One of my favourite books is Grendel, by John Gardner (1971). The story is a meta-fiction of the Old English poem Beowulf. The novel follows loosely the same plot as the poem, but offers Grendel’s personal description of his war with Hrothgar and eventual, fatal encounter with Beowulf. The book runs through several philosophical themes…

Back in November I helped murder 21 beautiful geese. I did it in part because of my brother, Matt. We grew up together as vegetarians. Eating meat was always an option as our family were mixed veggie-meat eaters, but it was only I who turned to the dark side. During my teenage years it became…

The topics this week during MSc Gastronomy have been ‘The Evolution of Food Procurement’ and ‘Soil’. The content is rather well summed up by the topic titles. Food procurement has changed over the years, or ‘evolved’, with examples of every kind still in practice: hunting & gathering, foraging, and agriculture, all in various complementing or…

Leaves were being blown off the sycamores in Leith Community Croft this evening. The  drippy Autumnal vibe is tangible, daylength is shrinking at an alarming rate. For me this is the time of year signifying an educational sledgehammer to the brain. It also means the days feel knackeringly long – despite the aforementioned sunlight contraction….