Lollipop the question on Valentine's Day

You'll buy a card, true. And a nice Valentine's gift? Undoubtedly!

But what about something else? What about a special gift for the love of your wife, made in the shape of a delicious love heart lollipop, with an edible flower nestling within it?

They are truly stunning, you can buy them individually or as a special bouquet as a box of ten.

They cost £3.50 each (that includes postage and packing) and can be personalised, too, thus making them unique to the love of your life.

To learn more please visit www.dosomethingdelicious.com/products/edible-flowerr-lollipop-heart

Moorish Humous and dips. They really are moreish!

Moorish Humous and dips. They really are moreish!

Apparently, my wife does not like humous. Or dips. But that was before we found Moorish dips and humous and my wife is now firmly converted in their favour.

I asked her why she had changed her mind? "Whenever I have tried humous before, it never tasted very good. In fact, some of them had no taste that I could identify, at all!

"But these Moorish smoked humous and dips are completely different! They are really, seriously delicious!"

Exactly how delicious are they? Before the That's Food and Drink taste test team could get together to test this range of products, somehow, the Devilish Chili Harissa smoked humous got 'accidentally' eaten., by my wife, who generally doesn't like chilli, either. "Sorry, but it was delicious! Tell them it was 10 out of 10!"

So, yes, dear reader, Moorish devilish chili harissa smoked humous earns a 10 out of 10 from my wife, which is an utterly stunning achievement, so well done Moorish. That kind of accolade from my wife is high praise indeed!

The Smokeyish original delicious smoked humous is a stunning revelation. I was under the impression that I had eaten and, to be fair, enjoyed the smoked humous produced by a different company some time ago.

I now realise that what I had previously thought of as smoked humous was nothing of the kind, that, compared to the smoked humous products from Mooorish, their rival's product was but a pale imitation of a smoked product, with the smoked flavour owing more to the workings of a scientist, rather nature.

Not so Moorish! The smoked flavour is glorious and obviously produced by the employment of an ancient genuine and venerable smoking process.

The Smoked Humous with Caramelised Red Onion was equally delicious, the aubergine smoked dip also passed muster and the lemon and dill smoked humous was another crowd (or rather, taste test team!) pleaser.

The Superdelish creamy red pepper smoked dip is really superdelish and a worthy member of the range.

As for the taramasalata dip? The last time I had any taramasalata to equal that it was at a Greek delicatessen in a suburb of London, many years ago.

Each pack of dip or humous comes complete with an easy to follow recipe, so you are not left on your own.

Who is behind Moorish Smoked Dips? The owner is a cook called Julie Waddell who is clearly very passionate and dedicated to the culinary arts and the art of perfection in everything she does.

To learn more please visit www.lovemoorish.co.uk for details of stockists, more recipes.

Please tell them That's Food and Drink sent you!

Heck of a good meal with Heck meats

Heck Meats proudly proclaim that "We do damn good sausages." Ands this isn't an idle boast, because Heck do really make some damn good sausages.

Years ago, almost anyone could get sausages like those Heck carefully and lovingly prepare. People would go to their local butcher (there were even specialist pork butchers who sold nothing but pork and pork products) and buy some excellent sausages, made on the premises under the skilled and careful master butcher who were carrying on a tradition that had run through the generations of their family for hundreds of years.

But even though some of these family butchers are being run by the grandchildren of those master butchers, the heart and soul has gone from their business and they might even sell nothing but factory produced sausages that have no taste whatsoever.

So, how do you get sausage and meat products like your parents or even your grandparents used to buy as a matter of course in the local high street? You turn to Heck!

Heck are producers and purveyors of fine quality sausages and sausage products.

My wife's favourite Heck product (so far!) is their Smoky Chorizo-style 97% pork sausages. I liked them well enough, but my wife raved about them for several days after we ate them. What was of equal importance for her was the fact that they are gluten free, so no uncomfortable tummy problems after a meal of Heck sausages. In fact, all Heck sausages are gluten free, so that's something to consider if you are cooking for someone with a gluten allergy or intolerance.

My own favourite was the Heck Fair & Square 97% Pork sausages. To my mind (and stomach!) There's nothing quite like a good, square sausage. They are great with rice, a nice salad, with mashed potatoes, chips or jacket potatoes, on a sandwich or even on their own. Also, try soda bread instead of standard bread, it's a divine marriage!

We also tried Chicken Italia, an extremely interesting and thoughtful combination of British chicken breast and thigh meat sausages carefully married with basil and  mozzarella cheese. Although Heck suggest slicing up and stirring into a creamy risotto, we had ours with a nice leaf and tomato salad, served with a handmade dressing that we quickly whipped up just prior to serving.

The next day we enjoyed another Chicken Italia, but these were absolutely delicious chicken burgers. once again seasoned with basil, tomatoes and mozzarella.

Where can you find Heck sausages? At Tesco or Asda branches (just check on the Heck website for the nearest branches) or you can buy direct from the delightful and very enthusiastic Keeble family who own Heck Foods, the mail order link is at the top of the page.

And to our delight, it seems that Heck's policy is not only to produce sausages to good, old-fashioned recipes, they also seem keen to charge prices that are a blast from the past, too! I mean, come on! Where else could you buy six family made Plump Pork and Apple sausages for only
£3.00?

Just visit www.heckfood.co.uk and make your selection. You will be glad you did. And please mention That's Food and Drink when you order online.

Newby English Breakfast Tea

Newby English Breakfast Tea is described as: "A rich amber cup that is brisk and full-bodied, followed by a prolonged, spicy and malty aftertaste."

Although the tea comes in tea bags it actually tastes as good as the finest quality loose leaf tea.

This is because Newby employs some unique natural fibre silken pyramid bags that are biodegradable which allows the full flavour of the tea to come to the fore.

Let's talk about the taste. There is a subtle hint of oriental spices in the overall taste and my wife identified a certain level of natural sweetness that permeated the tea. "It's tastes almost like honey," she pointed out.

And after a moment's quiet reflection and tasting I had to agree. Rather than maltiness we detected that sweet flavour as being more akin to honey. But individual tastes do vary. And either way, it is undoubtedly delicious.

There is also a hint of fruitiness to the finish.

This was very much to our liking and although it is billed as an English Breakfast Tea it is equally delicious at any time of day.

Newby teas are now available at Waitrose and Newby blends and retails a wide range of teas and tisanes.

To learn more visit www.newbyteas.com.

Chocolate just got even more Divine!

Divine Chocolate is owned by the cocoa farmers who grow the beans. And they are delighted to announce to the world's chocolate lovers that they have launched a fantastic new bar to their growing range.

It's a dark chocolate bar filled with the richest of rich, smooth caramels.

The Divine Caramel Dark Chocolate bar is 40g of pure and utterly ethical goodness and only costs £1.00 from Oxfam, Divine's own online shop and through good independent retailers, but more  stockists are being sourced!

It's launch is in time for Fairtrade Fortnight (23rd February- 8th March), it's a divine blend of rich dark chocolate with a soft, smooth, caramel filling.

Have you tried and enjoyed the Milk Chocolate Caramel bar? You'll be pleased to learn that the Dark Chocolate Caramel bar uses the same rich, buttery and utterly delicious caramel!

It's also completely palm oil free, which is an added bonus..

This new product follows the two latest additions to Divine's 100g range, 70% Dark Chocolate with Mango and Coconut and 38% Milk Chocolate with Whole Almonds. All Divine chocolate is made with the 'best of the best' Ghanaian cocoa grown by the company's farmer owners.

The That's Food and Drink view? "It's utterly delicious, the chocolate is perfect, as is the caramel. I tried to make the bar last as long as I could, as it tastes so wonderful!"

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