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Category > Past
China Tea
Tea drinking and cultivation originated in China and for almost 2,000 years was grown nowhere else. Exactly when the Chinese First discovered the useful properties of the camellia sinensis plant is uncertain but by 200 AD it was undoubtedly under cultivation. In 1644 the first tea was sold to British merchants and over the next
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Category > Past
Not All Olive Oils Are Created Equal
An extra virgin is an extra virgin is an extra virgin? Not so. But before we venture any further, what is an ‘extra virgin’? In 1991 European lawmakers adopted what had been Italian standard regulation for almost a century: they designated as ‘virgin’ an oil obtained straight from the olive only by mechanical means, and
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Category > Past
Droplets of Blue Blood
Who would have known? Vinegar, created by an entirely natural process in which alcohol is turned into acetic acid, was once the wretched spoils of our home-made wine gone sour and the sad relics of the village winemakers’ failure. But here in Modena, in the heart of the region of Northern Italy that has given
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Category > Present
No label needed on the best organic food.
No label needed on the best organic food. Hedgerow Blackberry Blackberries Blackberries Organic Blackberry Jam PYO Pick British Labels Nick Henley Nick Henley wonders why Blackberries and so much other organic food remains unpicked – when it is free for everyone and enjoyabe to collect.
The Culture Surrounding What We Eat