The 20 best food books of 2016
Observer Food Monthly’s choice of recipe collections, reference books and all things food-related. Gift wrap them, or keep them for yourself
Observer Food Monthly’s book of the year 2016: Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler
‘I wanted to show the soft beauty of kitchen culture’: Stephanie Danler on how she went from waiting tables in New York to writing a brilliant novel
The best thing I ate in 2016
From a homemade birthday cake to wild pig in the Yucatán, the big names in food, including Nigella Lawson, René Redzepi and Nadiya Hussain, recall their favourite eating experiences of 2016
The great Christmas 2016 taste test
Observer Food Monthly’s cast of Dickensian players feast on the high street’s cakes, cheese and chocolates. Which are the best buys? And did anyone ask for more?
Roy Hudd: ‘I saw Dick Whittington and spent a fortnight on all fours impersonating a cat’
The comedian and classic pantomime dame on the secrets of stage goo and the joy of condensed milk
Temper, London: restaurant review
Smoke gets in your eyes at Temper, but it’s the sumptuous rendered meat that will make you weep, says Jay Rayner
A foodie’s tour of Aberdeenshire: it’s fit for a prince
Local holidaymaker Prince Charles has opened a restaurant near Balmoral, eastern Scotland, one of many showcasing the area’s superb fresh ingredients
What’s my cure-all for the misery of 2016? A big tub of ice-cream
Trump, Brexit, Bowie: it’s time for some serious comfort eating
Sambal Shiok, London: restaurant review
By day, it’s a pleasant north London café; by night Sambal Shiok takes over to become a red-hot pop-up laksa bar, says Jay Rayner
Sri Lanka’s best food and where to eat it
Chef Jon Lewin reveals his favourite places around the island for feasting on rich, dark, deeply flavoured curries of fish, goat, pork and more
A tour of New Orleans’ thriving restaurant scene
New Orleans has become one of the best places to eat in the US, with a thriving restaurant scene that’s doubled in size since Hurricane Katrina and driven by a new wave of chefs giving classic regional dishes a modern twist
The Jetty, Dorset: restaurant review
From your table at the Jetty in Dorset you can almost see your dinner swimming in the harbour, says Jay Rayner
‘Brooklyn is hipster Disneyland for some – but it has authenticity and heart’
Restaurateur Russell Norman watched Brooklyn change from industrial backwater to New York’s coolest borough – and took inspiration for his London restaurants
Why the macaron is a pastel menace
The macaroon of my childhood has been supplanted by its mimsy French cousin. How did it get so popular? After all, it’s little more than a table decoration
Alexei Sayle: ‘To buy a salad in the 70s you had to go to a kebab shop and chuck the meat away’
It’s not just takeaway food that’s moved on for the Liverpool comedian and diarist – now he’s cultivated a taste for roast grouse