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Reinventing The Takeaway?

Serial entrepreneur Simon Prockter is hoping his latest venture will help change the way we look at takeaway food, for good.

He's about to launch the UK's first gourmet takeaway service – www.housebites.com - starting in London this week.

The site has received six figure backing from a group of private investors, including Bebo co-founder, Paul Birch.

Housebites gives food lovers the opportunity to enjoy individually prepared meals, made by top cooks and delivered straight to their door.

However, whilst the food is of a restaurant quality it won't come with a restaurant price tag, with customers able to pick up a main meal for around the same price as a delivery pizza.

The site has already attracted a wide range of local chefs who have worked at some of the capital's top restaurants including The Ivy, Le Caprice, Barrafina, Fifteen, The Bluebird and The Sanderson Hotel.

In addition seasoned cooks will also be given the opportunity to sell their dishes in their area, regardless of restaurant experience, as long as they pass the taste test.

MasterChef finalist Andy Oliver has also been brought in to advise the site on catering strategy, having previously spent two years working at London's prestigious Nahm restaurant.

Mr Prockter, whose previous ventures include SpeedDater, Europe's largest dating events company and activity holidays firm Adventura, says housebites caters for consumers who demand more from their takeaway.
  

He explains: "'I'd been exploring ideas within the food sector for the last 18 months and whilst so many traditional industries are being disrupted by the internet such as hotels and car-hire, I couldn't see anything great happening in food.

"We believe housebites will change the way people eat, for good. No longer do consumers have to settle for a soggy, cold pizza or a stodgy Chinese takeaway, instead they can eat restaurant quality meals cooked to order by a local chef, for the same price.

"A wide range of dishes will be available including classics such as curry and pizza and we're confident they will be made using superior ingredients and cooking expertise than down the local takeaway."

The site was recently shortlisted for Real Business' Future 50 award, which details Britain's top 50 most exciting start-ups.

Using housebites couldn't be easier with customers entering their post code, browsing the menus of local cooks, placing an order and then waiting a maximum of one hour for the food to arrive. The site promises the highest levels of quality control - just like the Michelin Starred kitchens many of the local chefs have worked in. Cooks will be asked to prove their credentials by cooking a signature dish which will be assessed, before being allowed to expand their menu.

Feedback through social media is a key part of the experience allowing users to rate their food, tweet local cooks, add comments to the Facebook page and interact in forums.

Mr Prockter says not only will the site benefit consumers, it will also offer local chefs a great way to earn a living working from home.

He said: "By working just four days a week local chefs could earn a greater wage than if they were spending the time in a restaurant's kitchen. If they're able to fill orders five days a week they'll make around £65,000 a year, which is a great work from home income.

"We're confident this flexibility and salary will attract more and more top cooks to join the service as time goes on. This will also ensure that the quality of the food on offer will continue to grow as competition for customers increases."

Mr Prockter says he believes his site will make serious inroads into the UK delivered food market which is currently worth £1.6bn and is expected to rise to £2.5bn within three years.

He said: "The market is extremely wide ranging and due to our pricing model we will be competing with a variety of takeaway favourites. The difference is consumers will know exactly what each dish comprises of and also who will be cooking and delivering it, which we believe is a real plus.

"By using the site we think people can eat better and try a wider range of foods, which will cost around the same price as the dishes they've been eating for years."

"The UK market for delivered food is huge and expanding rapidly. We have a quality yet affordable offering and are confident we can capture a significant market share."

Link to the site's Future 50 shortlisting - http://bit.ly/oTweLR

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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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