When Britain's first major cookbook "The Forme of Cury" appeared in the 1390s 'cury' was the accepted word for a cooked dish coming from the French 'cuire', so by the time English merchants sampled their first spicy dishes in the sub-continent, the word had been in general use for over 200 years.
London Cocktail Week - the biggest drinks festival in the UK - starts on Monday 8th and runs through until Sunday 14th October, so get ready to shake, sip and party your way to a fantastic celebration of our capital's unrivalled cocktail culture. Once again, over 100 of the best bars across the capital will be throwing open their doors to offer £4 cocktails all week to those wearing a London Cocktail week wristband.
Bringing together Chocolate Week and London Cocktail Week, 'Choc Tales from Dean Street' is a chocolate and cocktail experience hosted in a stunning 18th century townhouse in the heart of Soho. On the 11th October 2012 Choc Tales from Dean Street will introduce you to an evening of pairing incredible chocolatiers with talented cocktail makers, with each room of this period property holding a unique cocktail and chocolate experience.
With just over three weeks to go Love Food Festival is busy putting together a carefully selected timetable of game cookery demonstrations that will empower people to cook with game, and shine the light on some lesser known but delicious ingredients. Cookery school 'Hendra Barns' will be bringing their very own butcher along to teach people how to prepare a pheasant and rabbit from field to oven, covering everything from skinning and plucking to choosing the right herbs and flavours.
How you ever passed by a chocolatier and pressed your face to the glass, hoping for a better view and dreamed of sampling some of the decadent delights on display. Or yearned for a glimpse into the world of chocolate making, where you can taste as you learn and gain insights into this wonderful profession. Well, now you can enter the secret world of high-end chocolate, hidden around the Capital, with Chocolate Ecstasy Tours.
On the last weekend in September we headed up to Tobacco Dock, Wapping for the 8th London International Tattoo Convention. Billed as "the biggest, best, most significant, and utterly awesome convention in the world" we went along to see just how awesome it was going to be - and to find out if there was more to this weekend than simply watching people get inked.
