New Year, new food

Have you resolved to try out some new culinary ideas in 2009? From ingredients such as kohlrabi to techniques such as spice rubbing, we've got some great suggestions.

• New cuisines
• New ingredients
• New techniques
• Smothered leeks and kohlrabi
• In season for January

TV and radio

Look out for a profile of seafood chef Rick Stein and a new series of Masterchef. Oz Clarke and James May celebrate British drink, and there's a fresh run of the challenging food series, Kill It, Cook It, Eat It.

• Rick Stein's Memoirs
  of a Seafood Chef
• Masterchef
• Oz and James Drink to Britain
• Kill It, Cook It, Eat It
• Radio 4: The Food Programme

Party drinks

As friends gather for the festive season, the ideal accompaniment to food and conversation can be a carefully-chosen tipple. Here are some ideas for drinking well - and drinking wisely.

• Party drinks
• Christmas wines
• Bubbly
• Cocktails
• Health: Sensible drinking

What is a beta?

The term 'beta' refers to a web page that is still under development.

We would like your feedback about the Food beta homepage to try to improve it further.

Then once everyone is happy with it, we'll remove its beta label.