https://thelambandquill.com Being a Periodical Account of Old Books, Good Food, & Strong Drink. Conducted by Sir Lushington, with contributions from Professor Quarto & The Trencherman. en-gb © 2026 The Lamb & Quill. All observations and opinions are those of the contributors alone. sir.lushington@thelambandquill.com (Sir Lushington) Fri, 28 Mar 2026 12:00:00 +0000 https://thelambandquill.com/favicon-192.png https://thelambandquill.com https://thelambandquill.com/boswell-johnson.html https://thelambandquill.com/boswell-johnson.html Fri, 28 Mar 2026 12:00:00 +0000 Professor Quarto From the Library It is a truth insufficiently acknowledged that the greatest biography in the English language is, at bottom, a record of dinner conversation. Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson derives its immortality not from the bare facts of Johnson's career — which were, by any conventional measure, rather more turbulent than triumphant — but from the astonishing vitality of the man's talk. https://thelambandquill.com/defence-of-turnip.html https://thelambandquill.com/defence-of-turnip.html Wed, 26 Mar 2026 12:00:00 +0000 The Trencherman From the Kitchen Let me tell you something about turnips. The turnip has been getting a raw deal for the better part of three centuries, and I for one have had enough of it. Every other root vegetable has had its moment of fashionable rehabilitation — the parsnip is now darling of the gastropub set, the beetroot has been elevated to salad royalty, and the sweet potato appears to have been granted a permanent seat at every table in America. https://thelambandquill.com/highland-park-18.html https://thelambandquill.com/highland-park-18.html Tue, 25 Mar 2026 12:00:00 +0000 Sir Lushington From the Cellar One of the great consolations of advancing years — and there are fewer than the poets would have us believe — is the deepening of one's acquaintance with whisky. A young man drinks for effect; a man of experience drinks for conversation, by which I mean the conversation between the spirit and the palate, that quiet dialogue which unfolds over the course of an evening and which no amount of wine-column jargon can adequately describe. https://thelambandquill.com/vetri-cucina.html https://thelambandquill.com/vetri-cucina.html Sat, 22 Mar 2026 12:00:00 +0000 Sir Lushington, Professor Quarto, & The Trencherman At Table The scene: a corner table at Vetri Cucina, Spruce Street, Philadelphia. The bread has arrived. The Trencherman is already eating it. Being a dialogue between Sir Lushington, Professor Quarto, and The Trencherman on the subject of spinach gnocchi, salt-crusted branzino, and the correct Nebbiolo. https://thelambandquill.com/wine-in-homer.html https://thelambandquill.com/wine-in-homer.html Thu, 20 Mar 2026 12:00:00 +0000 Sir Lushington The Commonplace Book In my recent return to the Odyssey — prompted by Professor Quarto, who has been on a Hellenic tear and will not rest until everyone within earshot has read their Homer — I was struck again by how central wine is to the machinery of that great poem. Not as background detail, but as a tool of civilization itself.