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Latest cooking, food & recipe news
Save on bilingual family Let's Cook Italian book
HERE'S your chance to save £2 on Let's Cook Italian: A Family Cookbook by Anna Prandoni.
Let's Cook Italian is a fun, interactive, bilingual cookbook for families that introduces the art and joy of Italian cooking.
Featuring 30 classic, simple dishes, each recipe is shown in both Italian
and English and accompanied by charming illustrations.
It teaches better eating habits and the importance of culture, while providing quality family bonding time.
With an emphasis on fresh ingredients and hands-on preparation with family activities, your child's creativity will be sparked.
To order Let's Cook Italian, published by Quarry, at the discounted price of £10.99 including p&p* (RRP: £12.99), telephone 01903 828503 or email mailorders@lbsltd.co.uk and quote the offer code APG400.
*UK ONLY - Please add £2.50 if ordering from overseas.
The winner of the Let's Cook Italian competition was Jessica Townley @MrsJTea.
SAVE £2
Families throw away £680 of food a year, research shows
AS families tighten their belts for Christmas, research by MyFamilyClub.co.uk has revealed that six in 10 (57 per cent) households are throwing away food unnecessarily.
The main reason was that it had exceeded the best before date, cited by nearly five in 10 (45 per cent) families.
This food wastage is leading to an annual waste bill of £680 per family, according to sustainable resource research institute the Warwick Research Archive Portal (WRAP).
The research, carried out among 1,700 households, shows that most families spend between £50-£100 each week on groceries.
Three in 10 (30 per cent) of households attribute their food waste to children not eating food at mealtimes.
Most families (84 per cent) still have a Sunday roast on a weekly basis, but the average family wastes 5.8kg of meat, potatoes and vegetables, equalling 1.8 billion roast meals each year - or 70 dinners every year.
Eight in 10 families (88 per cent) would like to see more food waste education in schools, with nine out of ten (95 per cent) wanting supermarkets to help combat food waste.
My Family Club has undertaken this research as part of the Institute of Grocery Distribution's (IGD) Working on Waste campaign – a food and grocery industry initiative to help employees reduce food waste. For more information, see www.igd.com/workingonwaste.
For information on using left overs and meal planning, visit www.myfamilyclub.co.uk.
Make tax relief an incentive for developing healthy foods
MAKE tax relief for food firms conditional on developing healthy food, a charity has demanded.
Age Watch's Health Action Campaign (HAC) has published a report: Healthy and Wealthy? The health and economic implications for the UK of mass producing food high in sugar, salt, saturated fat and refined carbohydrates*.
Poor diet costs the NHS £6billion a year, despite ways of reducing sugar, salt and fat in food without affecting the taste.
HAC claims the £1billion a year food and drinks companies claim in tax relief for research and development could be used to speed up the availability of healthier food.
New processes and ingredients (such as salt microspheres, fat micro aeration and flavour delivery particles) can significantly reduce levels of salt, fat and sugar – while keeping the taste consumers are used to, a win-win situation for the food industry and public health.
With food companies in the UK still mass producing and retailing food that increases the risk of obesity, diabetes, heart attack, stroke and depression, there’s an urgent need for action.
*Healthy and Wealthy? The health and economic implications for the UK of mass producing food high in sugar, salt, saturated fat and refined carbohydrates (S3RC) by Health Action Campaign, an Age Watch (http://www.agewatch.org.uk) project.
Age Watch is a public health charity, aiming to help people slow the process of ageing, so they can live longer in good health. This matters because 95 per cent of NHS resources are spent treating people when they fall ill – only five per cent is spent preventing people falling ill in the first place.
Save on Wild Drinks and Cocktails book
TIRED of boring, artificial, too-sweet drinks? It's time to embrace drinks featuring local, fresh, or foraged ingredients.
It's easy with new book Wild Drinks and Cocktails, published by Fair Winds Press.
Craft drink expert Emily Han teaches you the techniques you need to know to handcraft your own infused waters, syrups, vinegars, tonics, spirits, wines and sodas.
The winner of my competition is Laura Betty, @Boopsyou.
You can order Wild Drinks and Cocktails at the discounted price of £11.99 including p&p* (RRP: £14.99), telephone 01903 828503 or email mailorders@lbsltd.co.uk and quote the offer code APG381.
*UK ONLY - Please add £2.50 if ordering from overseas.
SAVE £3
Save on Ferment Your Vegetables book
SICK of the same old methods of preserving your veg crops?
Here's a new book showing how to ferment your vegetables at home, an age-old and much-overlooked way of making crops last throughout winter.
In Ferment Your Vegetables, fermentation expert Amanda Feifer shows you, step by step, how you can create traditional, delicious fermented food, using only simply ingredients and a little time.
Using only veg, a few spices and a glass jar, you can make courgette bread pickles, curried cauliflower pickles, the simplest sauerkraut, green bean kimchi and more!
To order Ferment Your Vegetables, published by Fair Winds Press, at the discounted price of £12.99 including p&p* (RRP: £15.99), telephone 01903 828503 or email
mailorders@lbsltd.co.uk and quote the offer code APG388.
*UK ONLY - Please add £2.50 if ordering from overseas.
SAVE £3
Treasure trove of authentic Italian seeds & ingredients
IF you're into 'cook what you grow' and love simple food made with the best ingredients, take a look at the Franchi Seeds of Italy 1783 ranges.
The oldest family-run seed company in the world, based in Bergamo, most of its varieties are unique to Italy or to the company.
Franchi is the only seed brand in the UK approved by the Vegetarian Society and Slow Food and the only major seed brand with a garden at Hampton Court (for 2016 – Grown in Italy features three classic Fiat 500s with Italian planting and a market stall).
The firm is one of only two major seed brands at RHS Chelsea, the only one at the Slow Food Show and the most ethical major seed brand selling in the UK.
Here's a taste of Franchi's range:
BASIL BOLLOSO NAPOLETANO: Very large leafed basil from Naples, used to wrap around Mozzarella di Buffalo. Excellent with tomatoes and good olive oil and mozzarella or cooked into a tomato sauce, £2.25.
TOMATO COSTOLUTO DI PARMA: Misshapen fruits with a hard stalk in the middle, but superb flavour. Traditionally eaten with the two local ingredients of Parma, ham and Parmesan cheese. Medium-sized fruits of about 180-200g, £1.79.
COURGETTE ROMANESO: One of the best quality zucchini with a nutty flavour and firm consistency. Also a good producer of flowers for a frittata, dipped in batter and gently fried in olive oil, then sprinkled with Parmesan cheese or stuffed, £2.25.
CAVOLO NERO KALE OF TUSCANY: Used to make the traditional dish of Florence ‘Ribollita Toscana’ and minestrone. Sown in summer and harvested during winter, it is hardy as it comes from the Apennines, £2.25.
LETTUCE ROSSA DI TRENTO: From high up in the Dolomites, this lettuce has a good-sized head, excellent flavour and is sown from spring until September. Green with red outer leaves. Ideal for a summer salad or traditionally dressed with a vinaigrette, £1.89.
WILD ROCKET: Used in every region of Italy, strong and very easy to grow. Used in salads but also to make Pesto di Rucola, rocket pesto which is then drizzled on bruschetta or served with pasta, several types online from £1.89 to £2.79 (organic).
BORLOTTO BEAN LAMON: The most famous of all borlotti beans, from the Veneto. The key ingredient in Pasta Fagioli (pasta and beans). They shelled beans can be dried or better, frozen, and will cook in 40 minutes from frozen in minestrone, stews, casseroles, soups and in risotto, £2.25.
PARSLEY GIGANTE DI NAPOLI: Huge leaves and superior flavour. It will resist cold quite well and if you cut it it will grow back. Use it to make Salsa Verde, with eggs and always with garlic dishes, £2.29.
CIMA DI RAPA SESSANTINA: The classic ingredient to eat with ‘Orechiette’ in Puglia. This sprouting turnip top is sown from April to August and will grow in 60 days. Also excellent boiled and served with good olive oil and on pizza, £2.25.
SPINACH MERLO NERO: hailing from the Alps, it is sown in spring and autumn. Spinach is not considered as ‘Italian’ as tomato or basil, but it is used with ricotta to make Canneloni Piemontesi among other dishes, £2.25.
Franchi Seeds of Italy 1783 packets are widely available in independent garden centres and also Capital Gardens, Frosts, Squires and Wyevale, or see the full range online (including authentic Italian ingredients and gifts) at www.seedsofitaly.com.
Pictures; Franchi Seeds of Italy 1783
Get eating outdoors for Al Fresco Fortnight
LOVE the idea of entertaining or eating outside but not sure how go about it? Then you'll love Al Fresco Fortnight, a new annual event from the Love the Plot You’ve Got (LTPYG) campaign, kicking off on Father’s Day, Sunday June 19, for a fortnight.
It aims to get as many people as possible eating outside at least once - have a party on the patio, a romantic dinner for two, a family get-together or a barbecue on Father's Day (all of course, weather permitting).
Turn your garden into an outdoor living room - warm and light the space with tabletop LED patio heaters (I'll be road testing one of these soon); keep rain off with a gazebo and bugs away with Citronella candles.
The LTPYG team is asking people to send photos of their event to win prizes on social media using the tag @goeatalfresco and hashtag #alfrescofortnight.
Keith Nicholson, Gardening Industry Marketing Board chairman and Westland Horticulture marketing director said: “We believe that this campaign will inspire consumers to spend more time outside improving the plot they’ve got and stimulate them to take that all-important first step to going to a garden centre.”
Chris Day from Buckingham Garden Centre said: “The purpose of this event is very simple: by showing people how much fun they can have eating and socialising outside, it will get them using their outside space more and in turn they will want to improve their patio, roof terrace or garden.
“If people are stuck for ideas or would like some advice, they can visit the website www.loveyourplot.com or pop along to their local garden centre.”
Neil Grant, Ferndale Garden Centre managing director said: “June is often the first real time many families get out into their gardens, and a few planted containers on the patio lifts a barbecue to your own mini summer festival!”
For more information, ideas and some great recipes, visit www.loveyourplot.com.
Save on bilingual family Let's Cook Spanish book
LET'S Cook Spanish is a new bilingual cookery book - and you can save £3 on the published price plus free post and packing.
Introduce your family to the art of Spanish cuisine - not only will it bring you closer together, but it will teach your child to cook and get them interested in Spanish culture.
Written by Spanish chef Gabriela Llamas, it teaches better eating habits and the importance of culture, while providing quality bonding time.
Featuring classic, simple dishes inspired by Spanish cuisine, each recipe is shown in both Spanish and English and accompanied by charming illustrations.
With an emphasis on fresh ingredients and hands-on preparation, dishes include traditional starters, main courses, and desserts.
Gabriela Llamas is a chef and teacher of Spanish cooking. She has written about Spanish cuisine for Vogue Spain, Vogue Australia, Food & Wine, and Cuisine N Zealand.
As the old Spanish saying goes: "A tavola non si invecchia." Or, "At the table with good friends and family you do not become old."
The winner of the Let's Cook Spanish competition is Sare Davies, @TealSare, of Manchester.
To order Let's Cook Spanish at the discounted price of £10.99 including p&p* (RRP: £13.99), call 01903 828503 or email mailorders@lbsltd.co.uk - quote the offer code QPG434.
*UK ONLY - Please add £2.50 if ordering from overseas.