Archive for January, 2008

M&S Ingredients Range

by Andrew on January 22, 2008 in Supermarkets with 2 Comments

Marks and Spencer new ingredients rangeThe quality of Marks and Spencers food has long been praised and sales following their ‘This is not just food, it is M&S food’ have been buoyant. But the focus has always been on fresh food and ready meals.

Now M&S is expanding in to the ‘ingredient’ sphere with a new range that will include herbs, spice blends, oils, sauces, bread and cake mixes, ready-to-use stocks, dried and tinned vegetables, rice, pulses, dried fruit and nuts, flours, sugars and noodles. Many products are organic.

“From now on customers looking to cook from scratch and wanting to buy all their ingredients under one roof will increasingly find everything they need at M&S.

“At M&S we believe food starts with great ingredients. We’ve always been famous for the quality of our fresh and prepared food, but now we have used all our passion and enthusiasm for great tasting food to create a stunning new range of cooking ingredients.”

The range is Marks & Spencer branded and features a clean pack design with simple line drawings. Each item costs less than £4.

[quote from the Telegraph]


FrontLine Club Food and Wine Tasting

by Andrew on January 21, 2008 in Tasting Events/Shows with No comments

FrontLine ClubHead chef, John Taylor and wine author, Malcolm Gluck are to host an evening of fine food and wine in Frontline’s exclusive, private dining room.

John Taylor’s cuisine is packed full of British flavours, seasonal variations and hints of tradition. Meticulously sourcing all his ingredients from specialist, independent producers, John will guide guests through the gastronomic highlights of his specially crafted tasting menu, granting you a peak inside the world of the Frontline kitchen, and all the creative passion it holds.

Malcolm Gluck has hand picking some of the finest wines for the tasting, he will talk through his choices across the evening.

The FrontLine Food and Wine Tasting will cost £69 for four courses with wine. To book call 020 7479 8960 (credit card details required for booking).

The Frontline Restaurant is a welcome haven from the bustling streets of London’s Paddington. The restaurant is part of the Frontline media club that uniquely combines eating, drinking and thinking. Profits from the restaurant support the Frontline Forum with its weekly programme of cutting edge documentaries and discussions that ensure the world’s causes and crises that fade from the headlines are kept in sharp focus.

The tasting sis to be held on Saturday 9 February @ 6.30pm

Hugh’s Chicken Run – Industry Reaction

by Andrew on January 18, 2008 in In the Press, Television, Radio, Video, Film with 6 Comments

A chickenThe post here on The Foodie List highlighting Hugh’s campaign and the related TV programs have received 100 comments. This is not even the official site so surely demonstrates the passionate views held by many.

The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) and the British Poultry Council (BPC) have responded by stating poultry producers are fed up with myths and misconceptions and stress that animal welfare is the top priority for poultry producers. The birds are their most valuable assets and that low prices on supermarket shelves did not mean low welfare on farms.

They say, “It’s disappointing that once again the British media is referring to chickens reared for meat as ‘battery’ farmed. This is completely untrue and our members who look after the national flock are fed up to the back teeth of hearing it repeated. Chickens reared for meat in Britain are kept indoors or are free range – they are never kept in battery cages.”

The NFU have a page dedicated to the issue where they state that

“we do not accept that the welfare standards applied in the UK to ‘conventional’ egg and poultry production are in any way unacceptable. There are millions of consumers for whom the price of food is a key issue, and modern production techniques for poultry meat and eggs makes food available to people at an affordable price without involving an unacceptable compromise in terms of bird welfare.

There is a very real danger that the current spate of attacks on conventional poultry and egg production could compound the economic difficulties of the industry, accelerate the threatened decline in production and lead to more imports. If so, it will be highly counter-productive, as welfare standards in the UK are higher than in any of our major overseas suppliers. We would be exporting the chicken industry and importing lower welfare product.

[Image from the British Poultry Council]

Foodari – Facebook for Foodies

by Andrew on January 16, 2008 in On The Web with 4 Comments

Foodari ScreenshotNow this looks very interesting – Foodari is described by the creators as a facebook for foodies. You can create a personalised cookery book and store all of your favourite recipes. The site allows you to either upload your own recipes or save recipes from other websites. Foodari then lets you share your recipes effortlessly with friends and family and tag recipes with descriptive words so you can easily find them again.

Only see what you want by setting nutritional preferences or ingredients you would like excluded from recipe search…what’s more it is all free!

“Foodari is a Facebook for Foodies where you can store and share recipes from any source, gain cooking inspiration and have great fun. I think it would be both relevant and useful to your site’s visitors. We also have many plans over the next few months to provide services to reduce air miles and encourage local/seasonal food.”

Marmalade Festival 2008

by Andrew on January 14, 2008 in Tasting Events/Shows with 1 Comment

Marmalade Festival 2008The 2008 Marmalade Festival will be held at Dalemain in Cumbria on 7 – 10 February in aid of Hospice at Home Carlisle and North Lakeland.

Join Paddington Bear at Dalemain to launch his 50th Anniversary celebrations on Sunday 10 February now National Marmalade Day. Come and take part in the fun, it promises to be the best citrus themed birthday party you could ever attend. There’s lots for the whole family to do with marmalade galore, fantastic local food, lectures, cooking demos, festival bread, sandwich tasting and loads for the children too.

The Marmalade judging takes place on Friday 8 February when the House and Garden is also open to the public.

ALSO PLANNED:
Paddington Bear’s 50th Anniversary celebrations with stories and games for children
Celebrity Cookery Demonstrations
Royal Horticultural Society Lecture
Exploring exotic species of the citrus family from all over the world.
Artisan Food Producers – a real chance to taste some of the most delicious food in Cumbria and an opportunity to have it cooked or prepared for your lunch
All Day Breakfasts, Marmalade scones, Lunches and teas
Spruce up Paddington Bear’s Marmalade Sandwich to win a luxury weekend in the Lake District
Special marmalade loaves (using Carr’s flour) created by seven of Cumbria’s leading independent bakeries especially for the Festival

For the Marmalade Loaves the following bakeries are taking part – Gretna Bakery (Gretna), Grange Bakery (Grange-over-Sands), Munx Lakeland Bakery (Staveley), Staff of Life (Kendal), Moore’s Bakery (Dalston), Bryson’s Bakery (Keswick), Broughton Village Bakery (Broughton-in-Furness). From the 14th of January each baker will be selling them in their own shops to help publicise the World Marmalade Festival [these details from Artisan Food]

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