Xanthe Clay

2 weeks ago | telegraph.co.uk | Victoria Moore |Emma Pryer |Arielle Goldstein |Xanthe Clay

If you've been shopping for fizz recently, you will have noticed newcomers among all the prosecco and crémant. A lot of newcomers. In the past few weeks, I've tasted sparkling vermentino from Australia's Strathbogie Ranges, fizz from Argentina's Famatina Valley, and bubbles from the shores of Lake Garda, to name a few. As a committed crémant drinker, I've approached these newer sparkling wines with suspicion bordering on hostility. It's clear why they are here.

2 weeks ago | yahoo.com | Xanthe Clay

Vegans, rejoice: plant-based Nutella is here. More than a year after Nutella’s parent company, Ferrero, registered the name “Nutella plant based”, the dairy-free version of the ever-popular toast topper and pancake filler launches officially in Sainsbury’s on 25 May – but eagle-eyed shoppers might spot it on the shelves already. Having bagged a jar myself, how would it taste? And how would it compare to the original?

2 weeks ago | telegraph.co.uk | Xanthe Clay

The vegan Nutella taste testFirstly, the contents of the two Nutellas don't look quite identical. Jar A (which turned out to be the vegan-certified Nutella Plant-Based) is slightly softer and a fractionally paler colour with a glossy sheen. The regular Nutella, jar B, is comparatively stiff and matte, with a fudgey looking texture. But both felt nicely smooth and sticky on the palate.

2 weeks ago | yahoo.com | Xanthe Clay

Who ate all the pies? Me. At the World Pie Awards, which takes place every year in Melton Mowbray, I’ve judged vegetarian pies, football pies and steak pies. I’ve done novelty pies (the full English breakfast pie was a mistake, mostly because of the baked beans) and wedding pies which included multi-tier, pastry-rose-bedecked creations, as well as a glorious “timpano”, the pie at the centre of the classic Stanley Tucci film Big Night.

2 weeks ago | telegraph.co.uk | Xanthe Clay

Who ate all the pies? Me. At the World Pie Awards, which takes place every year in Melton Mowbray, I've judged vegetarian pies, football pies and steak pies. I've done novelty pies (the full English breakfast pie was a mistake, mostly because of the baked beans) and wedding pies which included multi-tier, pastry-rose-bedecked creations, as well as a glorious "timpano", the pie at the centre of the classic Stanley Tucci film Big Night.