Author Archives: billoldfield
The critical nature of restaurants
“Who does this Oldfield bloke think he is?” you might ask. An engineer writing about food is surely about as relevant as the pope pontificating about marriage. Ah, but here’s the rub. Do you really need to be experienced in something to be an expert in it? His Holiness will be surrounded by advisers full […]
Pea and wild garlic flower salad with goats cheese
You may have noticed that we’ve had some sunshine recently and that temperatures have crawled above freezing. This means spring is in the air and wild garlic is starting to show. And wild garlic is food for free. Excellent cooked like spinach but also great, raw, in salads. Also known as ramsons, wild garlic grows […]
Mackerel on toast with ramsons
You may never have heard of ramsons. But you might have heard of wild garlic and it’s the same thing. Purportedly named after being found on the banks of the River Irwell that flows through Ramsbottom, it’s also occasionally known as bear garlic or boar garlic because of those animals’ liking for it. I’m lucky […]
Fish stocks
Studies and surveys might drive you mad but they’re also a great source of inspiration; particularly for an aspiring columnist with few original ideas of his own. If I find myself bereft of inspiration for an article about food I only need to open a newspaper to read that there’s been a new study that […]
Ham hock pie
Last year I carried out an experiment to see if I could rise to the challenge of a local MP and feed myself for £18 a week. I could and so should we all but, unfortunately, most of us haven’t been taught how to whilst, at the same time, being encouraged to be more concerned […]
We all ate all the pies
In the words of the the mighty Monty Pythons: what did the Romans ever do for us? Roads? They just created congestion. Central heating? It’s over-used and has made us soft. Aqueducts? Hardly needed when there’s bottled water. Pies? What do you mean you didn’t know the Romans brought us pies? It may have been […]
Salmon and monkfish spring rolls
This week’s recipe isn’t necessarily in-line with our particularly British stance at the restaurant but it’s something I make at home and is surprisingly quick, easy and tasty I’ve used salmon and monkfish here but, because the fish is chopped up, cheaper fish can be obtained from the fishmonger, so it’s worth experimenting. It also […]
We should be ashamed
The debate about food banks bothers me. It’s a very emotional subject, rightly so, but there are aspects of the whole food bank subject that make me uncomfortable; and not just because people are suffering. The fact that we obviously need food banks is a very sad indictment on what we consider a modern, civilised […]
Seafood pasta
Sometimes I need a dish that’s just simple and fresh; certainly easy to cook after a day at work. Fish always falls into that category and while we know that fresh is best, fish freezes remarkably well. I’ve always got some in the freezer. The other day, needing a quick meal, I knew I’d got […]
Get the portion size right
So, how do we get fat? I always thought that it was fairly straightforward: you like your food too much, put an excessive amount on your plate and therefore shovel down more fuel than you’re actually going to use. As a result it then gets stored on your stomach and fewer members of the opposite […]
Bill Oldfield 