How to make Baingan Bharta, spiced smoky aubergines
With gleaming skin and a plump, elongated shape, the versatile aubergine offers subtle, yet luscious succour in this Indian dish, says Tom Parker Bowles.
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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How to make scallops with sweetcorn cream and bacon
Ideal for a fancy lunch or a special supper, this dish makes the most of some lovely ingredients you might not have seen together before. Popcorn and scallops, together at last!
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How to make matcha and cherry mille crêpe cake
Melanie Johnson turns this season's cherries into three mouthwatering dishes.
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How to make a picture perfect blackberry tartlet with mascarpone, maple syrup — and a few chocolate hob-nobs
We all love blackberries — and you'll love them even more in this recipe from cooks behind Wild by Tart.
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How to make raspberry-and-pistachio choux Paris-Brest, perfect with a glass of rosé
Melanie Johnson makes the most of juicy British berries with these sweet recipes.
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How to make Richard Corrigan’s roast grouse and foie gras pie
As game season begins, we share a recipe from chef Richard Corrigan that makes the most of one of the most famous seasonal ingredients.
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The mouthwatering Victorian recipes that made Victorian cook Mrs Crocombe a 21st century phenomenon
Audley End’s Victorian cook, Mrs Crocombe, has become a YouTube sensation. Eleanor Doughty signs in for a lesson with her.
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10 of the best rosé wines for summer
For many, a perfectly chilled glass of the pink stuff is the taste of summer. Harry Eyres rounds up the best rosé wines you should be drinking this year.
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Seven wonderful restaurants across Britain that will make you feel like you're on holiday (perfect if you can't go right now)
Hetty Lintell and Rosie Paterson round up the best restaurants to escape to if you can’t get away on holiday, in London and beyond.
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Curious Questions: Who invented the bread maker?
Making bread by hand is rewarding, but inconsistent — unlike the stuff you'll get from a decent automatic bread maker. Martin Fone ponders how such a machine, with its artificial kneading, came into existence.
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Best summer gins for sipping on long, hot afternoons (or for drowning your sorrows on cold, rainy ones)
From floral and fruity gins to wines that you can drink without a pang of conscience, we've rounded up some of the best new drinks on the market, perfect for an al fresco drink as the height of summer approaches.
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Tom Parker Bowles in search of the perfect strawberries and cream
Plump, buxom, sweet, juicy and with curves in all the right places, the strawberry is the very quintessence of an English summer for Tom Parker Bowles.
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Everything you need to throw the perfect posh picnic, from luxurious wool rugs to ready-made cocktails
We're not saying that you'll need all these items for a picnic, but we can guarantee you'll want them.
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Still making your own sourdough and cooked-from-scratch curries? Great if you are, but help is at hand if not
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5 scrumptious strawberry recipes to make watching Wimbledon even better
A British summer without strawberries would be unthinkable.
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In praise of the humble pork scratching: Pub snack, aphrodisiac and catnip for film stars
Credited as an aphrodisiac and enjoyed by both film stars and pub goers, our love affair with the humble pork scratching is far from abating, says Rupert Ponsonby.
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How to make strawberry cheesecake with a Pimm's glaze, just in time for Wimbledon
Wimbledon, one of the great highlights of the British summer, is almost upon us — and that means strawberries and Pimm's, which come together beautifully in this recipe.
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How to make elderflower cordial and wine
The English summer is thought to start when the elder blossoms and ends when the berries ripen. Country Life recommends some recipes for this versatile plant.
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How to make Rick Stein’s Maryland crab cakes with tarragon-and-butter sauce
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Best Father's Day gifts for foodie fathers and thirsty dads
Father's Day is coming up on June 20, and a little treat will always be a winner. Of course, a big treat is even better... Toby Keel and Martin Fone pick out some of their favourite Father's Day food gifts.
