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Image credit: congerdesign via pixnio I assumed that like in any fairytale, from the moment I met you, you’d be the one I could count on—whenever I needed you, you’d always be there. Before we were officially together—I remember the date, December 12, 2018—you would answer my messages even during the odd hours of the night […]
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Globally we kill 74 billion animals a year. 80% of farmland on Earth is used for livestock, where the process efficiency of fodder crop nutrients ending up in the meat we eat is horrifically low. The production of one kilogram of steak requires 15,000 litres of water and 15% of all our greenhouse gas emissions […]
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Image credit: Louis Thomas “This were all glaciers back in my day”, my fictional Neanderthal great grandfather grunts, racistly. “Of course, it’s not like that now – all these Homo sapienses comin’ over ‘ere, taking our flint”. The Palaeolithic diet has recently witnessed something of a resurgence, with its followers believing that a pre-agrarian diet […]
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Image: ‘The Muppet Christmas Carol’ Miss Piggy, Kermit the Frog © 1992 Jim Henson Productions Image Credit: Stephen F. Morley Christmas, that yuletide day of excessive eating approaches. With that in mind, I feel it’s essential to look back at some impressive Christmas dinner moments in cinema. Whether decadent or modest, the following examples are […]
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Hark! A bad take is on my phone, hiding amongst the inane family photos and endless graduation pictures of my Facebook feed – that can only mean I have read the recent OxStu piece on the Spoons Christmas dinner. The entire awfulness of the article is exemplified in the claim that ‘everyone can agree that […]
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Image credit: Louis Thomas Hark! An angry drunkard is outside, shouting at some smoking children – that can only mean that I am in a Wetherspoons on a Monday night in December. There is plenty to dislike about J.D. Wetherspoon – the characterless interiors of their “pubs” and its owner’s anti-EU stance being two which […]
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Photo credit: Theilr (CC BY-SA 2.0) When confronted with the question “Would you eat insects?” the average student shudders in disgust, memories of bush tucker trials flashing through their head. Indeed, most people in the West are reluctant to stray far from the pork, beef and chicken we are accustomed to – treating less conventional protein […]
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Image credit: Gresa Rustemi From November the 17th to December 22nd 2018, Oxford’s famous ‘dreaming spires’ provide one of the more atmospheric backdrops of any of the country’s free Christmas markets. Set in the heart of Oxford on historic Broad Street – surrounded by the Sheldonian Theatre and historical Oxford University buildings, the opening of […]
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Image credit: regan76 (Flickr) The similarities between making bread and setting up a time to talk to Ben Lebus, founder of the online food publishing company MOB Kitchen, are few; neither, however, prove easy. It’s almost apt that we finally find the time to call while I am faced with a cupboard as empty as […]
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Image credit: Andrew Foo After a recent fieldtrip, I and a group of friends spent a few days resting in the city of Kota Kinabalu, in Malaysian Borneo. It’s one hell of a place. Firstly, a number of bars provide all the liquid refreshment you may require. Secondly, the Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park provides […]
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Image credit: Gresa Rustemi. Description: a salmon fillet salad. Cafe CoCo is a quirky place; indeed, I’d say it has character. Some of the art in the cafe borders a little on scary, like the big sculpture of a clown in a bathtub. That I could do without, but hey, how many other cafes have […]
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Image credit: Serena Millen. Description: a mushroom-topped pizza. Situated at the Iffley Road end of Marston Street, you would be forgiven for walking straight past the little blue brick building which houses The Oxford Blue Pub. This newly renovated edition to East Oxford’s food scene is hidden away from the bustle of Cowley Road on […]
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Image credit: Gresa Rustemi. Description: a wide variety of colourful French chocolates and desserts on display. Pierre Marcolini, five different locations Pierre Marcolini is the sheer embodiment of luxury. Often one finds they have trouble reviewing a whole chocolate box, even if it’s only twelve or so, because they’re just so large and rich. Here […]
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Image credit: Hydrosami (CC BY-SA 4.0)- Description: Dry, cracked earth Food security is one of greatest challenges of the 21st century: by 2050, food production must increase by 70% to meet the demands of 9 billion people. Progress towards this target must occur in a climate with higher temperatures, more variable rainfall patterns and more frequent […]
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Image credits: Louis Thomas. Description: a pig’s liver in a bowl with a bottle of wine. Ancient Roman Emperors, before they were dulled by the influence of Christianity, used to have a haruspex to inspect the entrails of a sacrificed animal in order to predict the future. Checking for blemishes and the like. It would […]
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Image Credit: Hydrosami-Description: Dry, cracked earth Food security is one of greatest challenges of the 21st century. By 2050, food production must increase by 70% to meet the demands of 9 billion people. Progress towards this target must occur in a climate with higher temperatures, more variable rainfall patterns and more frequent episodes of extreme […]
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Recently I was bestowed the honour of visiting Shoryu Ramen, the Hakata ramen noodle specialists. This season they were welcoming one of Japan’s most popular characters, Gudetama – a lazy egg-based mascot in the vein of Hello Kitty – to Oxford for the first time by launching an exclusive autumnal egg-themed pop up menu for two […]
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Image Credit: Louis Thomas- Description-A plate of offal in a tomato sauce I came, I saw, I stewed a cow’s stomach lining in a tomato sauce for an hour. Few parts of the animal encourage quite the same revulsion as tripe. Even the name sounds unpleasant, with its alternative meaning being “nonsense”, it definitely needs a […]
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Image credit: Louis Thomas- Description-A plate of sushi Until recently, I foolishly assumed that once you go beyond Oxford Castle there is just the train station and then a blank space on the map labelled ‘here be dragons’. However, it turns out instead that here be affordable Japanese food. Inside, Sushimania is very modern and […]
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