There are moves afoot at Marks & Spencer to break with tradition and start including non-own-brand products in their food halls. Sir Stuart Rose recently told me that he'd drawn up a list of around 50 key products (Tabasco, Marmite and Andrex seem to be on it) that he thinks are essential to the continuing expansion of their food retail side. And with new M&S Simply Food stores springing up like mushrooms, we welcome pretty much anything they throw at us.

Over at Harrods, Sienna Miller is just one of the fans beating a path to the food halls for Life Mel honey, a dark, solid specimen with a treacly smell that's produced by bees fed on a special nectar derived from therapeutic herbs including Siberian ginseng, echinacea and uncaria tomentosa (£42 for 120g from Harrods, 020 7730 1234, or lifemel.co.uk Harrods have also just taken on a new chocolatier - Michel Cluizel - a small family French firm. They source their own cocoa beans, uphold fairtrade standards and - most importantly - the chocolate (which goes up to 90 per cent cocoa) is delicious.

I was very impressed by the delicious oak-smoked paprika salami (£2.90 for 100g) from the Deli Farm Charcuterie in Delabole, Cornwall. They produce a good range of air-dried hams and salamis using only local pork (01840 214106; delifarmcharcuterie.co.uk

Pictured right are some of my current favourite new kitchen pieces. I like the firm base and practical shape of the grating bucket by Eva Solo. It costs £24.50. The space-saving Silvermark folding cutting board (£10) is available from the same stockist - ICTC, 01603 488019; ictc.co.uk

The Rösle food cups just make measuring a pleasure (they start at £15.95 for the 10cm, .12 litre cup). The Rösle Versalid bowl and lid is also a handsome piece of kit and starts at £49 for 16cm diameter. Stockists 01782 572910; inthehaus.co.uk. And fresh herbs are both cheerful and essential, particularly in these Donna Hay herb buckets (£5.99, Sainsbury's). The Wüsthof Ikon knife is eye-wateringly expensive - starting at £66 for the 9cm paring knife, but it's beautifully balanced, cuts like a dream and a tough little operator. Stockists: 01782 572910; inthehaus.co.uk

I'm addicted to the Lakeland catalogue and their blissful new inventions - a perspex block to ensure perfectly sliced bagels (£3.99) a good strong reusable Toastabag that means you can make runny toasted sandwiches without blowing up the toaster (£5.99 for two). Their latest one-pot Home-Tek slow cooker has supper ready for when you get home (£49.99, lakeland.co.uk