Planning guides: what is in season, which region to choose, and how to get there.
A flexible 3-day Lisbon food and wine itinerary: the Time Out Market and Alfama tascas with a food tour, a pastel de nata or petiscos cooking class with a wine tasting, then a Sintra or wine-estate day trip. Suggestions, not a fixed schedule.
What is a Lyon bouchon? The city's traditional tavern serving hearty Lyonnais home cooking - charcuterie, quenelles, saucisson and offal - with Beaujolais from a pot. The mères lyonnaises behind them, what's served, and how to spot an authentic one.
What to eat in Lyon, France's food capital: quenelle de brochet, saucisson brioché, salade lyonnaise, andouillette and tablier de sapeur, cervelle de canut and the pink tarte aux pralines - the bouchon dishes to order, Les Halles Paul Bocuse, and the wines to drink.
What to eat in Sorrento: gnocchi alla sorrentina, cannelloni and Gragnano pasta, Provolone del Monaco cheese, spaghetti alle vongole and fresh seafood, and the lemons behind granita, delizia al limone and limoncello - the dishes to order and where to eat.
What is limoncello? Southern Italy's lemon liqueur - the zest of fragrant Amalfi and Sorrento IGP lemons steeped in alcohol and sweetened with sugar syrup, served ice-cold as a digestivo. How it's made, the lemons behind it, how to drink it, and where to make your own.
A flexible 3-day Amalfi Coast food and wine itinerary: Sorrento with a food tour and limoncello, a pasta-and-mozzarella cooking class at a farm or cliffside kitchen, then a boat day between Positano, Amalfi and Ravello for seafood and coastal wine. Suggestions, not a fixed schedule.
How Paris cooking classes work: savoury market classes where you shop and cook a French three-course meal with wine, and pastry classes for croissants, macarons and éclairs. What you make, market vs studio, and how to choose.
How to do a Champagne day trip from Paris: Reims (45 min) and Épernay (1h15) by fast train, tasting at a grande marque house and a grower in the chalk cellars, with lunch on the Avenue de Champagne. A flexible plan and how to book.
Croissant vs pain au chocolat: the same buttery laminated dough, different shape and filling - the croissant is the plain crescent, the pain au chocolat (chocolatine in the southwest) wraps two batons of dark chocolate. What to look for and how to eat them.
Classic French bistro dishes explained: soupe à l'oignon, escargots and œufs mayo; steak frites, confit de canard, bœuf bourguignon and blanquette de veau; crème brûlée and tarte Tatin - what each is and how to order well.