The end of January is the time of the year that estate agents, jewellers and car dealers get excited in London, because that is when the investment banks pay their bonuses. 2005 was a bumper year, with several enormous deals, so a lot of bankers have made a lot of money. Apart from those listed above, some of the main beneficiaries of the delighted bankers have been the swanky, central London bars selling champagne. According to The Times article, one bar sold 14 jeroboams of champagne on Saturday, each one costing £3,500 ($6,200). Now, apart from that being an obscenely large amount of money on extreme quantities of drink, it is very good news for the rest of us. It means there is considerable wealth swilling around the economy. Obviously, lots of money among a smallish group of people does pose some economic problems, but generally it is positive, most notably it means that the housing market will stay afloat. Overall, it means that economic confidence will be high. So while we recoil in horror at the size of the bonuses and the amount of money being spent on alcohol, we can take comfort that in some small way it will benefit those of us further down the financial food chain.

Whilst in the UK alcohol can be used as a measure of economic confidence, in the Palestinian territories it is being used as a measure of political confidence. Prior to last week’s elections for the Palestinian Authorities, many Middle East watchers had predicted that Fatah would win. They cited entrenched values, loyalty to Arafat and concerns about Hamas’ status as a terrorist organisation as some of the reasons why the incumbents would prevail. As we now know they were wrong. If they had wanted a better indicator of the political mood of the territories, they should have looked no further than the region’s only brewery. Taybeh has been brewing German style beer since 1997. Four months ago, it produced its first non-alcoholic beer and it had a green label. Green, the colour of Hamas and no alcohol meaning it could be drunk by observant Muslims. Nadim Khoury, general manager of Taybeh is clearly a pragmatic chap. However, such pragmatism might not get him that far. The article quotes a Hamas spokesman indicating they are not planning “to interfere with Palestinians’ liberty or freedoms”, but this is Hamas, can they be taken at their word? The case of other alcohol dealers does not bode well: George Christo Tarazi, who had his house burned down because he refused to shut his alcoholic wholesale business; The United Nations Beach Club, the last bar in Gaza was bombed on New Years Day. So whilst in one part of the world, a free market means that the champagne flows like water, in another fundamentalism might put an end to the meagre pleasure of a pint of cold beer.

I had thought there was no way cooking could be sullied by any such cunning. I was being naive. It seems that my fellow countrymen and women are lying about what they’re cooking - and I have the statistics to prove it. Even more depressing. is that it took the Government, arch spinners that they are, to reveal this truth.

According to the article in The Independent, one-third of 16-24 year olds regularly commit “food fraud”: they pass off supermarket ready meals as their own creations. The article goes on to say that 1 in 10 of the 1000 youngsters questioned, admitted to committing this heinous crime, when it came to ‘cooking’ their signature dishes.

Now hold on a second: I smell a rat.

How many people, let alone 16-24 year olds have signature dishes?

I’m assuming they haven’t just questioned attendees of the local catering college, but have made some effort to interview a cross-section of the population. Or again, am I being naive? Also, is it really that surprising that hardly any 16-24 year olds bother to cook? The government announcement and the newspaper article make out that this is something along the lines of “Teen Pregnancy Shocker”. But it isn’t. I’m not arguing that younger members of the community should not be encouraged to eat better, but pointless pieces of market research are not going achieve the desired outcome.

Rather, it has been shown that the Government in the UK is useless at improving the way our kids eat. It has taken Jamie Oliver’s Feed Me Better campaign to make a difference. The interesting thing about Oliver’s campaign, was that because of his high and positive profile, his expose of the crap our school children eat embarrassed the Government into action. It also forced at least one company, which sold salty, fatty school meals, out of business.

What I find particularly interesting, is that in another damned poll, Jamie Oliver was voted the most influential person in the UK. There’s not even a whiff of a Government minister.

Whilst strolling along the Left Bank of the Seine, on my way to an early supper at L’Atelier du Joël Robuchon, my eye was caught by one of the bookstalls that line the river bank. This particular one was devoted to menus. In my worst French and the stall holders’ worst English, I discovered that he sold original historic menus, including an Escoffier (dating back to his time at the Savoy); copies of historic menus, (for example the last meal on the Titanic) and contemporary menus. I was intrigued. Despite my habit of eating out, I’d never really thought of menus as commodities, let alone collectibles. My bag was already heavy from the weight of foie gras, paté, goose fat sausage and saucissons. I felt a menu might be the straw to break my back. But, it got me thinking and I decided that I would do my best to hold on to any future menus I laid my hands on. Unfortunately I forgot about my new resolution whilst tucking into Joël Robuchon’s mashed potato. However, when I went to Puglia a few weeks later, I did remember and kept hold of as many menus as I could. A habit I have maintained.

Apart from my first experience in Paris, I wasn’t too sure how many people asked for menus at the end of their meals and whether the restaurant thought this odd. I was therefore relieved to see Nicholas Lander, the Financial Times’ restaurant critic, write about just this subject, this weekend. Lander, keeps a box full of old menus, tasting notes and other restaurant ephemera, which he can delve into and instantly be reminded of his meals. I can sympathize, seeing the menu from Alle due Corti brings back the exact taste of the fave nette cu le cicureddhe. But as Lander goes on to say, the menus remind him of the events around the meal, for him the Fat Duck menu conjures up memories of the car journey after the meal, more than of egg and bacon ice cream. At first, this struck me as odd, but on reflection I know what he means. Looking at my menu for Galvin I’m primarily reminded of an icy walk through a deserted London. Although, my dessert of oranges and campari was an inspired end to a sublime meal.

Lander concludes that 2005 was one of his best ever eating years. I have to agree with him. True, I don’t have the three decades of professional experience that he does, but nonetheless it was a fantastic year for food. 2005 has been good to food lovers. Whether we’re talking about the opening of new and exciting top-end restaurants such as Dine, places to grab some food whilst at work, like Leon, or even the vast improvement of school meals, thanks to Jamie Oliver.

Lander ends his piece by praising San Sebastian, as the place that gave him more gastronomic pleasure than anywhere else in 2005. For me, it’s a tough one. I feel an urge to be loyal to London. I know my favourite suppliers, the best restaurants and the hidden gems - it’s my home. But in terms of absolute food pleasure, I think it has to be Puglia, Italy. The consistently high standards and sheer obsession with food and drink was something else: the market stalls overflowing with deep red tomatoes and knobbly lemons; the oozing buffalo mozzarella; the deep, cherry coloured wines and the endless hospitality of the locals added up to it being my number one choice.

I wonder what 2006 has to offer?

In the UK, food coverage, whether recipes or restaurant reviews, are generally saved for the weekend papers. There are exceptions, Fay Maschler in the Evening Standard (a nightly London paper), is widely regarded as one of the most influential critics and her articles come out on a Wednesday. There are other exceptions, but basically, us UK based food worshippers wait for the weekend for our visual fressing.

With the exception of the Evening Standard, the newspapers I’m going to refer to are all nationals - they can, in theory, be bought at any newsagent, anywhere in the UK. The papers are The Financial Times, The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, The Independent, The Evening Standard, The Sunday Times, The Sunday Telegraph, The Independent on Sunday and The Observer.

The majority of food writing falls into two categories: restaurant reviews and recipes/food porn. As I mentioned above, Fay Maschler is the Evening Standard’s reviewer. She has a reputation as the doyen of the London food scene, her reviews can by all accounts kill a restaurant. I’ve not known a restaurant to wither in the light of an onslaught by her, but according to ‘them’ it does happen.

Toby Young, has a weekly review slot in the Evening Standard’s Friday night magazine ES.

Nicholas Lander (Jancis Robinson’s - she of the vine - husband) is the Financial Times’ restaurant critic. In his Saturday dispatches he often takes a curve-ball approach to restaurant reviews. His articles tend toward the sociological and historical rather than critiques. Recently he’s looked at the trend of decent restaurants having decent beers on their decent wine lists, or the Starbucksisation (my neologism, not his) of Nobu.

Giles Coren at The Times is the joker of the pack. He takes a light-hearted approach to the review itself, although is clearly obsessed with food (he co-hosts the F-Word with Gordon Ramsay). Coren rates restaurants according to the provenance of their meat and fish, the quality of cooking and ‘other’ - which includes service and the cleanliness of the loos.

The Sunday Times’ critic is AA Gill. He is infamous for his double page reviews, two-thirds of which are taken up by any topic other than the restaurant he’s reviewing.

Jay Rayner at the Observer is often seen as a reviewer’s reviewer. He writes detailed pieces focusing largely on the quality of the cooking, rather than bitching about the trouble he had at the dentist last week.

Matthew Fort at The Guardian is also held in high esteem for his similarly sensible reviews.

Jan Moir struts her stuff at The Daily Telegraph and Terry Durack covers off The Independent.

As with the reviews, the best recipe sections can be found in the weekend papers. Old-school Rowley Leigh is a regular in the Financial Times; Heston Blumenthal is pimping his wares at The Sunday Times; Nigel Slater can be found at The Observer and editing the Observer Food Monthly, Gordon Ramsay does a weekly slot in The Times and Mark Hix is responsible for fressing at The Independent.

I appreciate this is only a fleeting glance and there are names that I have omitted (intentionally and unintentionally) but I shall address them over the coming weeks. Part of my brief here is to also look at food coverage in other European countries. My foreign-language skills are not the finest, so I shall be relying largely on translations or English-speaking papers. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.