How to make the simple leek into a sumptuous supper, the Tom Parker Bowles way
Leeks can spice up a simple soup or make a fine accompaniment to foie gras. We take a look at a recipe which is as simple as it is delicious.
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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Curious Questions: How did the tea bag take over from loose leaf tea?
Fifty years ago, only three per cent of Brits used tea bags. Today, only three per cent of us don't. Martin Fone takes a look at how tea bags took over the world.
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How to make proper Italian pizza in the back gardens of Sussex
Our weekly recipe slot this morning isn't so much a recipe as a method: how to make real Italian pizza at home, with bubbling golden dough, perfectly soft and smoky.
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Curious Questions: Why is gin flavoured with juniper?
The prickly juniper bush has been in decline for decades, a worrying development at a time when gin is soaring in popularity. Vicky Liddell takes a look at the history of this fascinating plant, and discovers that it's making a comeback on Surrey’s North Downs.
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A Drink for All Seasons: Five fine alcohol-free tipples to see you through Sober October
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How to make stuffed butternut squash with bangers and mash
When autumn arrives, it brings with it the most amazing excuse to eat comfort food.
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A Drink for All Seasons: Oktoberfest at home, honey beer and the nearest thing you'll get to drinking a cake
This time of year usually sees hundreds of thousands of people descend upon Bavaria to celebrate — er, well, we're not quite sure, but at any rate they drink lots of beer. So what better time to take a look at some of the best new brews on the market?
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How to make perfect sloe gin
Follow our perfect sloe gin recipe to make the best sloe gin in preparation for your local opening meet.
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The Utterly Inessential Shopping List: The ultimate face mask, salvation for bored dogs and saving the world, one coffee capsule at a time
Well all be wearing face masks for a long time yet, so in a shockingly topical twist to Utterly Inessential we have one that fits the brief of design-overkill quite magnificently — as well as our usual mix of wonders. Victoria Marston is your guide.
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A Drink for All Seasons: The world's prettiest gin bottle, plus four more gins ideal for Autumn
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How to make Shaun Rankin's award-winning treacle tart
As the nights turn in and the weather cools, you'll be needing some comfort food. And nothing ticks that box better than treacle tart.
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Curious Questions: Was there a real Granny Smith who first cultivated the apple that bears her name?
Martin Fone crunches into a tart, crisp apple and ponders a question: who was Granny Smith? And did she really discover the apple that's named after her?
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Under the dome: The Willow Tree restaurant's innovative approach to post-coronavirus dining
The Willow Tree in the Cambridgeshire village of Bourn has a novel way of letting people enjoy a meal out in splendid isolation. Dean Usher paid a visit.
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A Drink for All Seasons: One man's mission to create a better non-alcoholic wine, by a self-confessed 'liquid Willy Wonka'
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How to make perfect porridge
Porridge is as simple a dish as there is, yet there are dozens of ways to take it from good to great — or, as Goldilocks would have it, from a little too much of this or that to just right. Emma Hughes investigates the dish and speaks to three chefs to get their tips for perfect porridge.
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How to make Montezuma's chocolate and hazelnut cake
A chocolate cake that looks as good as it tastes – though if you get around to decorating it before cutting a slice, you've more will power than we have.
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Raymond Blanc: 'When I first came to England, I was frightened. The butchers here weren’t simply butchering the food — they were murdering it twice'
Buying local, seasonal produce isn’t merely a charming notion. It’s a philosophy with the power to save our communities, our health and the environment, urges top chef Raymond Blanc. Photographs by Daniel Gould.
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How to make Tom Parker Bowles' mackerel with potatoes and bay
Tom Parker Bowles admits he’s a terrible fisherman — and that’s why he loves mackerel. Not only are the easy to catch, they’re better the fresher they’re eaten — he shares his tips and his favourite mackerel recipe.
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How to make Shaun Rankin's grouse with blackcurrant and celeriac puree
Shaun Rankin, chef patron of Grantley Hall in the Yorkshire Dales, shares a truly special grouse recipe, with these birds having just come into season.
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How to make carrot and honey cake with mascarpone honey icing
Proof that, even when the sun is beating down and the mercury is working its way towards 100 degrees, it's never the wrong time for cake.
