I have a gripe…If I hear one more person telling me women aren’t interested in either cooking on a barbecue or eating barbecued meat, I might have to throw a few (sucked clean) spare rib bones at them. Where does this sexist claptrap come from? Who doesn’t enjoy sitting in the garden on a sunny day, the smell of sticky charred meat permeating the air (followed by the eating of said sticky charred meat)? And it’s satisfying to do the cooking, too – especially if you’re experimenting with something different, like food editor Becks’s slow-cooked salt beef (July’s cover star), finished off to finger-licking perfection with a blast on the barbie.
As much as food is emotive and evocative, it’s a thoughtprovoking subject, and I was shocked when I read Daniel Tapper’s feature, How Pure Is Your Food. Did you know if you buy a jar of dried oregano 70 per cent of it might be other leaves? Or that the manuka honey you’ve forked out a pretty penny for might not be manuka at all? Turn to p78 and read what it’s all about. All the more reason to buy from respected, trusted brands where the provenance and quality are assured. That’s why delicious. launched our Produce Awards this year, the final judging for which is happening this month. Look out for the results later in the year. Great food is worth shouting about, and that’s one of the founding principles of your favourite food magazine.