Spices are magical. A pinch of chili pepper, a dash of ginger, a bit of curry and some peppercorns are enough to flavour the humblest of dishes …

Summer the perfect time to trim our bikini body. Bye-bye sad diets, hello organic, healthy, eye-pleasing and eco-friendly cuisine. Test these simply sublime recipes. Try and use organic fruits and vegetables.

Next time you serve tea, impress your neophyte guests by explaining that the quality of tea depends on knowing which leaves to pluck, how and when to do it. Tea is harvested all year round, but different seasons bring different flavours.

Dustbins are overflowing with one third of our food, of which only 20% are unfit to eat.And not only is this not economical, but it is also inefficient and environmentally damaging. Climate change prevention starts in your plate. Celebrity chefs decided to spread the word. They call themselves Zero Food Waste Warriors.

All teas can be flavoured with flowers, fruit, spices, chocolate or smoke like Lapsang Souchong.You can make your own by adding cardamom or vanilla pods, dried apple peels, rose petals, citrus peels, etc. to teas you find a little bland. This will boost them with extra aroma and added health benefits.

According to a French proverb, saint Anatole’s day (July 3rd) is happy jamming day. Bring out your best jam pan, preferably wide rimmed and, according to specialists, made of copper. Why? Because cooking fruit releases pectin from the cells and copper encourages the molecules to coalesce, joining together to form a web that holds all of the fruit juices together.

To start with, we are going to tell you a Chinese top-secret well-kept for centuries: there are only six tea varieties and they all come from the same plant.Depending on how they are processed, the leaves will become white tea, green tea, black tea, yellow tea, blue-green tea (Oolong or Wulong) or dark tea (Pu’erh). This is only known since the 19th century, thanks to Robert Fortune, spy extraordinaire and tea thief at the service of Her Most Gracious Majesty Victoria.

How many sailors, how many captains have blessed le saucisson du marin? Served with the aperitif, it’s a sure hit. But this magnificient saucisson is also a swanky accompaniment to most savoury dishes. So let your hair down and dare new food pairings.

Most countries welcomed the rice pudding with open arms and made it their own speciality by adding different spices, raisins, almonds, pistachios and other nuts, fruit, caramel, rosewater, chocolate, etc. May be because it is easy to make, homely and not terribly expensive. The secret to make it unforgettable is the quality of the ingredients you use.

Raymond is dying for a brandade de morue! The problem is finding salt cod. Not exactly the most appealing of fish, stiff as a board, smellier than old socks and at the antipodes of convenience food. The long soaking it needs, before you can cook it, spoils any spur of the moment culinary creative impulses.But don’t despair, for there is a shortcut to the long and tedious desalting process. Try Stephan’s secret recipe.

Fruit and vegetables do wonders for a glowing skin and radiant health, but not the pesky pesticides that go with them. These non-gratae don’t do us any good, not even in tiny doses. Studies show that the problem, even more so than the amount itself, is the pesticide exposure frequency. Over time, even in minute quantities, they are detrimental to our health and beauty.When possible, buy organic; if not, wash and peel all peelable nonorganic candidates. As for the others – such as salads, red fruit or grapes – they have to be thoroughly washed with the usual favourites, famed fighters of all undesirables: Soda bicarb aka baking soda, white vinegar and 3% hydrogen peroxide.

From The Bible to The Kama Sutra, and The Perfumed Garden, the concept of boosting sex appeal with plants went viral. Various studies today confirm that a number of them actually work, in different ways, to arouse you.A small amount of chili, ginger, curry and a few pepper corns are enough to flavour the humblest dishes and transform them into an explosion of savours, totally turning your taste buds upside down.

Getting into the arms of Morpheus, no matter how much you relish it, is not as easy as it used to be. Gone are the days when it happened naturally, without even thinking about it. Forget about counting sheep. Ditto for drinking hot cocoa or chamomile and sniffing lavender. They all fail miserably to send you to snooze city. You keep tossing and turning and when you finally fall asleep, it’s time to get up and you feel wasted.The good news is that a divine dark red liquid could change this…

For Halloween, get Raymond to scoop one out, and while he supervises the carving of the Jack-O-Lantern, concoct a devilishly divine velouté. And for starters, toast the seeds.

According to psychologists, those post-vacation strike savagely and indiscriminately. So how can you prevent post-trip doldrums from turning into a real bout of depression? Delegate some of the chores to Raymond, keep fit, start planning your next holiday and prepare some of the scrumptious sunny dishes you ate while you were away...