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Cookery School Urges British cooks To 'Be Proud of Pastry'

The Lake District cookery school, LucyCooks, is issuing a rallying cry of 'Be Proud of Pastry', urging British cooks to cherish the pastry dishes that we take for granted, but which foreign diners relish when they visit our shores.

The cookery school is inviting keen cooks across the country to send in their favourite pastry recipes. The best will be rewarded with a prize of a cookery course for two at its state-of-the-art premises in Staveley, on the outskirts of the market town of Kendal.

The prize relates to two places on one of the school's own pastry or baking courses, such as its Pies, Puds and Perfect Pastry courses, which regularly run to show the cooks who lack confidence with their pastry exactly how versatile it can be as a topping or encasing for a variety of fabulous dishes.

The closing date for the competition is November 30 and the winning recipe will then be posted on the LucyCooks website at www.lucycooks.co.uk with all due credit to its ingenious deviser.

LucyCooks general manager, Magnus Mumby, says: "I have worked all over the world and can honestly say that British pastry dishes are a unique part of this nation's heritage and something of which we should be proud. We are inviting British cooks to share their own pastry dishes with us, whether these are based on traditional recipes, or are modern dishes offering an innovative twist on pastry and our message to everyone, regardless of whether they can cook or not is to 'Be Proud of Pastry', enjoy dining on our pies and puds and if you don't yet know how to create your own pastry dishes, come along and learn how to do so!"

To enter the competition, cooks can send their recipe to: Be Proud of Pastry Contest, LucyCooks, 1 Mill Yard, Staveley, Kendal, Cumbria, LA8 9LR, along with their name, address, telephone number and email address. All entries received by November 30 will be judged by the LucyCooks chefs and the winner advised by December 14, 2011.

Chocolate Unwrapped, A Dedicated Chocolate Show On 15th & 16th October

The highlight of Chocolate Week, Chocolate Unwrapped is a show where visitors can immerse themselves in a decadent feast of chocolate. This wonderful London chocolate show is host to more exhibitors than ever with 40 chocolate companies at the event. New, established, British and International, the range of stands is a showcase of the best of the chocolate world.

The very top British chocolatiers and chocolate companies will be at the show along with chocolate makers from France, Italy, Switzerland, Hungary, Holland and Germany. Exhibitors include Artisan du Chocolat, Valrhona, William Curley, Paul a Young, Amedei, Duffy Sheardown, Idilio, Hotel Chocolat, Original Beans, Lauden, Sir Hans Sloane, Paul Wayne Gregory, Thorntons, Lindt Excellence, Akesson, Bojesen, Divine, Chocolate & Love and many more.

Highlights of the show include:
• Talks, tastings and demonstrations from top chocolatiers and pastry chefs
• A stunning exhibition of chocolate art
• The Harvey Nichols chocolate café
• See chocolate being made from the bean in our miniature chocolate factory
• Win a trip to Switzerland courtesy of Lindt Excellence

FACTFILE

• Chocolate Unwrapped takes place at Vinopolis, Stoney Street, Borough, London, SE1 9BU on 15th & 16th October
• www.chocolateunwrapped.co.uk
• Takes place as the highlight of Chocolate Week which is from 10th-16th October www.chocolateweek.co.uk
• Tickets are £10 on the door or £8 in advance available from http://www.wegottickets.com/searchresults/promoter/7842/promoter
• For a video on the week and the show visit the home page of the site.
• Chocolate Week is kindly funded by the Ecuador Tourist Office, Divine Chocolate, Thorntons and Hotel Chocolat.

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My Secret Kitchen, the UK's first food tasting company, launch their Autumn/Winter range of inspirational foods with a twist

The new range of foods with a twist from My Secret Kitchen have now been launched and they are as intriguing as the rest of them.

White wine and Porcini finishing sauce. - was developed in response to requests for something special for chicken, pork and white fish. A finishing sauce is designed to be added at the end of cooking to bring a finishing touch to your dishes. They combined white wine with porcini mushrooms to create an elegantly flavoured sauce. Add a touch to fish pie or use with chicken stock for a risotto. It's also great for turkey leftovers, finishing pasta dishes and making mashed potato extra tasty. They employed  a vegetable-based bouillon so the sauce is vegetarian, too.

Chocolate Peppermint Sauce. - They combined dark chocolate with a beautifully fresh peppermint oil and vanilla extract to create a cool and creamy peppermint sauce. Add to ice cream and desserts; use to make peppermint profiteroles; stir a heaped teaspoon into hot milk for a soothing drink; pour over Ultimate Chocolate Brownies; or just open and enjoy!

Mochaccino Cookie Mix.- A brilliant cookie mix, bringing coffee together with chunks of white and dark Belgian chocolate.

FACTFILE:
My Secret Kitchen is the UK’s first nationwide food and drink tasting company, and was started by husband-and wife-team, Clare and Phil Moran They’ve taken the traditional Tupperware style business concept of home demonstration parties and turned it into a wonderful food tasting evening, where the host and his/her friends have an enjoyable time experiencing unusual and different foods, sharing recipe ideas in a warm relaxed non-pressure environment.

The business concept has proven to be a great success in the recession for food lovers who are looking for an extra income and have joined My Secret Kitchen as a consultant, earning money from showing all the great foods.

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Brand New Beer Bonanza For Staffordshire!

This year’s Stone Food & Drink Festival promises to be bigger and better than ever, with the inception of a brand new event for beer-lovers – The Titanic Brewery ‘Best of Staffordshire Beer Festival’.

With over a dozen Staffordshire brewers taking part, including Blythe, Enville, Burton Bridge – and of course, Titanic - this new addition will make The Stone Food & Drink Festival the go-to event for ale lovers.

Taste of Staffordshire members, Titanic Brewery, have attended Stone’s premier celebration of all things gastronomic for the past three years, and this year have invited fellow Staffordshire brewers to come along and celebrate the county’s fantastic and distinctive ale offer with them.

Dave Bott, Director at Titanic Brewery, said: “We have always thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the festival, but this year we decided that we wanted to look at the bigger picture and invite other brewers to come and get involved.

“The Best of Staffordshire Beer Festival will add a whole new dimension to The Stone Food & Drink Festival and we would encourage anyone with a passion for real ale to come along and sample some of the best that the county has to offer.”

With a huge variety of beers, from light to dark, bitters to stouts, and various strengths and styles, this year’s Stone Food & Drink Festival, from Friday 30th September – Sunday 2nd October is not to be missed for anyone with an appreciation of ale!

Now in its seventh year, The Stone Food & Drink Festival continues to be sponsored by Taste of Staffordshire, the county’s foremost mark of taste and quality for local food and drink.

Create your own Dim Sum feast at home

Usually found in China Town restaurants as authentic Oriental sharing dishes served with tea, Dim Sum cuisine is undergoing a transformation.

The popular social Chinese way of eating is being turned on its head with modern, celebrity-packed restaurants opening, – led by the Michelin-starred Hakkasan and sister restaurant Yauatcha in London.

But! Why pay inflated Michelin prices to indulge with family and friends? Beat the high prices by creating some tasty home-cooked Dim Sum dishes with a little help from Wing Yip.

The UK’s top Oriental grocer offers a huge range of vital ingredients for popular dim sum dishes such as wontons, dumplings and hom bao (Chinese buns).

Wing Yip also has a full selection of prepared Dim Sum dishes available to buy in store for quick and tasty treats for a night in.

Mr Wing Yip, founder and chairman of the Oriental grocery empire, said: “Dim sum is the perfect way to enjoy lots of different types of Oriental food with others. Our Hoi Sin, Oyster, Mushroom or Sweet Chilli sauces are the perfect accompaniment to add spice and flavour to a wide range of Dim sum dishes.”

Next time you’re in a Chinese restaurants look for the following tasty Dim Sum varieties on the menu and try to sample a mix of steamed, baked and fried dishes:

Rice noodle rolls
Thin rolls made from a wide strip of rice noodle filled with prawn, pork, beef or vegetables and served with soy sauce.

Dumplings
Prawn dumplings are a popular dish you must try. Made with a translucent skin, these little parcels make a divine mouthful. Also try vegetable, pork, scallop and other variations.

Fried dim sum
Deep fried squid, spring rolls and shredded turnip puff pastries all make a tasty selection of fried dim sum dishes.

Steamed sponge cake
For those with a sweet tooth, this sponge cake is steamed making it deliciously moist.

And for the more adventurous look out for chicken feet, pig stomach and ox tripe.

Wing Yip is the UK’s leading Chinese grocer, with stores in Birmingham, Manchester, Cricklewood and Croydon.

Each store is situated close to the city centre with easy access to the motorway and plenty of free car parking for customers.

A visit to one of their stores is like taking a trip around the world with over 2,500 products from the Far East.

www.wingyipstore.com

Two ‘Golds’ for legendary Christmas pudding

The only thing missing from a festive celebration with a Feeding Your Imagination Christmas pudding this year will be frankincense and myrrh...

Christmas is going to be extra special this year for Feeding Your Imagination and Master Chef Paul Da-Costa-Greaves. The Bristol based fine food company have received Gold in the 2011 Great Taste Awards and Gold in the 2011 Taste of the West Awards.

The multi-award winning food brand entered their famous Christmas pudding into both Taste of the West and the Great Taste Awards, and won. The Great Taste Awards are organised by the Guild of Fine Food and are widely acknowledged as the benchmark for speciality food and drink - described by many as the ‘Oscars’ of the food industry. The prestigious Taste of the West Awards is also one of the most highly respected in the food and drinks industry and is run by Taste of the West, based in Devon.

The Christmas pudding is part of a premium food range from Feeding Your Imagination, headed up by Celebrity Chef, Paul Da-Costa-Greaves. ‘As an innovative company, both the Great Taste Awards and the Taste of the West are extremely important to us. We are excited to have won two more Gold awards which will now certainly differentiate our Christmas pudding from the norm. These independent awards offer absolute confidence to the consumer that the product they are buying comes with a reliable seal of approval purely based upon great taste,’ says Paul.

Having developed the recipe over 15 years ago, after ‘pinching’ it from his Jamaican Aunt, Paul has gone on to refine and adapt the Christmas pudding. It is now Gluten free, suitable for vegetarians and does not contain any suet. The overall result is a festive pudding that is fruity and light in texture. It comes wrapped in a muslin cloth and presented in a striking carry box, making it ideal for gifting.

Paul, who has delighted the West Country foodies with his Christmas pudding for many years and has become quite legendary in the Devon fine food circles, says. ‘I am absolutely thrilled to have won two Golds this year for the pudding, it’s fantastic to receive acknowledgement from independent sources for all of the hard work we’ve put in over the years, to get the pudding to where it is now.

We have never stopped listening to our customers and we continue to refine our products based on the feedback from the market. The “Chrimbo Pud” is vegetarian and we also have full Gluten and Wheat free approval from the Coeliac Society. We also approached Courvoisier this year to request a license agreement, as we only use their VS Cognac in our puddings. We were delighted to have been granted full approval from Courvoisier to promote their brand on our packaging and I believe we are the only Christmas Pudding manufacturer to have this!’

All entries to the Great Taste Awards are judged by three different judging panels at three different venues. The Taste of the West Awards take the best part of a year to coordinate, from launch to judging, culminating in the awards ceremony which will be held in November 2011 in the Mediterranean Biome at the Eden Project.

The Chrimbo Pud from Feeding Your Imagination will serve 6-8 people and is certified Gluten free and suitable for vegetarians. Purchased either online at www.chrimbopud.co.uk or from independent delicatessens and various retail outlets across the UK, details of which are available on the company website.

Feeding Your Imagination has a premium range of puddings, chocolate bars and gourmet seaweed sauce products which are all available throughout the UK, either online or via approved stockists.

For further information, where you can purchase or how to become a stockist, please visit; www.feeding-your-imagination.co.uk or email; eatme@feeding-your-imagination.co.uk.