This is the time of year when the supermarkets have been raided by punters who are eager to get their hands on ingredients for the big cookery event of the season at home – the Christmas dinner and other festive meals for friends and family. And this is the time, too, when celebrity chefs become ever more inventive and seductive, to entice customers to choose their recipes and cook books to help them on the way.

According to reports, Jamie Oliver’s cookery tips have been top of the pops, supported of course by a television series too. But other celebrity chefs have also become involved in the run up to Christmas. Delia Smith and Heston Blumenthal joined forces to promote one particular supermarket’s festive marketing efforts. Other cooks, such as Nigella, suggested recipes on television and Gordon Ramsay even had a ‘cook-a-long’ on television on Christmas morning.

It has been said in the online press too that chefs have had to be more inventive than usual this year, notwithstanding this fierce competition and rivalry, given the increase in the price of ingredients.
Even in local online press, you can find profile-raising of chefs with their tips for the public in cooking the festive meal, how to choose ingredients, avoid mishaps, make perfect roast potatoes, starters, how to prepare in advance and so on.

The festive season is now largely behind us, but the tips from the chefs remain and, doubtless, efforts will be redoubled next year, to persuade us how best to celebrate in culinary fashion over Christmas.

Posted by Hayley on the 10th January 2012

King Edward Jacket Potato Ovens are ideal for commercial catering establishments of all types – whether a mobile unit serving interval snacks at a large event, or a hotel with regular high-volume sittings.

We stock a range of King Edward Jacket Potato Ovens which are ideal for anyone who wishes to cook and serve, whilst also display jacket potatoes in the most efficient way. The range includes ovens, bain maries and display units and every item in the range is made in Britain.

The range of popular products includes both potato ovens and potato stations, which offer the benefits of both bain marie and oven in a single compact unit and vitreous coloured panels, finished in enamel. These provide great durability and heat resistance.

There is something in the range for everyone. The King Edward Classic Compact 3 In 1 Station is a potato storage oven with both oven and bain marie and a storage area. It has a smart black finish and can hold 20 potatoes at any one time in its oven and storage area. The cooking time is approximately 55 minutes and there’s a one year warranty on parts as standard.

At the upper end of the range, the King Edward PB2FV Large Jacket Potato Oven offers a very stylish traditional design for both cooking & displaying jacket potatoes, with a black and claret coloured exterior. This larger model can hold 55 potatoes in its oven and 60 in the storage area, making it ideal for high volume requirements.

Posted by Matt on the 9th January 2012

There has been a lot of interest over the past few years in the nutrition and food in our schools. Jamie Oliver famously raised the profile of this issue a few years ago and it is still a subject that is on the discussion board. There is still a worry about the levels of obesity amongst the younger generation and concern that they have properly balanced nutritious meals.

Things are changing, too, under new regulations from the government. What is happening? The government is introducing changes so that those in the catering industry at management level will have more ability to be flexible when it comes to setting prices for the school meals.

Why is this measure being introduced? It is said that the new arrangement will give flexibility to caterers so that they can promote certain items (with the goal of encouraging pupils to choose a more healthy option). This should be taken in context with other competing ‘promotion’ meals such as takeaways, when low value products which are not so healthy are made more attractive to pupils.

There have been studies in the past to show the correlation between the food and drinks which children consume and their performance levels in class. There have been reports those children who have had a filling and nutritious meal can do better in the classroom. Hopefully, the new powers which are being introduced will help children to make wiser choices that may well help not only their diet, but also their performance at school.

Posted by Matt on the 6th January 2012

The meals available to certain sectors of society have come under the public spotlight recently. Remember Jamie Oliver and his campaign to improve school meals for children? Another area of concern is the arena of hospital meals and recent news headlines show that this is a current issue.

In Wales, the patients in the NHS hospitals will benefit from a new series of obligatory nutritional standards from the beginning of the New Year. What does this mean in practice? According to reports, the content of the meals must satisfy certain criteria, such as a restricted quantity of saturated fat and a good helping of protein, as well as healthy food stuffs such as fruit and vegetables. There are also regulations to help patients remain hydrated, with offerings of 7-8 drinks on a daily basis and regularly changed drinking water, plus access to snacks. April 2013 is the target date for full implementation of these regulations in Wales.

And what about the rest of Britain? There is now the case for the government to look into extending these guidelines or similar ones to the rest of the country. According to reports, a recent poll of a thousand people revealed that a good majority of 84% wanted England to have these minimum requirements for hospital catering too.

Of course, one of the very important steps to successful recovery in hospital is to gain the strength from a nutritional diet and good meals. Hopefully the government will see fit to introduce some guidelines to ensure that patients at other British NHS hospital will benefit from similar treatment to those in Wales.

Posted by Hayley on the 5th January 2012

According to reports in the industry press, although the hospitality sector has weathered the economic storm relatively well all things considered, there is still need to take into account the unusual and harsh economic factors that are relevant to today’s world.

Reports about the service consultancy called Horizon have addressed this issue specifically. It has been said that certain changes will need to be taken into account in 2012, for a successful year. Of course, one of the problems is that the pockets of consumers are not so deep. Given the question marks over job security and many job losses, customers are becoming wary of splashing out.

Yet it is not a uniformly bleak picture – experts are also suggesting that providing the catering industry can adapt to these changing conditions, then there is still a good business to be made. There are many reports of new eateries opening in these harsh conditions and that, in turn, new jobs are being created. It is impressive when business owners are tenacious in finding new niches and new ways to appeal to customers in this economic climate. Obviously, providing a good quality service is essential – value for money is one of the key issues to bear in mind when marketing new services to the public. The more a customer feels they are getting quality products for a good price, the more chances of the business’s success.

There is good news too – compared to the retail sector, there are reports that the pub and restaurant industries are doing very well.

Posted by Hayley on the 4th January 2012

The Foster Multideck offers high performance as well as total reliability, making it one of the most popular choices in professional refrigeration today. Much like all of Foster’s refrigeration products, the Foster Multideck range so specifically designed to offer caterers an energy efficient, reliable, durable, high performing, quality product. Foster Multidecks incorporate the latest advances in refrigeration technology to offer customers well constructed and stylish products. These fridges are a great investment for any professional catering environment.

The Foster Pro Multidecks are economic to run, involve little maintenance and are stylish too. This Pro range is known for its high performance and reliability, all of which is offered at a very competitive price. The Pro Multidecks have a large storage capacity, cleverly designed so that the fridge itself doesn’t take up too much floor space. With its slim structure, the Pro Multideck is perfect for any restaurants or cafes where space is limited. These fridges come with a capacity of 415 to 975 litres and feature full length panels with glass, allowing maximum visibility. They come in a choice of two finishes; white paint or stainless steel. With their fluorescent bulbs which are long-life, these fridges won’t let your down.

The Foster Slimline Multidecks are just as great as the Pro range and are ideal for smaller catering environments, which need a smaller capacity fridge and more floor space. Energy efficient and stylish, these fridges offer incredible value for money. They have simple, clean designs which will fit in beautifully with virtually any decor and their capacities range from 290 litres, to 520 litres.

Posted by Matt on the 21st December 2011

There has been fury in the British egg industry recently over the issue of battery chickens and their eggs. Many of us are aware that there has been outrage over the living conditions of battery hens in the past and as a result of this outrage, the European Union introduced laws to increase the quality of life of laying hens.

The British egg farmers have been making moves to comply with this legislation. In effect, the conventional ‘battery’ cages are to be jettisoned as of the beginning of 2012. This has been an expensive business for farmers – Farming UK reported that some £400 million has been spent on replacing the cages with new ‘enriched colony cages.’

This is all good news for the British hens – however, it has come to light that not all EU countries have been as diligent as the UK farmers and it is said that Spain, Italy and Poland have not complied with the EU legislation. The British Egg Industry Council is therefore furious that the Agriculture Minister has said that it would be too costly for the government to ban the import of these battery eggs and also it would be too difficult to enforce.

Of course, the worry for the law-abiding British egg farmers is that they have splashed out on the improved cages for their chickens, but may be undercut in the market by the influx of cheaper battery hen eggs from the rest of the EU.

Posted by Matt on the 20th December 2011

Global knives are some of the highest quality knives available to professional caterers today. This brand has become one of the most popular knife suppliers in the industry and with good reason. Handcrafted in Japan, these knifes are made to an incredibly high standard, to produce a finished product of an excellent quality.

This brand has won awards for its knives. These knives are used by some of the world’s most prestigious chefs. These knives are manufactured using a special type of stainless steel known as Cromova 18, which is made specifically for this brand. This stainless steel material is of just the right density, so it has the correct balance between softness and hardness; it is soft enough to easily sharpen, but hard enough to maintain the finely sharpened edge for a long period, even when used frequently. These knives use a combination of vanadium and molybdenum to create their razor sharp edges.

There is a great selection of knives in the Global knives range, so that you can easily find the perfect knife for the food that needs to be prepared. Their knife sets have everything from carving knifes for meat, to knives specifically designed to easily slice through vegetables in a second. These knives are resistant to corrosion, stains and rust, so they last year upon year. They also come with weighted handles which are hollow and have a slip resistant grip, for quick and safe chopping, slicing and carving. With a seamless construction with no unnecessary ridges, these knives are also very easy to clean.

Posted by Hayley on the 19th December 2011

A warning has been issued by the East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s Trading Standard Service: be careful of Christmas decorations which are designed to look like a food product. Apparently other councils around the country are issuing similar warnings.

According to online reports, there are many items on the market which are designed to look like food and which could potentially be dangerous. There is an argument that they could cause suffocation, poisoning, perforation or blocking of the digestive system. Of course, youngsters are most at risk for misunderstanding the nature of some of the festive decorations and trying to consume them.

It has recently been publicised online that one London company, O Widmann and Company, has had to remove sweet-imitations from the market.
You may have noticed that there is a current fashion for creating imitation baked goods such as cupcakes and sweets. They are often designed to be used as Christmas decorations. In East Riding in Yorkshire, the Trading Standards Service has made various inspections of shops offering Christmas decorations for sale – and on a couple of occasions, the reports are that some items had to be removed from sale and sent off for testing, which subsequently revealed that they could present a safety risk.

Products causing concern include items such as a lollipop tree garland and also a tree topper. If in doubt, the trading standards team can help to advise whether items for sale in the UK are legal or whether they breach the safety standards.

Posted by Hayley on the 16th December 2011

There is general concern at this time of year, that amidst the excesses of the festive period, things go to waste. We become temporary gluttons over the Christmas and New Year period, our eyes are bigger than our bellies and we buy too much as we are caught up in the excesses of the moment.
However, this year the general climate surrounding our Christmas is a little more cautious than in other more economically-healthy times. We are also becoming a little more careful and cutting our cloth accordingly, as the saying goes. With all this in mind, it seems that the collaboration between the North Herts District Council and the celebrity chef, Jean-Christophe Novelli, to encourage people to think about minimising their food wastage – or to put it another way, to ‘Love your Leftovers!’ as the campaign phrases it – hits the mood of the festive season head on.
The campaign started on 2 December and the purpose is to remind people how they can cut down on the wastage of holiday food. There are many options for using leftovers to create perfectly delicious menus.

Jean-Christophe has started the ball rolling by creating some recipes to use leftovers – and the Council is asking others to submit their recipe ideas too. The winner will be awarded a day’s cookery course at the celebrity chef’s Novelli Academy Cookery School.
In addition to these recipe ideas, the Waste Team will make themselves available to answer queries and give advice about how to cut waste.
Food for thought, no?

Posted by Matt on the 15th December 2011