Theo Randall

Chef, restaurant owner

The good thing about this recipe is not just the fact it is so easy to make but the texture and flavour of a few spring vegetables. The pesto really finishes the soup off and with the addition of the cream, all the flavours are combined.

Stephen M. Baker

Digital marketing consultant, commentator for partially-sighted Brighton fans in spare time

Last week, cooking legend Delia Smith made some rather bold claims in the Radio Times; suggesting that people can't cook anymore and that TV shows such as MasterChef are intimidating, rather than inspirational. As an amateur home cook, food lover and cookery show watcher, I beg to differ.

India Leigh

Allergy-friendly vegan food writer, making it mainstream

There is a company that may very well be set to totally revolutionise the food manufacturing industry: come to the aid of the environment and improve our health. I met with the founder of Hampton Creek Foods, Josh Tetrick at his start-up company in the Soma district of San Francisco.

Shrimpy Balfour

Shrimpy Balfour is co-owner of the rainbo street food van, money from which goes to their Food for Freedom initiative, rescuing child labourers in Nepal

Something wonderfully and brilliantly provincial is happening in force right now in London: the Saturday market is back. Communities across the capital are ditching their local supermarkets, meeting likeminded neighbours and indulging in a lazy cup of freshly brewed coffee while they're at it.

Ben Falk

Entertainment journalist and author

You can feel the villagey nature of London's most expensive neighbourhood in the mews houses that surround it. But while I have a tendency to shy away from places packed full of financiers, the airy yet intimate environs of Michelin-starred The Greenhouse means it feels comfortable and even cosy.

Richard Stephens

Media and intellectual property lawyer at Capital Law

Belgian chocolate is renowned around the world for its high quality and skill. However, its brand does not actually benefit from EU protected status, and so any producer importing potentially inferior chocolates into the EU can use the word 'Belgian', even if the product is made thousands of miles away.

Thomas Woodham Smith

Creative Director of Masterpiece London

You know you are in a foreign country when you bite down and enjoy your first rooster testicle soup. Okay the rest of the rooster is in the soup too....

V.C. Linde

A foodie, reader, poet, crafter and PA.

The Forager's Kitchen is a very different approach than most other cookbooks and so it can take a little time to get your head around but it is both thrifty and a lovely alternative to the usual recipes that you see.

Sam Feltham

Entrepreneur & Health Activist

For the next 21 days I will be eating at least 5,000 calories a day! Using the conventional theory of calories in calories out I should put on just shy of 6kg of fat! My diet will consist of eggs, fish, meat, nuts and green vegetables.

Fi Bird

Forager, author of The Forager's Kitchen and Kids' Kitchen, wife of an island doctor and mother of six, mostly boys

Traditionally, country folk used flower blossom in syrups and wines, and more recently this practice has been taken up commercially, as fragrant blooms are captured in pretty, artisan bottles. The foraging experience can't be replaced, even if the syrup or cordial may now be purchased in a shop. The recipe is easy: steep the blossom in boiling water.

Rich Major

Entertainment and lifestyle expert, grumblinggourmet.com

In a city where authenticity and taste reign supreme, it's not unusual to see a Porsche or a new Maserati parked up outside an anonymous hole-in-the-wall diner known for serving the best Mao Shi Hong Shao Rou (Chairman Mao's favourite braised pork dish) in town.

Theo Randall

Chef, restaurant owner

This risotto is great when the asparagus season has just started. However, even though it can be very expensive, a little asparagus can go along way as it has such a deep flavour. You can make this risotto with a vegetable stock but make sure it's fresh and not made from a stock cube - the result will be much tastier!

Lucinda Bruce-Gardyne

Founder of Genius Foods and Food Expert

Cooking gluten-free food for the whole family isn't rocket science, it just requires a bit of thought and learning some basic skills, like how to substitute ingredients.

David Robertson

Whisky expert and investor, has worked at major distillers including The Macallan, The Dalmore and Highland Park

I helped sell a 64-year-old Trinitas from The Dalmore in 2010 for £100,000 and in 2011 The Dalmore Sinclair was bought in Singapore Changi Airport for a cool £135,000. I'm told that the buyer went on to drink it there and then.

Stephanie Holland

Marketing strategist, writer, aromatherapist and traveller writing a book on the road

"If you find yourself near Pike and Broadway before I see you, you need to try the fries at Pike St. Fish Fry," emailed my friend Erik, 46, from the Madison Park neighbourhood after I announced a long weekend in Seattle. Kind of a little weird that the only thing he mentioned was fries.

Dr Khandee Ahnaimugan

Medical doctor and weight loss expert

The underlying problem is that for women over 40, exercise ALONE is not enough to cause weight loss. This is not true for men. And it's less true for women under 40. But if you ask most women over 40, they will tell similar stories of exercise programmes that no longer delivered the goods when it came to weight loss.