• How to make tortillas and frittatas.
• Foods gone wild.
• The Plonk of the Month.
• The world of gastropubs.
• Who has the best hot dog in America?
• A review of Fast & Fit.
• Restaurants reviews: Village Grille and Cafe Italia.
• This week's recipes: Five Spice Lamb, Spicy Chicken with Orange-Mustard Sauce, Aromatic Couscous, and Lemon-Pepper Fettuccine with Asparagus and Shrimp.

At last the Times restaurant recommendations leave the confines of London and track down ten of the best pubs in the South East. One is just down the road from me in Marlow; I shall have to go!

1. Crooked Billet, Newton Longville, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire  "serious passion" [website]
2. The Anchor Inn, Walberswick, Southwold, Suffolk "1920's Arts and Crafts Adnams pub whose gardens are a real haven" [info]
3. The Cricketers, Clavering, Saffron Walden, Essex "an adventurous, frequently changing menu" [details]
4. The Cricketers On The Green, Weston Green, Thames Ditton, Surrey "new gastropub offering such well-sourced ingredients as Cumbria Ham and Coin Valley smoked duck" [details]
5. The Greyhound, Stockbridge, Hampshire "a super riverside garden with fishing rights for residents" [details]
6. Hand and Flowers, Marlow, Buckinghamshire "the cooking takes you into much higher realm. Respect for British ingredients gives the menu an edge - it's not often that every dish listed appeals" [details]
7. Hare Restaurant, Lambourn Woodlands, Hungerford, Berkshire "You'll find Mayfair style at this former country pub set in magnificent racehorse country" [website]
8. The Hinds Head, Bray, Berkshire "Don't expect gastropub wizardry at Heston Blumenthal's pub venture as he keeps the ancient building as the village local, serving traditional tavern food" [website]
9. The Sportsman, Seasalter, Kent "Hidden away on the fringes of the marshes, the Sportsman appears desolate at first, but inside the coastal light sweeps through an airy room" [details]
10. The White Horse, Brancaster Staithe, Norfolk "A stylish pub where the sea views from the conservatory dining room are beyond compare and the natural colours and modern artwork are complemented by the relaxed attitude of the staff" [website]

 

 

It could be argued that without the work of recently deceased British journalist Michael Bateman, food writing as we know it today would not exist. I like to think that it would have evolved of its own accord because of humanity's drive toward epicureanism, but I'm not so sure.

What I am pretty certain about is that without Bateman, Britain would still be more known for the roast beef and cabbage that comprised a meal when he started his food writing career in the 1960s, rather than today's gastropubs. In addition to broadening the British palate in general, Bateman is also credited with teaching the country that there's more to bread than the sliced white variety. His Campaign for Real Bread was one of many pushes for quality, nutritious food that he undertook in his years at The Sunday Times of London.