The Times
By Ben Hoyle
DESPITE the best efforts of Delia Smith, millions of Britons will readily admit that they cannot boil an egg.
The experts at the British Egg Information Service have been inundated with queries — so much so that they have decided to eliminate the guesswork once and for all.
Their solution? A self-timing egg imbued with the powers of heat-sensitive invisible ink that turns black the minute that it is ready. All you need to do is decide whether you prefer your eggs soft, medium or hard-boiled, and buy accordingly.
Read more...
Monday, July 31, 2006
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Sunday Lunch Campaign: 'Families drift apart if they don't eat together'
The Independent
By Jonathan Thompson
Sixty per cent of families don't eat together on Sundays. One in four don't even have a dining table. Top chef Aldo Zilli is horrified
Read more...
By Jonathan Thompson
Sixty per cent of families don't eat together on Sundays. One in four don't even have a dining table. Top chef Aldo Zilli is horrified
Read more...
A Hunger for Home
The Sunday Herald
By Barry Didcock
Claudia Roden’s cook books are more than collections of recipes … they place food at the heart of community, family and tradition. In a world losing touch with those values, she’s more important than ever.
Read more...
By Barry Didcock
Claudia Roden’s cook books are more than collections of recipes … they place food at the heart of community, family and tradition. In a world losing touch with those values, she’s more important than ever.
Read more...
Friday, July 28, 2006
The real thing. Or is it?
The Guardian
By James Flint
In a kitchen in the south of England, two women are devising a recipe that could change the world.
On a kitchen table two young women have assembled a variety of items. There are brown bottles, bags of white powder, a pestle and mortar, a collection of funnels, a roll of silver gaffer tape. There is a drill. There is a whisk.
Are they making bombs? Are they making drugs? No. They are doing something far more likely to change the world we live in. They're making their own version of Coca-Cola.
Read more...
By James Flint
In a kitchen in the south of England, two women are devising a recipe that could change the world.
On a kitchen table two young women have assembled a variety of items. There are brown bottles, bags of white powder, a pestle and mortar, a collection of funnels, a roll of silver gaffer tape. There is a drill. There is a whisk.
Are they making bombs? Are they making drugs? No. They are doing something far more likely to change the world we live in. They're making their own version of Coca-Cola.
Read more...
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Ramsay means business
The Scotsman, p. 12
By John Alridge
Gordon Ramsay may be best known as the Michelin star who has become a small-screen star in The F Word - a show in which he spends most of his time lampooning other TV chefs. But new figures confirm that he is as fiercely successful in the boardroom as he is in the kitchen.
Read more...
By John Alridge
Gordon Ramsay may be best known as the Michelin star who has become a small-screen star in The F Word - a show in which he spends most of his time lampooning other TV chefs. But new figures confirm that he is as fiercely successful in the boardroom as he is in the kitchen.
Read more...
It's on the house ... if you do the business
The Guardian, p. 8
By Steven Morris
As in any competitive business, it is not unknown for purveyors of fine wines to use the odd trick to get a step ahead of rivals. Sometimes it involves taking a powerful buyer for a fine lunch, to a swish sporting event or perhaps on a jolly to a lovely vineyard.
However, a major company decided on a different tactic as it attempted to secure a lucrative contract to get its drink chosen as house wine for a pub chain. It invited its staff to pop down to their local, treat themselves to eight bottles of its wine and claim it back on expenses to boost the number of bottles sold during a trial.
Read more...
By Steven Morris
As in any competitive business, it is not unknown for purveyors of fine wines to use the odd trick to get a step ahead of rivals. Sometimes it involves taking a powerful buyer for a fine lunch, to a swish sporting event or perhaps on a jolly to a lovely vineyard.
However, a major company decided on a different tactic as it attempted to secure a lucrative contract to get its drink chosen as house wine for a pub chain. It invited its staff to pop down to their local, treat themselves to eight bottles of its wine and claim it back on expenses to boost the number of bottles sold during a trial.
Read more...
Monday, July 24, 2006
Chips are down for Britain's classic dishes
The Guardian
By Martin Wainwright
Classic dishes which stiffened the backbone and upper lip of Britain in days gone by are set to vanish from the nation's larder, according to a survey of changing food tastes. Jugged hare, brawn and junket are unknown to the overwhelming majority of under-25s, who also shudder when confronted with many of the recipes' down-to-earth ingredients.
Increasing prosperity is tending to drive offal from young people's kitchens, the poll suggests, along with ingredients such as haddocks' heads and scrag end of neck. The runaway success of international cuisine, from pizza to Thai curries, has also eroded the appeal of pigs' cheeks in brine and boiled calf's foot which date from periods of austerity.
Out of favour
Ten most endangered savouries;
· Bath chaps
· Jugged hare
· Brawn
· Squirrel casserole
· Bedfordshire clanger (scrag end of mutton with kidneys)
· Pan haggerty (fried onions and potatoes)
· Hogs pudding
· Tripe and onion
· Faggots
· Bread and dripping
Ten most threatened puddings
· Calf's foot jelly
· Junket
· Sussex pond pudding (suet and lemon)
· Kentish pudding pie (rice and pastry)
· Dorset dumplings (apples and suet)
· Lardy cake
· Simnel cake
· Malvern pudding (fruit crumble)
· Singin hinnies (fried scone)
· Spotted dick
Read more...
By Martin Wainwright
Classic dishes which stiffened the backbone and upper lip of Britain in days gone by are set to vanish from the nation's larder, according to a survey of changing food tastes. Jugged hare, brawn and junket are unknown to the overwhelming majority of under-25s, who also shudder when confronted with many of the recipes' down-to-earth ingredients.
Increasing prosperity is tending to drive offal from young people's kitchens, the poll suggests, along with ingredients such as haddocks' heads and scrag end of neck. The runaway success of international cuisine, from pizza to Thai curries, has also eroded the appeal of pigs' cheeks in brine and boiled calf's foot which date from periods of austerity.
Out of favour
Ten most endangered savouries;
· Bath chaps
· Jugged hare
· Brawn
· Squirrel casserole
· Bedfordshire clanger (scrag end of mutton with kidneys)
· Pan haggerty (fried onions and potatoes)
· Hogs pudding
· Tripe and onion
· Faggots
· Bread and dripping
Ten most threatened puddings
· Calf's foot jelly
· Junket
· Sussex pond pudding (suet and lemon)
· Kentish pudding pie (rice and pastry)
· Dorset dumplings (apples and suet)
· Lardy cake
· Simnel cake
· Malvern pudding (fruit crumble)
· Singin hinnies (fried scone)
· Spotted dick
Read more...
Expert view: The joys of lardy cake
The Guardian
By Matthew Fort
It is almost impossible to overestimate the ignorance of the young. So they have no idea about the joys of lardy cake or Bath chap or dripping toast. Question them closely, and I dare say that a good many of them would have a hard time giving chapter and verse on the Long Parliament, the paintings of Samuel Palmer and the origins of the Wellington boot.
To say that people are ignorant of something is not the same as saying that it isn't important. The history of any country is written in its food. Ours is no different. Even a thoroughly modern dish such as chicken tikka masala, named as the nation's favourite dish a few years ago, is an epic on the history of immigration and the way in which one culture benefits another.
Read more...
By Matthew Fort
It is almost impossible to overestimate the ignorance of the young. So they have no idea about the joys of lardy cake or Bath chap or dripping toast. Question them closely, and I dare say that a good many of them would have a hard time giving chapter and verse on the Long Parliament, the paintings of Samuel Palmer and the origins of the Wellington boot.
To say that people are ignorant of something is not the same as saying that it isn't important. The history of any country is written in its food. Ours is no different. Even a thoroughly modern dish such as chicken tikka masala, named as the nation's favourite dish a few years ago, is an epic on the history of immigration and the way in which one culture benefits another.
Read more...
Food giants to boycott illegal Amazon soya
The Guardian
By Felicity Lawrence and John Vidal
Leading European supermarkets, food manufacturers and fast-food chains, including McDonald's, are expected to pledge today not to use soya illegally grown in the Amazon region in response to evidence that large areas of virgin forest are being felled for the crop.
In a victory for consumer power, the companies say they will not deal with the four trading giants who dominate production in Brazil unless they can show they are not sourcing soya from areas being farmed illegally. The traders met in Sao Paolo last week and are expected to sign up to a moratorium on using soya grown in the Amazon.
Read more...
By Felicity Lawrence and John Vidal
Leading European supermarkets, food manufacturers and fast-food chains, including McDonald's, are expected to pledge today not to use soya illegally grown in the Amazon region in response to evidence that large areas of virgin forest are being felled for the crop.
In a victory for consumer power, the companies say they will not deal with the four trading giants who dominate production in Brazil unless they can show they are not sourcing soya from areas being farmed illegally. The traders met in Sao Paolo last week and are expected to sign up to a moratorium on using soya grown in the Amazon.
Read more...
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Mustard ice-cream is hot stuff in France
The Independent
By John Lichfield in Paris
The scorching weather this summer has generated a boom in ice-cream sales in France - and a colourful explosion of exotic and bizarre flavours.
Lovers of ice-cream can now eat glaces that taste of grass or are flavoured with mustard, Roquefort cheese or oysters.
Read more...
By John Lichfield in Paris
The scorching weather this summer has generated a boom in ice-cream sales in France - and a colourful explosion of exotic and bizarre flavours.
Lovers of ice-cream can now eat glaces that taste of grass or are flavoured with mustard, Roquefort cheese or oysters.
Read more...
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Ay, caramba! Tequila firm aims for record with £120,000 bottle
The Independent
By Jerome Taylor
Despite a long and proud history as Mexico's national drink, tequila tends to be the favourite tipple of students knocking back shots of the potent liquor during a drunken night out.
But now a Mexican company is trying to take the firewater upmarket by selling what it claims is the world's most expensive bottle of tequila.
Read more...
By Jerome Taylor
Despite a long and proud history as Mexico's national drink, tequila tends to be the favourite tipple of students knocking back shots of the potent liquor during a drunken night out.
But now a Mexican company is trying to take the firewater upmarket by selling what it claims is the world's most expensive bottle of tequila.
Read more...
Shop trumpets its £30 ice-cream cornet as a solution to heatwave
The Independent
By Helen McCormack
The heatwave may have left many prepared to go to extreme measures to cool down - but few are likely to fork out the prices one London shop has opted to charge for an ice-cream - £30.
La Maison du Chocolat in Knightsbridge prepared 10 of the pricey ten-inch desserts for sale. For the £30, consumers get a choice of flavours and a chance to sample Parisian chocolates.
Read more...
By Helen McCormack
The heatwave may have left many prepared to go to extreme measures to cool down - but few are likely to fork out the prices one London shop has opted to charge for an ice-cream - £30.
La Maison du Chocolat in Knightsbridge prepared 10 of the pricey ten-inch desserts for sale. For the £30, consumers get a choice of flavours and a chance to sample Parisian chocolates.
Read more...
Cadbury to consider payouts for victims of salmonella outbreak
The Independent
By Martin Hickman, Consumer Affairs Correspondent
Cadbury has said it will consider compensating victims of salmonella poisoning after health officials named its chocolate as the prime suspect for an outbreak earlier this year.
Britain's biggest confectioner promised to "take seriously" any case arising from a mysterious spate of infections throughout the spring, which put two children in hospital
Read more...
By Martin Hickman, Consumer Affairs Correspondent
Cadbury has said it will consider compensating victims of salmonella poisoning after health officials named its chocolate as the prime suspect for an outbreak earlier this year.
Britain's biggest confectioner promised to "take seriously" any case arising from a mysterious spate of infections throughout the spring, which put two children in hospital
Read more...
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Kitchen sink loses attraction as Britons get a better social life
The Guardian
By John Carvel, social affairs editor
The women and men of Britain are doing a lot less housework than six years ago and the half hour they are saving every day is providing the opportunity for more socialising and a few extra minutes of quality time with the children.
That, at least, is the official version of how we are spending our time - the result of an exhaustive survey by the Office for National Statistics, which asked a representative sample of nearly 5,000 adults to record what they did for every minute of the waking day.
Read more...
By John Carvel, social affairs editor
The women and men of Britain are doing a lot less housework than six years ago and the half hour they are saving every day is providing the opportunity for more socialising and a few extra minutes of quality time with the children.
That, at least, is the official version of how we are spending our time - the result of an exhaustive survey by the Office for National Statistics, which asked a representative sample of nearly 5,000 adults to record what they did for every minute of the waking day.
Read more...
Friday, July 14, 2006
Soundbites: Let me eat cake! I'm a rock star!
The Guardian, G2
By Alex Kapranos
The twin-propeller plane looked as if it was made of Lego. It flew us from Gdansk to Edinburgh this morning, our equipment strapped to the floor with rope webbing between us and the pilot. In-flight catering was watery, cold, scrambled eggs and cold bacon. The fat had congealed into hard white tears on the edge of the plastic tray. So, I'm hungry as we drive up the muddy track that leads to the artists' enclosure at T in the Park under evil, July winter clouds. Our tour bus, 15 tonnes of tinted excess, passes the security checkpoint where I stood on a parched summer's day three years ago, holding my guitar in its protective bin bag, as the security guard, after checking his list of bands, said, "Sorry son, I don't think you're playing - you shouldn't be in this area."
Read more...
By Alex Kapranos
The twin-propeller plane looked as if it was made of Lego. It flew us from Gdansk to Edinburgh this morning, our equipment strapped to the floor with rope webbing between us and the pilot. In-flight catering was watery, cold, scrambled eggs and cold bacon. The fat had congealed into hard white tears on the edge of the plastic tray. So, I'm hungry as we drive up the muddy track that leads to the artists' enclosure at T in the Park under evil, July winter clouds. Our tour bus, 15 tonnes of tinted excess, passes the security checkpoint where I stood on a parched summer's day three years ago, holding my guitar in its protective bin bag, as the security guard, after checking his list of bands, said, "Sorry son, I don't think you're playing - you shouldn't be in this area."
Read more...
Taking the eff out of chef
The Guardian
By Emine Saner
How can you stop bad-boy chefs from misbehaving in the kitchen? One London restaurant has hired an etiquette guru.
Read more...
By Emine Saner
How can you stop bad-boy chefs from misbehaving in the kitchen? One London restaurant has hired an etiquette guru.
Read more...
Friday, July 07, 2006
Taste for Quorn boosts Premier
The Guardian
By Katie Allen
Premier Foods is enjoying solid sales growth on the back of rising demand for its fungus-based meat replacement, Quorn. The food group behind Branston pickle bought Quorn last year in a £172m deal and the acquisition is paying off. Premier said in a trading update yesterday that Quorn sales had shown double-digit growth in the first half of this year thanks to more advertising and new products such as fajita strips and satay sticks.
Read more...
By Katie Allen
Premier Foods is enjoying solid sales growth on the back of rising demand for its fungus-based meat replacement, Quorn. The food group behind Branston pickle bought Quorn last year in a £172m deal and the acquisition is paying off. Premier said in a trading update yesterday that Quorn sales had shown double-digit growth in the first half of this year thanks to more advertising and new products such as fajita strips and satay sticks.
Read more...
Scare over salmonella in chocolate widens
The Guardian
By Felicity Lawrence and James Meikle
The alert over Cadbury products contaminated with salmonella widened yesterday as it emerged other food companies bought chocolate crumb from the Herefordshire factory at the heart of the crisis.
After a meeting with the authorities in London yesterday, it also emerged Cadbury has only now agreed to a comprehensive cleaning of all the production lines at the Marlbrook plant concerned.
Read more...
By Felicity Lawrence and James Meikle
The alert over Cadbury products contaminated with salmonella widened yesterday as it emerged other food companies bought chocolate crumb from the Herefordshire factory at the heart of the crisis.
After a meeting with the authorities in London yesterday, it also emerged Cadbury has only now agreed to a comprehensive cleaning of all the production lines at the Marlbrook plant concerned.
Read more...
Fears over health fuel 30% rise in sales of organic food
The Guardian
By James Meikle
The "healthy" image of organic food helped UK sales soar by 30% last year to nearly £1.6bn, a report by the Soil Association says today. The huge increase in sales followed the scare over the Sudan 1 food contaminant in processed foods, fears over obesity and good news about nutrients in organic milk.
But the massive rise in interest in organic produce - sales last year were three times greater than in 2004 - has also raised concerns that UK farmers cannot keep pace with the surge in demand.
Read more...
By James Meikle
The "healthy" image of organic food helped UK sales soar by 30% last year to nearly £1.6bn, a report by the Soil Association says today. The huge increase in sales followed the scare over the Sudan 1 food contaminant in processed foods, fears over obesity and good news about nutrients in organic milk.
But the massive rise in interest in organic produce - sales last year were three times greater than in 2004 - has also raised concerns that UK farmers cannot keep pace with the surge in demand.
Read more...
Thursday, July 06, 2006
A vintage year for cheating
The Guardian
By Andrew Catchpole
Poor old beaujolais. The wine that once launched a thousand races across La Manche is again the source of sour grapes. Beaujolais nouveau has lost its lustre, plummeting demand has seen hundreds of thousands of hecto-litres turned to vinegar and a critic in Lyon Mag creating a very public legal battle after describing the wine as "vin de merde" (Lyon Mag won on appeal). Now George Duboeuf, the region's best-known and most prolific producer, has been charged with fraud.
Read more...
By Andrew Catchpole
Poor old beaujolais. The wine that once launched a thousand races across La Manche is again the source of sour grapes. Beaujolais nouveau has lost its lustre, plummeting demand has seen hundreds of thousands of hecto-litres turned to vinegar and a critic in Lyon Mag creating a very public legal battle after describing the wine as "vin de merde" (Lyon Mag won on appeal). Now George Duboeuf, the region's best-known and most prolific producer, has been charged with fraud.
Read more...
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Beaujolais Nouveau's inventor fined for fraud
The Guardian
By Angelique Chrisafis in Paris
Georges Duboeuf, the self-styled "king of Beaujolais", was yesterday fined €30,000 (£20,800) for fraud after wine produced by his estate was found to have been illegally blended from different types of grape rather than a single source.
Read more...
By Angelique Chrisafis in Paris
Georges Duboeuf, the self-styled "king of Beaujolais", was yesterday fined €30,000 (£20,800) for fraud after wine produced by his estate was found to have been illegally blended from different types of grape rather than a single source.
Read more...
Sunday, July 02, 2006
After 10 years of healthy eating campaigns costing millions .... Scots’ diet is worse than ever
The Sunday Herald
By Judith Duffy, Health Correspondent
Despite 10 years of government targets and millions of pounds spent to encourage healthier eating, a major report will this month reveal that the Scots diet is no better, and, in some cases, worse.
An independent review of the progress made on a major action plan published by the Scottish Office in 1996 – which set goals for changing diets over the following 10 years – will report that Scots are eating more sugar and the same level of saturated fats. There has been no change in the intake of fruit and vegetables, oil-rich fish, bread and breakfast cereals.
The Sunday Herald can reveal that the review, due to be published by the Food Standards Agency later this month, has found the targets in many key areas have not been met.
Read more...
By Judith Duffy, Health Correspondent
Despite 10 years of government targets and millions of pounds spent to encourage healthier eating, a major report will this month reveal that the Scots diet is no better, and, in some cases, worse.
An independent review of the progress made on a major action plan published by the Scottish Office in 1996 – which set goals for changing diets over the following 10 years – will report that Scots are eating more sugar and the same level of saturated fats. There has been no change in the intake of fruit and vegetables, oil-rich fish, bread and breakfast cereals.
The Sunday Herald can reveal that the review, due to be published by the Food Standards Agency later this month, has found the targets in many key areas have not been met.
Read more...
Bar-L stops Ramsay doing porridge
Scotland on Sunday
By Kate Foster
HIS fiery temper and foul language have earned him a reputation as Britain's toughest chef. But it appears Gordon Ramsay was not hard enough for Scotland's most fearsome jail.
After rescuing failing restaurateurs across the country, it has emerged the celebrity chef had his sights set on the kitchens at HMP Barlinnie, which houses some of the nation's most violent offenders.
Ramsay had an ambitious plan to improve Barlinnie's menus for his Kitchen Nightmares series.
But it turns out officials at the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) had nightmares of their own over the idea. They feared the Glasgow-born chef might come off worse if he unleashed one of his trademark tantrums at a prisoner and a riot could follow.
Read more...
By Kate Foster
HIS fiery temper and foul language have earned him a reputation as Britain's toughest chef. But it appears Gordon Ramsay was not hard enough for Scotland's most fearsome jail.
After rescuing failing restaurateurs across the country, it has emerged the celebrity chef had his sights set on the kitchens at HMP Barlinnie, which houses some of the nation's most violent offenders.
Ramsay had an ambitious plan to improve Barlinnie's menus for his Kitchen Nightmares series.
But it turns out officials at the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) had nightmares of their own over the idea. They feared the Glasgow-born chef might come off worse if he unleashed one of his trademark tantrums at a prisoner and a riot could follow.
Read more...
Cadbury salmonella bug may have affected up to 30 brands
The Independent
By Severin Carrell
The salmonella food poisoning bug found in Cadbury chocolate may have contaminated up to 30 different brands, food safety officials have warned.
Safety tests are now being carried out on a wide range of bars after it emerged that the contamination, which was caused by a leaking pipe discovered earlier this year at a Cadbury plant, may have been far greater than first realised. More than one million Cadbury chocolate bars were withdrawn from sale 10 days ago after the firm admitted that chocolate "crumb" was contaminated with traces of salmonella montevideo, a rare strain of the bug, six months ago.
Health officials in Birmingham are now testing another 30 brands and the Food Standards Agency has warned that other types of Cadbury chocolate could be withdrawn. The disclosures will add to Cadbury's embarrassment. Thecompany was forced to admit 13 days ago that it had known of the incident since January.
There has been an unusual rise in salmonella montevideo cases this year and safety officials are furious that the contamination was not disclosed earlier. Cadbury is facing prosecution for keeping quiet about the incident.
Read more...
By Severin Carrell
The salmonella food poisoning bug found in Cadbury chocolate may have contaminated up to 30 different brands, food safety officials have warned.
Safety tests are now being carried out on a wide range of bars after it emerged that the contamination, which was caused by a leaking pipe discovered earlier this year at a Cadbury plant, may have been far greater than first realised. More than one million Cadbury chocolate bars were withdrawn from sale 10 days ago after the firm admitted that chocolate "crumb" was contaminated with traces of salmonella montevideo, a rare strain of the bug, six months ago.
Health officials in Birmingham are now testing another 30 brands and the Food Standards Agency has warned that other types of Cadbury chocolate could be withdrawn. The disclosures will add to Cadbury's embarrassment. Thecompany was forced to admit 13 days ago that it had known of the incident since January.
There has been an unusual rise in salmonella montevideo cases this year and safety officials are furious that the contamination was not disclosed earlier. Cadbury is facing prosecution for keeping quiet about the incident.
Read more...
Beware the smoothie: Full of fruit - but they may be bad for you
The Independent
By Severin Carrell
They are one of the food industry's biggest sellers and consumers see them as a healthy option. They should think again.
Read more...
By Severin Carrell
They are one of the food industry's biggest sellers and consumers see them as a healthy option. They should think again.
Read more...
Saturday, July 01, 2006
Bad Science: The showbiz recipe for healthy eating
The Guardian
By Ben Goldacre
Last year I noticed that more and more of the lifestyle bunnies in the press and on the internet were showing off about being "RNutr" or "Registered Nutritionists". Registered with whom? Imagine a two-headed monster called "The Nutrition Society". On the one hand, they are a respectable and august research body, representing some of the sharpest academics in the country, doing research work on nutrition in both people and laboratories, publishing academic journals and so on. That's science. On the other hand, they "run" a "register", which I suspect is largely composed of commercial "nutritionists" making good money peddling lifestyle advice to the public.
Read more...
By Ben Goldacre
Last year I noticed that more and more of the lifestyle bunnies in the press and on the internet were showing off about being "RNutr" or "Registered Nutritionists". Registered with whom? Imagine a two-headed monster called "The Nutrition Society". On the one hand, they are a respectable and august research body, representing some of the sharpest academics in the country, doing research work on nutrition in both people and laboratories, publishing academic journals and so on. That's science. On the other hand, they "run" a "register", which I suspect is largely composed of commercial "nutritionists" making good money peddling lifestyle advice to the public.
Read more...
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