From BBC News
Consensus Action on Salt and Health surveyed 71 own-label “Free From” products from five leading supermarkets in the UK.
Over half contained more salt than the retailer’s standard version of the product. Some had six times as much.
Serving up a ‘Spotted Richard’
Flintshire council canteen has renamed spotted dick pudding ‘Spotted Richard’ to cut back on crude innuendo and jokes at meal times.
Egg and Chips with a nice mug of tea
Food and class. Great article from the BBC Magazine on Egg and Chips with a nice mug of tea!
For a lower-middle class boy from Liverpool, a plate of egg and chips at five o’clock was not the done thing.
Being middle class I would never have tea at 5pm, more likely we would have “supper” at 7pm. For me tea was a birthday tea with cakes, biscuits, crisps and sausages on cocktail sticks. I remember being very surprised when a working class friend invited me home for tea and we didn’t have a birthday tea, but had supper!
Photo source.
Still flying high – Fat Duck retains top restaurant billing
The Fat Duck is still at the top. The BBC reports:
Television chef Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck restaurant in Berkshire has topped the 2010 Good Food Guide, despite a health scare earlier this year.
The restaurant scored a perfect 10 for the second year, beating Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant Chelsea.
Blumenthal is known for his use of experiments and chemistry to create his dishes.
His tasting menu always sounds interesting, not sure if I want to spend £130 on a meal, even though I expect it is worth it.
The £11,750 bottle of single malt
So would you pay £11,750 for a bottle of whisky?
Some one did.
A single bottle of whisky has sold for £11,750 at auction in Glasgow.
The 50-year-old Macallan, a bottling of three casks distilled between 1926 and 1928, sold to a private collector in California at McTear’s auctioneers.
It is the most expensive bottle sold this year and the most expensive 50-year-old bottle of Macallan ever sold.
Dragon Fruit
Dragon Fruit, had you heard of it? I hadn’t.
Looks weird.
Then you cut it, and it’s even more surprising.
So what is it like?
The texture is a cross between melon and kiwi fruit.
So what does it taste like?
Not much, probably got a dud or an unripe version.
Will I get it again?
No.
Really, weird KitKat flavours
In July last year I mentioned how much I disliked the KitKat Crunchy.
I came across this set of pictures of KitKats on Flickr.
I don’t know about you, but lemon and chilli pepper flavoured KitKat is plain wrong.
How much salt?
Guardian finds the salt content in some foods varies from country to country.
Salt content in some of the world’s most popular burger, snack and cereal brands almost doubles in some countries, according to new research out today.
A survey of more than 260 popular food products available around the world from food giants such as KFC, McDonald’s, Kellogg’s, Nestle, Burger King and Subway found that no single product surveyed had the same salt content around the world while some displayed huge variations from one country to another.
It can be quite amazing, well more like scary, how much salt can be found in some ready meals and fast food. Often as much (if not more) than the recommended daily amount of salt, and then some people add more salt! The fact that there is more salt added in different countries means you can’t rely on having the same eating experience as you travel around.
For me personally I try and avoid salt for health reasons, but now much prefer the natural flavours of food, herbs and spices and I don’t need the taste of salt. I certainly don’t consider salt to be a natural flavour enhancer.
Ginger Beer
Had a ginger beer today, first time in ages.
Not really a proper ginger beer (well it came in a can from marks and spencer) but it was not bad.
Calves Liver
Back in November last year I visited the Alba Ristorante in London with some friends. I had the Smoked Duck Salad followed by the Calves Liver. The Italian name for the calves liver dish was Fegato alla griglia con spinaci & patate; in English,
Back then I blogged about the meal and said
I am not normally a great fan of liver, lambs liver is quite strongly flavoured and pigs liver much too strong. Most of the time it appears to be served as liver and onions and the liver is dry and tough. However I had read many reviews about calves liver so this was an opportunity.
I was impressed.
It was beautifully cooked and was delicious. The flavour was exquisite and the accompanying spinach and potatoes were done well too. The texture was fantastic, it almost melted in the mouth. It had been grilled to perfection and was medium as was recommended to me and as asked for by me.
I decided that I would try and recreate that moment and cook some calves liver myself.
Hmmm.
I cooked it quickly on my griddle, it looked nice, however it certainly did not have the texture and flavour of the liver from the Alba.
Don’t think I will be cooking it again, going to leave it until the next time I visit the Alba.