I'm completely in the dark here

Sometimes you've got to read something 2 or 3 times just to let it all sink in and fully comprehend what is going on. You read it and think what's this all about so you read it again by which time you're on track and then you have to read it yet one more time to figure out why anyone would write it in the first place. Some people say most of my blogs are like that. I find it's usually the case when some foodstuff is being investigated by a research team and when the Chinese are involved then you just know you're going to end up scratching your head and saying " What the hell was that all about?" Take for example these Taiwanese researchers from the National Chung Hsing University who have been studying carrots. I presume what happened was that one day as one of these bright sparks was juicing half a kilo of carrots he got to figuring what about all this debris which I normally toss in the dustbin ? Well one thing led to another and before you could say Bugs Bunny they had a whole team working on the subject. What they discovered was that the solid waste from carrot juice production is rich in insoluble fibre. Wow! You and I call it "that bloody gunge" that makes the juicer so difficult to clean but it's actually insoluble fibre. Now like all fibre, eg oatmeal, it has the capacity to reduce cholesterol levels, so putting 2 and 2 together, the leader of the research group, Pang-Kuei Hsu theorised that “As the fiber-rich pomace is available in large quantity in juice production, it is worth exploiting the carrot insoluble fiber-rich fractions (IFRF) as a promising hypocholesterolemic ingredient to fulfill the increasing demand of functional ingredients in developing fiber-rich food products,” You see what I mean. Legions of little people in white coats with clipboards have spent vast amounts of money and time, supplemented the diets of six week old hamsters with varying doses of carrot debris, to come up with some fact that every child in the Western world already knows "Eat your carrots, they're good to you" In fact here's another piece of knowledge for the researchers - you don't have to squeeze out the juice, it's much easier to eat the carrots whole, like nature intended.

I'm reading: I'm completely in the dark here

Main course for Row 2

Main course for Row 2 Rowley Leigh is normally the kind of chef that I like. He does have Michelin stars but he is really unassuming with no desire to be a celeb on or off the TV screen, quite a refreshing change in these days when everyone with a white jacket is either a “master chef” or a “celeb chef” or heaven forbid both! His style of food is hearty modern British and the only foam you’re likely to find is on top of your cappuccino but sometimes even Rowley goes off the track a bit. His latest venture involves offering film-goers gourmet food while they watch a film in a regular cinema. A new initiative called The Lounge at the Odeon atop the Whiteley's shopping centre in west London tantalises gastrocinenauts with the possibility one day of an evening's movie-going that is both Oscar-nominated and Michelin-starred. Chef Rowley Leigh, from nearby Le Cafe Anglais, is introducing a range of superior at-seat meals including a fillet-steak burger and red mullet risotto. Ordered on arrival, these will be served by waiters "during the trailers". I realise that popcorn has been done to death but I can’t quite get my head around red mullet risotto washed down with a lemongrass ice cream soda whilst watching Nightmare on Elm Street 17. I still like Rowley Leigh though!

I'm reading: Main course for Row 2

What the fugu is going on here?

My tastes in food are boringly simple, I’m happier with baked beans on toast rather than caviar on blinis. I tend to avoid “controversial” foods like foie gras not for any moral or political reasons but purely because I find over hyped food to be precisely that – overhyped. I have to confess I once ate fugu fish in Japan but in my defence I only learnt afterwards that it was potentially poisonous and anyway it tasted just like fried hake to me. I survived unscathed but a diner at a Michelin two-star restaurant in Tokyo recently wasn’t so lucky. Chef Takeshi Yasuge, who operates Fugu Fukuji in the capital’s upmarket Ginza area has had his special license, required to serve fugu, rescinded by theTokyo metropolitan government and is facing a criminal complaint and possible jail sentence over the hospitalization of a 35 year old woman who was served the toxic liver of a pufferfish after making a specific request for it. She had to be taken to hospital suffering from a headache and numbness in her lips. The health authorities believe the chef was negligent knowing the dangers involved irregardless of the guest making a special request. Michelin said it does not plan to change its rating of the restaurant, which was based on the dishes its inspectors ate, a company spokeswoman said. Obviously they stayed clear of the fugu!

I'm reading: What the fugu is going on here?

Sunday afternoon at the bioscope

David Mitchell on his Soapbox having a go at chefs. FeedBlitz subscribers should visit the site to view


Chef's Special | David Mitchell's Soapbox by DavidMitchellSoapbox

I'm reading: Sunday afternoon at the bioscope

Dilly Diner of the Week

Lucky Cheng's in New York is this week's candidate for Dilly Diner of the Week. If you're looking for a run of the mill Chinese restaurant then you've definitely come to the wrong place because Lucky Cheng's is wild and proudly boasts that it is the drag queen capital of the world. It's a great venue for corporate parties, birthday parties, hen parties and maybe somewhere to take your granny for her 80 th birthday celebration. There's outrageous drag queen cabaret, comedy, karaoke and fun for all with delicious, reasonably priced Pan-Asian cuisine. But behind it all there's a sad story because it wasn't that lucky for poor old Cheng.
I don't know how true it is but the story goes that the restaurant tried many concepts with each one being less successful than the previous driving the owner to drugs and drink. Then along came Cheng who started out as general dogsbody. He wasn't particularily well turned out, he always seemed untidy and unkempt and his English wasn't that great but he was left in charge by default. Cheng did have one attribute, he got along well with people and was very easy going so when one of the barmen started coming to work in drag he wasn't bothered. When extra staff were hired and they also pitched up in drag he didn't mind.He hired a Chinese friend as chef and a legend was born - Chinese food and transvestites ! The place boomed but Cheng wasn't so lucky because the owners sobered up and the next thing was his untimely departure. If it's not true it should be.

I'm reading: Dilly Diner of the Week

That Was The Week That Was

Bad news this week for oyster lovers in the UK. The Food Standards Agency released a report indicating that three-quarters of the British-grown oysters it tested contained the winter vomiting bug, norovirus. The figures are contained in the first systematic analysis of the virus in UK oyster harvesting areas.The FSA says there is no change in its advice to consumers. It says people should be aware that there is a risk of food poisoning when eating raw shellfish and the food should be avoided by vulnerable groups. Pretty high risk it seems!


Meanwhile if you’re going to pass on the oysters perhaps it’s best that you avoid the chicken liver pate as well. Another body, the Health Protection Agency (HPA), are warning of the high risk of food poisoning from undercooked chicken or duck liver pate. New figures show that more than 90% of outbreaks of Campylobacter - the most common form of bacterial food poisoning - at catering venues in 2011 were linked to people eating the pate. Symptoms of the illness include diarrhoea, stomach pains, cramps, fever, and generally feeling unwell. HPA investigations found that livers used to make the parfait or pate were undercooked, meaning the liver stayed pink in the centre. Unfortunately that’s just the effect that chefs are looking for.


Someone who did apparently suffer from food poisoning this week was airline passenger Othon Cortes eating on an American Airlines flight from Barcelona, Spain to New York. We’ve all had bad airline food at one stage or another but Cortes apparently got sick with severe stomach cramps and sudden thirst shortly after eating an in-flight chicken meal -- basically as soon as the plane landed at JFK International Airport. On the connecting flight to Miami, he got much, much worse: When no one was able to revive him after a cardiac event, the pilot was forced to make an emergency landing in Virginia. Unfortunately, by then it was too late. Cortes was pronounced dead on arrival, and his wife and daughter blame the foodborne bacteria Clostridium perfringens, which they say poisoned his meal as a result of American Airlines and Sky Chefs "failing to properly maintain or prepare the food." So maybe that packet of peanuts you got was a blessing in disguise.

I'm reading: That Was The Week That Was

Spread the news - sticky situation developing

Marmite can be a messy condiment! It’s difficult to get it all off the knife onto your toast, it leaves streaks. The top of the jar is always tacky with residual extract, in fact it’s not really a user friendly product so spare a thought for the poor buggers in the South Yorkshire police who had to deal with some spilled Marmite the other day. Police shut a section of the M1 in South Yorkshire at around 10.15pm following an incident, which saw a vehicle crash and and spill its contents onto the carriageway. A tanker overturned after being involved in a collision with a motorcaravan. The tanker was carrying 23.5 tonnes of bulk Marmite. Twenty three and a half tonnes – that’s the equivalent of over 200,000 small jars of the smelly goo! What a bloody mess to clear up? There is no truth in the rumour that thousands of British motorists headed off towards Sheffield armed with loaves of bread and 12 volt plugin camping toasters.

I'm reading: Spread the news - sticky situation developing