardonnay likes a touch of oak for texture, chablis doesn't need it. In fact its mouthwatering qualities derive from lack of use of oak in all but the grander premier and grand cru manifestations. Why is that? Thanks to a delicacy born of its cool location at the northern tip of Burgundy, chardonnay here reacts like the aromatic grapes of Alsace and Germany, preferring little or no oak to show at its bone dry, tongue-tingling best.

Pamela Druckerman lives several floors up on a lively boulevard in central Paris. At the door to the apartment she shares with her husband Simon and their three young children, the American author of French Children Don't Throw Food flits between one conversation, in French, with an electrician, and another with me, in English, apologising for the "chaos": "We had a sleepover last night, one of the kids was awake at 5am. I'm not in the habit of doing that for other people's children ? what do I say to his mum?"

Jaap Korteweg's butcher's shop in The Hague trades well on its retro stylings. Outside the old-fashioned glass-and-wooden shop front, there's a sit-up-and-beg delivery bike parked on the pavement and, next to it, the obligatory fibreglass black-and-white cow. Inside, there are marble worktops ? one with an old-fashioned meat grinder clamped onto it ? rustic blue and white tiles featuring vignettes of Dutch country life, a set of antique-shop enamel weighing scales and a wooden butcher's block, opposite which chiller cabinets are stuffed with chicken pieces, meatballs, mince and smoked bacon.

Oh blimey, it's that time of year again; my annual dinner with the highest bidder in The Independent's charity auction. I always find these blind dates a bit stressful. One of our generous readers has paid money to come out on a review with me. The restaurant had better be bloody good. And I had better behave myself.

The experts:

Sophie Morris is a seasoned pub-goer and food and drink writer (@morris_sophie).

Joanna Busk is features editor of 'Fork Magazine' (forkmagazine.com)

David Hancock is editor of 'Alastair Sawday's Special Places Pubs & Inns of England & Wales' (sawdays.co.uk)

Fiona Stapley is co-editor of 'The Good Pub Guide' (thegoodpubguide.co.uk)

Jackie Bates is editor of the 'AA Pub Guide' (theaa.com)

1.Marks & Spencer pinch pots

Leading charities have issued a grim warning to the world's top leaders meeting today for the G8 summit at President Barack Obama's country retreat at Camp David: their failure to keep previous promises is tipping poor countries into famine.

1.Marks & Spencer pinch pots

With his edicts on the exact temperature to serve Dom Perignon, lengthy tracts on the finer points of eating caviar, and his cavalier attitude to gender equality, it's no surprise that one reviewer took umbrage with James Bond in 1958, dismissing Ian Fleming's creation as pure "sex, snobbery and sadism". The reviewer may have found an ally in Tiffany Case, the beautiful gem smuggler in Diamonds Are Forever, in whom Bond confides that his ideal woman can "make Sauce Béarnaise as well as love".