The battery finally runs flat - 17/09/2008

Britain (as part of a wider EU campaign) has finally conceded to pressure from animal welfare groups, the European Union and most importantly of all, public opinion, and committed to outlaw battery egg farming by 2012. It has been a long time coming and despite the unshakable belief of the country's poultry farmers that the initiative will fall by the wayside, a renewed commitment from the government has publicly finalised the plans.

It is pressure in cases like this that demonstrate the true power of the EU. How many struggling farmers would consider this move if not enforced? And once enforced, it will transpire that the profit-per-egg will increase in line with the price per egg. So it may take longer for the farmer to get as many eggs, but the farmer's profit per egg will increase... and to the consumer the price might go up, but the quality will go up... and the chickens definitely aren't losing out, with (a comparatively large amount of) additional space and the requirement for a perch and scratching material... so who exactly was it that was losing out again?

The Credit Crunch Sausage - 18/06/2008

Would you/could you believe it? Asda, that wonderful spawn of Wallmart and Satan (what’s that you say? The big red guy not to blame for this one?) have launched the headline-forging 'credit crunch' sausage. Weighing in at a mighty 2p per sausage these beauties boast an impressive 34% pork meat and will no doubt become the staple of choice at greasy spoons and budget canteens across the nation.

 

The daily mail have run a slightly distressing article asking “But what’s in Asda’s bargain banger?”. While it could most definitely be worse than “more bread than meat” I am still left wondering exactly what parts of a pig could actually be bought for a fraction of 2p… and still be edible… in fact, reverse that thought. I can only recoil in horror at the possibilities!

 

The phrase shall never more be "cheap as chips".

Death of the Main Course? - 06/06/2008

Tony Naylor of the guardian food blog has recently posted this article about the demise of the main course

This trend makes me feel both uncomfortable and hungry. But in a time when we're being told that our portion sizes are twice as large as they were 30 years ago, is it a bad thing?

Personally, I like my food, as anyone who has seen my physique will confirm, but I've never been one to eat a large amount at once. I'm one of these people who pick all day long, and then never have room for a massive plate at dinner time.

 Although this is true, I still cannot imagine eating in a restaurant, and not ordering a main course, even when I eat Tapas, I tend to order one "main" dish and several "sides". The idea of only ordering a starter and a dessert horrifies me (and not only because I don't really like sweet desserts). 

I'm all about the main course, I never cook desserts, and starters are usually an afterthought. I rarely order starters when I eat out and a cheeseboard is my staple dessert. So although I am a big fan of Mr Blumenthal's scientific aproach to cooking, I'm not a big fan of his decision to kill the a la carte menu. He's a trend setter in the culinary world, and others will undoubtedly follow...gutted.

A is for Artificial - 03/06/2008

I am a chemist by qualification (if not chosen profession) and the one thing they told us all, day-one at University? Steer clear of artificial sweeteners (by which they refer to Saccharin's, Acesulfame Potassium and most especially, Aspartame), you would be far better off drinking a sugary drink in moderation, taking exercise to control your weight and taking good care of your teeth, we were strongly advised.

 

At the time we nodded and, after the lecture, some no-doubt bought an amazing ‘sugar-free’ drink from the vending machine at reception.

 

It seems so clear in retrospect. Why would these scientists, the very people who synthesise and formulate these chemicals for our consumption, be the very people warning us off them? The answer is blindingly simple: these are the people who KNOW about these chemicals. They have tested them. They know what they are comprised of and (importantly) what they break down into.

 

From time spent keeping an idle eye on the industry it becomes clear that research and comment on the negative effects of these sweeteners is discouraged, if not directly challenged at every step, making corporate challenge extremely unviable.

 

The invasiveness of the marketing is so complete that in Sports Centers here in the UK, the drinks vending machines are stocked directly by Glaxo, a (the?) large chemical company, and every product contained within, with the exception only of the can of fresh carbonated orange juice (that only has sodium benzoate in it), ALL other products contain either Aspartame, Acesulfame K or Sodium Saccharin.

 

Despite this intense market saturation and the overwhelming corporate pressure not to investigate these chemicals further, there are some dedicated individuals who are willing to pursue analysis and testing by their own means. Surely if one person in a private residence can create such startling effects, then a wider sample, while not necessarily painting quite as bad a picture, would still yield some significantly worrying results.

 

Does it really have to be a (clearly gifted) school child proving to us all the clear dangers of aspartame in foodstuffs when stored under pressure in cold temperatures? (i.e. in a fizzy drink bottle in the fridge)?

Ideas... - 27/05/2008

I've started a UserVoice account for noshninjas (those of you not aware, uservoice is an awesome website set up to promote user input to web projects)

http://noshninjas.uservoice.com/

If you have any ideas for new functionality for Noshninjas, please add them to our UserVoice list, or vote for existing ideas that you like. That way we can get a good idea of what ideas are most popular, and organise what order we need to implement things.

Thanks!

Scores on the doors? Now why wasn’t this done a long time ago!? - 23/05/2008

I am highly impressed by this proposed new initiative from the FSA (Food Standards Agency) to mandate that all places of food preparation must display the scores of their last local authority hygiene inspection on the entry to the premises. What a blindingly obvious idea, I can't believe it has not been introduced before!

 

Instead of aiming to 'just scrape by' the hygiene inspections, businesses will now be encouraged to excel in an area where excellence should really be the norm rather than the exception. 

 

While it may prove to hurt some establishments I think there can be no dissent from the businesses themselves. To object would be tantamount to admitting you are unlikely to score well and thus have poor hygiene standards. A very clever proposal that will enhance clarity and transparency in an industry where hygiene is of great importance. It is an initiative that will make an immediate impact and benefits may be seen in as obscure places such as employee sickness rates (less chance of food poisoning leading to time off work).

Now all we need is a similar scoring system for factory produced foodstuffs and we can approach a sausage once more with confidence!

After all, it matters not how clean the kitchen is if the food prepared in it has not met the same high standards through production. 

How do you eat yours? - 20/05/2008

I recently read this rather interesting NY Times article about the nutritional value of vegetables, and how cooking affects the different groups of nutrients.

Surprisingly, raw veg is not always better than cooked, and the correct cooking method with the right combination of veg can actually improve their nutritional value.

This seems counter-intuitive to me, but apparently boiling carrots or broccoli results in a wider range of nutrients than steaming or microwaving.

 

"Because nutrient content and taste can vary so widely depending on the cooking method and how a vegetable is prepared, the main lesson is to eat a variety of vegetables prepared in a variety of ways." - Now I have an excuse  to use as many pans/steamers and other gadgets as possible :)

Barbeque Season - 19/05/2008

Greetings my fellow ninjas, I am the other lucky mod (sod?) to patrol these here boards. In the event of emergency, don't follow meeeeeee... however you would be welcome to say hi or ask a question if you have any!

 

The damn weather has been so typical of a British springtime so far - gives you a taste of what you are going to miss over the next six months then reverts to cold wet gray...

 

But I must admit it inspired me briefly regardless; proof that experience doesn't always outweigh blind hope, so we went out and got a new barbeque to match our high expectations. We ended up impulse buying a large close-lidded charcoal smoker contraption with inbuilt thermometer (incredibly useful feature it turns out, yet not one I would have thought to look for previously) from a UK garden store (linkies if interested) and immediately set about devising ways to get the most out of it.

 

After a few successes with jerk chicken, homemade burgers and steaks (the usual barbeque fare) I decided to try and use the smoker properly and do a whole Smoked Chicken with White Wine Sauce.

 

Impressively and not a little surprisingly, it was a great success - the meat was incredibly tender and moist and the smoke flavour was commendably subtle with a hint of honey lemon. The white wine sauce is a true favourite of mine and is rather wickedly comprised of bacon juices, chicken juices, white wine and onions with a touch of thyme - a combination that cannot fail (and is worth remembering any time you need a rich-but-impressive sauce for a chicken dish). I would go so far as to say this was one of the best chicken dishes I have ever had, in parallel with a mean coq au vin I have up my sleeve (similar sauce!) and some homemade Crispy fried chicken that is well worth a try.

 

Anyway, this has inspired me to experiment further on our barbeque (so watch this space and the main site for results) but as I am new to this could anyone with any innovative barbeque or smoker recipes please post them up? I'm sure there must be some badass bbq sauces or marinades out there I'm yet to hear of... with a bit of luck the ninja gods will be kind and bestow an accolade on the best-voted submission (woooo... accolades of the ninja gods are to be revered indeed!).

 

Also, having a few friends who are vegan, veggie, gluten and dairy free, any recipes that fit these categories too, yet for the barbeque would be especially useful!

 

 

Tip: Don’t forget to tag the recipes with ‘barbeque’ so I know where to find them.

 

Tristafari in Moderation

Quick update for the feed junkies - 16/05/2008

This blog is now available via RSS at the following url http://noshninjas.com/feeds/blog

 

I'll add a link somewhere on this page forthwith...

 

[edit] added over there ->

I've been asked by the NinjaGod to poke my head out - 16/05/2008

Lo, the Lord of Nosh Ninjas spoke unto me:  Introduce yourself as a moderator.

 And that's how we got to this post. Anyway, bronxelf here, I am your reasonably friendly neighborhood moderator(for certain values of neighborhood, and probably certain values of friendly, too.) I'm here to help and I'm not from the government. So if you have any questions or need anything, feel free to give me a shout. If you're confused over those pesky metric to imperial conversions (or vice versa), I'm your girl.  Also, if you're not in the US and are confused about a particular thing about an American recipe, I'm good for that, too.  

So, hi.

 

Happy cooking!

elf.