Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond, was born on this day (28th May) in 1908. To mark the occasion, I've prepared a rum punch inspired by a concoction known as 'poor man's thing' that Ian Fleming used to serve to guests at the end of their stay at Goldeneye, his winter home in Jamaica.
Papaya or pawpaw is a 'Bondian' fruit in more ways than one, and having one for breakfast is an easy and inexpensive way to experience the James Bond lifestyle.
How does a nation make the most of its food resources? How does it ensure that people have enough to eat? How does it keep livestock safe? These are the questions that Ian Fleming addressed in an article in the Daily Gleaner in 1948.
Rooting through my kitchen cupboards the other day, I found a long-lost packet of oyster crackers. Liberated from the Grand Central Oyster Bar, the crackers have a literary connection.
It's a trivial point to consider, but is the bread that Bond has in Macon in Goldfinger a baguette?
Readers may be interesting to learn that on my other Bond-themed website, James Bond memes, I’ve posted a short article about Ian Fleming, the unlikely conservationist.
Ian Fleming was ahead of the curve when it came to food: his James Bond books described dishes and food items, such as spaghetti Bolognese, curry and avocados, that had yet to be incorporated into mainstream culinary habits. To that list we can add garlic bread.
No, this post isn't about the Daniel Craig caper that so impressed the producers of the Bond films, but, rather, about the cake that's mentioned in 'Quantum of Solace', one of the short stories in For Your Eyes Only
A letter from Ann Fleming written on 30th December 1960 reveals that the Flemings spent Christmas that year in St Moritz, Switzerland. Reading the letter now, one is struck by similarities with certain passages in On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
During the summer, I went on an epic road-trip and retraced James Bond's route in pursuit of Goldfinger from Le Touquet on the north coast of France to Geneva in Switzerland, as described in Ian Fleming's 1959 novel.
