• Neil Sowerby
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I grow my own, brave the kitchen heat and know my woozy way around a wine list. Welcome to my post-lockdown world…

You may call it a blog if you must. It’s certainly a change of direction I’ve been putting off through years of journalistic hyper-activity. The lockdowns have made me reassess the food and drink I really care about. I feel refreshed and free of restraint. Even so. Please excuse the solipsistic sounding neilsowerby.co.uk. It’s not just about me. More the discoveries I want to share. Read more…

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Long may Grub keep the indie flag flying up on Red Bank

The atmosphere will be eclectic at the upcoming Red Bank Festive Trail, the only slightly off the beaten track antidote to the fake jollity and craven rapacity of Manchester Christmas Markets. As 2021 draws to its uncertain close it has never…
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I finally land on Mars (the brewery) in a fresh, fruitful mission to Sheffield

It has been an epic journey across time and space and I’m understandably nervous when I encounter a scribbled sign at the picket gate into the Brewery of St Mars of the Desert. Private function today? Shut by Covid scare? Phew. 'Please…

Fed zeppelins! How Lithuanians lap up new wave cepelinai dumplings

I’ve been taken to task for snubbing a potato dumpling. So cepelinai, I belatedly salute you. Russian pelmeni, Polish pierogi and all manner of Alpine/Italian cousins were spotlighted in a recent piece of mine on noodles and dumplings. Absent,…
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The Python of Penrhos – Terry Jones’ quest for the hoppy grail

There was a time when Hay on Wye was not the gentrified Borders outpost of Bloomsbury and Notting Hill it is today after 30 years of Literature Festivals. When we hung around there a lot in the Seventies it had become the burgeoning ‘Book…
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Brussels to San Diego – now cool sprouts sparkle at festive Bundobust

It’s that time of the year again when Bundobust is dangling its festive baubles, otherwise known as Sprout Bhajis. It’s a world away from all the crass foodie gimmicks of Christmas – pigs in blankets pizza toppings and the like, but then…
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Autumn is the season: quinces (the golden apples of Greek myth)

Bizarre though it may seem, when you next order a slab of membrillo to partner your Manchego at a tapas joint you are actually tapping into an English culinary wellspring that dates back to Tudor times and before. Quince paste, which we…
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