Food Products

Pieminister pies

helenka — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:40:36 +0000

The people at Pieminister have happened on something pretty special – gorgeous pie recipes. Their hand made, golden-topped pies have been selling on their stand at Borough Market since 2004, and even the Queen has had a taste of Pieminister fare.

Their range of pies all have affectionate names, and we got our mouths around the Matador Pie, Heidi Pie, Mr Porky Pie and the rather grand sounding Chicken of Aragon Pie. The chicken pie was pretty special, not least for the addition of Vermouth in its ingredients list, whilst the Matador satisfied our carnivorous side with its filling of free range British beef steak and chorizo. All of the pies are wrapped up in a very decent pastry covering and although they taste good cold, they really come into their own after 20 minutes in the oven at 180 degrees C. There’s nothing more satisfying when its cold and drab in the winter, than pulling a properly crafted pie out of the oven and devouring it.

You might have eaten your way though one of Pieminister’s offerings if you’ve been on the festival trail in the UK recently. Pieminister have had stalls running at Glastonbury, The Big Chill, Bestival and WOMAD, so the chances are that your belly may already have had the pleasure. If you haven’t stuffed one of these strapping pies into your mouth yet, you can get your hands on them at Borough Market of course, as well as Whole Foods, Harvey Nichols and Waitrose.

Galler pure cocoa

helenka — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 17:43:44 +0000

This ground cocoa powder from Galler contains 20% cocoa butter for a silkier consistency. It makes for a great store cupboard baking essential, and also makes a proper cup full of hot chocolate. We tried it this way:

Mix two heaped teaspoons of the cocoa into a small pan and add a drop of milk, stirring with a spoon until you get a thick paste. Then add enough milk for one mug of hot chocolate and flick the heat onto low. Keep a watchful eye on the pan and make sure the milk doesn’t boil. Add a little sugar to taste if you like, or a few squares of couverture or decent chocolate to the pan. Wait until the chocolate and/or sugar has melted and combined, then the contents of the pan will be ready to serve up in a decent-sized mug.

Galler’s cocoa has a really chocolaty flavour to it, without much bitterness so you may find you don’t have to add too much sugar or additional chocolate if you like a deep cocoa hit. A lovely little bag of cocoa, that knows how to deliver a chocolaty punch even with its delicate ‘finely ground’ credentials.

Available from Galler’s London shop or online at: http://www.gallerchocolates.co.uk.

Haribo Horror Mix

helenka — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 09:40:14 +0000

Haribo have gone Halloween crazy with their spookily themed gums and jellied sweets. Don’t be scared though – they might look spooky, but have the kind of typical Haribo taste that makes it easy to finish the packet in one sitting.

This spooky packet is squirming at the seams with snakes, spiders, bats and frogs. How terrifying. Freak you friends out, and hand out to trick or treat types, although you’d be forgiven for scoffing the spooky lot yourself.

Haribo have also created Magic Mix - an enchanting selection of gummy owls, brooms, cauldrons and ghosts. So next time, someone says “You look like you’ve seen a ghost!”, you can say “Well, I have, but it’s okay – I’ve eaten him.”

Available from major supermarkets and confectionery retailers nationwide. Priced from £1.07 for a 175g bag.

Prestat’s Dark CHOXI+ Bar

helenka — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 08:21:14 +0000

We all know chocolate’s good for you right? Well, the people at Prestat have come up with a bar that’s especially good for you. Their new CHOXI+ range naturally contains more flavanol antioxidants than any other food.

Before you go stock piling said chocolate, remember that you do need to eat the occasional orange – just to balance things out. If however, you are devouring a bar of this stuff with real verve and someone should question your choice of food stuff, just remind them that two squares of dark CHOXI+ contain all the antioxidants your body needs for a whole day. If they still continue to berate you for reasons best known to themselves, then you can launch some secondary facts at them, explaining that two squares of this chocolate bar contain the same amount of antioxidants as two bowls of blueberries or 1lb of Brussels sprouts. Now, blueberries are lovely, granted, but a little expensive at two bowlfuls. Brussels sprouts on the other hand are just horrible – like mini cabbages that have forgotten how to wash.

The next step of course, is to take an actual step back as the person lecturing you tries to grab some of your chocolate, and see for themselves. At this point, you run in the opposite direction (quite fast, because you will be full of antioxidants), and promptly devour the rest of the bar in a handy little alcove you find along the way. Yes – the whole bar. It might be full of antioxidants, but it’s yet to have an impact on will power, and there’s that funny little voice inside your head telling you that perhaps, if you eat the whole bar in one day, you will live forever…

Prestat’s CHOXI+ range is available from selected Tesco and Waitrose stores, as well as from Prestat’s website: http://www.prestat.co.uk. Priced at £1.99.

Wasabiyaki

Admin — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 13:28:27 +0000

If you’re after a marinade with a little bit of a kick, Wasabiyaki is perfect for spicing up your BBQ’s and mealtimes. Full of garlic, ginger, soy, sesame seeds and of course, wasabi - it can turn a dull dish into an ‘oooh ahhh’ dish. Your friends will drool over your marinated beef, chicken or fish, your neighbours will feel compelled to come around just at the smell of your cooking and your mother-in-law will finally love you. Okay, so the last two bits weren’t true, but drooling friends are no bad thing.

It’s also one of those magic marinades that make you look like a seasoned pro in the kitchen, when all you really have to do is open the fridge door, take out the Wasabiyaki and apply lovingly to your food of choice. Now you look like a seasoned pro and your friends are drooling – what more could you ask for, from a bottle in your fridge?

Priced at £4.99/445g, available from: http://www.amazingfoodcompany.com.

Veri Veri Teriyaki

Admin — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 10:07:34 +0000

You know before you even taste this that it’s going to be good. Once the screw top is off the bottle, the scent of garlic, ginger and sesame oil hits you and sends the immediate thought to your brain that you must get marinating. Use this lush sauce to marinate chicken, salmon, beef, veggies – anything you can get your hands on. It’s tempting to say ‘just use to marinate a stainless steel spoon’ because that would mean no absorption would take place, and you’d just have to lick the whole damn lot off yourself and marinate your tongue. But that would be foolish. Marinating stainless steel is so yesterday.

This bottle of moreish marinade comes courtesy of those people at the Amazing Food Company - who have their tongues on the pulse of the international food scene and import a huge range of lovely things from around the globe into the UK. Amazing.

Priced at £2.89 for a 213g bottle, available from: http://www.amazingfoodcompany.com/.

Dulcet Moroccan mustard

Admin — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 15:24:28 +0000

The Amazing Food Company is hell bent on bringing superior culinary finds from around the globe to the rain-drenched island that is Blighty. If you frequently look inside your fridge and find yourself as depressed with its contents as the weather outside, then a scoop of Dulcet’s Moroccan mustard might help to alleviate your gloomy disposition.

Imported (bizarrely from the USA), but tasting of a land full of spice, the Amazing Food Company have put us Brits in contact with a jar full of this Moroccan mustard, which lends itself perfectly to a rasher of maple cured bacon. Its spiciness and honeyed flavour also make it a prime ingredient for those barbequed, marinated moments. Try it out as part of a marinade with lamb kebabs, or just let it jazz up the condiments section of your fridge, and use regularly to spice up your sausages and burgers.

“Epicurean epiphanies for everyday” says the strap line on the jar – see it is possible to add a bit of colour to the hum drum contents of a fridge.

Available to purchase from: http://www.amazingfoodcompany.com/

Fruit soups

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 07:15:44 +0000

The people at the New Covent Garden Food Co. have earned themselves a reputation for creating soup flavours here there and everywhere. “Oh, it’s Christmas, let’s do a Christmas soup! Oh it’s Easter, let’s do something for that! Oh it’s the second Tuesday of the month – let’s release a new soup!” Let’s face it, they’re brimming with soup ideas and their latest offering confirms it: fruit soups. Fruit soups, which can be guzzled, hot and steaming on a cold shiver of a day, or chilled on a scorcher.

We tried the Apple Vichyssoise and Beetroot & Redcurrant from the range, and realised looking out of the window, that it was neither chilly or scorchio. What temperature should we serve such a soup on such a non-descript day? We tried both soups cold at first, liking the savoury tang of the redcurrant, bolstered by the strong flavour of beetroot, and declaring the Apple Vichyssoise delicate and cooling. But for cold soups to work it needs to be hot, so our tip would be to heat both on serving if the weather is less than scorching. For those moments when the British weather surprises us with a heat wave, arrange a few ice cubes in the bottom of a bowl, pour over the soup and enjoy the cool refreshment of it.

Available from Waitrose.

Demarquette Pure Range

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 20:21:52 +0000

If you’re a bit of a die-hard puritan when it comes to chocolate, you’ll be interested to know that Marc Demarquette has just launched a wild chocolate ganache as part of his ‘Demarquette Pure Range’ of single origin chocolates. The artisan chocolatier has got his hands on some grade A chocolate, made from a pure Wild cocoa bean grown on cocoa trees that have been growing wild and untampered in the depths of Bolivia.

The wild Bolivian ganache in Demarquette’s petite box of ‘Pure Range’ goodies suits puritans, with its earthy but smooth tasting texture. There’s no bitterness, just luxurious dark lusciousness. What more could you want from a chocolate? Well, you could go through the other hand-made bites in said box if you’re in search of something different. ‘Madagascan Milk’ offers itself up in the form of milky, caramel sweetness, whilst the 72% ‘Araguani’ provides a bitter liquorice hit, which mellows into a raisin-like finish. There are nine different single estate varieties to choose from in this box of treats, but it was the ‘Ecuador’ which won hands down on pure indulgence with its buttery texture and smooth liquid darkness. Yes, more of those please.

If you do indulge in a box of ‘Demarquette’s Pure Range’, it comes complete with an envelope full of tasting notes, so you can swot up before hand and see if your taste buds agree with the descriptions on the cards created for each chocolate. If like us, you’re less sophisticated than that, you can just wade your way through the entire box to conclude your favourite of the lot.

Demarquette’s Pure Collection is priced at £25.00, (containing 18 chocolates, with two of each single estate variety). Available from Demarquette – Fine Chocolates, 285 Fulham Road, Chelsea, London, SW10 9PZ & http://www.demarquette.co.uk.

Bigham’s ramen

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 07:24:54 +0000

You may have noticed Bigham’s luxury pie range weighing down the shelves of your local supermarket with their plush white ceramic dishes. This food company goes for the upper end of the scale when it comes to its recipes and the food that’s packed into them. Their latest offering comes in the shape of ramen – bowlfuls of noodles, broth and chunky pieces of beef, chicken or salmon, depending on which one tickles your fancy.

Each ramen recipe (choose from Ginger Chicken, Salmon Miso and Chilli Beef), comes in a stacked pack of three layers: broth, veg and marinated fish or meat. This is where it looses points on packaging – there may be a cardboard sleeve that keeps it all together, but there’s three times as much plastic taking up space in the bin once you’re done decanting the ingredients into your pan.

The ingredients however, are worth sampling. We tried the chilli beef ramen with the marinated beef, garlic and chilli smelling gorgeous as it hit the hot pan for a quick stir-fry. The broth then the noodles and veg follow, taking around 8 minutes to assemble the dish. If you’re hopeless at cooking but need to impress, you could quite easily open each set of ingredients up and transfer to bowls/Tupperware/Wedgwood before your date/parents/second-cousin-twice-removed turns up, and pretend to have prepared the whole lot yourself. From scratch.

Charlie Bigham won’t even hold a grudge as your impressed guest slurps greedily from the bowl. Incidentally, there are quirky little comments on the side of the cardboard sleeve, which advise on how to add some chilli heat and drink your way through each bowl of ramen. Only trouble is, it may be hidden at the bottom of the bin if you told a little white lie, whilst you were ‘cooking’ up something for your guests.

Even if you do come clean and proudly announce you’re just throwing a convenience buy together, your dinner date may well think you’re fibbing. Bigham’s ramen selection tastes reassuringly unlike a ready meal. So you see, the moral of the story is, whether you lie or tell the truth, no one will believe you. Best just to get slurping then…

The Seed Co, Rapeseed Oil

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 17:06:16 +0000

Cold pressed rapeseed oil is gaining pace in the culinary stakes, with its healthy omega 3 content and high smoking point (230 degrees C don’t you know). The Seed Co, based in Dorset produce rapeseed oil from a single seed variety and bottle it in sleek, dark bottles ready to drizzle over salads and use to fry, roast and bake your food.

This rapeseed oil has a light amber colour to it and tastes delicately of pumpkin seeds. If you want to push the boat out and go beyond drizzling this lovely stuff over salad creations, you could do worse than seek inspiration from The Seed Co’s website which offers up a good handful of recipes to get you inspired. The coffee and walnut cake caught our attention…

For more information, visit: http://www.theseedcompany.co.uk

Belvoir Fruit Farms cordials

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 08:45:54 +0000

These cordials conjure up childhood memories of picnics, fruit cages and guzzling something refreshing on a hot, hot day. Quintessentially English, Belvoir’s range of cordials includes the likes of Raspberry & Rose, Gooseberry & Mint, Blood Orange & Mandarin, Elderflower and Ginger. A glassful of Belvoir’s cordials will ease you gently into a sense of summer, even if the weather is still refusing to serve up constant sunshine.

The company uses real fruit from local fruit farmers and highly reputed importers (for their fresh Ginger and fresh Lemon Grass for example). They also squeeze, crush, press, cook or infuse the raw fruits and flowers themselves, to retain their freshness and taste. That means going to lengths such as squeezing all the fruit juice for their Summer Berry and Organic Blackcurrant Cordials in a sophisticated American fruit press, and cooking the raw ginger in a pressure cooker to get the unique flavour of their Ginger Cordial. They also infuse all the fresh elderflowers in their own unique way to get the very best of their taste.

To appreciate the full flavour of these cordials, simply dilute as directed on the back of the bottle, with cool, refreshing water and an ice cube or two. If you fancy a less unadulterated approach, Belvoir’s cordials add a great dimension to cocktail mixing, providing oodles of flavour that just screams “Drink Me!”.

For more information about Belvoir Fruit Farm’s range of cordials and pressés, visit: http://www.belvoirfruitfarms.co.uk.

Venezuelan Black

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 14:52:18 +0000

This cylindrical block of 100% cacao is for a certain kind of chocolate addict. If you love your Cadbury’s dairy milk, this may well not be the bar for you, as there isn’t a sprinkling of added sugar to be found. If you like cocoa nibs and you often head for the bar with the highest cocoa content around, then you will probably be itching to try this offering from Willie Harcourt-Cooze.

Channel 4 documented Willie’s mission to create the perfect bar of chocolate in their series ‘Willie’s Wonky Chocolate Factory’, which took a look at his struggles and successes as he endeavoured to create a premium chocolate from bean to bar.

So what on earth does this pure stuff taste like? Venezuelan Black comes in three varieties and we got our mouths around the Rio Caribe Superior bar, which comes from a single bean origin, sourced by Willie during his extensive travels of Venezuela. It’s labelled with ‘citrus fruit characteristics’ and tastes on first contact with your tongue, quite sour and savoury before mellowing out with a more rounded flavour. It smells deeply rich, boasts a shimmering, glossy finish and its taste lends itself just as well to savoury dishes as it does to sugar-sweetened recipes. When you peel off the label, there are three recipes inside for Cloud Forest Chocolate Cake, Truffles and Traditional Venezuelan Hot Chocolate. If this doesn’t make you explode with gastronomic curiosity, then we don’t know what will.

If you want to specifically taste the chocolate that has been made on Willie’s plantation, then go for his very own single estate Hacienda El Tesoro. As with the Rio Caribe Superior, the Carenero Superior bar is also made from a single bean origin, sourced by Willie in Venezuela.

It’s worth remembering that for chocolate die-hards, 100% isn’t a new thing – it may only just have hit the shelves of Waitrose, but it has been sitting on chocolatiers counters for a while now, and even a few Harley Street doctors prescribe it for its antioxidant qualities. Excess in moderation? Well, if it’s good for you…

Venezuelan Black is available at Waitrose. All three 180g cacao bars are priced at £5.99.

Frü lemon cakes

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 17:48:11 +0000

In case you didn’t know, the people at Gü have had a little sister called Frü – a moreish sister range of fruity puds, that is. These fantastic little puds make summer all the more enjoyable, although the likes of their Frü lemon cakes work well on your palette all year round.

Each box contains individually wrapped mini lemon cakes. Whilst it loses a few marks on eco credentials for the extra wrapping, the lemon cakes are perfect for serving up with after dinner coffee and give your taste buds a real zing on the lemon front. They’re also satisfyingly moist, so if your baking efforts often result in a cake as dried out as the Sahara, then cheating a little with Frü’s cheeky mini lemon cakes could be a better move all round. Yum.

Gu Chocolate Puds

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 10:58:09 +0000

Gü reigns supreme when it comes to the luxury dessert sections of supermarket shelves. The people at this cheeky pudding company know how to make you swoon, and their chocolate puds are one of many moreish offerings from Gü HQ.

These little chocolate puds may look a little on the small side, but there’s logic behind it. As with most of the products from their range, intense, luxurious flavour is the key, so small is definitely beautiful enough on the palette.

You can microwave these puds, but for best results, oven baking will ensure that the chocolate molten centres become liquid and lush. Made with 70% cocoa chocolate, you get a dark, indulgent hit with each bite, leaving you quite satisfied after you’ve scraped the plate clean. These puds are a great way to finish off a romantic dinner for two – serve up with vanilla ice cream, or a scoop of sweetened mascarpone cheese on the side.

Champagne Marmite

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 12:53:05 +0000

As if there’s not enough of a divide between the lovers and haters of this yeast extract, Marmite have added another dimension to their traditional recipe. Champagne Marmite has hit the shelves just in time for loved-up Marmite fans to nip down to the supermarket, purchase a jar and smear it all over…well, toast or something.

If anyone remembers the Guiness Marmite released last year, they may also remember that it didn’t taste all that different from Marmite’s original recipe. Champagne Marmite has a much stronger, more distinct flavour, so get that thick slice of toast ready. As Marmite fans will know, you’re either a thicky or a thinny (nothing to do with IQ or dress-size, but more to do with how much Marmite you slap onto toast).

There are 600,000 jars of this limited edition available in the shops in the run up to Valentine’s Day. Selfridges have gone one step further and commissioned jewellery designer Theo Fennel to create 50 jars, complete with a sterling silver engraved lid at a bargain price of £145. Ouch. You could always go for substance over style, and purchase a standard jar from your local supermarket at the grand old price of £2.99. Hurry though as Champagne Marmite is a limited edition.

LoveDean granola

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 13:38:25 +0000

If you’ve been endeavouring to eat a more healthy breakfast, but haven’t quite got around to it, this quite wonderful granola is a truly healthy way to start the day. Ah healthy, you say – that means devoid of flavour, with a hint of cardboard right? Well no actually. Granola usually wins over our taste buds at iLoveMyGrub.com in any case, as it’s full of so many different bits and pieces, all lovingly coated in natural honey – plenty of flavour to be had. What makes LoveDean’s granola as moreish as it is, is the texture. There’s not a hint of powdery museli, and there are no gargantuan clusters to be found. It’s just as granola should be: full of crunchy toastedness that makes your mouth glad to be awake before lunchtime.

There are four varieties to choose from – original is packed with jumbo oats, nuts, hemp, pumpkin, sunflower and linseeds, whilst No.2 has the addition of cranberries, and No.3 is bolstered with some apples and dates. There is also a lite version of the original if you’re counting the calories. According to the British Nutrition Foundation, less than 50% of the UK population eat breakfast. If you like to sit under a haze of morning fug that doesn’t lift until after lunch, then maybe skipping breakfast is for you, but if you favour a healthy brain, you could do far worse than eating a bowlful of this stuff every morning.

LoveDean granola is available from Selfridges, Whole Foods Market, Fortnum & Mason, Fresh & Wild, Daylesford Organic as well as delicatessens and online at www.lovedeanfoods.com.

Hillfarm Rapeseed Oil

Wed, 19 Dec 2007 16:05:01 +0000

If you’re on the lookout for alternative cooking oil, Hillfarm’s Rapeseed Oil is a great change to the ubiquitous likes of olive oil. Nothing wrong with olive oil of course, but if you’re after a different taste, this rapeseed oil lends a certain nuttiness to your culinary efforts, somewhere in between the flavours of sunflower and pumpkin seeds.

You could liberally drizzle the oil over summer salads, or use it to crisp up your roast chicken in the oven, and roast those Sunday potatoes. It works particularly well as a roasting oil due to its high burning point, and would be just as suitable for stir-frys and pan-fried moments. Besides great flavour and versatility in the kitchen, rapeseed oil is also rich in omega 3 and free from preservatives. Hillfarm’s own production comes packaged in a sleek black bottle, adorned with a 2005 Great Taste Gold award stamp, to remind you that there’s substance to their product as well as winning looks.

Available from Waitrose nationwide and selected Sainsbury’s.

NewTree Chocolate

Mon, 05 Nov 2007 19:02:19 +0000

The people at this rather forward thinking Belgian chocolate company have decided to team the concept of chocolate with the concept of health. Strange you might think? Well, not so really. Not so strange, when you know that cocoa contains more antioxidants than goji berries. Interesting, as essentially what this means, is that we can eat something that we know how to pronounce. It also means that instead of scouring the shelves of your local health store for some highly nutritious fish cartilage (so good for you I’ve heard…), you can instead just pop some quite delectable chocolate into your mouth.

An in house team of expert chocolate makers, nutritionists and biochemists, has created Newtree’s range, which boasts flavoured bars such as ‘Young’, ‘Eternity’, ‘Serenity’ and ‘Digest’. Newtree’s relaxing range includes ‘Serenity’ – a milk chocolate with bitter orange, crisped rice and extracts of lime blossom. A sublime mix of flavours that will transport any fans of orange chocolate, to a higher level of sophistication. From their stimulating range, comes ‘Sexy’ – a ginger flavoured chocolate, which in addition to smouldering by namesake, has also been showered with attention in the shape of a Great Taste Award.

The pièce de résistance has to be ‘Young’. It’s dark chocolate state, flavoured with cherry, brings a warmth to your mouth and a quite wonderful taste of wine. It’s the kind of chocolate bar that you don’t want to open in a crowded room. This is not a chocolate bar for the office – it’s a bar to be relished at home, alone, without any risk of having to share a single mouthful. Next time you’re chastising yourself for your unhealthy approach to eating, bypass the fish cartilage and head straight for a bar of Newtree.

Available at Waitrose, Wholefoods and selected Sainsbury’s.

Chef On The Run: Jams & Marmalades

Wed, 31 Oct 2007 16:13:52 +0000

Award winning chef Mike Carnell of The Old Stables Tea Rooms in Haye-on-Wye has landed two Gold awards at the Great Taste Awards 2007 for his jams and marmalades. Carnell’s Grapefruit & Ginger marmalade won a Gold Great Taste Ward and also secured his place this year as winner of the Best Welsh Speciality. His range of jams, marmalades and chutneys have put him firmly on the map, with flavours such as Whimberry and Apple jam, winning over the judges this year.

So what of Carnell’s Grapefruit & Ginger marmalade? Is it the kind of spread that an evenly toasted slice of bread would be proud to wear? Well, if toast could choose a little black dress to cover its wheat exterior – this would be it. Carnell’s marmalade is defiantly zesty without being overpoweringly strong, and has a lightness that wears well with the likes of ginger on the scene, which can have a tendency to burn your mouth a little more than might be necessary first thing in the morning.

The Chef On The Run strikes the right balance with this award-winning jar of preserve and he doesn’t stop there. Carnell’s Apple and Whimberry jam also won a Gold award at this year’s Great Taste Awards and his range boasts over twenty jams, marmalades, chutneys and relishes. If you love spreading something high quality and a little different onto your toast in the mornings, try Carnell’s Nutty Orange Marmalade for extra bite, his Orange and Whiskey for extra oompf, and his Old Fashioned Black Treacle Marmalade for something decidedly vintage.

Prices range from £2.50 - £2.90 per jar. Chef On The Run preserves are available to purchase from independent stockists. For more information on stockists, visit: http://www.chefontherunfoods.co.uk/