Best of British

Visit England has hit the news after its ‘Ultimate Hall of Fame’ competition has left some of our neighbouring nations a little bitter after its claims that we as a nation made some of their iconic dishes first.

The competition is asking the public to choose England’s best inventions from Cornish pasties to The Beatles. But some of our claims to fame seem to be stealing away other nations delicacies, from Italian lasagne to French Champagne. 

Research by Visit England says that Champagne was first made in Gloucestershire in 1662. It was suggested by British scientist and physician Christopher Merret that sugar and molasses should be added to wine to give it that extra je ne sais quoi and has been practiced here ever since.

 The Scots also stole their national dish, haggis from us back in 1430. The original recipe of sheep offal, suet, oatmeal and seasoning was originally drafted in Lancashire. Just you try and tell the Scots that though…

Visit England asked for submissions for its ‘Hall of Fame’ on its Facebook page before creating a shortlist. The public can vote on to establish England’s ultimate ‘Hall of Fame’ on their website. The winner will be announced on St George’s Day, April 23^rd.

Whilst looking through the shortlist I found it hard to believe how many things originated in Britain that I didn’t know about before, such as the scotch egg and how many things I thought were quintessentially British, like fish and chips didn’t appear on the list. After a little research it seems that the humble sea-side treat didn’t actually start its beginnings here, in fact from both Portugal and Belgium.

With this in mind I took to the streets of Sheffield to ask the public what foods they thought were British classics despite where they may have originally come from.

What foods do you associate with Britain? Tweet @Kelly_Kooks or comment below.

Graze Inn, Sheffield

Having visited Graze many times before and loved it last Friday was the day I put my reviewing head on and gave it a good once over and this is how my two companions and I rated it.

First Impressions

Upon arrival we were shown to a table that none of us were very happy with. Despite the ample amounts of natural lighting through the large people watching windows we didn't fancy eating in full view of the world, so asked to be seated elsewhere which seemed to be a bit of a problem for our waiter. He grunted and sat us elsewhere but said we needed to be out in just over an hour. Fast food or what.

The Food
None of us opted for a starter, from previous experience we knew that the mains came big enough to satisfy without that 'I'm stuffed and cannot move' feeling.

The menu is a mish-mash of lots of classic dishes with a modern twist averaging at around £11 per main. It also hosts a rotisserie chicken section which from previous experience beats a certain popular Portuguese chicken chain hands down.

Crispy duck flatbread

I went for something new on the main menu 'crispy Gressingham duck with Chinese flavours' flatbread, the Graze's take on a pizza. When it arrived it was pretty overwhelming. It seemed to dominate our whole table, leaving little room for cutting movements or drinks for my companions or myself. The flavours were really well balanced and I was nicely surprised by the amount of duck that was on the flat. Especially for the £10 price tag.

Both of my companions chose dishes from the pasta and risotto section of the menu and weren't disappointed.

Fettuccine

'Fettuccine with creamy ham hock, peas, grain mustard, parsley and Parmesan' this was really rich and full of flavour and was again a steal at £9. However for me it did resemble something that could easily be made at home as a quick weekday dinner. Not exactly a show stopper.

Chorizo and red pepper risotto

Companion two also opted for something which was new to the menu 'Chorizo and red pepper risotto with Manchego cheese'. This came beautifully presented and tasted equally as beautiful. There was however little Chorizo in the dish and was a little cold when it was served.

Lasting Impressions
The décor at the restaurant is lovely and has nice furniture (I would recommend a booth table). Although the staff were a little cold to start with they soon warmed up and made us feel at home, just before they shooed us out. 

The food on this occasion was nothing to shout about but it is somewhere I would definitely recommend from previous experience. Just make sure you book.

Graze Inn
315-319 Ecclesall Road
Sheffield, S11 8NX
Telephone: 0114 267 6666
Website: http://www.grazeinn.co.uk

Lib Dems do lunch

Nick Clegg wants to provide free school meals for all
Image curtsoy of Gov.co.uk

Liberal Democrat leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has pledged that all infants at schools in England will receive free school lunches from September. The £600m-a-year scheme agreed by the Coalition is argued to be helping out all families with young children, as the scheme will save the average family £437 a year in meal costs. The scheme has also been backed by the Conservatives as it will ensure that more is done to promote healthy eating in schools, a task started by the Labour party.

The new legislation will see all children in state education aged between five and seven receive a free meal regardless of household income. The scheme rolls out across the country in September and is hoping to reach out to all primary school children by 2016.

Previously free school meals were means tested. An average household income would have to be below £18,000 for a child to receive a free school meal. Currently in Sheffield just 3,300 school pupils qualify to receive free school meals, this is set to increase to over 18,000 students in September when the new arrangement begins.

Nick Clegg told The Sheffield Star: “I’m delighted thousands of local children and families across South Yorkshire will see real benefits”.

The scheme has been challenged by many people as ‘taking from the poor to feed the rich’ and is believed that other sectors will suffer because of this scheme.

Mother of four, Suzanne Marshall from Dore said: “I think it is outrageous that any child should receive free school meals. People shouldn’t be having children if they cannot afford to feed them. I will still be sending my children to school with a packed lunch, I know school meals have got a lot better since Jamie Oliver but I still wouldn’t trust them.”

Example of exisitng school meal from Martha Payne's blog

One of the main objectives of the bill is to decrease childhood obesity in the UK by making sure that all children have a healthy and nutritious lunch whilst they are at school. An insight into the current issues with school meals was a hot topic for the press last year after 9-year-old school child, Martha Payne took a photo diary of her school meals with some shocking results, causing a much needed shake up to the meals available for children. Currently over a fifth of 4-5 year-olds currently overweight or obese in the UK (Public Health England) many are welcoming the change as a way to help better a child’s future.

Cliff Woodcraft

Liberal Democrat Councillor for Fulwood, Cliff Woodcraft thinks that children will benefit from the changes: “Too many children, do not get to eat a nutritious meal each day.  This is not just because their parents cannot afford it. The free school meal will ensure that all young children will receive at least one good meal each day. This will benefit their ability to progress individually and thereby raise general standards in the schools.”

The Coalition is also pledging £150million to ensure that schools can build new kitchens and increase dining capacity where necessary in preparation for the changes. This increased demand is thought to push smaller schools to their limits and will mean that more staff will need to be employed. Head Teacher, Robin Dungate will see the number of children receiving these meals more than double in September: “I think it is a very noble idea and I am sure that we would see an improvement in children's well-being as a result. However  it all has to be paid for of course and I am would be worried if we don’t get the extra funding into the budget for extra staff our existing lunchtime staff will be over worked and under a lot of stress which will not benefit anyone.”

Do you have any memories of school meals you want to share? Or have a view on the new legislation? I'd love to hear from you, tweet @Kelly_Kooks

Mother takes on Cake Boss UK

Maria's children and 'Pinkie' the My Little Pony cake

A 29 year-old Mother of three has been in the press this week after she revealed her 4 foot 3 inch My Little Pony cake which fed 900 people.

Maria
(Courtesy of SWNS Media)

Maria Young, of Dorking, Surrey spent a week making the cake during the evening for her daughter Emily’s eighth birthday. Speaking to Kelly Kooks Maria said: “I had a few days of not doing it, I had to rebuild some and with all my normal mummy duties could only spend the evenings doing it.” In total she spent over 35 hours making the cake her daughter wanted to be ‘big enough to ride’.

Making the cake came with several challenges and Maria would constantly have to run to the shops to buy more ingredients. In total the cake used 86 eggs, 26kg of icing and 32 boxes of Rice Krispies. It cost £160 to make and contained over 250,00 calories.

“The Rice Krispies fell to pieces a couple of times before I realised it was too hot in our home and had to turn the heating off and open the windows to keep it cool”

Maria herself has no baking qualifications and has learnt many of her techniques over the past year from American TV programmes, “I love Ace of Cakes and Cake Boss, I would love to be able to produce something half as good as them one day.” She regularly makes cakes for her family and friends and would love one day to turn her self-taught hobby into a business.

Big cakes are not new for Maria after making a two foot high and four foot wide dinosaur cake for her son last year, it was after that her daughter wanted a slice of the action for herself and said she wanted a cake taller than her.

“I love making big cakes, I would love to make a life sized person. The bigger the better I say.”

‘Pinkie’ the pony has been featured in both Maria’s local press and the national press and has certainly made a talking point and has even lead her to a potential magazine deal. “I have been shocked by the whole response. To me it’s just a cake”.

Have you made any cakes like Maria’s? Tweet your pictures to @Kelly_Kooks

Are allergies taken seriously?

News has emerged today that a 12-year-old boy has died of a several allergic reaction after eating a takeaway his parents were told contained no nuts.

Connor Donaldson from Manchester, who died in October, was diagnosed with a nut allergy at a young age and his parents, who also are nut allergy sufferers always made sure his food was nut free. Whilst ordering the Indian takeaway his mother specifically asked if his prawn balti would contain traces of nuts and was assured that it would not.

An inquest into Connors death revealed that the restaurant preparing the curry had been using the same serving spoon to dish up all of the food at the restaurant causing contamination. The curry which he had taken only a few bites from before suffering an asthma attack also contained a balti paste which contained almond and peanut paste.

Connor later died in hospital as a result of the asthma attack due to his reaction to the curry.

Coroner Mrs Lemming said that the public need to be aware of the risks associated with food outlets where nuts are used and that there is a high risk of cross contamination , 'A very small amount of allergen might be all that is required for a tragedy such as this. Depending on the individual cross contamination might be enough to result in this sort of desperate, desperate tragedy".

In the UK around 10 people die each year as a result of an allergic reaction. Kelly Kooks spoke to 21-year-old Mary Harding who suffers from an allergy to fish and walnuts.

Basa is off the menu for allergy sufferer Mary

Like Connor, Mary was diagnosed with her allergy at a young age after her parents gave her fish fingers as a toddler which resulted in her becoming very ill. In her early teens she went for allergy testing which showed the extent of her allergies and was told that if she ate certain types of fish it could be fatal.

"I have to carry an EpiPen around with me because if I eat anything containing white fish then I could die. "

From then she has always been very careful about the foods that she eats particularly now that she lives in shared accommodation at university "If I'm unsure what's in it I just won't touch it. The smell of fish makes me feel physically sick and if my housemates eat it they have to make sure the plates and cutlery gets washed really well."

She explained that because of her allergy to walnuts she has to constantly check packaging and ask restaurants if foods contain what she is allergic to because it is usually not clear on menus.

From hearing both Connor and Marys story I think more needs to be done to ensure that awareness of allergies is readily available for sufferers and that the food industry needs to be more vigilant in its methods of production to make sure tragedies like Connors death stop happening.

I spoke to café owner Adam Klauffman, of Tunbridge Wells, to find out what he does to prevent contamination in his kitchen and what he does to alert allergy sufferers who come to his café.

He explained that the majority of his produce is brought in from suppliers and has clear allergy labelling so he can always check a product if a customer has a query.

"We always make sure that the cakes we make at Adam's Café contain no traces of nuts as this is a common allergy. I cannot guarantee that anything I buy in is nut free but the information is always readily available for my customers."

From winner to peeler

My fantastic day at Fischer's Baslow Hall…

Fischer's Baslow Hall

Late last year I took part in a 'masterchef' competition between my university, Sheffield Hallam and our rivals The University of Sheffield through the Sheffield on a Plate project.

The build up to the competition included a six week training cookery course at Sheffield College with cookery experts Neil Taylor and Mick Burke. During the course the chosen six students from each university were taught different recipes and methods of cooking to make sure we were ready for the big day.

My winning dish

On competition day myself and the other students arrived at the College at 8am to make sure that we had all of the preparation ready for when our 70 guests arrived later that evening for dinner. Myself and another Hallam student were given the main course to cook which was a complex and demanding dish of honey glazed pork belly, alongside a curry pork fillet, pureed swede with sea kale and mustard mash potato topped with a pork crisp. The pork belly alone was slow cooked for 30 hours.

The competition was judged by Michelin starred chef Rupert Rowley of Fischer's Baslow Hall, Derby. Rupert watched us throughout the day preparing food and then during the hectic time of service in which myself and the other students were thrown in at the deep end plating up for our 70 diners. Rupert crowned Hallam students the winners and explained that my dish was the stand out dish of the evening. "I judged the food on various criteria such as the taste and the flavour, but the dish that really stood out for me tonight was the pork. For that reason I announce Sheffield Hallam University as the winning team of the Masterchef competition."

Myself and the rest of the winning Hallam team on competition day

As a prize we were awarded a day shadowing Rupert in his kitchen at Fischer's. This was something I was really looking forward to, having worked in kitchens before in pubs and small restaurants I was excited to see the detail that goes into food of such a high standard as well as picking up some tips on how to make my food of a Michelin star quality.

On Sunday 23^rd March 2014 I had my day at Fischer's Baslow Hall, which was definitely an experience I won't be forgetting in a hurry, for all the wrong reasons.
 Upon arrival I was issued with my apron which was nicely embroidered and ironed and was given my name badge before being led into the busy kitchen. 

The chefs were all lovely and welcoming but Rupert was nowhere to be seen, after asking where he was I was told "Oh no he doesn’t work on Sundays…", which left me wondering why invite us down on this day when you're not working? I put that aside and asked what it was I was going to be doing for the day, I was then paired up with chef Sam Baker who was in charge of the vegetables for lunch service.

The best peeled parsnips you'll ever see

For the next two hours I was peeling, chopping and grating vegetables, something I do at home every weekend in preparation for a Sunday lunch. There was no skill required, nothing was new to me and it certainly wasn't something I would consider a prize. I was then asked to prepare a basic béchamel sauce, again something I have made a hundred times in the past but I was excited to be near an actual cooker. While making the sauce I asked a chef what it was going to be used for, I was told it was for our lunch before the diners arrived...

I spent the afternoon in the gardens of Baslow Hall potting cabbages with the gardener Terry who explained that they would be used in the summer in the restaurant. This filled me with a bit of joy that at least something I have tendered would be used eventually. 180 cabbages later Terry and I realised my 3 inch acrylic nails weren't ideal for gardening and had just about put the world to rights over several cups of tea.

 I couldn't help but feel deflated about my day. Although the staff could not have been more welcoming at Fischer's I walked away feeling disappointed that my day in the Michelin starred restaurant wasn't what was sold to me. I never saw any of my perfectly peeled parsnips on a plate, I never shadowed the head chef because he 'doesn’t work on Sundays' and I ruined my nails. My personal highlights of the day, eating the fish pie I made at lunch time and the lovely drive through the Peak District on the way home. 

I guess I did learn something at Fischers, in the restaurant industry you really do have to start at the bottom, in my case giving it the chop.

Butternut Squash Soup

Having developed an unhealthy obsession with junk food in the build up to deadlines it was time to cut back on the rubbish and fill myself with something that doesn't contain enough calories to feed a whole family for a week. This vegetable soup is a great balance of flavours and for me a little taste of home, as it is one of my Dad's signature dishes.

Serves 6

Ingredients
1 butternut squash
1 parsnip
1 red chilli
1 large onion
3 large tomatoes
2 garlic cloves
Mixed herbs
Calorie controlled cooking spray
1litre vegetable stock

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200oC/ Gas mark 4.5
2. Peel and de-seed the butternut squash, chop into bite sized pieces along with the parsnip
3. Chop the onion and tomatoes into quarters
4. Finely dice the chilli and put in a roasting tray with the rest of the vegetables
5. Peel the garlic and leave whole, put with the vegetables
6. Spray all the vegetables with cooking spray and sprinkle with herbs
7. Bake for 40 minutes, turning frequently to ensure even cooking
8. Place all of the vegetables in a large bowl, slowly add the stock, blitzing with a hand blender until you have the required consistency.

For best results serve it just like my Dad does, piping hot with crusty bread and a good film on a Sunday afternoon with your best friend.