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Olivia Potts

Olivia Potts

The Spectator

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How Linzer torte stood the test of time

Linzer torte has quite the claim to fame: some assert that it’s the oldest cake in the world; others that it’s the oldest to be named after a...

18.04.2024 6

The Spectator

Olivia Potts

The vintage chef / Tricky but delicious: how to make the perfect pretzels

My husband is obsessed with pretzels. The joy that a slightly warm, soft baked pretzel brings him is disproportionate. And, unlike in Germany and the...

04.04.2024 10

The Spectator

Olivia Potts

Books / You are what you don’t eat

If asked to think about food preservation for a moment you might picture an aproned woman boiling oranges for marmalade in a large copper maslin pan;...

15.03.2024 6

The Spectator

Olivia Potts

The vintage chef / ‘Delicious, not glamorous’: how to make a pot roast

A pot roast is probably the antithesis of glamorous cooking. But that’s also sort of the point. For as long as we’ve been cooking meat, we’ve...

09.03.2024 8

The Spectator

Olivia Potts

Chelsea buns are the best of all buns

The Chelsea bun was first baked in the Bun House in Chelsea in the 18th century. It was a bakery which found particular favour with the Hanoverian...

22.02.2024 5

The Spectator

Olivia Potts

The vintage chef / Why terrine is the perfect Christmas starter

When you’re planning Christmas, the big event is the easy bit. No, hear me out. It’s obviously a production – a feast! – more of an exercise...

09.12.2023 6

The Spectator

Olivia Potts

Books / No nonsense in the kitchen

I rather bristle at newspaper column collections. They strike me as a bit lazy, a cheat’s way of getting another book under the belt, often just in...

24.11.2023 2

The Spectator

Olivia Potts

Vintage Chef / How doughnuts took over my life

For almost a decade, doughnuts ruled my life. When I first began baking professionally, I fell into doughnut-making. It was entirely my own fault:...

23.11.2023 6

The Spectator

Olivia Potts

The vintage chef / Be prepared to wait: how to make French onion soup like the French

Let me be clear: this week’s recipe is not a speedy little number. You can’t knock up a French onion soup for a quick supper. It’s not a...

09.11.2023 3

The Spectator

Olivia Potts

Dark, bold and perfect for autumn: how to make the perfect honey cake

I did not plan to cook a loaf cake when I embarked on concocting a traditional honey cake recipe. The original plan was to explore the Russian honey...

26.10.2023 4

The Spectator

Olivia Potts

Glorious and nostalgic: how to make corned beef pie

A few weeks ago I was at the super-market juggling a toddler, several heavy bags and, it transpired, no pound coin to insert into a trolley. A kind...

12.10.2023 6

The Spectator

Olivia Potts

The timeless beauty of a French apple tart

There is, as the saying goes, more than one way to skin a cat. The same could be said – although rather more appealingly – about the number of...

28.09.2023 20

The Spectator

Olivia Potts

My two tips for perfect aubergine parmigiana

In the middle of an unpredictable Indian summer, here is a recipe from sultry southern Italy which is suitable for the changing seasons. While...

14.09.2023 10

The Spectator

Olivia Potts

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