How to host a dinner party: Top tips to ensure guests leave happy July 24, 2019 My editor asked me to write about how to throw the perfect dinner party. But there’s a problem: while I host quite a few myself – and pull them off pretty well, I think – I don’t have much to compare them to. You see, nobody ever invites me back. Read more: Trisara hotel review [...]
Our resident chef Mark Hix on what to do with all that nice stuff you scoop out of your gourd October 2, 2018 It’s almost Halloween and we’re about to undergo a form of international mass hysteria, buying a shed-load of pumpkins, scooping out all the lovely edible bits, putting them in the bin and carving faces into the remains. Madness. Pumpkins and squashes are delicious, and they deserve better than being unceremoniously ditched in the name of [...]
Here’s what to do with your old watermelon skins, turn them into a watermelon preserve September 12, 2018 In South Africa, Waatlemoen konfyt is as normal to them as Branston Pickle is to us. I first came across this preserve in the Ken Forrester vineyard restaurant, 96 Winery Road, in Stellenbosch outside Cape Town. It was served with cheese and it was a completely new experience to me. Following on from last week’s [...]
Mark Hix on how to make an amazing watermelon and haloumi soup September 5, 2018 I’ve just got back from Kalkan in Turkey where my mate Robin Hutson, the man described by Forbes magazine as “Britain’s most influential hotelier”, introduced me to a wonderful pair of restaurateurs called Uluc and Claire Bilgutay. The Bilgutays own the Korsan Fish Terrace on the sea front and I couldn’t resist going in the [...]
Our resident chef Mark Hix comes out fighting over his early-season asparagus tips March 14, 2017 Last week we received our first cutting of asparagus from the Chin family up in the Wye Valley. They always seem to be ahead of the game with early asparagus, not to mention their second season asparagus in autumn – to my knowledge they’re the only UK producers working this way. I often get criticised [...]
Mark Hix says you should borrow some sugar beet from a friendly farmer March 7, 2017 Why don't we regard sugar beet as a vegetable like swede or turnips or parsnips or even its close relative the beetroot? It is commonly grown as a rotation crop in conjunction with wheat, barley and pulses, used to return organic matter into the soil and prevent the build-up of disease. It’s grown in some [...]
As The Ivy turns 100, chef Mark Hix recalls the dish customers would order without even looking at the menu February 28, 2017 Back in my days at Le caprice I inherited a dish called bang bang chicken which Chris Corbin discovered in a Chinese restaurant in Earl’s Court. He experienced a particularly disgusting example but with a bit of jiggery pokery it became a Caprice classic that never came off the menu (customers would order it without [...]
Our resident chef Mark Hix on why you should ditch bland supermarket salad for something red instead February 21, 2017 A lot of salad farmers grow delicious red, Italian winter leaves at this time of year. While you are probably familiar with the round and quite common radicchio, there are lots of varieties to explore, like trevisso, tardivo, trevisiano and, of course, red chicory, which all belong to the same family. My salad and vegetable [...]
Mark Hix on why ‘knob celery’ is the most underrated root in the supermarket February 14, 2017 When I first moved to London, certain unusual fruits and vegetables were referred to as “queer gear”. I suppose celeriac – or celery root, as it’s sometimes referred to by those who can’t pronounce it – falls into this category. (It also goes by the name “knob celery”, although this isn’t widely used for obvious [...]
Our resident chef Mark Hix on how to celebrate the year of the rooster in style February 7, 2017 I hadn’t realised what a big deal Chinese New Year had become in England until I tried to get a table in the Mayflower in Cheltenham last weekend. It was packed out and I had to call in a favour to get in. The weird thing was, there wasn’t a chicken in sight! Maybe nobody [...]