Pork is cheap, but chops are often so lean (obsessively so in supermarkets) they need remedial treatment to stop them being dry. The tricks here are a coating of honey and mustard and brining the chops before you start – although if you haven't time to brine, the chops will still taste good. You can speed up the brining process by dissolving the salt and sugar in some boiling water and then topping up with ice and cold water. The brine must be cold when you put the chops in.

Marine algae sprays, anti-hail nets, a secret vineyard… I was in Burgundy in June and some fascinating things emerged at visits to Louis Latour, a company whose tendrils reach unusual places. As well as being a domaine producer with 27ha of Grands Crus and a négociant with an outpost in the Ardèche, it owns Simonnet-Febvre in Chablis, Henri Fessy in Beaujolais and, rare in Europe, it has its own cooperage (I’ll revisit the latter in a future post). Back to sprays, nets and se