Tuesday 3 January 2012

Gourmet Raw Launches New Raw Crisps

British-based raw food specialist Gourmet Raw will be launching a new addition to their range in mid January 2012.

Their new raw crisps are the perfect snack, with nothing to feel guilty about: made from sprouted buckwheat, which is full of protein and fibre, Gourmet Raw then add locally grown vegetables, herbs and seeds that are crammed full of vitamins and minerals. Each variant is slowly dried in order to retain all the naturally occurring enzymes and nutrients present in the carefully selected ingredients.

Every packet contains no preservatives, binders or chemicals...just 100% natural ingredients packed with goodness.

Available as Red pepper, Beetroot or Spicy Thai, each packet will retail for £1.99 and is:

✓ 100% natural ✓ organic ✓ dairy free ✓ wheat free

raw & living ✓ gluten free ✓ vegan ✓ non GM ✓ prepared under 40.5 ̊C

www.gourmetraw.com and select independents.

FACTFILE:

Gourmet Raw believes in making healthy tasty food that’s actually good for you.

They don’t cook their ingredients: they keep them raw so they retain all the enzymes and nutrients that occur naturally. With all the enzymes and nutrients alive and well, Gourmet Raw foods will boost your system, aid digestion and help you take on more energy.

Principles of Raw Food

A raw food diet is based on the belief that the most healthy food for the body is uncooked. Although most food is eaten raw, heating food is acceptable as long as the temperature stays below 40.5°C.

Proponents of the raw diet believe that enzymes are the life force of a food and that every food contains its own perfect mix. These enzymes help us digest foods completely, without relying on our body to produce its own cocktail of digestive enzymes.

It is also thought that the cooking process can destroy vitamins and minerals and that cooked foods not only take longer to digest, but they also allow partially digested fats, proteins and carbohydrates to clog up our gut and arteries.

Blipp it for a Domino offer!

Domino
Domino’s Pizza, has launched a new six-sheet poster campaign with Blippar to bring its latest 555 pizza deal to life.

Over 6,000 sites across the country now sport Domino’s poster, which uses the Blippar app to create an augmented reality experience. Users can download deals for their nearest Domino’s store, get the Domino’s mobile ordering app, become a Facebook fan and view their local menu, all by looking at Domino’s poster through a smartphone.

The different features of the six sheets ‘jump’ off the page when viewed through the Blippar app.

To non-Blippar users, the poster simply shows Domino’s current 555 deal, which offers any three (or more) 9½” pizzas for just £5.55 each.

Nick Dutch, multimedia manager at Domino’s, said: “We’re always looking for innovative new ways to engage with our customers using the latest technology. This exciting new campaign with Blippar provides us with a great opportunity not only to communicate a good pizza deal, but also to engage with users by offering them information specific to their local store and other features just for mobile users. With sites up and down the country, we’re looking forward to pizza lovers blipping it where they live to get more from our posters.”

Download the Blippar app free at www.blippar.com. For further details on Domino’s, visit www.dominos.co.uk.

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Monday 2 January 2012

Top ten food predictions for 2012, from the experts at My Secret Kitchen!

As we predicted last year, money will be a key factor in the food trends for 2012:-

1 Price Increases on food – At the back end of last year the manufacturers supplying the retailers realised that they needed to force the raw material increases through the chain if they were going to survive and understandably so. Anything grown in the ground has increased, especially the basics so expect people to think even more carefully about what they put in their shopping basket.

2 Granny’s cooking – Retro was big in 2011 and the desire for security and safety in an uncertain environment will steer cooking towards old family recipes. People still have egos and pride and what better way to show off than by resurrecting that old recipe that was handed down through the generations? – Could there be a rise in dumplings, suet puddings and the like?

3 More of the Grain – Home baking and cooking is a hot trend and people want to know more about what they are eating but without spending a huge amount. Whole grains are great value for money and the likes of Quinoa, oats and cornmeal could see a surge in 2012.

4 Forage, forage, forage – we predicted hedgerow flavours for 2011 and this will continue but expand into the general wild. Expect to see a rise in types of mushrooms, herbs and berries in people’s diets. Wild garlic anyone?

5 Whatever Twitter says – As social networking becomes viral, people want to share the good and bad things in food. In the past it was all about what Delia said, going forward it will be a lot more about that latest blog report, that Twitter comments and that facebook photo. And we can’t predict what ‘that’ will be.

6 The rise of the minor celebrity chef – following on from the previous comments, there will be a big rise in passionate cooks moving into doing video blogs on recipes, and these will become so much more accessible through the social media movement. So it won’t be Delia’s goose fat as the big thing next year, it will be a Youtube special chef. My Secret Kitchen will be jumping on this trend with a new video blog starting soon.

7 Moroccan – Full of Spices and flavours, a healthy diet with grain and greens and a little different with not too many expensive ingredients, Moroccan has been hovering around for a while. Expect 2012 to see a full blown launch of all things North African.

8 South American – We were wrong last year. We stuck our neck out with predictions that this continent would be big in 2011. It grew but not how we thought. Peru is widely predicted to be the big flavour country in the ‘States for 2012 so we expect this to jump over to the UK along with Brazil for 2012. And if the food goes superbly with Caipirinhas we won’t be complaining.

9 French Macaroons – 2011 was the year of the Whoopie Pie, an attractive and fun filled cake. One of the key reasons for it’s popularity was it looked cute. We think French macaroons will be big for 2012 for a similar reason, so expect to see gaudy shop windows full of ‘em. Whoopie pies will also get a makeover and remain popular but with alternative flavours and styles becoming big.

10 Back to the Dinner Table – As family values become ever more important, there will be a push to get more social interaction into the family dinner table which has declined over recent years. More family get togethers and more group meals will mean recipes involving more members of the family. What better way of bring a family closer together than cooking.. unless it goes pear shaped…

My Secret Kitchen is the UK’s first food and drink tasting company. The team has spent many years travelling the world and presenting food trends to major food manufactures. They now spend their time launching unusual and trend setting foods through home tasting events throughout the UK. Think the Tupperware party concept… but with food.

That's Food and Drink would like to thank Phil Moran for this feature.

That's Food and Drink to be "more proactive" in 2012

The food and drink website, That's Food and Drink will be "more proactive during 2012."

This means That's Food and Drink will be providing its readers with more news and features about special foodie events that will be occurring throughout the year.

That's Food and Drink will be helping readers celebrate and enjoy sausage weeks, barbecue months, wine and beer festivals, events, tea and coffee weeks, harvest festivals, etc., etc., etc.

If YOU have a special event that you would like to see featured, then please send us an email to afj_uk@yahoo.com using the subject line: "Special Event"  and we will do the rest.

Sunday 1 January 2012

Barracuda Pub Group Crown 2012 as the year of the beer

Pint of low strength ale
The Barracuda Pub Group, a national pub operator who run over 160 Smith & Jones pubs across the UK, are looking to extend Christmas cheer by making 2012 the year of the beer.

Throughout January, Barracuda will be offering Greene King’s Tolly English Ale, a lower strength beer which, at 2.8% (abv), qualifies for a 50% reduction in the rate of duty payable to the Treasury, for £1.29 in the majority of its pubs. Pubs based in Scotland will be offering Caledonian’s Deuchars IPA and those in Wales will be offering Brains Bitter.

Richard Stringer from the Barracuda Pub Group said; “2012 is the perfect time to showcase all that is good and great about the British pub, with the Olympics, the Diamond Jubilee and all the visitors that these events will attract.

The pub is the only place to truly enjoy a pint of excellent ale and we want to encourage all those visiting the country to sample Britain’s national drink. We’ll be starting our commitment to cask ale with our January offer and throughout the year we will be creating activity to positively promote cask ale in our business. We will also be delivering further training to our managers to ensure that every pint of cask ale served in our business is in perfect condition and leaves our customers with nothing but good things to say about cask ale.”

To find your nearest Smith & Jones pub, please visit: www.smithandjonespubs.com

(EDITOR: I know where my nearest Smith and Jones pub is! I think I'll be paying it a visit, this week!)