Tibet:

Tibet has long been a region of mystery. High on the Tibetan plateau, it seems a different world, somehow. While there has been much turmoil, butter lamps glow again now in monasteries throughout the country. Incense rises and the muttering sing-song om-chants continue, scarcely missing a beat. Maroon and saffron-robed monks pace the corridors while tiny novices hunch over their lessons, eager to do well lest they be reincarnated as a hungry hound wandering aimlessly in the dusty temple grounds.

The scenery varies from pine forest rich with rhododendrons to bare sparse country where the houses are created from the local soil. Icy streams flow through them and you can only imagine how cruel the winters are.

Lhasa, the capital is the magnet for pilgrims and tourists. The mighty Potala Palace is central to Tibetan Buddhist belief and prayer flags flutter from rooftops. On country roads leading to the capital you may see pilgrims travelling the most gruelling way - prostrating themselves, then rising, moving up to the hand-print, prostrating again, then rising up still yet-again. A million stony body-lengths to Lhasa. Or more. In the capital itself there are dozens, hundreds, in slip-sliding prostration at the doorway of the major temple. Read more....

Trastavere:

You notice the difference as soon as you cross the Tiber. Rome is ancient, for sure, but Trastevere - literally 'across the Tiber' - is elderly, certainly, but with a nonchalance that contrasts sharply with the swagger you will often find in Rome proper.

There is a relaxed air to this village-within-a-city. Gypsy girls cadge around tourists as they walk through the main square; amateur artists try to capture the essence of the first Christian church in Rome, the third-century Santa Maria in Trastevere, on canvas; and a mound of oranges glow outside a restaurant where the waiters are setting out chairs and tables in the sunshine. At another cafe, newspapers half hide the tiny tables, and the smell  of irresistibly good coffee will draw you in.

Raphael was a fan of this neighbourhood. He courted the baker's daughter here, and at the Villa Farnesina you will see some of his frescos. From the Piazza Garibaldi, where there have been gardens from Caesar's times, you will get one of the best views of Rome. The original wild Italian grape grows only here, no doubt part of the stock from Imperial times, when this whole area was the centre of a large wine industry. The local tongue persists too, with some older people still refusing to speak Italian, preferring pure Roman as their language.

Ask a dozen people who have visited Rome 'Have you been to Trastevere?' Chances are most will say no, yet it is a comfortable twenty-minute walk down the riverside from the Vatican and hardly more from the Colosseum. The streets are jumbled, but green havens around various massive villas give it space. Read more...

Terra Madre, Northern Italy:

The date has been set for Terra Madre, the huge food bi-annual event in northern Italy organised by the Slow Food movement later this year in Turin, Italy, October 25-29. Watch the short video teaser of this unmissable occasion that will tell the story of the extraordinary diversity of food across all continents. Watch a YouTube video of the event.

Toby's Estate:

Toby Smith, the founder of this premier coffee roasting business is a down-to-earth guy who loves getting out and sourcing the best and fairest-priced coffee on the planet. In addition to the company's five cafes, its coffee is now used in hundreds of other cafes across the country.

His book Coffee Trails, released in September, 2011, paid tribute too to the coffee growers he has met and become friends with in 11 countries all over the world, and whose passion has inspired him. "We are the privileged ones," he stated, " to get to use and drink these coffees." Read more and see video...

Tea:

Tea, according to Mark Twain, was 'an affront to luncheon and an insult to dinner', but the Japanese say 'he has no tea in him' to describe a lacklustre, dull person.

The Chinese have used it in medicine for 4000 years referring first to it in 350AD, but it did not arrive in Japan until 850AD, and in Europe even later via the Dutch East India Co in l609. It was the 'divine leaf' to the Greeks, Louis XIV's physician treated the royal headaches with it yet the most important advance, the tea-bag, was not developed until l904.

While many people believe that drinking a cup of tea is cooling, the reverse is true. It actually heats you up, causing you to perspire, which as that cools, makes you feel less hot again.

Tea originally came, some say, from the torn-off eyelids of a Buddhist saint who so maimed himself because he fell asleep after two years of sleepless meditating. While that may seem an incredible feat, he was disappointed because he had planned on ten!

Called 'queen of the camellias', yet denounced as a 'filthy custom' by Sayville in l678, tea supposedly was discovered when some dried camellia thea leaves fell into the cauldron of Emperor Shen Nung of China in 2737BC. He was delighted that it helped him stay awake and tea became synonymous with China from then on.

Last century tea-clippers raced from China to England with their precious cargoes and excited national interest, rather like a l9th century World Cuppa, yet even today we consume around 1kg each every year.

While some argue the caffeine content (around half that of coffee) is a hazard, others find benefits such as its relaxing effect and diuretic properties. For those with a sensitivity to caffeine, there are several low-caffeine teas on the market, or they may wish to switch to herb teas.

Tomatoes:

Tomatoes, unlike strawberries that taste better with pepper, actually are enhanced by sugar.

Introduced into Spain in the l6th century, they were not eaten for a couple of hundred more years, because people thought they might be poisonous. They loved the look of them though and used them for decoration.

Originally they were small and yellow and called pomo d'oro or apple of gold, and red tomatoes were not discovered for some time. Tomatoes (but for some reason they must be freshly picked from the bush) are supposed to be aphrodisiacs.

At one stage tomatoes, because of their supposed powers, were forbidden to women. On the strength of this, the French (of course) translated the Italian name for tomato - pomo d'oro , or apple of gold - to pomme d'amour, apple of love!

Yet another member of the nightshade family, tomatoes are now almost universally loved themselves. Their nutrition is good too - great vitamins C and A - and although technically a fruit, they are used mostly in savoury dishes.

Although tomatoes are now available year-round, they are best in late summer. Look for cheap lots of ripe fruit to makes chutneys and sauces or halve them and sprinkle with a little salt, sugar and oil. Bake them in a moderate oven, basting occasionally, for about two hours until collapsed and darkening. Store in the oil in a jar in the refrigerator and use as you would sundried tomatoes.

Tomatoes are easy to skin too. Just nick the base and pop them whole into boiling water for a minute, then straight into cold water. The skins will slip off. There are many varieties of tomato paste available, and all will deteriorate quickly after opening. Either transfer the remaining paste to ice cube trays to freeze, or look for the paste in tubes, or the granulated variety.

Toppings:

Pooh Bear craved 'a little something' and often we do too. A little something to top off our dessert, muesli, icecream, pancakes or fruit. yet the sad fact is that often our favourite 'somethings' are loaded with sugar and fat that weight watchers and sensible eaters alike are justly wary of.

Compare these per tablespoon:

Icecream syrups average 190 kJ

Hot fudge may go as high as 345kJ

Maple syrup is around 270-315kJ

Pancake syrup is 295kJ

Ice Magic is 575kJ

Cream supplies 440kJ

Roasted nuts are about 250kJ

Honey yields 300kJ

And be honest - who stops at just one tablespoon!

Here are some lower kJ alternatives with their rates per tablespoon, unless otherwise stated:

Dry roasted or raw nuts are about 170KJ

Desiccated coconut - dry toasted            180kJ

Passionfruit pulp, unsweetened            20kJ

1/2 banana mashed with orange juice around 150KJ

Skim flavoured yoghurt 69kJ

Regular flavoured yoghurt 79kJ

Plain non-fat 50kJ

1/2 kiwi fruit pureed 80kJ