Hanna Frederick has developed venison chocolate truffles, made from a blend of dark chocolate and ground-up salty dried meat.
Shaped like small sausages, the sweets have a salami aftertaste, she said.
Admitting it was a weird combination, she said meat and chocolate went together "amazingly well".
"There's this smoky taste to start, then a strong chocolate flavour comes in, and at the end you have this wonderful taste of salami,"
Apparently these meaty chocolate treats are massively popular with men, let’s wait for them to hit Blighty’s shores.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Tally ho, time for Spotted Richard
The traditional suet pudding Spotted Dick has been renamed "Spotted Richard" at a council canteen because customers keep making jokes.
The new name for the dessert, with another alternative Sultana Sponge, has appeared on the menu at Flintshire Council headquarters in Mold.
The council said catering staff made the decision after "immature comments" and it was not a policy decision.
Who says they are taking the fun out of everything, I mean who doesn’t like an immature joke...!
The new name for the dessert, with another alternative Sultana Sponge, has appeared on the menu at Flintshire Council headquarters in Mold.
The council said catering staff made the decision after "immature comments" and it was not a policy decision.
Who says they are taking the fun out of everything, I mean who doesn’t like an immature joke...!
Monday, August 17, 2009
It ain't easy being squeezy
Making reductions in plastics and the use of plastics has become a key culture in the world of brands. Being seen to make a real difference to help save the planet is beneficial to many, however not being able to get the product(s) out of said plastics is somewhat less helpful.
Heinz has had to rethink its new packaging for tomato ketchup after a spate of complaints from customers who couldn’t get the ketchup out of the bottle. The new packaging is made from clear plastic and 9% lighter than before, however the bottle has a defect that meant it quickly became brittle and difficult to squeeze.
So what they plan to do next is interesting as they will want to continue with the use of less plastic, but it would also be nice if you could get to the ketchup. But don’t fear, a spokeswoman has said the quality is unaffected, so if you can get it out you can still enjoy some quality tommy k on your Sunday morning sarnie.
Friday, August 7, 2009
How would you like your latte sir?
Pho Café, which serves fresh, authentic street food in London has added “Weasel Coffee” to it’s menu, it is however one of the rarest coffee’s in the world.
Sourced from Vietnam, Pho will be the only retailer to serve such coffee but that comes at a hefty price tag, £6.
Before you get put off by the price tag, wait till you hear how the beans are made. The weasels eat, digest and defecate only tiny quantities of fresh coffee beans each year, making it so rare. Their intestinal enzymes break down bitter proteins in the coffee creating a rich, unusual coffee that is the most expensive in the world.
So next time you ask for a coffee at a chain store, be grateful it’s not made from poo…!!
Sourced from Vietnam, Pho will be the only retailer to serve such coffee but that comes at a hefty price tag, £6.
Before you get put off by the price tag, wait till you hear how the beans are made. The weasels eat, digest and defecate only tiny quantities of fresh coffee beans each year, making it so rare. Their intestinal enzymes break down bitter proteins in the coffee creating a rich, unusual coffee that is the most expensive in the world.
So next time you ask for a coffee at a chain store, be grateful it’s not made from poo…!!
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
LOL – love our local
Reports from the British Beer & Pub Association reveal that in the past 12 months, 2,377 pubs called time on trading (52 closures a week!), causing 24,000 job losses and leaving a chasm in many small communities where the local boozer was traditionally a place to meet and interact as well as sup a pint or two.
The smoking ban, tax hikes on alcohol and changes to the Licensing Act have all contributed to the decline with the recession being the final nail in the coffin for many. People are opting to stay at home instead and crack open a tinny – when my local charged £2.85 for a pint of lime and lemonade last week, you can kind of understand it – however, pubs are as much a part of the British culture as fish and chips and Coronation Steet and some closures are generating social repercussions on a par to the Post Office closures of 2007/08.
Imagine, where would the residents of the Street be without the Rovers? How would Dot Cotton cope without her daily tomato juice and a gossip at The Queen Vic? Some residents like those in Mersham, Kent are getting physically hands on in the quest to save their local, doing everything from investing cash in the Farriers Arms to installing new plumbing after the sudden departure of the previous landlord.
Pubs offering food are faring better but then you generally can’t take your whippet into those or keep your pewter jug behind the bar or sneak a cheeky lock-in. It’s these curious freedoms that make our British boozers great and we should cherish them as extensions of our own home, stained patterned carpets and all.
The smoking ban, tax hikes on alcohol and changes to the Licensing Act have all contributed to the decline with the recession being the final nail in the coffin for many. People are opting to stay at home instead and crack open a tinny – when my local charged £2.85 for a pint of lime and lemonade last week, you can kind of understand it – however, pubs are as much a part of the British culture as fish and chips and Coronation Steet and some closures are generating social repercussions on a par to the Post Office closures of 2007/08.
Imagine, where would the residents of the Street be without the Rovers? How would Dot Cotton cope without her daily tomato juice and a gossip at The Queen Vic? Some residents like those in Mersham, Kent are getting physically hands on in the quest to save their local, doing everything from investing cash in the Farriers Arms to installing new plumbing after the sudden departure of the previous landlord.
Pubs offering food are faring better but then you generally can’t take your whippet into those or keep your pewter jug behind the bar or sneak a cheeky lock-in. It’s these curious freedoms that make our British boozers great and we should cherish them as extensions of our own home, stained patterned carpets and all.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Organising a p*** up in a brewery
The age old saying goes, “you couldn’t organise a p*** up in a brewery”, well don’t fear, because neither can a beer festival.
In a turn of events that no one saw coming, the Beer on the Wye festival, which is the Herefordshire Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) annual event now in its fifth year, ran completely dry of beer and food, a day early.
Extra provisions of 18 barrels were delivered as an emergency but the Sunday session had to be called off due to overwhelming demand.
Whilst this is was a major disappointment for the organisers and festival goers at the time, the amount of coverage across many sites and news stories will do the popularity of the festival the world of good.
You can guarantee next year that despite some jokes at its expense, it will be one of the better known beer festivals outside of its local community, and this is proof that out of adversity can come light!
In a turn of events that no one saw coming, the Beer on the Wye festival, which is the Herefordshire Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) annual event now in its fifth year, ran completely dry of beer and food, a day early.
Extra provisions of 18 barrels were delivered as an emergency but the Sunday session had to be called off due to overwhelming demand.
Whilst this is was a major disappointment for the organisers and festival goers at the time, the amount of coverage across many sites and news stories will do the popularity of the festival the world of good.
You can guarantee next year that despite some jokes at its expense, it will be one of the better known beer festivals outside of its local community, and this is proof that out of adversity can come light!
Thursday, July 2, 2009
From the brink of collapse…
Sky News has just broken a story that details the accounts posted by Gordon Ramsey Holdings to Companies House.
You can read the full story here.
To sum up, over the past year GRH has seen profits fall to just £383k from over £3m, with net debt rising from £4m to £9.5m.
We have written about the massive programme of expansion Ramsey embarked upon throughout 2007/08, which coupled with the recession has certainly has played a part in the demise of the brand.
What is very interesting however, is right at the end of the story. GRH has to an extent been saved by Ramsey’s book deals and TV contracts, which have undoubtedly allowed the company to survive the first half of 2009. And the article hints at the signs of some sort of recovery for the business. Income is expected to grow into next year, and service resuming at Petrus and Savoy Grill.
Do we spy the faint shoots of economic recovery in the midst of this story? Is our industry on the brink of some brighter days? It is obviously way to early to tell, but it’s nice to hear something positive for a change hey!
You can read the full story here.
To sum up, over the past year GRH has seen profits fall to just £383k from over £3m, with net debt rising from £4m to £9.5m.
We have written about the massive programme of expansion Ramsey embarked upon throughout 2007/08, which coupled with the recession has certainly has played a part in the demise of the brand.
What is very interesting however, is right at the end of the story. GRH has to an extent been saved by Ramsey’s book deals and TV contracts, which have undoubtedly allowed the company to survive the first half of 2009. And the article hints at the signs of some sort of recovery for the business. Income is expected to grow into next year, and service resuming at Petrus and Savoy Grill.
Do we spy the faint shoots of economic recovery in the midst of this story? Is our industry on the brink of some brighter days? It is obviously way to early to tell, but it’s nice to hear something positive for a change hey!
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