yumsugar -- To die for.

Gordon Wants to Outlaw Out-of-Season Produce

YumSugar — Mon, 12 May 2008 06:45:24 -0700

Should serving non-seasonal food be outlawed? Gordon Ramsay thinks so. He recently spoke to the BBC News and told them his opinion. During the interview he said:

Chefs should be fined if they haven't got ingredients in season on their menu. I don't want to see asparagus on in the middle of December, I don't want to see strawberries from Kenya in the middle of March. I want to see it home grown.

He's so passionate about this, he's actually brought the issue to UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

However something tells me that England won't be seeing a ban anytime soon. There's big business in the food import industry, and shouldn't people have the right to choose what they want to eat? Sorry Gordon, but I disagree with you on this one. Also, do you think everything on his restaurants' menus are grown locally? The Guardian says they're not.

To watch the interview where Gordon speaks his mind, just

Heinz Ketchup Goes Gourmet

YumSugar — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 06:01:33 -0700

Ketchup is ketchup right? Tomatoes, sugar some spices. It's a condiment, not a gourmet sauce, right? Wrong! Maybe it's just because the British seemed more refined than the rest of us, but the Daily Mail is reporting that they're about to receive a gourmet Heinz ketchup.

The new "premium" ketchup has taken the chefs at Heinz over a year to perfect and it will cost three times as much as regular ketchup. According to Heinz it is meant to appeal to folks "who want a more sophisticated table sauce to match their palate."

There's no news on whether or not the US leg of Heinz is planning on releasing a similar product, but if they did, would you buy it?

Source

Who's Your Favorite British Celebrity-Chef?

YumSugar — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 11:38:31 -0700

Who's Your Favorite British Celebrity-Chef?
From Gordon Ramsay to Rustie Lee, the gals at PopSugar UK want to know who your favorite British celeb chef is!

Are Traditional British Foods Becoming Extinct?

YumSugar — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 16:15:51 -0700

Seems like the Brits have a lot to worry about food-wise. First their curry industry ran into a crisis, and now it seems that their actual traditional dishes are becoming extinct. Experts believe that dishes like toad in the hole, spotted dick, steak and kidney pie, and jam roly-poly could disappear from dining tables by 2021.

A new survey conducted by Tesco — a huge British grocery store chain — discovered that only 6 percent of 18-40 year olds had cooked a Beef Wellington compared to 15 percent of 41-55 year olds.

The research claims that the traditional dishes are being prepared less frequently and that folks are opting for foreign cuisine, like spaghetti bolognese and curry instead. They believe that this will lead to the eventual wipe out of traditional dishes. Personally, I don't think this is true. We don't eat chicken piccata, or duck a l'orange very often, but those dishes have survived for centuries, and while not served in most homes, they're hardly "extinct."

So what do you think? Do you believe these dishes could become extinct?

Source

Britain's Curry Crisis

YumSugar — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 16:25:15 -0800

It seems that the US is not the only country dealing with immigration issues. In England, the government uses a point-based system to determine migration by non-EU citizens. While this may be a good move for security reasons, it is actually bad for food reasons. You see, over the last several decades, many believe that curry has become England's "true national dish". However, thanks to the immigration restrictions, many of Britain's curry houses are suffering from a staff shortage. Restauranteur Ahmed Koysor said:

It's been really difficult to recruit locally. We have tried hiring eastern European staff but they have been mostly useless. No skills, no understanding of what we do. And besides, they need to speak the language of the kitchen if we are going to be good at what we do.

There are no confirmed figures, but the Bangladesh Caterers' Association states that there are 27,500 vacancies in Bangladeshi-owned restaurants and that immigration officials have said that no more Bangladeshi nationals will be allowed in. If this continues, many restaurants may be forced to close.

So what do you guys think of this? With curry being England's "national dish," do you think there should be some more wiggle room?

Source

Wake Up and Smell the Oatmeal!

YumSugar — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 16:13:31 -0800

There are some pretty fun alarm clocks out there, but this weekend the internet was abuzz over a different kind of alarm clock. According to Scotland's Daily Record, Quaker Oats is testing a bedside alarm in the UK. Now you'll be able to wake up to a warm bowl of porridge or oatmeal each and every morning.

The device, which is called The Porridgemaid, contains a thermos to keep the milk cold overnight. However, once the alarm goes off, the thermos is heated up and in three minutes you've got yourself a bowl of breakfast. In our ever increasingly fast-paced lifestyles, I suppose every minute counts. However, I could see myself reaching for the snooze button and putting my hand right into a bowl of porridge. It also reminds me of the episode of The Office where Michael cooks his foot, and we all know that that was a completely bad idea. What do you think!?

Source

London Receives a Marmite Kiss

YumSugar — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 15:28:56 -0800

This morning I asked you if you would eat a Marmite sandwich. Imagine my surprise when just a few hours later I discovered that London-based artist, Jeremy Fattorini, has created a giant sculpture made from it! His sculpture, which is a replica of Rodin's The Kiss, is 7-ft. tall and is made from 420 jars of the limited-edition "I Love You" Marmite. It was unveiled yesterday in London's Greenwich Park, just in time for Valentine's Day.

Source

Do What Comes Naturally, Introducing Pepsi Raw

YumSugar — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 10:13:41 -0800

I never thought I'd put the words "Pepsi" and "healthy" together, but here goes: Pepsi is launching a healthy version of their flagship soda called Pepsi Raw. Made from natural ingredients, it contains no artificial preservatives, color, flavor, or sweeteners. It appears to be lighter in color — is that the lack of corn syrup, artificial color, or something else? — but that's not the only thing it's light in. It's lighter in calories (90 compared to 120 in regular Pepsi), too.

The product is launching in the UK, but it'll only be available in select bars and clubs in seven cities: London, Manchester, Glasgow, Brighton, Birmingham, Leeds, and Liverpool. A larger distribution arrives later in the year, but no word on a US release.

So what do you think? Do you think soda can really be healthy? I'd really like to try it; I wonder if tastes like regular Pepsi, or will all the excess artificial be missed?

Source and Source

Happy Hour: Pink Port

YumSugar — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 15:29:31 -0800

British retail giant Marks & Spencer has just launched a pink port intended to appeal to women. The wine, which is unimaginatively called Pink Port, is lighter in hue than regular port because it takes a small amount of color from the grape skins. They've decided to test this product out because many folks associate port as a man's drink — much like they wrongly assume whiskey and bourbon are for men only.

I'll admit, I'm drawn to things by their packaging, so I'm sure this would have grabbed my interest. However, unfortunately, according to Guy Woodward, editor of Decanter magazine, the wine's not worth it. He believes it was more like vodka cranberry than port and said:

I suspect they're trying to jump on the rosé bandwagon, but it tastes worryingly close to the alcopop market.

It's a bummer to hear that port marketed towards women is inferior to regular port. Do they think we won't notice if it's bad? What do you guys think? Do you think we even need our own port?

Source

Would Mandatory Cooking Classes Help Childhood Obesity?

YumSugar — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 01:32:31 -0800

In an effort to tackle childhood obesity, secondary school students in the United Kingdom will be given practical cookery lessons. That's right, they're going back to the days of home-ec. They're hoping that basic cooking skills will encourage teenagers to cook their own meals and stop their dependency on processed foods.

The full plan is expected to be announced today by Schools Secretary Ed Balls. There's worry that there will be a shortage of teachers and equipment, but if all goes accordingly, schools that currently offer food technology classes (85 percent of all schools) will have to teach basic cookery skills. The other 15 percent will have to follow suit by 2011.

What do you think? Do you think that mandatory cooking classes will actually help childhood obesity? Would you want a similar program put into place in America?

Source

Not Interested in Foie Gras? How About Faux Gras?

YumSugar — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 09:18:39 -0800

Foie gras is definitely a controversial subject, some folks love the way it tastes and don't care about how it's produced, while others won't go near it because of how it's produced. There are even those who love it, but feel too guilty to eat it.

We could get into a big debate over whether or not foie gras is cruel — sidenote: did anyone see Anthony Bourdain's Holiday Special segment about it? — but for the time being, I thought I'd just tell you about an alternative. UK supermarket Waitrose has created a product called Faux Gras — they even have the term trademarked — that is a blend of goose liver and goose or duck fat. It costs significantly less than the real thing and comes close to the real thing. David Stone, a buyer for Waitrose, said:

"We are confident we have come up with the holy grail of the gastronomic world - a pate with the richness of traditional foie gras, but without any of the guilt."

What do you think of this? Would you try it? And for those of you that are curious about it, but don't live in the UK, Gourmet has a recipe for Chicken Faux Gras.

Source

Why Have a Pizza Pie When There's a Pizza Pope?

YumSugar — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 03:02:01 -0800

British food artist Prudence Emma Staite has a new exhibit up at the Museum of London. This time the experimental artist has created sculptures of the Colosseum, Spanish Steps and Pope Benedict XVI using enough dough to make 500 pizzas. Her exhibit will be on display until November 13.

Each piece is handcrafted and baked by Staite, but personally, I want to see the oven she baked these in!

Be sure to check out the gallery below. My favorite is the one of the museum worker grating parmesan cheese on top of the Colosseum!

Source

Are Recipes By Female Chefs More Complicated Than Those By Male Chefs?

YumSugar — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 11:03:38 -0700

The UK Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills recently completed a study that looked at 35 recipes published by five UK celebrity chefs — Jamie Oliver, Delia Smith, Nigella Lawson, Gordon Ramsay and Nigel Slater. It turns out that while these folks make cooking look simple, their recipes can be difficult to follow. Actually, of the five chefs, only the recipes from the two women chefs were considered overly complicated.

While Gordon Ramsay's recipes were considered "so simple they can be followed by a seven-year-old," Nigella and Delia's were deemed too "chatty."

"[The study] found that 5.2million adults in the UK would be unable to follow Nigella's cooking methods as she uses longer sentences and tends to write in a "chatty" style, mixing in personal observations with her instructions.

"Delia Smith's culinary teaching was also criticised for having too many stages and using measurements confusing for anyone with poor numeracy skills.
"She also sprinkles too many adjectives into her recipes."

The study was intended to highlight the UK Government's adult learning campaign, but actually turned up the fact that the high profile male chefs deliver easier, simpler recipes than their female counterparts.

What do you guys think? Are you familiar with their recipes, do you agree? Also, if the study was conducted on US chefs, do you think the same would be said? Do you think Bobby Flay's recipes would be easier to follow than Giada De Laurentiis's?

Source: Daily Mail
Image Source

Yummy Link: Whole Foods Opens Its First UK Store

YumSugar — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 06:31:18 -0700

Whole Foods opened up their first UK branch a few weeks ago, and the customers are calling it the "Disney World of food." - Guardian Unlimited

The Stink Piles Up for Ramsay

YumSugar — Wed, 16 May 2007 02:58:19 -0700

Gordon Ramsay sure is causing a stink. Actually, make that PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) sure is causing a stink for Gordon Ramsay. PETA UK demonstrators dressed up as horses and dumped a ton of horse manure in front of his London restaurant Claridge's. Ramsay has been putting himself in the bad graces of PETA, first by dragging a slain deer through his restaurant and then by suggesting that people should eat horse meat. In an upcoming episode of his show The F-Word, Ramsay admits to eating horse.

"I've eaten horse", and says that it is healthy, with lots of iron and half the fat of beef and far more Omega 3 essential fatty acids. He describes horse meat as "slightly gamey" and "packed with protein".

Some are calling the horse meat statement a "ratings gimmick," and others say it's perfectly viable to consider other red meat sources. Either way I bet Ramsay didn't think it would cause such a stink.

Source: The Telegraph and Metro UK

Image Source