France

A vinaigrette (as well as the mayonnaise and the aïoli) is an emulsion. That is, a mixture of two liquids that are otherwise difficult to combine. In this case, that’s the vinegar, which is mostly water, with the oil....

This is the dough to make viennoiserie, risen buttery concoctions like croissants and pains au chocolat. It’s incredibly fiddly to say the least. One essential step: get the best — by which I mean highest fat content — butter you can find....

While there is some pleasure to be had in baking my own bread, I’d honestly be a lot happier if I could pop into a bakery in the morning and pick up a great loaf of professionally-baked bread every day....