Burns Night Himalayan Fling – 25 January January 14, 2010

Back by popular demand, Babur’s Burns Night Himalayan Fling is an event you won’t want to miss. The evening begins with a Gurkha piper heralding the entrance of the Nepalese bhuton, possibly the first and original haggis recipe. There will be Slow-roasted Shoulder of Lamb marinated in Amrut Indian single malt whisky to follow, finishing off with Warm Barley and Amrut halwa with raspberry coulis. All in aid of the Gurkha Welfare Trust.

Our talent search, highlighted in the last newsletter, has yielded some impressive results and heading the bill of Burns songs and poetry is harpist and soprano, Norma Ritchie, who has sung and played the Celtic harp on Burns Nights in exotic locations such as Cochin and Kobe, Japan. Her husband, Peter Fender, has been playing the violin for even longer than he has been eating curries and for 25 years has lived within walking distance of Babur. There will be other surprise guests and friends of Babur.

Thanks to Chivas Regal, we have a grand prize for our raffle that money can not buy. At a time and location of the winner’s choosing, Chivas will send out one of their best tasters armed with an array of high-end whiskies to provide and unforgettable whisky tasting for 10 people. We’ve also got a pearl necklace from Pearl Magpie (www.pearlmagpie.co.uk/) and dinner for four from your favourite Indian restaurant.

So join us at 7:30, to be piped in for dinner at 8 on 25th January.
£49.95 per person (including a £10 donation to the Gurkha Welfare Trust). Call 020 8291 2400 or visit www.babur.info for more information.

we’d like to share the recipe for our welcome cocktail for the night, the Himalayan Fling, devised by our head barman and wine champion, Rupam Talukdar.

To a tall glass, add some crushed ice, 50ml Amrut Indian single malt (or some other fine whisky such as Chivas Regal), 20ml sweet sherry, juice of 1/2 fresh lime, a dash of sugar syrup and stir well. Add a bit more crushed ice, 2 thin slice of fresh ginger and julienne of lime zest. Stir well and top up with more crushed ice. Slàinte mhòr.

The World’s First 3D Virtual Farmers Market Has Arrived January 14, 2010

www.vfmuk.com

The first ever 3D Virtual Farmers Market (VFM) has officially opened its gates. The VFM is a fabulous new website that, using the latest games technology, allows you to ‘stroll around’ a 3D farmers market world, where you can ‘meet’ the people that produce your food & drink via video streams and buy delicious farmers market produce from more than 45 market stalls from the comfort of your own home, with your very own Virtual Farmer helping to guide you around!

The VFM has some amazing producers. Choose from Gower Brownies (some say the best they’ve ever tasted!), William Chase vodka, Paxton & Whitfield cheeses, Dave’s Chilli Oil, O’Shea Butcher, Burnt Sugar fudge, unusual teas from Choi Time & Teapigs and so many more. New producers and products will feature in the VFM the whole time, so it’s just like popping down to your local farmer’s market. One of the best things about the VFM is the Saturday Breakfast Box that has been created exclusively for the VFM by the legendary Peter Gott of Sillfield Farm in the Lake District – perfect to order in for an indulgent start to the weekend. The box includes freshly laid free-range eggs, Cumberland back bacon, Streaky bacon, Wild Bore pate, Cumberland sausage and sumptuous gammon.

If you love the idea of being able to visit a farmers market each week but just don’t have the time, or the means, then the VFM offers the next best thing, plus you can ‘visit’ it 24/7 come rain or shine; it’s so easy to use. Unlike with ordinary online shopping, the VFM allows you to virtually ‘walk’ around the farmers market and ‘visit’ the individual stalls, just like you would at a real life farmers market. The video streams that have been put together by the individual producers allow you to find out how your food & drink has been made, meet the face behind it all and listen to their brilliant stories (The Patchwork Pate, Rod and Bens Soups along with the Olives Et Al are a must see!).

The VFM introduces a totally new concept that is going to change the way you shop for food & drink online forever; for the first time it will bring the farmers market experience into your home and allow you to ‘meet’ the people that have produced your food. Once you have chosen what delicious farmer’s market food & drink you would like to buy, add it to your virtual shopping basket for check-out, and it will be delivered to your home in temperature-controlled boxes.

The VFM is designed to be used as a ‘top-up’ for the regular household shop, so you can add exquisite products to your weekly shop that can’t be bought at any supermarket. It’s incredibly easy to use; you can look around the 3D farmer’s market world or navigate direct to each page on the website to see a 2D version which also provides all information, depending on your preference.

Founder, Marcus Carter comments, ‘Seeing the face behind the food is more important today than it has ever been. To be able to connect remotely by using the internet, with the people who make what we eat, enables consumers to get a sense of trust before buying.’

The Basic Cooking Course (Age 16-21) January 14, 2010

Aimed at school leavers and University students, Thierry Laborde, Michelin Star Chef and co-owner of The Kitchen has created The Basic Cooking Course to equip students with the basic and essential cookery skills to carry them through University and to ensure they never need eat another cheap chippy or dirty doner again, giving them confidence to cook for themselves and their friends.

The fun five-session course is a culinary combination of breakfasts, brunches, dinners and light bite meals to ensure any student will leave the course a Michelin Star student, fully equipped to prepare a medley of meals on a budget. At the end of each session they sit down together for lunch with the chefs to enjoy their master pieces. The best part is they get to take all of the scrumptious recipes off to University with them to impress their friends with.

All utensils, ingredients, and aprons will be provided and the students will take away recipes.

The Kitchen is a unique and stylish venue in sociable Parson’s Green, South-West London, with close proximity to public transport and street-parking.

These courses run over the Easter and Summer school holidays and are limited to 8 spaces per course for the ultimate hands-on experience. Great for the young chefs to meet new friends or come together as a gang.

The Kitchen of Parsons Green
275 New King’s Road, London SW6 4RD
www.visitthekitchen.com

Wallace & Co – New Cafe Restaurant Opens In Putney January 14, 2010

Wallace & Co is a new cafe restaurant owned by Gregg Wallace and the team behind his company Secrett’s Direct. From its base at Secrett’s Farm in Milford, Surrey, Secrett’s Direct grows high quality fruit and veg specifically for the restaurant market, with the emphasis on flavour, not appearance or shelf life.

Wallace & Co is Gregg’s first restaurant venture and he has developed the menu with head chef Tim Payne. It features the best local and seasonal produce and will change regularly in order to showcase whatever is great right now.

There will be a small selection of fruit and veg available to buy at the cafe, and much of the menu is also be available for takeaway. Meat will be supplied by farmers in Tim’s home county of Lancashire.

Gregg says: ‘Wallace & Co is all about the very best of our British fruit and veg, and the salad and vegetable offering is at the heart of the menu – whether as an accompaniment to the main dishes or as the main dish itself.’

Wallace & Co can be found at 146 Upper Richmond Rd, London, SW15 2SW.

For bookings from Thursday 14th January please call 020 8780 0052 and for more information log on to www.wallaceandco.com.

Opening hours: Mon-Sat, 8am-11pm; Sun, 8am-6pm.

LittleMissFoodie Says: I love Greg Wallace so am excited to hear about this new opening. I wish him the best of luck.

Canapé Catwalk January 14, 2010

Fashionista’s favourite add molecular gastronomy menus for London Fashion Week

The London outpost of Parisian caterer, Nomad Food & Design, is bringing to London Fashion Week (19th-24th Feb 2010) the super-luxe styling it is synonymous with in France.

Food, like clothes go in and out of fashion and food frumps such as pastry and bread bases are so last season, Nomad Food & Design is banishing the carb laden canapés of the noughties. Hitting the canapé catwalk this season are molecular dishes. The experimental cooking techniques are on trend for 2010 and are an enviable accessory to this seasons little black dress.

The molecular gastronomy canapés add a theatrical wow to an event as nomad chefs dip the menu items into a ‘boiling frozen’ pool of liquid nitrogen at a temperature of -180C. Nomad Food & Design liquid nitrogen menu items strutting their way down the catwalk include; ‘Foie gras with maple syrup and pecan nuts’, ‘Salmon with cream and pea mint’, ‘Frozen ball of tangy lemon meringue pie’ and ‘English strawberry covered in a light tiramisu cream’.

The on trend ‘espuma’ dishes will leave any attendee smelling of roses as the savoury or sweet foam is made with pressure siphons and then sprayed with essence of edible perfume. Menu items include; ‘Avocado and pomelo rose’, ‘Foie gras and confit fig’, ‘Pineapple and lychee jelly’ and ‘White peach and fromage blanc with dried apricot’.

Renowned as the fashionista’s favourite caterer, Nomad Food & Design, is overseen by Martin Philippe and has built an enviable reputation amongst France’s Fashion Houses and style-conscious socialites. Nomad’s London outpost caters for private and corporate events within both the homes of London’s elite as well as with prestigious venues such as Kensington Palace, The Victoria & Albert Museum, Sunbeam Studios & Forbes House

Young Entrepreneurs Offered A Lifeline In Business August 21, 2009

On the day A level results are released in England and Wales, business entrepreneurs Debbie and Andrew Keeble are answering Lord Mandelson’s call to ‘Back Young Britain’ by launching an initiative designed to give young entrepreneurs the opportunity to become the next business leaders of tomorrow.

Enter the Dragons’ Pen, an idea dreamt up by the awarding-winning pig farmers-turned-sausage makers, will offer 18 to 24 year olds who have a passion for food and drink and a nose for a good idea the chance to enter a competition which could see them winning a cash prize of £5,000 plus a year of money-can’t-buy mentoring and support, taking their business idea off the page and onto the shelf.

Until 1999, Debbie and Andrew were struggling pig farmers, finding it difficult to make a decent living from their farm in Yorkshire. They decided to create what is now Debbie & Andrew’s, a sausage making business with high values and strong food ethics. After a decade of determination and hard work, Debbie & Andrew’s is now a household name and is stocked by every major supermarket in the UK.

“We are only three years away from being a £20 million brand but it has taken an awful lot of hard work to get there,” explains Andrew. “And times are even harder now for young people who are trying to break into the industry so we’ve decided to give something back by helping the next generation of entrepreneurs make that first step on the ladder to success. We want to prove that just because you don’t go to university or get a job straight out of college, it doesn’t mean you can’t get on in business if you have the passion and drive.”

Debbie and Andrew Keeble are available for interview to comment on their initiative and the current unemployment issues affecting young people.

Food Hero Hugo Woolley Creates Better Breakfasts And Brunches August 21, 2009

Two recipe books about the best meals of the day have been launched by Rick Stein’s friend Hugo Woolley.

Cornish-based Woolley has been appreciating and writing about Breakfast for years so it’s no surprise to those who know him that he has put his expertise on paper and gathered his home-grown recipes into a range of books.

Hugo is famous in Cornwall for his dedication to the “best meal of the day,” with Rick Stein declaring him a Food Hero and the Padstow locals frequenting his wife Pippa’s – guesthouse hotel dining room for the sparkling range of gastronomic morning offerings.

Creating a more sophisticated start to the day is Hugo’s speciality. Choose from breakfast recipes as diverse as Coldstream Eggs to Bacon Jolly Boy. While Brunch recipes include Smoked Haddock Brandade and Ulster Fry. With humorous light-hearted writing and some easy and adventurous ideas, Hugo will guide you through the selecting and cooking process. And if you get stuck? Drop Hugo an email and he’ll give you some one-to-one advice.

With full colour illustrations, and Christmas just around the corner, these books make a fabulous stocking filler.

About Hugo Woolley and Breakfast and Brunch:
The grand, and rather eccentric, Hugo Woolley ran a range of restaurants in London before opening two food stores in Kent and Sussex. After injuries sustained in a car accident, Hugo moved to Cornwall where he has been enjoying the local produce for many a year and helps with his wife’s five star, award winning guesthouse hotel, Woodlands Country House www.woodlands-padstow.com and putting pen to paper.

Both books – B&B (BREAKFAST AND BRUNCH) – are available for £14.90 direct from www.breakfastbook.co.uk or Amazon

New Puffed Cereals August 20, 2009

Rude Health has recently launched two new breakfast cereals; Puffed Oats (£1.60) and Puffed Wheat (£1.40) are light, oh-so-good for you and irresistibly delicious. They are available to buy now in Waitrose stores and from Ocado.com

Oat-mania has embraced rolled oats, hot oats, even wonderfully crunchy oats but until Rude Health propelled its new Puffed Oats into stores there hasn’t been a light oat cereal. Salt and sugar free, these fluffy, wholegrain breakfast gems are now available nationwide, where they will be found on the main cereal aisle alongside their similarly wholesome sister Puffed Wheat.

The secret to Rude Health’s Puffed Wheat and Puffed Oats is in their rocket like production. The finest wheat and oats are loaded into a giant popping machine and blasted out so hard that they explode. BOOM. Great fun and a truly excellent idea too as the nutrition of the grain is preserved along with its naturally great flavour. Rude Health believes there is no earthly reason to add salt, coat in sugar or throw in any nasty additives when cereal tastes this good.

And now for the science… Puffed Oats are an excellent source of beta-glucan, known to lower cholesterol and keep your heart healthy and happy. Oats also have a low GI index, which means their energy is released slowly, which should kick those mid-morning snack attacks into touch. Made with wholegrains, this cereal is high in fibre, helping to make you feel as bright and bouncy as a trampolining ballerina.

Rude Health’s angelic Puffed Wheat is also high in fibre and makes a fabulous low-fat breakfast. As yummy with cold milk as when tumbling over chopped banana and drizzled with maple syrup, a bowl of Puffed Wheat gives you a flying start to the day.

Bangers & Mash On The Menu As Cornish Bakery Launch Four New “Best Of British” Pasties August 19, 2009

Bangers & Mash Pasty

A ‘BANGERS & MASH’ pasty complete with onion gravy is just one of a handful of innovative versions of the ever-popular Cornish pasty to be launched next month.

Cornwall’s Crantock Bakery, the award-winning producer of Cornish pasties, have spent weeks refining the recipe which forms part of their four-strong range of autumn seasonal specials.

Other new flavours available from 1st September include two great British favourites: a Chicken Tikka pasty made with a tikka masala sauce, and a Roast Chicken pasty which contains all the ingredients of a full roast dinner – including stuffing and gravy.

Crantock’s New Product Development Manager, Becky Hornabrook, said: “They say the only thing a Cornishwoman won’t put in a pasty is the Devil, and while our new autumn specials are definitely different we’ve spent a lot of time making sure they taste devilishly good.

“We’ve used locally-sourced Cornish ingredients wherever possible, from the potato and swede grown on local farms, to the herby Cornish sausage in our ‘Bangers & Mash’ pasty. They’re certainly not a traditional Cornish pasty, but they still contain the authentic taste of Cornwall.”

Completing the autumn range is a ‘Bacon & Brie’ pasty, made from cooked smoked bacon, potato and brie.

The new autumn “Seasonal Specials” range will be available for trade and wholesale customers from 1st September until the end of December. To order contact the Crantock Bakery sales team on 01726 861120 or email enquries@crantockbakery.co.uk.

Crantock Bakery’s pasties, sausage rolls and hand-raised pies are sold all over the country in branches of Morrison’s, Asda, Proper Pasty, Cornish Kitchen and many independent bakeries.

Operations Director Matthew Hurry said: “Lots of our customers, such as the Cornish Bakehouse or Oggy Oggy Pasty Company, take our seasonal specials to run as a ‘Pasty of the Month’. In the past many of the products that were created as a short-run special have proved so popular that we’ve been asked to list them permanently.”

The Autumn Specials range in detail

Bangers & Mash pasty – herby Cornish sausage in an onion gravy with real mashed potato.
Chicken Tikka pasty – chicken and potato in a tikka masala sauce.
Bacon & Brie – cooked smoked bacon, potato and brie.
Roast Chicken – an entire meal in a pasty containing roast chicken, stuffing, swede, potato, peas, carrots and gravy.

LittleMissFoodie Says: I can’t wait to try the bacon and brie one. Mmmmmm

Super Chefs’ Bad Year Gets Better August 19, 2009

Some good news at last for Heston Blumenthal and Gordon Ramsay – their restaurants are still the best in the country according to The Good Food Guide 2010, published shortly.*

The super chefs have had their ups and downs this year: Blumenthal had to close the Fat Duck early in 2009 due to the norovirus and Ramsay’s international business empire has taken a battering during the economic downturn.

But The Good Food Guide focuses on the quality of food produced in the kitchen and finds it as excellent as ever at both the Fat Duck, which manages a perfect ten** out of ten score for the second year running, and Gordon Ramsay’s flagship restaurant, which scores nine.**

The Fat Duck gets an ecstatic review, with Heston Blumenthal likened to a modern-day Leonardo da Vinci. Customers’ rapturous enthusiasm is noted: “Some rave about spectacular oak moss and truffle toast; others drool over the fabulous roast foie gras ‘benzaldehyde.’” Though it’s an expensive restaurant, it’s worth it for the “once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

Gordon Ramsay also gets a glowing report. The Good Food Guide says that standards remain impressive and that Ramsay’s flagship restaurant has the presence of a grand establishment. The cooking at the Royal Hospital Road restaurant is “as haute as cuisine comes” and you get “labour and effort, as well as taste and flavour, for your money”. The service is praised as second to none, especially the practice of catering for those who want to drink inexpensively.

Elizabeth Carter, editor of The Good Food Guide, says:

“It’s been a tough year for all chefs, but these super chefs are at the top of their game and producing superlative food. It’s difficult to fault the Fat Duck’s impeccable standards and Gordon Ramsay’s modern French cooking is perfectly executed too.”