Everyone loves a celebration, if only for the excuse to eat and drink a little more lavishly than usual. When Allegra McEvedy and Susi Smithers got married recently there was even more excuse than usual. Allegra is one of the country's most exciting chefs, being both co-founder of Leon, the award-winning healthy fast-food chain, and a busy cookery writer. Needless to say there wasn't a sausage roll in sight. The cake was something of a talking point, being made not of the usual Christmas cake, marzipan and icing, but of a staggering £1,000-worth of farmhouse cheeses. Many of the dishes at the celebrations were from Allegra's new cookbook and, in this issue, we have a sneaky peep at some of the recipes.

There is little I enjoy more than tinkering around with a recipe until it is perfect. I don't mean in a boorish, grumpy old man kind of a way, but simply tweaking a recipe until it is as good as it can be.

Sometimes we discover these things ourselves by trial and error, at other times it is useful to have a bit of help. This month we have asked some of our favourite cooks to give us a few benchmark recipes for perfect results. We have Michel Roux on the souffle; Ruth and Rose from the River Café on pasta and Clarissa Dickson-Wright with the Sunday roast. (I tag along behind with some nice puddings.)

There has been much talk of late about the British langoustine. Could this juicy little critter solve some of the problems facing our fishing industry? Two Scottish scientists think they have found the answer. What we would also like the answer to is the confusing question of what women really want to eat. This month we have produced A Girl's Guide to Eating and Drinking, a star-studded chronicle of what is on and off the menu.

We also have lunch with bestselling author Jay McInerney, tea with Henrietta Green and go shopping with Richard Corrigan, Heston Blumenthal and Michael Caines. Which just leaves time for us to crash Le Caprice's 25th birthday party. And don't forget to send in your votes for our annual food awards, the Oscars of the food world. As I said, everyone loves a celebration.