Author Archive

12
Nov 07

Nothing Vulgar About Beetroot

I think I’m going to start a campaign for a revival of the 19th Century name for the beetroot – blood turnip. It’s an infinitely more evocative name for a humble root vegetable that has hidden depths. Today, many varieties of Beta vulgaris are grown around the world, (when was the last time YOU ate a Burpee’s Golden or a Bull’s Blood beet?)


30
Oct 07

Of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Twenty-three years ago, for one hour a week in the six wintry weeks leading up to Christmas, I sat glued to a televisual feast of magic and mystery. ‘The Box of Delights’ was written by John Masefield in the 1930s and adapted for television by the BBC in 1984, when I was ten and living in the UK.