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With Chinese New Year just around the corner, I knew exactly what dish to share when Tom asked if I would contribute a recipe to The BIB Wine Co.

After my initial rabbit recipe for BIB wines, I though it worth introducing an antithetical vegan dish. Szechuan (so on point) and really very easy, Mapo tofu is a Chinese classic. Tofu may at first seem bland but actually it is delicate like porcelain and lends well to these punchy (chillies) and very umami flavours (salted black beans). You can knock this up in about 10 minutes. Serve with sticky rice and pickled or fresh cucumbers and extra chilli oil for those who are properly serious about spicy food.

The yearning for one more day of Indian summer is barely past, and yet UK shoppers are already being bombarded with commercial festive campaigns from cynical corporate marketeers. Surely we're not ready to see snowflakes and santas in shop windows before we've even packed away our swimwear for the winter?

(Lapin a la Cocotte) Rabbit is actually pretty easy to get hold of these days, and word has it that in the countryside you can get them for free from over-burdened gamekeepers. Here in South East London, I easily bought a whole one, jointed, from our brilliant butchers just last week, in an unlikely spot off the Old Kent Road. Light, like chicken, but definitely falling in to the game category, these cotton-tail friends make a welcome autumnal alternative.

Theresa May joined the long list of politicians advised to do the inadvisable when she danced her way to the lectern before her conference speech last week. It's pretty painful to watch, so if you've not seen it and are squeamish, it might be best avoided...