The European Commission has banned the UK’s meat producers form using Desinewed meat (DSM); the flesh left on bones after butchering that is grated off mechanically to create a cheap mince-like substance. This is then used to ‘bulk up’ food products to portray a higher meat content and quality to consumers.

Kevin McWhinney, MD of McWhinney’s Sausages commented:

“To our huge disappointment and disgust even the majority of our own industry ‘experts’ are outraged that DSM can no longer be considered as meat. We are overjoyed that this is now no longer the case, as we have always argued that DSM is not meat. Despite its ban some manufacturers have used new technology to produce this product, but have called it by a new name to try and pull the wool over the eyes of the industry and the consumer.”

The Food Standards Agency is enforcing this new ban because the European Commission sees DSM and MSM (Mechanically Separated Meat) as the same.

“Unsurprisingly, the ‘big boys’ of the industry – the British Meat Processers Association (BMPA) are horrified that using DSM is to cease. These are the manufacturers that see profit as king, with product quality a distant second. I’m not portraying any manufacturer as having done anything illegal- as they haven’t. I’m simply delighted that after all this time the industry is soon to be on a level playing field. This product can no longer and under the (2004) regulations, should not have been, referred to as meat.”

McWhinney’s has a clear ethos on using any variety of mechanically reclaimed meat- never has, never will. The company hasn’t an issue with other manufacturers producing cheap products with the aid of DSM, but it has always battled the fact that with the laws allowing DSM to be classified as ‘meat’, its customers have struggled to understand the reasons for our higher prices.

Now with this new law announcing DSM as non-meat, many others are now adapting their product in order to remain legal.

McWhinney states: “Since we have never used DSM, we have always been more expensive and buyers have always been able to source other sausages cheaper. Given DSM’s right to be called meat, the fact that others in the industry were getting away with it was just a hard pill for us to swallow. Now, a new era is beginning when the entire industry will be legally obliged to declare the meat content of a product separately from its DSM content. Our reaction…it’s about time.”

McWhinney’s Sausages advise that this is taken a step further whereby product details are available not only on retail food packaging, but throughout food consumption. The experts suggest that diners in restaurants, bars, and cafes must be in a position to know what they are eating.

McWhinney added: “

It is vital to let every food consumer decide what they want and what they don’t. In terms of the use of pork and poultry DSM- by all means allow those who use it to use it, but clearly and concisely declare it and let the public know that it is in their food! Let the customer make their own informed decisions.”

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Blue Elephant, London’s most iconic Thai restaurant – and soon to be cooking school – has now relocated to its stunning home on Imperial Wharf.

On Friday 11th May, the new Blue Elephant will welcome a very special group of visitors, when monks from the Buddhapadipa Temple in Wimbledon, the first Thai Buddhist temple to be built in the UK, arrive to perform a beautiful traditional blessing ceremony.

The colourful and vivid occasion will provide a rare opportunity to witness a traditional Buddhist rite that encourages good fortune and prosperity for the new building and its inhabitants.

The monks will perform a blessing for the restaurant and the Suphannahong, the magnificent replica of the famous Royal Barge of Thailand which now takes pride of place in the restaurant’s Blue Bar. With its figurehead fashioned in the shape of a swan and intricately carved and gilded hull, it has been painstakingly carved out of a single trunk of teak by Thai master craftsmen.

The ceremony will start at 10am.

The new Blue Elephant has quickly found favour with customers and food critics alike. Of particular note has been the superb menu created by the renowned Thai chef Noroor Somany Steppe, the award-winning founder of the Blue Elephant group who has been regarded as the Culinary Ambassador of Thai Cuisine since 1980.

The stand alone cookery school on the first floor is due to open later this year. Run along the same lines as Blue Elephant’s very successful schools in Bangkok and Phuket, this facility will offer students a fascinating introduction to the wonders of Thai cuisine.

Blue Elephant, The Boulevard, Imperial Wharf,
Townmead Road, London, SW6 2UB
www.blueelephant.com/london

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Boris Johnsonand Ken Livingstone have been created out of Mini Babybel cheese by miniature artist Aidan Campbell who has a rather unusual love for the cheese! Aidan decided to create the two politicians in time for the Mayoral elections tomorrow.

Stats:

Each cheese took approximately six hours to create

The artist, Aidan Campbell, worked his way through over 50 cheeses to achieve the perfect likeness of Boris and Ken

Aidan spent 77 hours on the Boris and Ken (and rejected) cheeses until he felt he reached the final product

Carving the cheese was more challenging than first thought – typing in boxing gloves comes to mind!

The tools of the trade to create the Mini Babybel artworks are nothing more than a surgeon’s scalpel and an old needle in a bent bit of wood for a handle, heated in a candle flame if needed to melt, blend and re-adhere more small bits of wax to correct mistakes

Holding the Mini Babybel cheeses for more than about ten minutes generated enough heat to soften the wax, so it was repeated stints in and out of the fridge working on three cheeses at a time, one in hand and two in the fridge

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Fast food chain McDonald’s has pledged to increase the domestic chicken supply used in their food from 10% to 90% amid pressure from Green Mayoral candidate Jenny Jones.

The company had planned to import most of their chicken from overseas countries like Brazil and Thailand, snubbing British farmers and necessitating far greater emissions owing to long-distance air transport.
Lord Coe, the Chair of the London Olympic and Paralympic organising committee (LOCOG) admitted the problem at City Hall in response to a question from Green Mayoral candidate Jenny Jones.

But it now seems that Macdonald’s have backed down after pressure from the London Green Party.

Jones said:

“This is a real success for British farmers and the people of London.

“However, British Red Tractor was the absolute basic sourcing standard for Games chicken anyway, and in my opinion, well short of the Games’ aspirations of high animal welfare standards.

“McDonalds should now go much further and stop using intensively reared chicken from broiler sheds where a chicken may only have the equivalent space of an A4 piece of paper.

“It’s time for McDonalds to do the right thing and switch to Free Range or RSPCA Freedom Food assured British reared chicken as their minimum welfare sourcing standard.”

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A new edition of a classic early 17th century work – The Fruit, Herbs and Vegetables of Italy, written by the Italian refugee Giacomo Castelvetro.

When he came ot England he was horrified by our preference for large helpings of meat, masses of sugar and very little greenstuff. The Italians were both good gardeners, and had a famililiarity with many varieties of vegetable and fruit that were as yet little known in England.

Castelvetro takes us through the gardener’s year, listing the fruit and vegetables as they come into season, with simple and elegant ways of preparing them. Practical instructions are interspersed with tender vignettes of his life in his native Modena. He writes of children learning to swim in the canals of the Brenta, strapped to huge dried pumpkins to keep them afloat; Venetian ladies ogling passers-by from behind screens of verdant beanstalks; sultry German wenches jealously hoarding their grape harvest; and his intimate chats with Scandinavian royalty about the best way to graft pear cuttings and discomfort the Pope.

An entry for Spring:

And so I start the year with hops, the first shoots to appear at this time of year. These we never eat raw, but serve as a cooked salad. We wash them in several waters and then cook the desired amount in water with a little salt, when done we take them out and drain very well and serve in a nice clean dish seasoned with salt, plenty of oil, and a little vinegar or lemon juice and some crushed, not powered, pepper. Alternatively, once the hops are cooked, some of us flour them and fry them in oil and serve sprinkled with salt, pepper and bitter orange juice, and very tasty they are”

The Fruit, Herbs and Vegetables of Italy. is availble from Amazon.co.uk for £9.12.

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Celebrity chef James Martin has joined forces with recipe sharing site manyfacesofpotatoes.co.uk, to search for Britain’s favourite potato recipe, ready in 30 minutes or less.

To inspire home-cooks to go beyond the staple baked or mashed potato, James has created a selection of his own 30 minute favourite potato recipes which include: Salmon Fish Cakes, with a Lemon and Basil Mayonnaise; Herb Chicken and Potato Kebabs, and Pan-Roasted Potato Tart with Goat’s Cheese and Red Onion.

James is calling upon budding home-cooks to upload their own or their family’s much-loved, quick and tasty potato recipe to www.manyfacesofpotatoes.co.uk. The winning recipe will have the opportunity to feature in a national TV advert, to be aired in July 2012, and the lucky winner will receive a luxury family farm stay holiday for four in the beautiful English countryside.

From the hundreds of potato dishes uploaded, 12 finalists will be selected from across Britain. The finalists’ dishes will then be tasted by a panel of serious foodies – including James – before the winning recipe is selected.

James Martin said: “Manyfacesofpotatoes.co.uk is a fantastic recipe sharing website, where you’ll find a whole host of quick and tasty potato dishes, including some of my own. Who knows, you might discover a new family favourite.”

For hundreds of simple and delicious recipe ideas, as well as James’ top potato tips, go to www.manyfacesofpotatoes.co.uk

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The Kitchen Cabinet – BBC Radio 4’s new food panel show – starts tomorrow (Tuesday, February 7th) at 3pm. Jay Rayner hosts and is joined by a panel of guests each week for a show that is recorded in front of a live audience, It is aimed at anyone who cooks at home, not just the experts.

Below are some clips from the first show recorded in Suffolk.

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Available for download now – its free but they insist you register – is the second issue of The Cocktail Lovers Magazine.

The contents include:
Spotlight on spirited females in the drinks industry
The team from Callooh Callay add East End swagger to West End style
Tasting the best cocktails Berlin has to offer
London bars with birds eye views
Rebekkah Dooley talks to Tomas Estes, the tequila ambassador
Detox or Retox?
Plus 25 reasons we’re loving this season

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The 22nd edition of coolcucumber tv is now ready and waiting at www.coolcucumber.tv.

This edition features a visit to Forman’s magnificent new place in the shadow of the Olympic Stadium – it’s new because the stadium now stands where Forman’s used to be. Lance Forman talks about smoked salmon, graffiti and East London. From the heart of the city to the depths of the countryside – the Lords of the Manor Hotel in Gloucestershire.

Gérard Bassett, OBE, the best sommelier in the world, introduces another of his favourite wines.

Venturing further into the country, there is a visit to the Pipe and Glass, a beautiful pub in a beautiful part of Yorkshire.

Returning to London, there is a chat with Greg Place, General Manager of the new Hilton at Heathrow’s Terminal 5, about his career, and life in the hospitality business.

And finally, in keeping with the record-breaking spirit of the Olympics, Darren Matson – Guinness World Record holder – demonstrates amazing skill with smoked salmon, while chef Michael Smith prepares a simple but beautiful salmon starter.

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2011 The Great British Bake Off the extraordinaire Holly Bell has created an alternative Christmas Cake that we all still have time to make!! Here is a little festive film of her creating the masterpiece.

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The Foodie List - Foodie stuff from around the UK