Ocado to stock Himalayan Pink Salt

From this November Ocado will stock the Himalayan Pink Salt, Selected by Maldon which forms part of their Merchants Range (RRP £2.50).

This pink coarse rock salt from the foothills of the Himalayas has been prized for many centuries.  It can be used whole by adding to curries and sauces or can be put in a grinder for everyday use. Due to its pink hue, the ground salt is also a fantastic garnish for cocktails.

To celebrate this new stockist we have a new recipe from Romy Gill who uses the Himalayan Pink Salt in her Cornish Sea Bass recipe:

We are delighted to team up with Chef Romy Gill in cooking a delicious sea bass made with a flavour-packed spice blend using Himalayan Pink Salt, Selected by Maldon.

There is something very special about serving a whole fish at the table amongst friends and family, and this recipe will certainly not disappoint! The delicate flavour of sea bass is only elevated further through the spices that Romy infuses within the dish, where a handful of chopped walnuts is added to give an irresistible crunch to the succulent, flakiness of the cooked fish.

Ingredients

• Himalayan Pink Salt, Selected by Maldon 250g

• 1 whole Cornish sea bass, descaled and gutted

• 20ml olive oil

• 1 lemon, juiced

• 20g walnuts

• 6 large garlic cloves

• Large handful of coriander

• 2 tsp paprika

• 1 tsp ghee

• For the spice blend:

• 1, 1/2tsp Himalayan Pink Salt, Selected by Maldon

• 1 tsp cumin seeds

• 1 tsp fennel seeds

• 1 tsp coriander seeds

• 6 whole black peppercorns

Here is how to make Romy Gill’s Cornish sea bass recipe…

Chef Romy Gill has used her inspirations as a British/Indian chef and food/travel writer to create a gorgeous sea bass dish, paired with a spice blend that incorporates Himalayan Pink Salt, carefully selected by Maldon Salt’s master salt merchants. Along with the Himalayan salt, Romy infuses the spices of cumin, fennel, coriander seeds and black peppercorns to give a warmth and smokiness to the fish.

How to make the spice blend

1. To make the spice blend, add all of the spices together with Himalayan Pink Salt, Selected by Maldon, and blend for a few seconds until well combined.

2. Make 6-7 good slits in the fish in order to rub the spice blend over the surface and into the flesh of the fish.

3. Marinate the fish both sides with the spice blend, setting aside 1 teaspoon for later.

4. Rub well, and then drizzle over olive oil and the juice of one lemon.

5. Once the fish is evenly covered, leave in the fridge for one hour before cooking.

Cooking and dressing for the sea bass

1. To cook the fish, pre-heat the oven to 200C and cook the fish for 15-20 minutes.

2. While the fish is cooking, make a dressing. Chop six large cloves of garlic, then 20g of walnuts and finally a large handful of coriander.

3. Heat a saucepan and add 2 tsp olive oil and then the chopped garlic. Add 1 tsp ghee, cook for a minute, then add the chopped walnuts, stir some more and then add the chopped coriander. Add 2 tsp of paprika and the reserved tsp of your spice blend and combine everything together well.

4. Finally, add 1 tsp of olive oil and take off the heat.

5. When the fish is cooked, remove from the oven and place onto plate or board. Immediately spoon the dressing all all over the top of the fish and serve straight away and enjoy!

Asda set to launch biggest ever Tickled Pink Breast Cancer Campaign with over 200 exclusive pink products

Asda is ready to launch its biggest ever Tickled Pink campaign for Breast Cancer Awareness Month this October with over 200 exclusive pink products available to purchase. 

Sales of the products will help to raise vital funds for charity partners Breast Cancer Now and CoppaFeel! supporting new breast cancer treatments, vital education, and life-changing support, as well as on pack vital breast cancer awareness on a range of products.

The range will see support from some iconic brands who are all turning their packaging pink, including Diet Coke, Heinz Baked Beans and in an historic first, the Warburtons Toastie Loaf.

Now in its 27th year, Asda Tickled Pink is one of the UK’s longest-running charity partnerships, and this year the range will see over 200 pink products from over 50 different suppliers hit the supermarket shelves. 

Products will be sold both in store and online and will include the George clothing range and Asda's own label lines. Throughout 2023, the retailer hopes to raise £7 million through product sales and fundraising which is set to be the biggest year so far. The campaign has raised £82 million since it launched in 1996.

Asda reward customers can also benefit from buying products as the retailer launches its very first charity rewards mission, it means that both the charity partners and customers benefit from purchasing the Tickled Pink range. While Breast Cancer Now and CoppaFeel! benefit from the product donations, customers will receive £1 in their cash pot for purchasing four products from the range.

Asda and their suppliers have created exclusive pink products that customers can purchase from 21st September both instore and online. These include a wide range of products, like Diet Coke cans (24x 330ml cans £10.75 – fixed donation of £100,000), Warburtons Toastie loaf (fixed donation of £150,000), Fibre One 90 Strawberry & Cream Doughnuts (£1.50 with a 15p donation), Heinz Baked Beans Standard 415g Can (90p with a 9p donation), and Cushelle Quilted Toilet Roll (£5.85 with a fixed donation of £30k).

Asda also have a range of own label products to support the campaign from its popular Shades household range to plants and flowers including, Shades Tissues (£1 with 10p donation), Shades Kitchen Towels (£2 with a 20p donation), Bromeliad House Plant (£6.00 with £0.60 donation), Anthurium House Plant (£6.00 with a £0.60p donation), and the Tickled Pink Flower Bouquet (£6.00 with £0.60 donation, available all year round).

George at Asda is also getting into the swing of things, having also created a Tickled Pink exclusive clothing range with 22 different products including a pink ribbon t-shirt (£8.00 with 80p donation), a canvas pink ribbon bag (£6 with 60p donation), 5 pair pack of socks (£6.50 with 65p donation), and a three-piece pink nightwear set (£28 with £2.80 donation). 

The clothing collection now includes a breast awareness message printed inside the garments, as well as the long-standing breast awareness message printed on swing tag labels, which help to remind customers to check their boobs, pecs or chest regularly. This compliments the suite of awareness messaging Asda delivers on till receipts, Grocery Home shopping vans, pharmacy bags and changing room stickers which are live all year round.

Asda’s 2023 Tickled Pink campaign encourages everyone, regardless of age, gender or ethnicity to become Real Self-Checkers and establish a regular breast checking routine. In store POS will share the stories of five men and women who are this year’s Real Self-Checkers and highlight the importance of having a regular breast checking routine through their own personal journeys with the disease.      

Kris Comerford, Asda’s Chief Commercial Officer - Food said: “Of course, we are incredibly very proud to have so many of our suppliers supporting this year’s Tickled Pink campaign and turning their iconic brands pink. It’s set to be our biggest ever year with over 200 pink products available both in stores and online, giving customers the opportunity to donate by purchasing everyday household and clothing items.”

Jonathan Warburton, Chairman of Warburtons family bakers said “Our family business has been supporting families across Britain since we began baking back in 1876 and through The Warburtons Foundation we continue to help a range of charities and organisations. 

"We're  really excited to be turning our iconic Toastie loaf packaging pink, for the first time ever, to help raise much needed support for Asda’s Tickled Pink campaign to support the work of breast cancer charities.”

The Asda Tickled Pink campaign works with charity partners Breast Cancer Now and CoppaFeel! and they’re on a very special mission to make checking your boobs, pecs and chests, whoever you are, as normal as your Asda shop. The aim? To raise funds for breast cancer treatments, education and support. Together, they’re putting breast cancer awareness on everyone’s list.

Asda’s 2023 survey of its customers revealed 2 in 5 Asda shoppers regularly check their chests. Yet 24% of female shoppers who have checked before, are forgetting to check regularly enough. Asda Tickled Pink aims to provide this all important reminder.

Asda’s 2023 Tickled Pink campaign encourages everyone, regardless of age, gender or ethnicity to become Real Self-Checkers and establish a regular breast checking routine. In store POS will share the stories of five men and women who are this year’s Real Self-Checkers and highlight the importance of having a regular breast checking routine through their own personal journeys with the disease .      

This year’s Tickled Pink collection will be available to buy in Asda stores across the UK and online, from 21st September and will be available throughout October, with either a one-off donation or a percentage of sales donated at a 70/30 split to Breast Cancer Now (Reg. Charity Nos. 1160558 & SC045584) and CoppaFeel! (Reg. Charity Nos. 1132366 & SC045970) respectively. For further information please visit: www.asda.com/tickled-pink

Everything's coming up Rosé!

What is it about pink champagne which makes it so special? Most people love champagne, and in particular, rosé, but have you ever considered why? Champagne Gosset, the oldest wine house in Champagne, Aÿ 1584, produces two rosés, Grand Rosé (non vintage) and Celebris Rosé (vintage), its prestige cuvée. Let’s take a look at what is so special about rosé champagne.

Why choose rosé? For a start it looks pretty in the glass and there are numerous shades of pink, ranging from the slight hint of a tint, through to strikingly dark, almost mauve in tone. Maybe rosé is particularly popular with lovers due to the colour’s associations with blushing?

Perhaps it is the depth of flavour, often reminiscent of fresh strawberries, raspberries or cherries? Brut rosé can be just as dry as its white counterpart; it is fruitier but just as good, and, by some, considered even better.

How is it made? There are two ways of producing rosé champagne; by blending in a small proportion of still red wine, or by the saignée (or ‘bleeding’) method, where the wine is simply allowed to have more contact with the red grape skins than in normal champagne production. The former method is more usual, and that is the method used by Champagne Gosset; a blend of the finest red wine from the region is added to the white champagne to produce the rosé.

Champagne Gosset’s rosés are both particularly special and ideal for all celebrations, from weddings and anniversaries, to Valentine’s Day, when sales of rosé champagnes and sparking wines tend to soar. Rosé champagne is made by blending juice from the Pinot Noir grape to the white grape juice. In the case of Grand Rosé, the balance is 35 per cent Pinot Noir, with 58 per cent Chardonnay and the remaining 7 per cent red wine made of Grand Cru Pinot Noir of the region (from the local villages of Bouzy and Ambonnay).

In the glass, Grand Rosé is a delicate pale salmon-pink, but on the nose a veritable ‘explosion’ of strawberries – fresh and the finest strawberry jam. In the mouth, it is well balanced with a voluptuous strawberry flavour giving a hint of sweetness. Retailing for around £55 a bottle, a bottle of Grand Rosé makes a very special Valentine’s gift.

Champagne Gosset Celebris 2003 Rosé Extra Brut is 68 per cent Chardonnay and 32 per cent Pinot Noir Grand Cru (also including 7 per cent red wines from Ambonnay and Bouzy). It is very dry but deliciously fruity and true to the character of all Gosset champagnes, there is no malolactic fermentation in the production process. It has a delicate, luminous pale pink hue and displays a spectacular constant stream of thousands of tiny bubbles. On the nose it is more complex than the Grand Rosé, giving fresh, pure scents of freshly picked red berry fruits, with floral notes.

A burst of rose petal jam and red berry coulis titillate the taste buds, developing into a full, rounded flavour, leaving a soothing aftertaste, with notes of aniseed and sweet liquorice, and a persistent hint of vanilla. Retailing at around £120 a bottle, Champagne Gosset Celebris 2003 Rosé is perfect for that very special occasion (or person).

Champagne Gosset is available from most independent fine wine shops and retailers including Berry Bros, Fortnum & Mason, Selfridges, Harrods and Harvey Nichols. It is distributed in the UK exclusively by McKinley Vintners (Tel: 020 7928 7300 or visit http://www.mckinleyvintners.co.uk )
http://www.champagne-gosset.com

Croft Pink , it's the colour of love

Whilst red suggests passion, pink is said to be the colour of unconditional and romantic love, which is why Croft Pink is the drink of choice on St Valentine’s Day.

This warm and giving rosé, with its delicate, soft cherry hue, is always a welcoming loving cup, especially enjoyed by those who like to have more fun with their drink.

Croft Pink is for lovers of informality and versatility, especially when served chilled, over ice or in a delicious cocktail or two bringing out its vibrant raspberry flavours with hints of honey and grapefruit.

Show your love with a Pink Blossom, a lovingly effervescent cocktail of Croft Pink, St. Germain Elderflower liqueur, sparkling wine and frozen berries (recipe below). Or be stirred, be shaken, be adventurous and let loose with a Runaway – a spirited blend of Croft Pink, Calvados, Benedictine, lemon juice and Angostura.

Spice it up with Pink Cashmere, an exotic blend of Croft Pink with apricot nectar and a gentle kick of black pepper. Get fresh and seductive with an Apple and Pink Julep - a really cool mix of Croft Pink, apple juice, sheaves of mint leaves over mountains of ice. You’ll find these and more luscious cocktails at http://www.croftpink.com/#/recipes.

Alternatively, serve it simple, as a chilled aperitif with almonds and olives; perhaps even finish your romantic dinner for two with a glass of Croft Pink to accompany a light dessert or bite of dark chocolate.

Here’s to love and romance this St Valentine’s with a little help from Croft Pink available from £10.88, at Sainsbury, Co-Op and Selfridges.

Catalan potatoes and pink Himalayan sea salt? Meet San Nicasio Spanish crisps!

Fayrefield Foods are launching a new super Spanish crisp into the UK - San Nicasio Patatas Fritas.

Hand made using extra virgin olive oil, Catalan potatoes and Himalayan pink sea salt, they are produced in the Córdoba mountain range in Andalucia, the centre of the olive growing region in Spain.

The distinctive pink bags are used in top Spanish delicatessens, hotels and restaurants where they are justifiably famed for their high quality ingredients, unique taste and texture.

Created by four times gold medal winning Rafael del Rosal, the crisps are slow cooked and the extra virgin oil they use is from the first press of olives grown at nearby groves.

This extra virgin olive oil has “Priego de Cordoba” denomination of origin and is recognised as being amongst the best olive oils in the world.

San Nicasio also contains Himalayan pink salt which is rich in minerals and trace elements, its pink colour reflecting its high iron content. (EDITOR: It is sea salt from an sea from pre-historic times)

"San Nicasio have won four Gold awards from the Brussels World Selection of Quality in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 and are a truly artisan product", explains Fayrefield Foods’ Mike Coleman.

“San Nicasio is a new concept in potato crisps. It is an authentic delicacy for cosmopolitan consumers who appreciate great taste, natural ingredients, provenance and traditional production methods. It is a gourmet product that uses super premium ingredients and we think will be coveted by the very best delicatessens, hotels and restaurants. San Nicasio is a truly unique product that will enhance social eating and drinking occasions and we can’t wait for UK consumers to get the chance to try them.”

San Nicasio will be available at RSP £3.49 to £3.99 for 190g.