Tom Parker Bowles: Forget turkey and pigs-in-blankets — the Christmas ham is the king of the yuletide feast
Ribboned with fat and gleaming with a clove-studded glaze,Tom Parker Bowles sings the praises of the succulent Christmas ham.
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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The award-winning cook who makes 5,000 Christmas puddings a year, every single one of them by hand
Kate Green talks to Wizz Gambier, the woman who lives and breathes Christmas puddings, in our series on the people who make Christmas in the country the joy it is.
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Are posh mince pies worth it? Four of the best on test, from Daylesford, The Newt and more
Do you prefer a zesty, fruity filling or a crunchy pastry topping? Amie Elizabeth White asked the Country Life team to assess some of the fanciest mince pies on the market — here's how they fared.
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Mushroom gin, Lego houses, and dull men and women, with James May
That bloke off Top Gear joins the Country Life Podcast to talk about making his own gin, how to run a pub, why dull men and women are anything but and why he hates the North Pole and suitcases with wheels.
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A Brussels sprout recipe that sounds completely bizarre, but will make you glad you didn't wait until Christmas to start eating them
Anyone for Brussels sprout spaghetti carbonara? No, really — wait until you try it.
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Champagne with fish and chips, and what to drink at Christmas with Oscar Dodd of Fortnum & Mason
Fortnum & Mason's wine and spirits guru Oscar Dodd joins the Country Life podcast.
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How to feel like the most important person at an England rugby game
The hospitality experience at the Allianz Stadium in Twickenham promises much. But does it live up to expectations?
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'Hotter than the hinges of hell': Tom Parker Bowles's 10-alarm chili
All will argue that theirs is the one-and-only true recipe, but when it comes to a Texas chili, tomatoes and beans are sacrilege
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What to get the wine lover who has everything? How about a 300-bottle barrel, a string of über-vintages or a wine that comes with a trip on a private jet
One of the most storied wine-producing families in Italy has put up a series of rather incredible bottles (and more) in Christie's impending fine wine auction.
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A huge bubbling, burping, living thing: The rise (and rise) of sourdough starters
‘We look after not only our recipes, but our starters themselves — the forces of nature that keep us all going’
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Best bar none: The London pub renaissance
Against all odds, the pubs of the capital are thriving. William Hosie raises a glass to their comeback.
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A cake with a surprise ingredient that's either a stroke of genius or 'grounds for divorce'
The best way ever to get one of your five a day, or a crime against baking? You decide.
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Curious questions: Where did Quality Street get its name from?
You sit there, devouring them all Christmas, and you didn't even think to ask, did you?
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'After one lunch, our server took £5 out of a tip we had left and handed it back to our gobsmacked four year old. He’s still talking about it': The best places for Sunday lunch in south-west London
Jo Rodgers tracks down the finest roast lunches in London's smartest postcodes to see you through the winter.
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Can a gentleman use food as an aphrodisiac? Tom Parker Bowles on mankind's search for the ultimate 'jiggy jiggy juice'
Tiger's penis, baboon wee, horny goat weed, snake soup — do any of these unusual dishes actually have what it takes to help the wannabe lothario?
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How to make three-cheese sourdough bread and a perfect winter-warmer soup to go with it
We'll leave it up to you to decide whether the soup or the sourdough is the star of the show in this pair of recipes...
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Salt of the earth: The secret history of the pub peanut
Having profited from the downfall of the oyster as a bar snack, the salted peanut itself is now in danger of being usurped.
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The strange tale of why margarine used to be pink
Margarine has been a staple of our breakfast tables for over a century, but it hasn't always had a smooth ride — particularly from the dairy industry, who managed to impose a most bizarre sanction on their easily-spreadable, industrially mass-produced rival. Martin Fone explains.
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The 1,000-year-old sweet chestnut tree you'll find in the Cotswolds — and what to do if you have a younger example near your home
Tis the season to roast sweet chestnuts.
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'A British comfort-food classic, it soothes and satisfies in equal measure': Tom Parker Bowles and the perfect cottage pie
A British food classic, the humble cottage pie–lusciously rich beef mince, topped with buttery, yet crisply tipped mashed potato–is guaranteed to sooth and satisfy in equal, economic measure.
