Spring cooking: Recipe for asparagus tart
Spring flowers and sparrow grass make a perfect spring-time Sunday luncheon.
Photo Friday: La Monstrosa – the Prado’s fat Spanish princess
The Spanish Habsburgs all looked alike - with some notable exceptions.
Photo Friday: Travel back in time to Victorian England
The blog author with Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in the Orangery at Kensington Gardens in London.
Gooseberry Fool
An improvised tart to celebrate spring – perfect for a Sunday lunch with friends. The...
Super Bowl Sunday party Along with Thanksgiving, Super Bowl Sunday is a venerable...
I enjoyed this piece by Matt on Abstract Gourmet about rediscovering fettuccine carbonara...
The latest post in my series on sustainable food in partnership with Chris Perrin...
Read More Posts From Gooseberry Fool
Roaming Tales
Madrid, Spain; October 2008 I stumbled across his pair of oil paintings upstairs...
Dear Airlines, You are in the business of transporting humans through the air. Humans...
London, UK; May 2009 / 19th century Discovered – a rare colour photograph of...
This is part 5 in my series on our California Highway 1 road trip. Big Sur country...
Read More Posts From Roaming Tales
Professional articles
A matrilineal, Islamic society in SumatraLife is changing for the Minangkabau people of Sumatra, Indonesia, reports Caitlin Fitzsimmons The emerald terraces of the rice paddies stretch to the edge of the valley, bordered by sheer cliffs and a fringe of dark green forest. A makeshift tent is perched at the edge of the fields, almost swallowed by the dramatic landscape. Inside, Yuna kneels... [Read more of this review]
7 Seconds with Youssou N’Dour
My interview with world musician Youssou N’Dour at his home in Dakar, Senegal in May 2007. You have just come back from New York – what were you doing there? “I was invited by Time magazine. Every year they nominate the 100 most influential persons around the world, sometimes artistically or politically. I was there with my band,... [Read more of this review]
Coffee in Nicaragua
Caitlin Fitzsimmons explores the coffee country of Nicaragua – the ‘land of lakes and volcanoes’. On the old coffee farms of Nicaragua, some things never change. The farmer, a cowboy hat on his head and a whip in hand, rides his horse. The giant wooden water wheels mill the ripe coffee cherries. The farm hands break for ‘cafe... [Read more of this review]
Close encounters with Arctic wildlife
Travel article for Australian Women’s Health on a kayaking trip to Spitsbergen in the High Arctic in 2006. By Caitlin Fitzsimmons The seal reclined on the ice floe, its stumpy flippers looking slightly ridiculous against its tubby body. We stopped paddling and let the kayaks glide in silence for a closer look. The seal lifted its head and then... [Read more of this review]
Secret Singapore
By Caitlin Fitzsimmons Singapore feels on first acquaintance like a tropical version of Legoland. Despite the steamy heat and Asian faces, it’s hard to escape the impression that we have been transported to the set of the Truman Show, that Jim Carrey movie where an entire city has been created for television. Skyscrapers of chrome and glass dominate... [Read more of this review]
Coffee in Tanzania
By Caitlin Fitzsimmons There are few places on earth more steeped in myth and romance than Kilimanjaro. In ancient times, the tribes living on the volcanic slopes below told stories of demons and evil spirits guarding fabulous treasure. One tale has an ancient chief Mawenzi sending his younger brother Kibo, both the names of two of Kilimanjaro’s... [Read more of this review]
Coffee in Uganda
By Caitlin Fitzsimmons Many hundreds of years ago the fearsome warriors of Uganda chewed on the coffee bean before going into battle. Coffee grew wild in the thick rainforest that blanketed the lands north of Lake Victoria and chewing the bean was believed to confer strength and invincibility. Today coffee is no less important for Uganda and its people. This... [Read more of this review]
Read More Posts From Professional articles

