Archive for March, 2007

Win A Hotel Chocolate Hamper

by Andrew on March 20, 2007 in Blog Events, On The Web with 2 Comments

Hotel Chocolat Competition PrizeHotel Chocolat has teamed up with The Foodie List and Spittoon Extra to offer you an exclusive Online Easter Egg Hunt in the run up to Easter.

To enter the competition and find the chocolate goodies, you need to answer the five questions below and use the first letter of each answer to create a secret password. Once you have this password, enter it into the Hotel Chocolat page designed just for us – if you got it right, the code will unlock a secret part of the Hotel Chocolat website where you’ll be entered into a prize draw to win a luxury Easter Hamper.

The Hampers usually cost £50 each and are chocablock full of chocolate goodness … just in time for Easter.

So, let’s get hunting!

The questions:

  1. Which Spanish wine best compliments chocolate? [Hint]
  2. Where do the ornately decorated ‘pysanky’ Easter Eggs originate from? [Hint]
  3. What is the name of Hotel Chocolat’s historic plantation in the West Indies? [Hint]
  4. What was the name of the Queen of Spain, who dismissed chocolate as a bizarre tribal concoction, when it was presented by Christopher Columbus? [Hint]
  5. What is the name of the Easter fruit cake traditionally given to mothers on Mothering Sunday? [Hint]
  6. Which spice is used to dye eggs yellow? [HINT]

Once you think you have the password, enter it here. Good luck!

The competition is open to all, although delivery before Easter is guaranteed to UK residents only. Competition closes 2nd April.

Food From Britain – Protected Status

by Andrew on March 19, 2007 in On The Web with 1 Comment

Food From Britain logoFrance has 161. Italy 155 and Spain 97. In the UK we have just 35. Our list includes Stilton Cheese, Welsh Lamb, Jersey Potatoes and Cornish Clotted Cream. These regional specialities are recognised by the European Union with protected status.

The Protected Status scheme was established in 1993 – products are either PDO’s (Protected Designation of Origin) that must be wholly produced and processed in one area, PGI’s (Protected Geographical Indication), a looser rating, where only one stage of production must occur in the area or TSG’s (Traditional Speciality Guaranteed) for products that are traditional or have customary names, and have features that distinguish them from other similar products but are not necessarily geographical in nature.

The government run Food From Britain is currently researching ‘signature foods’ to apply for one or other of these designations. Producers benefit from financial backing and legal support against imitation products being made outside the area. Suggestions can be made via a (pdf) form.

Those looking for such status include Yorkshire rhubarb, Cumberland Sausage and the Cornish Pasty. My vote goes to the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie and the Bakewell Tart. I’m surprised at how few of our regional cheeses are listed. A full list of products can be viewed on the Food From Britain website.

Waste Not, Want Not

by Andrew on March 18, 2007 in In the Press with No comments

This is quite astounding really – about one third of all the food we buy is thrown away. This amounts to more than three million tons annually or 15p in every £1 spent on food.

Now we all have duplicate spice jars and odd ingredients that we use for one exciting recipe only for it to be relegated to the back of the cupboard – but 1/3rd of all we buy is discarded? Staggering. Isn’t food the second biggest monthly outlay for a household after the mortgage/rent?

The watchdog group WRAP said people could cut down on left over food by simply looking in the cupboard or fridge before shopping. Never heard of WRAP before but sound, if obvious, advice. They are also calling on supermarkets not to encourage consumers to buy too much. How they expect supermarkets to do this is not mentioned – maybe the end of buy-one-get-one-free deals?

But the thrust is that people are throwing away food that’s cooked and left on the plate.

This is a society that misjudges food; this is a society that doesn’t value food.”

WRAP, incidentally, helps businesses and the general public to reduce waste, to use more recycled material, and recycle more things more often. This helps to minimise landfills, reduce carbon emissions and improve our environment. Worthy stuff.

Duck recipes in the Telegraph

by duck on March 17, 2007 in Books For Cooks, food, On The Web, Taste with No comments

Duck rillons, Roast duck breast with cider butter sauce, Duck with dried cherries, Duck liver and caramelised onion bruschetta and Duck noodle soup are featured in an interesting article by Xanthe Clay in the Telegraph (17 March 07) south west france book“She focusses on ethical production methods for free-range Freedom Food ducks in the UK. Given the increased demand and greater availability, this becomes more and more important, especially as ducks tend to have a rather better image than chickens. Decent duck may cost a bit more, but use every scrap and it’s a bargain. With two birds, it’s possible to make two main courses, a hearty soup and nibbles for four. Ask the butcher to take the breasts and legs off and give you the carcass and giblets, too.”
I admit to being a serious duck fan, especially the fattened ducks and magret de canard from France.
Rilllons are “the duck equivalent of pork scratchings, and delicious with drinks before dinner or scattered over a frisee salad and served as a starter.” Made from the leftover skin and fat from the cooked duck carcass, they can be really tasty – and at least by cooking them yourselves you know that nothing unmentionable has been added. “Rillettes” are similar but have more meat and fat, and are more of a moist paté.

In Search Of The Best Easter Egg

by Andrew on March 16, 2007 in In Search Of..., Online Retailers with 9 Comments

Hotel Chocolate Easter Egg

As a kid there was always that searing feeling of disappointment at Easter. OK so you received plenty of chocolate; but how disappointing were those fancy packages – tons of glittery wrapping and the thinest chocolate ever. And if the egg was actually empty… as for those who brought the damn things they were equally unhappy having paid for so much wrapping and the same amount of chocolate found in a standard bar.

A few years have passed since those days of course but from what I see the Easter Egg market hasn’t changed all that much. I need an egg though for someone special, someone grown up and, lets be honest, one with a sophisticated palate and higher expectations than your average 7 year old!

I stumbled into the Hotel Chocolate Store in Reading last week – and discovered a fine array of classy looking chocs. Plenty to tempt the chocolate lover this Easter but the £18 Exuberantly Fruity Egg stood out.

One look at this 40% milk chocolate shell with its zingy raspberry white chocolate splash and you’ll have a good idea of the natural fruitiness waiting inside. Crisp chocolate shells filled with vivacious cream ganaches including peach & raspberry, blackcurrant, strawberry, redcurrant, mango and apricot. Rolled in real fruit powder for extra tantalising zippiness.

Minimalist packaging, an extra thick shell and stuffed with real fruit truffles. I should also mention that the shell has a “ripple of raspberry and white chocolate” running through it. Delicious.

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