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It could be a job for the Flying Squad, or perhaps The Bill.

Police in Wiltshire have warned pet owners to be on the look out for a dangerous giant owl which has escaped from its enclosure in the back garden of its owner's house.

The European eagle owl, which has a 2m (6ft) wingspan and is a metre tall, flew from its aviary in Lower Stratton, near Swindon, on Sunday evening. While the bird is unlikely to attack humans, it is said to be capable of hunting and killing animals such as cats and dogs if it becomes hungry enough.

The owl escaped when its owner, who does not want to be identified, opened the aviary door to feed it at about 9pm. The bird launched itself at him, he dodged out of its way – and the raptor flew off.

"It could try to carry off a cat or small dog," said a spokeswoman for Wiltshire Police, adding slightly more reassuringly: "As it has been bred in captivity, the owl is unlikely to attack humans."

The force asked for anyone who saw the bird to contact police "and we will send an appropriate team with the right sort of equipment to catch it".

European eagle owls are the largest in the world and are accomplished hunters, able to kill foxes and even small deer by crushing their skulls with their sharp and powerful talons. Their feathers are extremely soft, allowing them to glide silently and rapidly through the air before swooping down on unsuspecting prey.

A spokeswoman for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) said that if a member of the public spotted the owl they should not attempt to catch it themselves, as it was a "large animal that will need specialist handling".

The escaped bird is described as speckled brown in colour, with dark orange eyes, long ear tufts and brown plumage. Its owner believes it will be frightened by its sudden experience of freedom and is probably taking refuge in a tree.

In December last year, European eagle owls were among a number of species to be added to a list of non-native species deemed to pose a threat to Britain's indigenous animals.

Although it is perfectly legal to keep the birds as pets, releasing them into the wild without a licence carries a maximum punishment of two years in jail and a £5,000 fine under the Wildlife and Countryside Act.

However, a spokeswoman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said that the owl's owner would not be liable for prosecution as he had released his pet by accident, and the Act did not come into effect until 3 April in any case.

It is not the first time one of the birds has gone missing. In 2003, a European eagle owl called Bobu vanished from its home in Pwllheli, north Wales, only to be discovered more than a year later by a farmer in Ruthin, 57 miles away. Bobu was reunited with his owner.

European eagle owls can weigh up to 9lb and live for 85 years in captivity. It is estimated that there may be 3,000 kept as pets in Britain, and there have been reports of pairs breeding in the wild after escaping their aviaries.

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Freakish weather conditions and soaring demand from China, Brazil and other fast-emerging economies have pushed meat prices around the world to a 20-year high.

International food prices have risen to their highest in two years, shooting up five per cent between July and August. Wheat is up by more than 50 per cent since May.

Meat prices are at their highest since 1990 on the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation's index, up 16 per cent on last year and almost a third higher than at the beginning of last year. Lamb is at a 37-year high, beef is the most expensive in two years and pork stands at record levels.

The immediate cause is the rapid inflation in the cost of livestock feed, caused by the spike in the cost of wheat because of the Russian drought. Fertiliser prices have also risen dramatically.

Although this will push inflation in the UK and other advanced economies a little higher next year, the most dramatic effects will be felt in poorer nations where food takes a much larger share of household budgets. In Mozambique yesterday, protesters burned tyres on the streets of the capital Maputo and there were reports of another fatality, a day after at least four people were killed in clashes between police and rioters. Mozambique produces only 30 percent of the wheat it needs and imports the rest.

Mozambique is unlikely to be the last country to see unrest because of the price of food; similarly high prices in 2008 sparked riots from Mexico to Indonesia, before the global slump pushed commodity prices back down.

In Russia, one-quarter of arable land was destroyed this summer (10 million hectares, or 25m acres) in the country's worst drought on record. An export ban has exacerbated the problem for other nations. Panic buying of virtually any foodstuffs in Russia has ensued.

On the supply side of the equation, there has also been pressure on production in major meat powers such as Argentina, the US and Australia, again due to a succession of dry seasons and generally low prices for a time that discouraged investment in new stock. In Australia, herds need to be rebuilt after breeding cattle were slaughtered for sale – which may cut beef exports by 5 per cent this year.

Other soft commodities, from coffee and tea to cotton and orange juice, have also hit new highs this year, largely because of unusual weather, though there has been some moderation in recent weeks as fears for global economic growth have faltered.

Longer term, apart from the possible effects of climate change, the principal pressure on food prices is the growth of more prosperous middle-classes in nations such as China, Brazil, Indonesia and India, who typically choose a diet richer in protein as their incomes rise, with a taste for pork and poultry.

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More power, 720p HD video capture and playback, more storage, and more connectivity are just a few of the major enhancements Motorola has made for the second edition of its European-bound smartphone, the Milestone 2.

The handset, which American counterparts might recognize as (a slightly different model of) the recently announced Droid 2, was unveiled on September 1.

Additional features found on the Milestone 2 include an improved and more spacious QWERTY keyboard, the latest version of Motorola's social networking solution MotoBlur, a 1GHz processor, the ability to connect up to five other WiFi devices using the handset's 3G mobile hotspot, Adobe Flash Player 10.1, a 5 MP camera with dual LED Flash, up to 40GB of memory and Android 2.2 OS.

While the device is a significant upgrade from its original Milestone/Droid counterparts and remains a desirable handset, its new specs don't put it miles out in front of the ever-growing line-up of feature-rich smartphones due to hit the market this year.

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Unfortunately, sweetcorn is all too often just eaten on the cob after having been simply boiled or, if you're feeling really adventurous, thrown on the barbecue.

A lot of people, though, find eating sweetcorn rather messy – which is probably why tins of the stuff are more popular than the real thing. I should admit here that I'm a bit of a fan of canned sweetcorn as, rather like frozen peas, it's not only convenient but very tasty, too. For some reason the canning process doesn't seem to destroy the corn's natural flavours.

When I cook corn kernels off the cob at home, I simply cook them in salted water with some sugar and then leave them in the cooking liquid for an hour or so, or even overnight; a process which seems to capture the sweetness and flavour of the robust corn kernels. I would recommend using this method for the dishes below if you are using fresh corn; and don't be afraid to slightly overcook the corn, as there is nothing worse than al dente corn with no flavour.
Serves 4

Unlike grouse, the gamey flavour of partridge is mild, which makes it the perfect partner for other delicate ingredients. I've served this as a starter here; just double the ingredients if you want to eat it as a main course.

150g cooked sweetcorn kernels, cooked as above
1tbsp double cream
2 oven-ready partridges
120g butter, softened
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
150g girolles, cleaned
1tbsp chopped parsley

Preheat the oven to 220C/gas mark 7. Place the partridge in a roasting tray, rub the breasts with about one-third of the butter and season. Roast for 10-15 minutes depending on their size, keeping them nice and pink. Meanwhile, drain and blend the sweetcorn in a food processor or liquidiser until fairly smooth, then transfer to a pan. Season, add the cream and a good knob of butter and reheat.

Melt the rest of the butter in a shallow saucepan, season and cook the girolles on a medium heat, turning them as they are cooking, for 2-3 minutes until tender, then stir in the parsley.

To serve, remove the legs and breasts from the partridge, spoon the hot sweetcorn on to warmed serving plates, arrange the leg and breasts on top and spoon the girolles over.

Spiced corn and scrumpy fritters

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Two heads are better than one, or so the saying goes. Nowhere could that be better put to the test at the moment than in the education world, as both of the country's leading headteacher organisations prepare to start the academic year with a new leader at the helm.

One of the two has not actually been a headteacher himself. Russell Hobby, the 38-year-old general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) raised eyebrows by being headhunted from the world of management consultancy (he was with Hay Group). He is, however, now a leader of heads, and it is not the first time that his union has moved outside of education to finds its chief. His predecessor but one, David Hart, was a lawyer by trade.

The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), though, has gone down a more traditional path, appointing 55-year-old Brian Lightman, headteacher of a 1,400-pupil comprehensive school in Wales and a member of their ruling council for the past two years. It will certainly be a testing time for them both.

They will be in at the start of the schools revolution planned by Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Education, who wants a massive boost to the academies programme. The new academies will be free from local authority control, and heads will be able to run their affairs. Gove also wants to see the opening of Swedish-style "free" schools run by parents, teachers and faith groups. Here, at least, he will have a measure of support from the two new incumbents – even if it is cautiously worded.

"Schools have a very ambivalent attitude towards freedom," says Hobby. "They both want it and fear it at the same time. Our position is that if a school decides it's the right thing to do, then we will support them through it. With freedom, you can choose how you use it. Schools don't have to be isolationist and competitive with it, you can be co-operative and socially responsible towards your neighbours."

Lightman says ruefully: "It has been fascinating to see how the whole education landscape has completely changed since I was appointed to this job – with a new ministerial team and new thinking and a fresh start. We don't have a policy towards any kind of school structure. We represent them all: state secondary schools, independent and colleges. Our advice to members would be to consider all the implications and make an informed decision rather than rush into it." That is why he is unconcerned that Gove appeared to end up with egg on his face after telling Parliament that 1,100 schools had applied for academy status in June, only to reveal the following month that the figure was just 153.

A more gradual build-up would be preferable, Lightman argues. As for "free" schools, he does not see them as an issue as he does not expect more than a dozen proposals for them to come forward. Earlier attempts by John Major's government to encourage parents to run schools met with little response.

It will not all be plain sailing in their dealings with ministers, though. One obvious bone of contention is the national curriculum tests (SATs) in maths and English taken by 600,000 11-year-olds every May. The NAHT joined with the National Union of Teachers in boycotting them this year, as a result of which they had to be cancelled in more than 4,000 primary schools (about 25 per cent of the total).

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The true paucity of options available to Fabio Capello was laid bare last night after the England coach was forced to turn back to the usual suspects after injuries had left his options severely depleted for the national side's first competitive fixtures since the World Cup debacle.

The Italian lost a quartet of players he had hoped to select – Chelsea's John Terry and Frank Lampard and the Fulham pair Bobby Zamora and David Stockdale – to untimely injuries on Saturday and could yet be denied Phil Jagielka and Peter Crouch with ankle and rib problems respectively ahead of the Euro 2012 qualifiers against Bulgaria and Switzerland.

There are recalls for Scott Carson, Matthew Upson and Joleon Lescott in the 24‑man party, with England's medical staff planning to scrutinise Jagielka's fitness, in particular, when the squad meet at their Hertfordshire base this evening. The Everton centre-half, who was selected for the friendly against Hungary earlier this month, was left with a badly swollen ankle as his club lost 1-0 at Aston Villa yesterday and remains a doubt for the qualifier against Bulgaria on Friday.

Ankle ligament damage has already denied Stockdale his first involvement with the national side – the Fulham goalkeeper fears he could be absent for up to two months having only just broken into the first-team at Craven Cottage – and allowed Carson a return to the fold.

The West Bromwich Albion goalkeeper, capped three times, has not featured since a jittery display as a substitute in the friendly victory in Germany in November 2008 and is included as Rob Green nurses a hip complaint.Joe Hart will remain Capello's first choice.

The inclusion of Adam Johnson, Kieran Gibbs and the uncapped Gary Cahill aside, there is arguably little hint of a bright new era in the England manager's selection. Crouch and Jermain Defoe are both recalled having been omitted from the 2-1 victory over Hungary, with Upson – who endured a torrid time at the World Cup – Shaun Wright-Phillips and Michael Carrick also familiar faces from the summer's toils in South Africa.

The latter has benefited from Tom Huddlestone's surprise omission, the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder being ignored despite a fine start to the season. Jack Wilshere of Arsenal is dropped back to the Under-21s.

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A Chinese woman selling scorpions on stick waits for customers at a stall in Beijing, where the delicacy is fried in cooking oil. Photograph: Claro Cortes/Reuters

Saving the planet one plateful at a time does not mean cutting back on meat, according to new research: the trick may be to switch our diet to insects and other creepy-crawlies.

The raising of livestock such as cows, pigs and sheep occupies two-thirds of the world's farmland and generates 20% of all the greenhouse gases driving global warming. As a result, the United Nations and senior figures want to reduce the amount of meat we eat and the search is on for alternatives.

A policy paper on the eating of insects is being formally considered by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation. The FAO held a meeting on the theme in Thailand in 2008 and there are plans for a world congress in 2013.

Professor Arnold van Huis, an entomologist at Wageningen University in the Netherlands and the author of the UN paper, says eating insects has advantages.

"There is a meat crisis," he said. "The world population will grow from six billion now to nine billion by 2050 and we know people are consuming more meat. Twenty years ago the average was 20kg, it is now 50kg, and will be 80kg in 20 years. If we continue like this we will need another Earth."

Van Huis is an enthusiast for eating insects but given his role as a consultant to the FAO, he can't be dismissed as a crank. "Most of the world already eats insects," he points out. "It is only in the western world that we don't. Psychologically we have a problem with it. I don't know why, as we eat shrimps, which are very comparable."

The advantages of this diet include insects' high levels of protein, vitamin and mineral content. Van Huis's latest research, conducted with colleague Dennis Oonincx, shows that farming insects produces far less greenhouse gas than livestock. Breeding commonly eaten insects such as locusts, crickets and meal worms, emits 10 times less methane than livestock. The insects also produce 300 times less nitrous oxide, also a warming gas, and much less ammonia, a pollutant produced by pig and poultry farming.

Being cold-blooded, insects convert plant matter into protein extremely efficiently, Van Huis says. In addition, he argues, the health risks are lower. He acknowledges that in the west eating insects is a hard sell: "It is very important how you prepare them, you have to do it very nicely, to overcome the yuk factor."

More than 1,000 insects are known to be eaten by choice around the world, in 80% of nations. They are most popular in the tropics, where they grow to large sizes and are easy to harvest.

The FAO's field officer Patrick Durst, based in Bangkok, Thailand, ran the 2008 conference.

Durst helped set up an insect farming project FAO project in Laos which began in April. This involves transferring the skills of the 15,000 household locust farmers in Thailand across the border. "There were some proponents of a bigger dairy industry in Laos to improve a calcium deficiency," says Durst, whose favourite is fried wasp - "very crispy and a nice light snack". "But this is crazy when most Asians are lactose intolerant." Locusts and crickets are calcium-rich and 90% of people in Laos have eaten insects at some point, he says.Durst says the FAO's priority will be to boost the eating of insects where this is already accepted but has been in decline due to western cultural influence.

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In a covered market in the city of Imphal, the air pungent with fresh and fermented produce, a young man holds up his hands to reveal what looks like a cluster of dried, berry-red flowers.

They immediately smell herbal, complex and very powerful. "These are the dry ones. The fresh ones only come during the winter," says the salesman, Raymond, who, by dint of being a man, has been banished to the fringes of the city's famous "women's market", where his shop sits next to a stall selling dried fish. "It's the most hot. One piece is enough."

For generations, the people of north-east India have relished this small, pungent pepper that packs a punch like no other. Known in Assam as bhut jolokia, in Nagaland as naga jolokia and here in Manipur as umorok, the chilli is valued for its heat, its flavour and its purported medicinal qualities.

In 2007, there was quiet celebration in these parts, if only for receiving external confirmation of what everyone already suspected, when the Guinness World Records book declared it was the hottest chilli in the world – almost twice as ferocious as the variety whose fiery crown it took.

But this innocuous-looking capsicum could soon become more famous yet. Scientists working for the Indian military said recently that they had successfully tested a hand-grenade made from umorok. They believe the non-lethal weapon could be used as a form of crowd control by police or paramilitaries, or used to produce a protection device for women.

"We have found it can be used either as a spray or as a hand grenade. We think it is more effective than teargas and, unlike teargas it has no side-effects," said RB Srivastava, the director of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) at Tezpur, in northern Assam. "We think it could also be used by women for protection. I've heard that women in remote areas often carry a small bag of chilli powder to defend themselves [against attackers]. I thought that if they used this, they would only need a very small amount."

Mr Srivastava, who explained that trials of the grenades were complete and he was awaiting word from the armed forces, said the chilli was also used for controlling wildlife by people who spread it along ropes and fences. "It is a very good repellent for wild elephants," he added.

While umorok has steadily developed a cult following in the US and Europe for its unmatchable heat, cooks in north-eastern India have long used it as a regular ingredient in everyday meals. Many people will grow a plant or two in their vegetable garden. The fresh umorok is particularly loved and people smile and joke as they talk about catching the smell of the pepper as they walk past a vegetable seller. Many also talk of its medicinal properties.

Dr Srivastava said there was evidence that the chilli boosted the metabolism. In Manipur, locals coyly point out that, unlike many varieties of chilli, umorok burns while entering the body but not on the way out.

Hoihnu Hauzel, a New Delhi-based writer, poet and author of The Essential North-East Cookbook, grew-up in Manipur and friends still bring her bags of dried umorok when they come to visit. "People use it mostly for the flavour. It adds extra richness and colour to the dish. It's particularly good with pork," she said. "If they cannot get the fresh one, people use the dried chilli. Or else the fresh ones can be preserved in jars of mustard oils."

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THE LAST patrons who stood at the L-shaped counter of Pompeii's best-known snack bar eating the house-speciality – baked cheese smothered in honey – had to leave in a hurry owing to violent volcanic activity. But after an unforeseen break in business of 1,921 years, the former holiday hotspot of ancient Rome's in-crowd will finally re-open for business tomorrow.

Visitors will be taken on a guided tour of the thermopolium (snack bar), once owned by Vetutius Placidus, and taste some of the food that was popular before the devastating eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD79 that buried the city under 60 feet of ash and pumice.

As with many high-profile launches, tomorrow sees an advance opening ceremony for 300 special guests, chosen at random for a taste of Roman café society, according to the Italian news agency Ansa. The full opening will take place later.

When Vesuvius erupted for two days, most of its citizens died as an enormous wave of scalding gas and dust tore down the volcano's flanks and enveloped the city.

The thermopolium, one of the best preserved sites in Pompeii, has been closed to the public for years in order to protect it from further damage. But following months of detailed excavation and preservation work, all visitors will soon be able to go inside and get an idea of a typical ancient Roman lunch establishment.

Inside, as in many modern cafés and bars, visitors are greeted with a large, L-shaped, decorated counter where customers stood to enjoy a quick lunch. Cylindrical holes in the bar contained glass dolia, or jars, displaying food.

Archaeologists working at the site also found a jar full of coins, amounting to about two days' income. They speculate that the owner may have left them in a last-ditch attempt to save his wealth as he fled the doomed city. The thermopolium used to opened directly on to a main street, the Via dell'Abbondanza. All sections of Pompeii society would call by for snacks or a light Mediterranean lunch, two millennia before it became à la mode in Britain.

Dr Annamaria Ciarallo, an environmental biologist and researcher at Pompeii,said: "The food then was mainly based on cereals, vegetables, cheese and fish, with just a little meat. It was very healthy – the original Mediterranean diet."

But the sybaritic citizens of Pompeii were able to resist anything but temptation and sweet, calorie-filled desserts were the real stars of the snack bar. Its creations filled with sticky honey and ricotta cheese have direct descendants in the cafés of nearby Naples today. Two of these dishes, mostaccioli and globe, will be offered tomorrow for the visitors as part of a special one-off event marking the restoration of the bar.

Dr Ciarallo said many of the snack bar's customers would have grabbed snacks and light meals as take-aways. "There wasn't a lot of ceremony. Often people, especially the busy ones, would have eaten outside," she added.

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It is late summer in Devon. The hedgerows are speckled with blackberries and wild campion. The foxgloves, long finished flowering, rattle with seeds waiting to be brushed or knocked from their brown shells. Plum trees overhang the verges and walls from roadside gardens, their heavy load weighing down the old, crooked branches. Czar was the first plum I saw ripe this year, deep in the countryside past Dawlish (I love that moment on the train when the track seems to go out into the sea). The trees in the hedgerows are anonymous, their varieties secret to all but the expert, and they are ripening now. Plums for pie, plums for crumble, plums for jam.

Peep over the long, high hedges that line the lanes further south around Kingsbridge and you will see allotments and ancient cottage gardens with laden raspberry canes, late, purple gooseberry bushes and trees weighed down with early apples. You can almost smell the jam and jelly bubbling on the stoves. Now is probably the last chance to get fruits into the pot with an equal weight of sugar and a little water to keep us in jams for immediate eating or to last us through the winter.

It is right that there is so much fruit ripening here. Something has to provide a contrast for the West Country's clotted cream that appears in every tiny shop and post office. There are scones, of course – few of us will turn up our noses at a true cream tea in this part of the world – but what I am looking for are the "splits" that Elizabeth David talks of in the welcome reprint of her comprehensive baking book (English Bread and Yeast Cookery, Grub Street, £14.99). Soft-topped and dusted with flour, these are the buns that she describes as being made in the same manner as the Cornish split, only smaller. It was the "only smaller" that got me. The idea of a tiny yeast-risen bun, only lightly sweetened and to be eaten as part of a country-lanes cream tea, could never fail at this time of year, with the scent of freshly made jams still on the air.

You can eat a split with clotted cream and scarlet jam (raspberry perhaps, or blackcurrant) or with the loose plum jam I made this week. Softer than most, almost liquid enough to be called a sauce, my plum jam was gone in a week. First with home-made Devon splits, then with a chilled rice pudding stirred through with clotted cream.

The Devonshire split is a rare treat now (try and find one) but the dough is easy to make. It is little more than a bread dough, but enriched with butter and a little sugar. They do not keep well (you could probably freeze them) and are particularly pleasing when made small rather the norm, which is the size of a tennis ball. They become true to their name only when served, when you split them by slicing a broad smile into their top and stuffing it with jam and cream.

I often find enriched bread dough a bit of a chore. Beating in copious amounts of butter to make a brioche dough is something I might do once every five years. But these little buns are quick and fun to make, and they rise, dreamlike, within the hour. And judging from the lack of these buns on their home ground, we may well have to make them ourselves.

Also known as chudleighs, after the market town, Devonshire splits seem to have been abandoned in favour of less-capricious scones. They deserve a pretty plate, some good gossip and either clotted cream or some double cream softly whipped. Oh, and a pot of tea rather than the usual bag in a mug.

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