Who is Jennifer Earle?

The person writing The Next Delicious Thing. 😊 International Chocolate Judge, Founder of one of London's first food businesses (in 2005 & still going!) and a Food Industry Insider.

I’ve just been featured in Good Food Magazine this month (April 2025) and, perhaps unwisely, directed people to my Substack instead of my website:

https://jenniferearle.com

The first thing people see on Substack (if they click past the email request…) doesn’t tell them much, so I thought I’d make this the pinned post for a while and use it to tell people about me.

Hi!

So, who am I and why should you trust my recommendations?

Or want to come on a tour with me? Or have me host a chocolate tasting? Or work with me?

Well, you don’t have to do any of those things.

But…

Here’s my argument:

I’m one of only two people to have had the honour of being on the Grand Jury for both the International Chocolate Awards and the Academy of Chocolate Awards, which I’ve done multiple times.

I’ve been judging the Great Taste Awards for over 13 years (I can’t remember exactly when).

I’ve also been paid to judge chocolate for Which? Magazine and judged the Quality Food Awards, too. And some others, like the Brasilian Chocolate Awards.

I’ve been leading food tours and tastings in London and beyond for 20 years.

I used to be paid to write restaurant reviews.

I’ve been on TV and radio and in print a lot talking about chocolate, London’s food scene and food trends.

I worked co-developing recipes at the McDonald’s UK head office, including some of the best-selling McFlurry’s that were adopted across Europe.

When I worked as a Buyer at Marks & Spencer, every week we conducted quality control on a subset of the products we looked after. The potato farmers of Jersey didn’t love me because I was sometimes the only person in the room that could detect glycoalkaloids which give the bitter note that sometimes accompanies potatoes. It is way more common in Jersey Royals, and that would lead to batches being rejected.

In 2024 I was asked to be on the panel to judge the UK Croissant Awards - the only non chef or cookbook author.

I spend far too much of my time attending trade shows to try new food, and visiting new bakery openings.

I occasionally get invited to press events so I sometimes I hear about and taste things before they launch.

I’ve been sending out a summary of Delicious Things EVERY WEEK since March 2022.

In December 2023 Substack declared this a “Featured Publication”. THRILLED.

I’ve been cooking for myself since I begged to become vegetarian at 8 years’ old (this was one of two conditions of it being allowed - the other was to see a dietician, kickstarting my fascination with nutritional science).

My style of cooking is very Ready Steady Cook / Fridge Forage. I eat a lot of whole, healthy foods - often steamed vegetables and tinned pulses with added seeds, herbs and condiments - in between all the chocolate, croissants and cake.

CAVEAT TO WHETHER I MIGHT BE THE RIGHT PERSON FOR YOU:

I still call myself vegetarian though I have, and will still occasionally, eat meat or fish for work (I also used to design burgers, and look after ready meals).

I like naturally healthy food (I am a broccoli stan).

I love sour. I believe vinegar or lemon/lime improves almost every dish.

I do like bitter, if it’s in balance.

I love hot sauce and chilli crisp. There are at least seven in my pantry/fridge at all times.

I don’t love anything overly sweet. It’s true! I don’t enjoy most confectionery and store bought biscuits or cakes, so you’ll only hear about those if I think they’re particularly good or interesting. I do not like Krispy Kreme or Nutella. My tastebuds have been spoilt by better quality versions and I can’t go back.

Any questions?

If you want to get these emails each week with lots of delicious things to add to your list of joyful moments:

If you want to know more about this publication, you can read this (previously the pinned post):