Heston Blumenthal has announced the winner of a nationwide search for the culinary British innovator of the future set to transform the UK cooking experience.
Since its launch in April the ‘Kitchen Innovation Challenge’, has seen 600 new ideas submitted from across the UK. The top ten finalists from all over the UK presented their ideas in a ‘Dragon’s Den’ style pitch to Heston and three other judges, all renowned for innovation in their chosen fields including Paul Pankhurst, Chair of British Design Innovation, Rosie Nagra and Wendy Miranda, Lakeland.
The inventions were as diverse as ‘rotating cake trays’ to ‘easy clean sieves’. The final ten innovative product ideas caught the eye of the judges because their ingenious ways of helping to achieve ‘perfection’ in the kitchen. The ‘Challenge Winner’ will receive a £10,000 cash prize, their idea brought to market and sold in stores nationwide including royalties on any future sales.
The finalists ranged in age from 30 to 65 and came from across the UK – Derbyshire, Sunderland, Shropshire, Kent, Solihull, Essex, Nottingham and Hull.
The winner of the competition is Margaret O’Callaghan, aged 65, a housewife from Bromley in Kent. Margaret’s winning innovation, The Scrudle, is a cross between a scoop, scraper and a ladle which allows sauces, gravies and casseroles to be easily transferred from pot to plate, without even a drop of the mixture being lost. The Scrudle is made from plastic with a measuring device on the side and has a flat edge to ensure smooth scooping of mixtures to catch every last drop for cooking perfection.
Margaret is the winner of a prize package estimated to be worth a staggering £50,000; which includes a £10,000 cash prize from Finish and a business development package that includes the opportunity to work with Lakeland to develop the product, bring it to market and receive royalties from future sales in Lakeland’s catalogues, website and nationwide stores.
Head judge Heston Blumenthal says: “Margaret really impressed us on Judging Day – her presentation was fluent and confident and her product was innovative, practical and something that I can actually see myself using in the kitchen. After her pitch all of the judges came out thinking ‘now why didn’t I think of that?’ because it is such a simple idea, but also something that will be useful and genuinely make life easier.”
Cadbury Dairy Milk’s Fairtrade certification in the UK and Ireland is something worth singing about – watch out for the awesome dance moves in this video. If you like it you can download the single from iTunes with net profits going to charity Care International.
From tiramisu to spaghetti carbonara, feast on Italian favourites, as well as plenty of surprises!
Hot on the trail of Rhodes Across the Caribbean, Gary Rhodes hot-foots it to Italy on a mission to learn the secrets of Italian cooking from the very best. Taken out of his comfort zone, Gary must learn how to master the dishes of ten Italian regions, whilst viewers are treated to an Italian cookery course as Gary picks up tips from masters.
Gary and his Sous chefs Clare and Marc, handpicked to take part in the series due to their love of food and Italy, will travel the length and breadth of Italy – from Rome to Sicily from Tuscany to Venice, discovering the delicacies of ten regions.
Using the stories of the Italian contributors as the guide to find authentic dishes, Gary will learn to cook their recipes using the abundance of fresh vegetables, olive oil, seafood and of course pasta, at each stunning location and will discover the traditional roots of the classic Italian dishes we all know and love.
Rhodes Across Italy culminates with Gary and his two apprentices catering for a celebration banquet in Venice, using the knowledge and skills acquired on this trip of a lifetime. In attendance will be the many mentors Gary has met on his Italian journey, eager to see just how much he has learnt from them. Will Gary be able to master the necessary Italian culinary skills in time, or will the pressure be too much for him and his apprentice Sous chefs?
Gary Rhodes says: ‘Italy showed off to me its wonderful natural beauty, abundance of gourmet delights and proved to be one of the most memorable and fascinating culinary experiences that I can remember. I think I’ve fallen in love!’
The sumptuous dishes and breathtaking scenery, as well as the heart warming tales from those Gary meets on his way, will provide some much needed comfort food amongst all this wintery gloom. Have a Venetian Spritz, or a full-bodied Chianti, put the pasta on the boil and recreate your own Italian winter break with Rhodes Across Italy.
All the recipes from the show as well as recipe clips will be available on goodfoodchannel.co.uk
Rhodes Across Italy starts weeknights at 9pm from Wednesday 20th January on Good Food.
The Christmas frenzy is now in full swing with many looking to find organic and eco-friendly Christmas gifts this year. Leading online organic and vegan retailer Greenlife Direct has increased its range of products this year and has a few tips to help with those last minute Christmas stocking filler dilemmas.
Booja Booja chocolate truffles are handmade and contain fresh organic bananas combined with organic French cognac and come presented in a beautifully presented wooden box, made from 100% renewable poplar wood. Such is their organic pedigree that they can boast being 100% organic, gluten, dairy and wheat free – meaning they are an ideal Christmas gift for vegan friends and family members.
To top it all – these rather delicious chocolate truffles are Non-GMO and have the Organic Standard by the Soil Association to prove it.
For those looking for something that is a little bit different but more on the side of new and slightly, dare we say it “cool”, Greenlife Direct have recently introduced the Mr Scruff range of teas. Renowned for his DJ skills Mr Scruff brought out his teas to help with the growing problem of teenagers binge drinking culture. He can be heard to announce on his UK wide tour “Let’s have a brew” – and his new range is being widely purchased by the teenager and young adults market.
His range includes Look Lively Tea Bags containing organic lemongrass, yerba maté and mint for a proper uplifting brew; whilst his Mint and Chilli Tea Bags is a blend of spearmint and peppermint with a twist of chilli for an extra mini-tickle factor – and should clear the cobwebs.
Visit Greenlife Direct for a wide range of organic Christmas Gifts from their gluten free Christmas Puddings to indulgent, organic chocolates, natural cosmetic products and much more.
Posted by admin | Under Special Offers
Friday Nov 20, 2009
With Christmas just around the corner now is the time to start planning your Christmas food shopping and present buying.
Popular discount code website Discount Tart have release a number of excellent food and drink discounts to help make Christmas food shopping a little bit cheaper.
Whilst it is still a slightly early to buy your food for the big day there are still lots of great food and drink offers that make excellent presents for other people.
Current food and drink deals on the site include -
There are also many other additional deals and offers for lots of food and drink shops including many supermarket discount codes and deals which will be very useful as we reach December.
About Discount Tart
Discount Tart has been running for 4 years and offers a wide selection of discount codes as well as time sensitive shopping deals. The site has saves hundreds of consumers money over its 4 years of being live.
Deals and codes on the site are updated daily and correct at time of publishing.
Posted by Alan | Under Celebrity Chefs
Thursday Nov 19, 2009
Celebrity chef Marco Pierre White may soon find himself in hot water with his upcoming task of presiding over a Red Devil Kitchen with footballer cooks.
The event will take place in Old Trafford and will see the well known Hell’s Kitchen cook take charge of a crew of Manchester United Players as they test their culinary skills out at a swanky diner with real customers.
The football players in the show will be Rio Ferdinand, Edwin Van Der Sar, and Patrice Evra who have already been featured in another cooking segment of the MUTV Red Devil Kitchen show.
For this particular occasion however Rio will lead the way as all proceeds from the event will benefit Live the Dream Foundation which is his charity. Additionally, the event will be good practice for Rio who is set to open his own Italian restaurant in Manchester soon.
Wayne Rooney was also scheduled to appear on the dining extravaganza but cancelled his appearance after his son Kai was born last week.
The players will each be in charge of preparing different dinner courses and patrons at the diner will decide which of the players cooked the best. The winner will then be revealed in a special question and answer segment filmed live after the dinner is complete.
The event was organized by Front Row events who stated that due to the popularity of the idea that Manchester’s City players may be featured on a similar event in the future.
Account manager of Front Row, Simon McFarland stated that since sportsman dinners are not as intriguing or exciting to viewers anymore, the company created a niche event to get the footballers interested.
McFarland stated that they have already hosted a Hell’s Kitchen event at Aston Villa and that one will follow with Manchester City.
Hot on the trail of Rhodes Across the Caribbean, Gary Rhodes hot-foots it to Italy on a mission to learn the secrets of Italian cooking from the very best. Taken out of his comfort zone, Gary must learn how to master the dishes of ten Italian regions, whilst viewers are treated to an Italian cookery course as Gary picks up tips from masters.
The Christmas frenzy is now in full swing with many looking to find organic and eco-friendly Christmas gifts this year. Leading online organic and vegan retailer Greenlife Direct has increased its range of products this year and has a few tips to help with those last minute Christmas stocking filler dilemmas.
Celebrity chef