Lifestyle

Mark Bittman, food writer for the New York Times suggests that cooking in beer is almost as good an experience as drinking the stuff. He says beer is a complex set of tastes almost the equal of wine as a cooking liquid. But, unlike wine, you can use beer in the same volume as you would water or stock. So what has this got to do with fish and chips? Read on, dear reader, read on ...

Jonno assists Mary with a stylish, modern contemporary home this week.

I received a call from Patricia, who visited a friend on a farm nearby and came across copies of Farmer’s Weekly lying on a table.

A question for the experts – does the shape of pasta actually matter? For this grizzled hack, it does. While there’s no appreciable difference in taste, the arrangement of butterfly pasta and glorious not-quite-orange langoustines, liberally drenched in a dense white sauce, makes a feast for the eye as well as the palate. And for those of us who may wrestle with the plate-to-mouth transport of spaghetti, the simple relationship between fork and butterfly pasta makes for a calmer dining experience.

Jonno helps a reader decide whether or not his house should have a tin roof.

The ingredient list is short and the procedure is straightforward. It’s a simple fact of good cooking: the better the ingredients the less you have to do to them.

Jonno designs an usually shaped retirement cottage for FW reader Rita.

Not everything cooked in a wok is Chinese. Here’s a unique combination of splendid tastes that give the beginner cook a ready-made reputation for excellence.

Chris and his associates invited me to see the proposed additions to their present development. I must say the waterfall site is one of a kind.

Cooking is an act of transformation greater than anything politicians can dish up. But sometimes raw food has its own special magic. Sushi, salads, even mayonnaise is eaten raw. Well, it’s about time braai mechanics douse their smokey fires and get into raw meat and eggs, and this is the way to do it...

Welcome to the unexpected all over again. Is this combination of extraordinary ingredients fusion cuisine at its best? Or just another good way to test the limits with a meal of astonishing quality and magnificent flavours?

A novel idea, limited space and a circular house, Jonno designs an octagonal structured house for Felix.