Royal Scotsman, Scotland:

A busby-topped bagpiper, clad in full tartan, fills Edinburgh's cavernous Waverley station with Scotland's unique soundtrack. He's piping guests aboard the Royal Scotsman. It's just the first 'ooh-aah' experience of a once-in-a-lifetime trip.

Meals match the luxury of the train, the menu paced more to the expectations of the much-travelled than those to the manor born. They feature the best of Scottish fare prepared to award-winning standards. Guests learn to enjoy Arbroath smokies (smoked haddock, a local fish) and, of course, Scotland's answer to andouillettes, haggis.

One morning you might rattle past one of the best breakfast views on earth. Beside the tracks lies Loch Carron with the white houses of the tiny village of Plockton (setting for the TV series Hamish Macbeth) just blotching into the distance. Metres away the water is silky in the early morning light, while feathers of mist still cling to the nearest pine-covered hilltops.

Unexpectedly, this tour is not all on rails. There are many stops where a stylish matching maroon coach whisks you off to some nearby highlight - a distillery here, a castle there, a country estate elsewhere.

One evening guests tour the 13th-century Eilean Donan castle, a brooding former ruin, now restored and well-prepared to guard its promontory for another few centuries. In the distance you'll make out the graceful arch of the bridge to Skye and beyond that the mountainous wild Cuillins, mere shadows in the twilight.

For this train with a regal name, it's royal treatment all the way. Even to the places you visit. Read more....

Reims, France:

Long before the 17th-century Benedictine monk Dom Perignon shouted that he could 'taste stars' the night he accidentally discovered the process for making champagne, this region has been crucial to French history. For centuries kings were crowned at Reims Cathedral, more correctly called the Notre Dame de Reims.

Fifteen hundred years ago, Clovis, King of the Franks was baptised a Catholic here and the adjoining Palais du Tau features a 15th-century tapestry depicting this event. It takes most visitors some time to study the collections of crown jewels and robes, relics of saints, and even a fragment of Christ's cross - some say.

The Café du Palais in Reims, not far from the Cathedral has been here since 1930 - the fact is inscribed on the wine glasses - a family business with one of those Art-Deco domes popular in France. Indoors, you may still eat, canopied by sparkling stained-glass birds and clouds.

(pic: Wikimedia Commons)

As long ago as 1430, Joan of Arc and Charles VII were welcomed here by the local bakers and gingerbread confectioners. Try a dessert of Biscuit Rose de Reims, served with ice cream,absolutely delicious and entirely appropriate. These petal-pink biscuits were invented in the 17th-century. They are responsible for the word 'biscuit', meaning twice-cooked, which was coined when it was discovered that these crunchy delicacies were even tastier when allowed to dry out in the ovens, left to cool after baking them.

"Pink for the sweetness, powdered for the nobility, crunchy for the pleasure," locals describe these biscuits synonymous with Reims, and understandably the secret of the recipe has been jealously kept by Fossier, the company which in 1845, took over a small traditional biscuit factory, founded in 1756 under the reign of Louis XV, and began producing them commercially. Understandably they stipulate that they should be dipped in Champagne for the best effect! More about the Champagne region...

Rottnest, Western Australia:

Instead he landed on a small sandy island, home to little else but strange rat-like creatures that hopped rather than ran. Perhaps suspecting a little too much Christmas indulgence (it was December 29th) he quickly dubbed it rather unflatteringly 'a rat's nest' and left shortly afterwards. But the name stuck, Dutch-spelt as Rottnest, and those strange little creatures, quokkas, are still there today, friendly and cute enough to regularly tempt a bus-load of tourists into feeding them pieces of fruit.

From the air, a ten minute hop from Perth airport just 20km away, the 55 square kilometre island, shaped like a difficult jigsaw piece, appears bare and uninviting. Low trees melt into white sand, and the clay-coloured buildings of the island's main settlement at Kingstown, merge into the earth itself.

Perhaps it's the lack of vehicles on the island. There are some, but they are strictly for maintenance purposes - electricity, police, deliveries. The locals (around 250 of them) and the day visitors (up to 9000) get around on bicycles, adult-sized trikes or on foot. It's a healthy place to be if you're active as there are all the water sports you would expect plus tennis, golf and bowls.

Others come to study the abundant wildlife - 51 species of birds and 141 indigenous plants at last count, whales, huge coastal eagles and sea creatures. Then there are the wrecks and coral reefs offshore that beckon divers with the lure of beauty and, perhaps, Dutch guilders!

Thankyou Captain de Vlamingh. You may not have known a quokka from a rat, but you did manage to put Rottnest Island on the map. More about 'rat's nest island'.....

Rice:

Italy, in 1468, was the first country in Europe to enjoy this grain, although there are records of it being steamed in China from 800BC, although it had been used for at least 2000 years before that. Confucius, he say, that rice should be as white as possible. In some cultures the question 'Have you had rice?' merely means 'have you eaten?' In Japan, where rice is a standard of money, the Samurai are paid in it, and there are many shrines to the rice-god Inari. Understandably, spilling rice is considered bad luck in Japan. Australians are now consuming more rice and a wider variety. Whereas once we only ate short-grained white rice we now can choose between

• long and short grained white and brown rice,
• a quick cooking white or golden variety,
• arborio or carnaroli rice ideal for making risotto,
• fragrant jasmine and basmati rices which enhance Asian dishes, and
• black or white glutinous rice, which contains no gluten but merely becomes sticky when cooked.

Strangely, wild rice is not rice at all and is simply an aquatic grass seed native to North America. Another copycat is orzo, a rice shaped pasta. Rice provides excellent amounts of magnesium and niacin as well as other minerals, protein, fibre and zinc. Brown rice also contributes zinc and calcium to the diet. Boiling rice in large amounts of water, washing it, or frying at high temperatures may rob B vitamins from the grain. For this reason steaming rice or cooking as a risotto are excellent methods as the nutrients are protected.

When making a risotto, use a short hard grain such as arborio, and quickly saute the grains in a heavy pan then add a few tablespoons of hot stock. Keep adding hot stock to reduce cooling time until the rice is plump and tender but still holding its shape.

To cook brown rice easily: Place the quantity needed in a large pan, cover with hot water by about 5cm, cover and bring to the boil. Do not salt. Boil for ten minutes, then turn off heat, leaving the pan on the stove and let stand until needed. The grains should be tender, separate and fluffy.  Read more...

Rockmelon (or cantaloupe):

Cantaloupes, the other name for rockmelons, were first cultivated near the town of Cantelupe in Italy in the mid-l8th century. These are a summer fruit that add a delicious touch to salads, fruit compotes and cheese platters. Choose melons that have a definite sweet odour and do not smell mouldy or damp. Keep refrigerated and use within a few days. The flesh may be cut into wedges, scooped into balls or diced. An excellent vitamin C source and also containing vitamin A and potassium, rockmelons are a slimmer's friend providing a skinny 90kJ per 100gm. Related melons are honeydews, musk melons and casaba.

Read about a new variety....

Restaurant dining - the healthy options:

Eating out is a lovely idea. After all, someone else does the work (and they wash up too!) and it's a little time out to catch up with friends or family. BUT what if you are watching your diet closely. How can you eat out and stay on track?

Learn about which takeaway foods are the best choice, and when eating at restaurants, what are the best clues? Most menus have enough flexibility that diners can order foods to suit a lower fat diet, and here are some more points to watch.....