Fork Magazine

Eat Drink Bristol Fashion

Posted on May 1st 2013

Pop-up culinary delight Eat Drink Bristol Fashion, which will take over Queen Square in May has announced a delicious line up for Saturday 25th May 2013, starting with Bristol’s Pieminister hosting a ‘Live and Eat Pie’ lunch in the day. This will be followed in the fine-dining restaurant with a six course, Great British Banquet, cooked by Michelin star chefs Josh Eggleton, Mark Dodson and James Sommerin and hosted by digital media brand, Great British Chefs.

Pieminister ‘Live and Eat Pie’ Lunch
Tristan Hogg - Pieminister founder and chef will be hosting their first ever ‘Live and Eat Pie’ Lunch, showcasing his own, never-tasted-before recipes at Eat Drink Bristol Fashion. This is a unique opportunity to taste the talent and creativity behind Bristol’s Pieminister with a menu designed and cooked by Tristan, ‘the guy behind the pies’.

This pie-lovers banquet begins with a selection of Bristol Bites (oversized canapés using local produce). Next, a selection of meat and vegetarian sharing pies created especially for this lunch, served with seasonal sides. Finish off with Pieminister’s iconic Bristolbocker Glory – the sort of boozy ice cream sundae that dreams are made of.

Tickets are £35 per sitting at 12pm, 1pm or 2pm and can be purchased here: www.eatdrinktickets.co.uk/products/sat-25th-may-evening-br-pieminister-br-tristanu2019s-live-and-eat-pie-lunch

Great British Chefs’ Great British Banquet
For the penultimate evening of Eat Drink Bristol Fashion, digital media brand Great British Chefs will be taking over the fine-dining restaurant to host this one-off ‘Great British Banquet’. Designed to celebrate the diversity of British cuisine, three guest chefs with coveted Michelin stars to their names will unite in one kitchen to create a six course menu designed exclusively for Eat Drink Bristol Fashion.

Five For The Day

Posted on May 1st 2013

Perfect picnics, getting outside, foraged delights and food memories - we catch up with Jane and Myles Lamberth from Shells Caf é, a little café in Strandhill on the beautiful west coast of Ireland, and authors of The Surf Café Cookbook. During September you can head to our Fork recipe page to try out their Clam and Seaweed Vongole - just one of many simple suppers in this lovely guide to cooking, surfing, foraging and coastal living.

What's your earliest food memory?
Jane: Being in a hotel in Kerry and having duck! I remember the waitress being a bit put off wondering if a child would eat duck, but my parents were always open to letting us try something if we wanted to. Other than that we were a very typical Irish family - I don't think we had pasta until I went to college! Meat, two veg and potato of course. Although my Dad has started trying to challenge Myles on the stew front!

Myles: I remember making scrambled eggs... with water!! I grew up with all women, so we ate a lot of salad. And soup diets too, they were popular in my house.

What journey brought you to Strandhill, and does anywhere else in the world rival it?
A long journey of snowboarding, chalet work, minimum wage hotel work, working in restaurants by the surf and a lot of worrying about what we would ever do with our lives! Surf and a good opportunity brought us to Strandhill and to be honest I don't think anywhere does rival it. It's hard to explain the joy of Strandhill - all I would say is come for a few a days and you'll get it. The next best place is Cape Town. Mountains, sea, sun and surf... Oh and great food and wine too.

The very best post-surfing picnic is...
Quick and spontaneous, blankets out, grabbing all the chutneys, cheeses, relishes, good bread and of course some hard boiled eggs. Got to be hassle free. You also need good friends. We send texts out just saying 'picnic / dinner-nic in the dunes, 10 mins' and everyone just arrives with a dish. It always works so that we have a bit of everything to make a great meal. It's our favourite way to dine.

What food or flavour can you not stand?
Jane: Milk and cinnamon.
Myles: Brussel sprouts.

If your friend Fred could forage anything for you, what would you hope for?
Little salad leaves! I love the interesting little baby leaves to make an awesome salad.

On World Water Day, have a curry for FRANK Water

Posted on Feb 26th 2013

A Bristol charity is asking the world to have a curry in support of clean
water in developing countries.

Based on our doorstep, FRANK Water funds clean water projects in India and other developing countries, and has announced Karma Korma as its first fundraising campaign for 2013.

Karma Korma takes place on World Water Day, Friday 22nd March 2013.
Along with Bart Ingredients, Bristol’s best known producer of herbs and spices and supported by award-winning restaurant chain, the Thali Café, the campaign encourages people to enjoy a curry with friends or colleagues and raise money for safe water projects at the same time.

Those who sign up to host their own Karma Korma event get a pack of authentic Korma spices and an easy recipe, donated by Bart Ingredients. With the curry taken care of, all that’s left to do is invite your friends, family and colleagues, who make a donation to FRANK Water in exchange for an authentic Indian feast and a glass or two of local brew. Suggested donation is £10 per person - the same price as a takeaway curry.

And if you don’t fancy slaving over a hot stove but want to get involved, then
have dinner or treat yourself to a takeaway from the Thali Café, Karma
Korma’s official restaurant partner. The award-winning restaurant chain
has pledged to donate £1 to FRANK Water for every customer that comes
through the door of each of their four restaurants on 22nd March.

For more information visit www.frankwater.com/karma-korma

Five For The Day: Kathryne

Posted on Jan 7th 2013

Fork catches up with Kathryne a self-taught photographer and cook who daydreams about new recipes and devours cookbooks. Her blog is a celebration of good food enjoyed in good company, with photography aimed at inspiring others to enter the kitchen.

Head to www.cookieandkate.com to try out some of Kathryne’s recipes.

What was your very first job? And what's your dream job?
I worked at a baseball park concession stand, of all places, while I was in high school and served up countless hot dogs. My dream job would be to blog full time and work on freelance recipe development and photography projects.

The best piece of advice you've been given.
My dad told me that no matter what you end up doing, you'll find myself working hard, so make sure it's something you love doing. He was right.

The thing you love most about Christmas is…..
The chance to spend quality time with my closest family members and friends.

What are your favourite dishes to cook over the festive season?
I love serving simply prepared, roasted winter vegetables, like brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes. I also enjoy creamy, comforting dishes like pumpkin fettuccine alfredo and hearty vegetarian chilli.

Dinner tonight. Where in the world would you go?
India. I'd like to experience real Indian food and vibrant Indian culture firsthand

Movember

Posted on Nov 9th 2012

The first week of November has flown. Team Fork hope the moustaches are growing strong. To celebrate here the Mo Sistas at Fork will be uploading recipes from the Movember cookbook: Bring it on Home, which features top Mo Bro chefs sharing knowledge, tips and favourite dinner party menus.

We are really chuffed to be involved with Movember and you can find some of our favourite recipes on the website or find more on our Facebook page. Why not pop to Facebook and like us then send some pictures of your Mo creations, perhaps you could have a Mo dinner party, or a Mo bake-off, whatever you come up with we would love to know, so get together and celebrate this great cause.

Once you’ve tried a recipe why not donate at www.movember.com and follow the 2012 Movember food blog for extra cooking delights.

Foodle Doodle Dandy

Posted on Oct 30th 2012

Sam Hadley has been a freelance commercial illustrator since 1995, working on a wide variety of projects, from advertising and packaging to publishing and editorial. We find out work's no time for snacking and Dads don’t get a lie in. Visit his website here.

Describe your typical morning
I'm usually rudely awakened by my little son's cries of 'daddy DADDY come on!’ We have some toast and fruit, then I take him off to nursery for the day. I get back, make a tea and sit down in my home studio. I usually catch up on emails and see what's happening on Twitter for a bit. Then settle down to whatever illustration job I have on at the time. I work in a few different styles which means I have quite a nice variation of work throughout the week. I'm usually pretty good at concentrating and won't usually stop till lunchtime. Although I will have another tea or two!

What snack always lives on your desk when you're working?
I don't have any snacks on my desk, but given the chance it would be cookies every time. Or Tunnocks Teacakes.

I could never give up...
Chocolate. Addicted.

Dinner, tonight. Where in the world would you go?
Mexico! I love enchiladas and fajitas.

You're being sent to a desert island and can take pencils OR your favourite food
I'd take my favourite food for sure. Don't get me wrong, I love to draw. I just think I could rustle myself up some sort of paintbrush or charcoal stick to work with, no problem.

Foodle Doodle Dandy: Simon Tozer

Posted on Oct 23rd 2012

Simon Tozer studied painting at Portsmouth and now works primarily in screen print. He shares his noodle fantasies and specialist snacking habits. Visit his site to see more of Simons work.

Describe your typical morning
Chaos, confusion and coffee.

What snack always lives on your desk when you're working?
The snack that spends any amount of time on my desk is rather specialist: a dentistix. It is for the dog, her lunch.

I could never give up...
Tea actually.

Dinner, tonight. Where in the world would you go?
I've always fancied going to Japan to one of those noodle places where you sit in a garden and they send them down a stream for you to pick up with your chopsticks. Does that exist? Maybe l imagined it.

You're being sent to a desert island and can take pencils OR your favourite food
l couldn't survive on pencils - so it would have to be chocolate.

Embrace the Ugly

Posted on Oct 15th 2012

Most of us would rather forget this years terrible summer but it seems it's not finished with us yet. Drought in spring followed by the seemingly never ending downpour has led to one of the worst harvests in decades. This has meant bad news for growers and rising supermarket prices, turning fresh fruit and veg into luxury items for some consumers.

However, there is a small chink of light in this dark grocery tunnel. Big supermarkets have had to relax their rules and accept eatables which would previously have been rejected. In the past there have been strict criteria for the shape and finish of produce sold by large retailers, resulting in 'lost' crops of perfectly good, edible foods left to rot in the field. The hope is that this temporary truce towards imperfect fruit and vegetables will put a permanent end to the produce beauty pageant. This would allow the wider public to enjoy great tasting food, cut waste and make more of us realise what farmers market devotees and home growers have known for a long time- the proof of the pudding (or potato) is in the eating.

If you fancy embracing the ugly then get growing- try your hand at a Mr Ugly Tomato, psychedelic salad kit or Ugly Cinderella.

Raspberry Ripple

Posted on Oct 1st 2012

A rare variety of red-fleshed apple has gone on sale today. The fruits, named Raspberry Ripple, have been cultivated over the last nine years from a naturally occurring variety that was discovered by chance.
Initially the apples will be on sale in three selected London supermarkets in limited numbers. However, if they prove popular we could be seeing them across the country by next year.

If the idea of a raspberry tinged, bright fleshed apples gets you feeling fruity follow these links to some other unusual fruits-
Buddha’s Hand is fragrant with citrus but could be mistaken for a sea anemone, Mangosteen’s have a thick purple flesh hiding a bulbous fleshy interior and the horned long lost cousin of the melon is known as African cucumber.

Foodle Doodle Dandy: Bex Glover

Posted on Sep 17th 2012

Bex Glover is a UK based Illustrator and Graphic designer who runs freelance design practice Severn Studios. We talk breakfast coffee, the comforting delights of Italian food and repeatedly hitting the snooze button. Head to Bex blog to check out more of her work.

Describe your typical morning
It's nearly always a rush, but once I'm finally up after pressing snooze on my alarm 10 times, I'm ready for breakfast. This is usually toast or crumpets (marmite on one, jam on the other) or porridge and honey (I usually have that in the winter) and always with coffee.

What snack always lives on your desk when you're working?
I'll usually have a few pieces of fruit and a cereal bar.

I could never give up...
It's a cliché - but probably chocolate or maybe cheese, or maybe bread!

Dinner, tonight. Where in the world would you go? 
Italy I think. I love pasta, bread, fresh fruit & veg – simple, delicious comfort food. I do love spicy food too, so if it wasn’t Italy I think it might head for Thailand. If was staying the UK I always enjoy the Gallipoli Bazaar in Angel where they do great Turkish & Lebanese Mezze.

You're being sent to a desert island and can take pencils OR your favourite food
Probably food - I get grumpy if I don't eat!

The Great British Sell-Off

Posted on Sep 4th 2012

Following well known British brands Lea & Perrins, Sarsons and Cadbury many of our breakfast table favourites have recently been sold off to America. Premier Foods, owners of Hartley's and Robertson's jams, Gale's honey and Sun-Pat peanut butter, sold the spreads in a deal worth £200m in order to fight the companies debts. With this blow to the breakfast tables of Britain the only thing for it is to make your own. Dig out an old family recipe and make the most of our trees and hedgerows with a tasty jam (or follow this simple blackberry one from SpoonForkBacon). If it’s Sun-Pat that drives you nuts why not make your own peanut butter? Once you do you may never buy it again.

Five For The Day: Casey Kelbaugh

Posted on Aug 23rd 2012

Dream jobs, and dreamy food memories, we talk to photographer Casey Kelbaugh, founder of Slideluck - a non-profit organization dedicated to building and strengthening community through food and art. Slideluck organizes localized multimedia slideshows combined with potluck dinners in over 50 cities globally. Casey started Slideluck in his Seattle backyard in 2000 with about 50 friends and it spread organically, until in 2010, Slideluck broke the Guinness World Record for the Largest Potluck on Earth in Brooklyn with a thousand attendees and 479 individual dishes.

Head to caseykelbaugh.com to see Casey's photography, and here for more on Slideluck and where you can next take part - London and Derby dates for the UK are on the horizon for later in the year and into 2013.

What's your regular job? And what's your dream job?
I support myself as an editorial and commercial photographer, but I spend all of my time running Slideluck. Both involve a lot of creativity, travel, meeting interesting people, and eating great meals. This combination might just be my dream job – perhaps with a lot more compensation.

What's the best thing you've eaten at Slideluck?
A leg of jamon in Seville, double chocolate salted caramel cupcakes in Baltimore, Pulled pork sliders in Toronto, calamari salad in San Francisco, a fig and chevre tart in Paris.

And is there a piece of Slideluck art work that stands out in your memory?
Too many to name. There is at least one sublime moment in every show. There’s also usually some laughter and possibly some tears.

Who gave you the best piece of advice?
A friend from university: Don’t complain about farmers with your mouth full.

You're being sent to a desert island and can only take one species with you for food - which would it be?
As I’d likely be living on seafood prepared with all manner of coconut and coconut milk, I think I’d need the lemon/lime family alongside me give my meals a little depth.

Foodle Doodle Dandy: Alexia Tucker

Posted on Aug 14th 2012

As we head further into August, we catch up with illustrator Alexia Tucker about the pleasures of waking up in a tin house, chomping on a desk-full of ripe berries, tapas and mini tupperware snacks. Alexia's a fan of a Trangia too. Find out more about her work over at her website and blog, and why not nose around the Drawn in Bristol collective whilst you're at it.

Describe your typical morning
Well I have been a bit of a gypsy this summer, so some mornings I wake up in a beautiful tin house near Hay-on-Wye in Wales. If I am there I normally sit and have a fruit tea on the decking watching the rain come over the hills. If I am in Bristol I have a bowl of Dorset Cereal, pack my lunch, check my list of things to do and head to my studio with the Drawn in Bristol collective in Hamilton House. On Friday mornings we take turns to bake treats, so I am normally very prompt to work on a Friday!

What snack always lives on your desk when you're working?
BERRIES!! I eat raspberries like popcorn, so there are normally lots of those, strawberries and blueberries on my desk. Recently I bought some rather small colourful tupperware, so I’ve been having fun seeing what mini snacks I can fit in them. Lots of nuts, fruit, veg and tiny dips so far.

I could never give up...
Tomato, mozzarella, basil and pesto salad. Mmmm, so fresh.

Dinner, tonight. Where in the world would you go?
Poco, Stokes Croft. I am sure I am meant to say somewhere that is all mysterious and miles away, but Poco is a new tapas bar that’s opened over the road from my studio. It is full of the most delicious food and the most delightful people you could ever hope to spend an evening with. Fact.

You're being sent to a desert island and can take pencils OR your favourite food
Well I could entertain myself by making things instead of drawing, so I’d probably go for the food. Please can I take my Trangia? It’s my favourite thing at the moment. Then I could catch food & cook it.

Five For The Day: Stuart Howe

Posted on Aug 13th 2012

Fork catches up with Stuart Howe, Sharp's Brewery's head brewer, about the perfect pint and revelling in a four o'clock reward. Based at Rock in Cornwall, Sharp's are one of the UK's most sustainable breweries, producing the celebrated Doom Bar and cask conditioned beers. To celebrate the launch of their Connoisseurs Choice range of beers, Sharp's are running an exclusive Facebook competition for budding chefs to develop a dish to pair with the flavours of the new beers. Intrigued? Head here to enter and for recipe inspiration.

What was your very first job? And what's your dream job?
I used to work on my uncle’s market stall on a Saturday when I was 14. It was fast, frenetic and rewarded with a pint of London Pride top after packing up. 4pm could not come around quickly enough. The dream job is executive brewer where I can specify the recipe, process and equipment but someone else has got the hassle of installing the equipment and managing the operation.

The best piece of advice you've been given.
One of my brewing professors didn’t take kindly to my line of argument at a seminar and told me I would never survive in the brewing industry. It has been fun proving him wrong.

The perfect brew is...
Balanced, subtle, fragrant, enticing, quenching and moreish

What food of flavour can you not stand?
Pretty much any pizza, a waste of cheese and bread in my book.

Dinner, tonight. Where in the world would you go?
Down the road to Mr Outlaw’s for the tasting menu with my connoisseur’s choice beers! You don’t need to travel when you have such excellence on your door step. We are very lucky in Cornwall. Second choice Drie Fonteinen Beersel, Belgium.

My Kitchen: Mirra Fine

Posted on Aug 6th 2012

Mirra Fine is one half of the pair behind The Perennial Plate - an online weekly documentary series dedicated to socially responsible and adventurous eating. Mirra films most of the episodes in The Perennial Plate series, and became a vegetarian as a result of the first episode of the show. Here she's photographed with Lansbury, one of her beloved chickens.

We just moved into a new apartment, so our kitchen is rather new to us. It has a beautiful 60's style tub sink, which I love. And like the kitchens I've called my own for the last 8 years of my life, this one is also void of a dishwasher. But it makes up for that in character, and an awesome oven. We have large mason jars on a shelf above our stove filled with all the grains our hearts could ever want: quinoia, brown rice, three different types of lentils, and tunisian Les Moulins Mahjoub couscous (which is my absolute favorite). And next to our stove lives a number of tiny little glass jars filled with a variety of spices. We've got a beautiful steel chef's table and of course, what kitchen wouldn't be complete without a butcher's block? We bought our's for $30 at a goodwill store a couple years back. Quite a steal.

What's your essential item?
 I would say I didn't realize how much of a difference a good bread knife can make. I had been trying my hand at cheaper bread knives from target before getting fed up. I finally bought a $30 knife at a bread store (Bread Smith in Minneapolis, MN) and it has made my life a lot easier. Couple that with the beautiful vintage circular cutting board (perfect for slicing bread, or plating cheese) and I'm all set. The breadboard was a gift from my boyfriend's mom in England. Im not sure how much it cost... she has kept that a secret.

Is there anything that you'd trade it for?  
Though I know my boyfriend would trade it for a larger fridge (ours is quite small), I think the knife and cutting board are both quite essential.

Five For The Day: Harriet de Winton

Posted on Aug 5th 2012

In the latest Fork Hannah Bellis shares the delights of the inaugural Dewsall Supper Club, and with the first of London's spectacular FEASTs kicking off last weekend, plus a whole host of secret dining experiences popping up across the country, we take a quick time-out to share a cup of tea with theatre designer, and stylist for The Novel Diner, Harriet de Winton.

How did you get into styling supper clubs?
I'm a theatre designer, but have always been keen to find other environments to apply my skills. University friend Mina Holland dreamt up 'The Novel Diner', a literary based supper club; a far more theatrical take on the dinner party format and roped me in to add a visual element. Their first night, based around Virginia Woolf's 'to the lighthouse', was a great success and the literary dimension set it apart from so many other 'secret dining experiences'. They have since enjoyed much success combining high profile chefs and venues, wonderful produce and unique atmospheres... We've got a VERY exciting one coming up in September but my lips are sealed!

What would be your dream event to work on?
Heston Blumenthal and Bompass & Parr are known for outlandish and extreme approaches to food and eating. It would be a dream to work alongside them.

The best 'secret' food experience was...
Although I've been lucky enough to experience some fantastic events and evenings, it all comes back to our Bristol monthly 'Feast', a supper club dreamt up by friends to do away with the elitism and expense of the increasingly popular format. Open to all, scheduled by the Full Moon, in a neutral location, with dishes brought by all who attend. The June Feast was our first attempt at an outdoor location, the rain had been falling relentlessly up until a few hours before (and continued to for days to come) but the sun came out for a few hours. The simplicity of people, food, drink - and an impromptu campfire - can't be beaten.

Your guilty food secret?
The guilt comes from my laziness. I buy bags of pre-cut carrot sticks to eat like crisps. I'm sure I have the time to peel and cut a carrot but I get through them so quickly!

If you could ban a foodstuff, what would it be?
Cheap milk. Got to pay our farmers a fair price.

Photo credit - The Novel Diner's 'To The Lighthouse' at Tea House Theatre, Vauxhall. Nick Wright Photography

Foodle Doodle Dandy: Laurie Stansfield

Posted on Jul 30th 2012

Delightful freelance illustrator Laurie Stansfield shares her sensory delights with Fork - spices, pickles, colours, coffee and cardamon. And peanut butter.
Delve into Laurie's blog or discover more at her pages at Folio and Drawn in Bristol. Her distinct visual style is full of silly energy which works well for picture books. All of Laurie's images grow from pencil drawings, they are nourished with messy paints and scribbly pencils but usually end up as a digital product. She always enjoys the challenge of a new brief to call on her range of skills. All in all, drawing makes Laurie happy. This fruity concoction was made especially for the Fork blog. Lucky, lucky us.

Describe your typical morning
My ideal morning in the kitchen begins after a long gentle run. Caffeine. I love the taste of strong black coffee. Even in summer, porridge makes a great breakfast. Sometimes I mix in raisins, honey & tahini which tastes like baklava. Everyday, I make myself a packed lunch. I enjoy cooking for flavour. Spices, pepper, cardamom, ginger, basil... into the tupperware.

What snack always lives on your desk when you're working?
I always carry a banana with me. If I'm prepared, then a sesame snap bar too.

I could never give up...
A few people seem to like smooth peanut butter. I could give that up. But CRUNCHY peanut butter... that's a different story. It's good even straight from the jar.

Dinner, tonight. Where in the world would you go?
Probably Morocco. I like variety, lots of different flavours. Olives, herbs, pickles, plenty of veg. I suppose the colours attract me too.

You're being sent to a desert island and can take pencils OR your favourite food
I would pack my pencils. I keep a visual diary, where I draw a character everyday based on events & feelings. It helps me remember all the adventures that pass by. On the desert island, keeping the date would be very useful. I'd know to celebrate birthdays and how long I'd been stranded. We'd keep each other company and reminisce about peanut butter.

Breakfast of Champions

Posted on Jul 27th 2012

If breakfast is the most important meal of the day maybe we should be backing away from the fry ups and looking at how other countries start the day. Here are the typical breakfasts of nations that took gold in the 2008 Beijing Olympics - showing there’s a whole host of eating options aside from cooked or continental. Follow the links for recipe tips and blogs.

Women's heptathlon - Ukraine
Tea, boiled buckwheat, oatmeal, kabusa and perogies.

Men's 100m - Jamaica
Ackee, sardines, cornmeal porridge, fried plantain and bush tea.

Men's marathon - Kenya
Tea with chapatti or mandazi (spiced donuts). Kaimati are sweet dumplings and can be eaten as a breakfast side dish too.

Women's long jump - Brazil
Coffee, bread, cold meat & cheese, papaya and fuba cake warm with butter.

Baseball - South Korea
Rice served with soup, fish, vegetables, kimchi, seaweed and tofu.

Papaya image via our growing and glorious Fork Pinterest.

Pick Out A Better Picnic

Posted on Jul 26th 2012

July finally heralds picnic weather, but as you soak up the sun and the sporting madness, spare a thought for the provenance of your pork pie.

A recent YouGov poll shows that animal welfare is important to most shoppers, but that consumers struggle to buy higher welfare picnic food because of confusing labels and a limited range. Sandwiches, cold meats, sausage rolls and pork pies top the list of the nation's favourite picnic foods, yet only 3% of people would try their hand at making their own pork pie, and just 18% would whip up some sausage rolls. The younger generation are even less likely to cook their own picnic foods.

Whilst the RSPCA continues to work with supermarkets to make it easier to shop for higher welfare picnics, their advice for summer 2012 is to look for meat that is labelled RSPCA Freedom Food, or if you can’t find it, at least buy options like free-range, organic, outdoor bred or reared and choose to make your own summer snacks.

Richard Johnson, TV presenter and food writer, has written some simple recipes and advocates rolling up your sleeves, getting outdoors and enjoying your home-made treats.

“Some of the best meals I’ve ever eaten were picnics. As a child I remember bread and cheese on the edge of a cornfield in Devon. Picnics should be lengthy, sociable affairs, and that bread and cheese seemed to last forever. As an adult I’ll never forget sitting down outside a church in Corfu to eat tomatoes, ugly and fat, sprinkled with sea salt and tasting of the sun. Just keep it simple - and animal friendly.”

Head to www.rspca.org.uk/picnics to download Richard's recipes and for more information on why higher welfare food matters.

Foodle Doodle Dandy: Andrea Balogh

Posted on Jul 19th 2012

Illustrator Andrea Balogh talks to Fork about white tea joy, juggling snacks and the correct way to cook goulash. Spend some quality time here viewing more of Andrea's beautiful work, or head to http://drawninbristol.co.uk for more on our latest dandy.

Describe your typical morning
I wake up early to be awake enough to get my 13 year old son up (grabbing by feet, pulling out of bed - getting more and more difficult by the year). When he is off to school I drink white tea (one of the greatest inventions of mankind), have a piece of toast, meditate for 15 minutes, and then think of how (wonderful) the day is going to be. Shower, and off to work by bike - that often means a second shower, which is the shortest way to kill the 'wonderful day' theory.

What snack always lives on your desk when you're working?
Monkey food: almonds and raisins. One hand in almond bag, other hand in raisin bag, all land at the same time in my mouth. Awesome!

I could never give up...
Chocolate. No, coffee. No, chocolate. No, coffee...

Dinner, tonight. Where in the world would you go?
Grandma's kitchen in Budapest for a proper gulyás (goulash) soup. Let me take the opportunity and put one thing straight. Gulya is a herd of cows. The gulyás is the guy looking after them. He cooks his beef stew outdoors in a cauldron on a really low heat, starting in the morning and ready by midday. REAL GOULASH WAS NEVER MEANT TO BE PUT IN THE OVEN!

You're being sent to a desert island and can take pencils OR your favourite food.
My desert island is obviously full of the best and healthiest food, tropical fruit, fish straight from the ocean, spring water, so I might just take my pencil. Although drawing with a stick in the sand is tempting too.

An American Crayfish in Britain

Posted on Jul 19th 2012

A recent report in The Guardian drew attention to the plight of our native crayfish at the claws of the mighty American Signal variety, currently dominating British waters. Despite this surplus of delicious invaders it was also reported that the huge quantities of crayfish sold by big businesses such as Pret A Manger is being supplied by Chinese imports.

Crayfish catcher Bob Rings has come up with the solution of trapping these dominating crayfish in order to save the endangered white-clawed variety, offer a non imported option to the volume sellers and get us all to enjoy this lobster like delicacy. It seems like a great solution yet the article was met with concerns and criticism on www.guardian.co.uk, with fears that trapping could further endanger the indigenous species. For the full article (and responses) head here. The above image was found via our Fork Pinterest amongst other deep sea delights.

My Kitchen: Ali Silk

Posted on Jul 16th 2012

Ali Silk is the managing director of loose-leaf tea obsessives Tea Horse. www.teahorse.co.uk

My kitchen is a place for discovering new flavours, through tasting lots of loose teas. I do cook and enjoy experimenting with new recipes, but my kitchen mainly revolves around my passion for tea!

What's your essential item?
It would have to be my tea tasting sets. Across the world they’re created to an ISO standard so everyone can taste tea to the same proportions. A set is a white porcelain pot with a serrated edge, a lid and a cupping bowl. I use them to taste lots of different teas, to make sure we always select the best. It enables you to judge each aspect of the tea at the same time - the leaves, the colour, the aroma, the liquor, as well as judge different teas against each other. It’s a little tricky not to burn your fingers when pouring though!

Where's it from?
Tea Craft, a tea industry supplier.

How much did it cost?
£10 for a large set.

Is there anything that you'd trade it for?
Some super rare tea!

Foodle Doodle Dandy: Chris Dickason

Posted on Jul 12th 2012

In the first of our regular new blog series, we catch up with illustrator Chris Dickason about food, drawing and the messy places in-between.
Head to www.chrisdickason.co.uk or http://drawninbristol.co.uk for more on this week's dandy.

Describe your typical morning
Each day I start with the brutal mix of an early'o'clock gym session and a 'greens drink' (raw kale + raw spinach + blueberries + banana + h2o+ blender) after which I arrive at my studio. My email avoidance technique is to make as many teas and coffees for my office friends as possible. Once I've finished forcing caffeine on my co-workers I hack my way through my emails, scanning any pencil drafts from the previous day. I then spin between my drawing desk and computer, getting more and more dizzy working out how to spend the next 14 hours before I stagger home, zombie-like.

What snack always lives on your desk when you're working?
Given the choice I'd live on jammy dodgers all day long so I do my best to find healthy replacements to chomp upon. I'm big into nuts at the moment; pistachios, cashews, almonds, walnuts all fuel my pencil throughout the day.

I could never give up...
Croissants. I wouldn't give up croissants for man, woman or beast. I've trained myself (as Pavlov did his dog) to reward myself for my endeavours with pâtisserie. If I can get through Monday to Friday without killing my clients, killing myself, throwing my Mac out the window, going bankrupt, watching too much TV or eating my own body weight in biscuits then Saturday is croissant day. In many respects my work ethic and mental health closely rely on those French crescent shaped, beautiful buttery breakfast viennoiserie bread rolls.

Dinner, tonight. Where in the world would you go?
Vientiane in Laos. I spent four days there waiting for a friend a couple of years ago. After the initial excitement of buddhas and bowling alleys dwindled I found the city to be pretty dull until I discovered the fantastic Laotian cuisine. I relieved my boredom by eating as many of the exquisite dishes as I could, the names of which I'll never remember and the ingredients I'll never know, which only adds to the culinary enchantment.

You're being sent to a desert island and can take pencils OR your favourite food
I've always (probably wrongly) believed I've a slight predisposition to be a hunter gatherer Neanderthal, so I think I'd opt for the pencils so I can draw pictures of my terrible failing attempts to fish, catch chickens and cultivate crops onto the walls of my cave dwelling. Hopefully my petroglyphs will be greatly appreciated in 10,000 years time!

Three 'Hidden' Street Foods

Posted on Jul 10th 2012

This week's Guest Blog by Navina Bartlett from Bristol’s StrEAT Food Collective. www.streatfoodcollective.com

Street food in Britain is today’s ‘topic du jour’, but immigrant communities have been recreating & hiding delights from their motherland for years. I went in search of three top street food dishes found in the kitchens of Britain.

1. Doubles is common in Trinidad, a Caribbean island heavily influenced by Indian cuisine. It’s cheap, warm, hearty and filling. This sandwich is made from two baras (flat fried bread) filled with channa, curried chickpeas or garbanzo beans, then topped with spicy chutneys made with mango, coconut or tamarind & hot pepper sauce.

2. Handmade cone shaped coxinhas are Brazilian breaded potato croquettes. They’re filled with shredded spiced chicken and nestled next to catupiry cream cheese – which melts slowly into the chicken once bitten.

3. Masala vadas are often sold by hawkers at night markets in Southern India. These deep fried savoury biscuits are made from chickpea flour (besan), whole channa dahl, red chilli, cumin and curry leaves.

Now I’ve unearthed these treasures, I’m hoping there’s a plucky entrepreneur who’s willing to sell something unusual on our streets.

FEAST On This

Posted on Jul 10th 2012

FEAST, London’s most exciting and daring food experience, is now taking orders.

Fresh from the team who cooked up the hugely successful Long Table, FEAST is serving up the finest in food experiences at mystery locations throughout the year.

Launching in August in an secret Georgian Square in the heart of London Bridge, you'll discover sumptuous street food and creations from London dining luminaries, exciting art installations, experimental cocktails and music from breaking bands and DJs. With Jose Pizarro, St John Bread and Wine, Yum Bun, Hansen & Lydersen, Meringue Girls, Moro, The Last Days of Pisco and the Wright Brothers already lined up, it promises to be a feast for all the senses.

Dine on all its deliciously diverse tastes, smells, sights and sounds from Friday 3rd to Sunday 5th of August, and keep an eye on www.wefeast.co.uk for more magical happenings.

The Quadrangle, Guy’s Hospital, London Bridge
www.twitter.com/wefeastlondon

My Kitchen: Martin Morales

Posted on Jun 26th 2012

Martin Morales is the founder of Ceviche - Peruvian Kitchen and Pisco Bar. www.cevicheuk.com

White bricks, black granite tops and best of all there are lots of windows out to the garden so it almost feels like you are outside. It’s a bright sunny room, with Peruvian textiles covering our kitchen table and chillies (we call them 'aji' in Peru) everywhere. Giant Peruvian cocoa beans in the window sills, kids drawings all over the place, washing up always to do, coriander and mint growing, aji limo chilli plants growing, it smells of cumin all the time, French London Radio always on the DAB (like having Gilles Peterson on 24h a day), goldfish trying to get out of their bowl, Cuban and Brazilian cheap street funky folk art hanging alongside a BlueMan Group original - they painted that onstage and I bought it - and a signed menu by Ferran. A fun place where I'm free, have great chats and enjoy myself with my kids, my wife, friends and our team at Ceviche.

I have no essential items. I can cook anytime, anywhere, anyplace. We have the very best kit at Ceviche but at home, I haven't got great knives, nor pans, nor stove, nor fridge. I will get round to sorting that out one day, but even so, I love my kitchen. When I put on my Peruvian Cordon Bleu apron (from Lima) or my Soho Food Feast 2012 apron which I bought recently, I feel ready for any challenge - I can make great Peruvian food if we have the ingredients or improvise and dance in the kitchen with whatever is in the larder, cupboard, garden and fridge. My wife says I'm a magician.

Martin will be on the judging panel of NomNomNom this year. Taking place on July 8th, the competition will see nine teams of bloggers battling to have the best Olympic menu. Visit www.nomnomnom.co.uk to check out the finalists.

Black Market Pudding

Posted on Jun 22nd 2012

Artist John O’Shea has taken the traditional black pudding and reinvented the recipe to create the first food product made from the blood of a living animal.

The Black Market Pudding was first produced for Food Forward - an exhibition presenting visions of food in the future by artists and designers.

The event allowed attendees to sample the pudding and discuss questions it raises regarding organic products, provenance and the struggle for fair treatment of producer, animal & consumer.

O’Shea, who’s vegetarian, said many non meat-eaters were excited to be able to enjoy an animal based product that didn’t require the death of an animal. The blood for the pudding is drawn by a vet and John is making provisions for the Black Market Pudding pigs to be cared for until their deaths.

With no regulations currently in place to deal with such a product, the pudding could start some interesting conversations about our consumption of animals.

My Kitchen: Lisa Meyer

Posted on Jun 15th 2012

Lisa Meyer is one half of Yum Bun - Broadway Market's purveyors of the finest hand-made, pillow-soft steamed buns. www.yumbun.co.uk

My kitchen was built into a Victorian terrace house by its American owner and so we have inherited some quirky design features - two small sinks, a built in counter top broiler. At its centre is a very large, very solid butcher's block. It must have once stood in a Butcher's shop, its underside is curved from years of scrubbing with a wire brush. The kitchen looks out onto our garden and is a wonderful place to cook.

My essential item is my Japanese chef's knife. Like a samurai sword it has layers of differing densities & properties, making it stronger and sharper. I use it for everything! I sharpen it once a week and find I don't have much use for peelers or garlic presses.
It was a leaving present from colleagues when I finished my 2 year teaching job in Sendai, Japan in 2006. I'm in the dark about how much it cost. I can't imagine anything I'd love or use more.

Ocado Mealtime Masterclass

Posted on Jun 15th 2012

Join Ocado and Great British Chefs for a UK first online cookalong  

In what is shaping up to be a huge summer for Great Britain, there will be another UK first. Ocado www.ocado.com will play sous chef to some of our biggest culinary stars, bringing the nation exciting and interactive cooking experiences throughout the day.
 As part of the online grocer’s new taste partnership with the premium recipe website, Great British Chefs www.greatbritishchefs.com, three of the UK’s finest chefs will be holding live Mealtime Masterclasses via a pioneering online streaming method. 
With esteemed food writer and critic, Matthew Fort, compering proceedings, the masterclasses will see the chefs, all of whom have been awarded Michelin Stars, creating new takes on classic British dishes: 

Galton Blackiston, Morston Hall, Norfolk – Quail Scotch Eggs
 Simon Hulstone, The Elephant, Torquay – Curried Chicken Kiev
Josh Eggleton, The Pony & Trap, Bristol – Pimm’s Jelly

As Ocado campaigns for the nation to remix the recipes they regularly concoct, they will offer around 30 lucky participants the chance to cook along live with the Great British Chefs via exclusive Google+ Hangouts. These consumers will be able to interact directly with the chefs, receiving five star advice and cookery tips whilst ultimately experiencing the heat of a professional kitchen in the comfort of their own home.

Those who simply want to sit back and watch the chefs in action can visit Ocado’s YouTube channel www.youtube.com/ocado where the Mealtime Masterclasses will be streamed live in a UK first.

  Visit www.greatbritishchefs.com/ocado-mealtime-masterclass or ocado.com/masterclass for all the details

Five for the Day

Posted on Jun 14th 2012

Rosalind Rathouse has a wealth of cooking knowledge and founded Cookery School at Little Portland Street - a haven for food lovers in the capital, just off Oxford Circus. www.cookeryschool.co.uk

The best piece of advice you've been given?
If you ever burn yourself while cooking spray copiously with aloe vera then cover with plastic to stop the oxygen getting to the burn. And ice of course. It works!

What was your very first job? And what's your dream job?
I worked in an office where we used to regularly lock my boss in his office and tell anyone who called that he'd just popped out! My dream job is to run a sustainable cookery school.

What food or flavour can you not stand?
Cheap mayonnaise.

I could never give up...
Good chocolate - I love to cook with Amedei and I like to nibble on Original Beans.

Dinner, tonight. Where in the world would you go?
Hereford Road - good, honest, simple food - never tire of it. Thank you Tom Pemberton!

Food Levies For The UK?

Posted on Jun 12th 2012

Last year saw Denmark become the first country to introduce a surcharge on foods high in saturated fat. Now the subject is dividing the US & sparking debate in Britain. The public health crisis in America has seen diet-related obesity, diabetes and heart disease become the nation's No. 1 public health problem, generating an estimated $150 billion in health-care costs every year. We're worryingly following suit in the UK, where it's thought as many as 30,000 people die prematurely every year from obesity-related conditions. Arguments in the yes camp say the tax could help pay health costs whilst no's question the level of state intervention & complications to the tax system. With David Cameron previously saying a 'fat tax' for Britain shouldn't be ruled out it seems this debate is far from finished.

Community Camping: Garden microsites

Posted on Jun 11th 2012

Festival season is getting underway & there's an increasingly good selection of food fairs, from the established & well loved Abergevenny to newcomer Fowey Mussel Festival. Make a weekend of it and camp near your festival of choice - online community Camp in my Garden offers private gardens as micro campsites. With a really useful list of events they make it easy to find somewhere to pitch up near your event, providing accessible, affordable and fun alternatives to traditional accommodation around the world. Once you've picked where to stay you can invest in one of Field Candys food themed tents - guaranteed to keep you snug whatever the British weather throws out.

Bye Pink Slime: Grind Your Own Beef

Posted on Jun 10th 2012

As the revelations & recriminations surrounding LFTB rage on the reasons increase for supermarket ground beef to leave a bad taste in your mouth. If heat, centrifugal force & ammonia sound like additions your burger doesn't need, we'd recommend grinding your own. About.com have a step-by-step tutorial plus the net is awash with keen converts to home-grinding and it's delicious results. Grinding at home allows you to customize the meat and fat content and combine meats of your choosing. The best tasting burgers, the satisfaction of choosing exactly what goes in your ground meat and keeping your local butcher in business? Goodbye pink slime, hello home grinding.

Peng Peng the handmade sheep: China's bid to increase food supply

Posted on Jun 9th 2012

Chinese scientists have created Peng Peng, a genetically modified sheep with a roundworm fat gene. The worm genes they've put in the mix contain good fats believed to reduce the risk of heart disease & support healthy developement of the brain, eye and neurons. Usually found in nuts, seeds, fish and greens, if people were able to absorb these fats through meat consumption it could have huge implications for China, where arable land is in short supply compared to the needs of the population.

Beijing Genomics Institute director Dr Yutao Du said: "The most difficult task has been accomplished, the transgenic sheep production platform is established, we are ready for the industrial-scale development.” Despite his confidence, concerns about food safety remain and it could still be years before transgenic meat appears on the market.

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