Events - Travels for Taste

Celebrating Cinco de Mayo with Old El Paso at London Victoria

May 29, 2015 by manjirichitnis 18 Comments

This year I was part of the Cinco de Mayo celebrations at a fun Pop Up event held bang in the middle of the busy Victoria Station in London by OldEl Paso . A celebration of all things Mexican Cinco de Mayo means the 5th of May on Spanish and marks the triumphant victory of Mexican forces over a heavily armed attack by the French forces in the state of Puebla in 1862.

Old El Paso pop up causes a stir at London Victoria

Though it was not a parade or an energetic dance troop entertaining passerby’s in colourful costumes – as is the way the celebrations happen in U.S.A and Mexico, the pop did manage to cause quite a stir! Chef Andy Bates cooked up some fresh and delicious fajitas for us and pleasantly surprised commuters using Old El Paso. With a few fresh ingredients in tow, he cooked up a delicious treat in minutes.

To spatchcock the chicken, the spine was removed. Then Andy marinated a whole chicken with Old El Paso roasted tomato and pepper fajita seasoning mix. The best part was though the super soft Old El Paso flour tortillas into which it was wrapped with lettuce some , beans, gucamole and salsa on top.

Chef Andy Bates preparing Spatchcock Roast Chicken with a Mexican style rub

You can check of some cool videos of Chef Andy Bates cooking up Mexican meals with Old El Paso ingredients on the Food Network UK website.

Old El Paso makes kits that you can buy and make delicious meals in minutes but did you know that you can buy various ingredients to create something special on your own too? I particularly like the squeezy chunky guacamole , canned refried beans and bottled sliced red and green jalapenos.

Whatever it is you are after tacos, fajitas, quesadillas, whether you want to fix a tasty side dish or rustle up a big main meal for friends there are many products in their arsenal that could help you create a feast in minutes.

So if it’s the soft and toasty, oven baked tortillas that are calling out to you, why not combine then with some chunky salsa, and twice cooked, crunchy nachips today? Or if you want tangy prawns then why not make it #fajitafriday with a little recipe inspiration from Old El Paso? Find the recipe here

Whatever Mexican feast you cook up, don’t forget to stock up your larder with some handy Old El Paso ingredients. I am off to make some Ol El Paso Mexican Taco’s now – buh -bye!

*With thanks to Old El Paso U.K for inviting me. No monetary compensation was offered for a positive review. All opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

Great British Chefs Masterclass with Michelin-starred Chef Adam Gray

May 1, 2015 by manjirichitnis Leave a Comment

Last week, I was invited to the #GBCCookSchool by Great British Chefs to cook up a 3-course meal with Michelin-starred Skylon Chef Adam Gray at the Cookery School.

I have always been a great fan of the Great British Chefs website and their many cool recipes and some life saving How-to videos. So it was really exciting to be invited to a masterclass with them and watch a Michelin-starred Chef show us some cool tips and tricks.

After nibbling on some cheese and yummy starters washed down with a glass of bubbly (oh alright I confess – several glasses of bubbly!) we gathered for the demo by Adam Gray. Assisted by his sous chef Damon Stokes, he showed us how to expertly fillet fresh Cornish mackerel.

He then used a wafer-thin slice of bread and wrapped it around the fish dabbed with a little mustard and then lightly pan-fried in Rapeseed oil.

I have used Rape seed oil before it has a strong nutty flavour probably only less overpowering that it’s bright yellow colour but as the Chef rightly informed us it has half the saturated fat content of olive oil making it lower in cholesterol and also it has 10 times more Omega 3 than olive oil. Besides hailing from Northampton too, the locally produced rapeseed oil (Farrington’s Mellow Yellow) has the Chef’s seal of approval, as expected he is as proud a supporter of British produce, as he is of seasonal ingredients.

Served with a delicious Rhubarb Relish and a Pea Shoot & Sea Kale salad, these really elevate a simple dish to Michelin-star quality by combining otherwise unusual ingredients to create an imaginative dish.

Image Courtesy: Great British Chefs

The sea kale is something I had never tasted before and like me was quite a discovery in a new taste sensation for me and a few other bloggers. Chef Adam Gray showed us how to serve the Crispy Cornish Mackerel chopped at a slant and plated with the relish at the side adding a final flourish to a posh looking yet easy to prepare crispy fish finger starter – easy if you can master filleting the mackerel that is!

It looked ever so easy but that wasn’t the case as we were all about to find out when later a few enthusiastic bloggers got to try their hand at it with the Chef showing them how to wield their knives and expertly handle the fish even if it was a delicate small mackerel or a large meaty specimen.

After that, we formed 3 groups and set out to make Ticklemore & Goat’s Cheese Fritters under the watchful eye of Chef Adam and Chef Damon. Coated in panko breadcrumbs with a generous sprinkling of fennel seeds, I busied myself with adding 2 coats of the egg wash and breadcrumb mixture to the fritter while the others chopped up the delicious heritage tomatoes seasoned with lovage – an intriguing herb and in taste aptly described by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall as ‘ The flavour is like parsley and celery combined with a hint of aniseed and curry’. We used Sharpham farms goats cheese and combined it with some soft cheese resulting in a delicious and rich fritter that tasted fabulous served on a bed of fresh salad.

Moving on to the dessert we made individual portions of Flourless Citrus Cake served with English Strawberries and Vanilla Yoghurt. This is by far one of Chef Adam Gray’s most popular recipe on Great British Chefs, a completely gluten-free cake it is one of those recipes which is perfect for cooking along with kids and helping them master some basic skills.

While our cakes were baking in the oven, we once again huddled around the demo kitchen and watched while some brave bloggers volunteered to learn how exactly to wield a knife and fillet a Cornish Mackerel.

The flourless cakes were delightfully light and soft and the fresh strawberries mixed with Tiptree strawberry jam relish was a perfect accompaniment to the dessert. The vanilla-infused yoghurt added an interesting dimension to the dish.

This was the second in a new series of Masterclasses by Great British Chefs. Held at the Cookery School, where Rosalind Rathouse and her team hosted all of us and made sure that we were well looked after, it was a great experience. The Cookery School itself is very well maintained, as is evident from the spotlessly clean kitchen and work surfaces and eco-friendly practices.

Needless to say, the event was even more fun because I caught up with blogger friends Vaishali and Heidi, also finally go to meet Deena Kakaya and Felicity Spector in person. It was lovely to see some more familiar faces like the lovely Miriam and Alexandra too.

*With thanks to Great British Chefs for inviting me. No monetary compensation was offered for a positive review. All opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

At the Gourmet Burger Kitchen Chef’s Table with Peter Gordon

April 5, 2015 by manjirichitnis 6 Comments

It’s not every day that a celebrity Chef cooks you lunch, naturally, then I was quite excited to know that would be sampling food cooked by celebrated New Zealand chef Peter Gordon. Peter was in town to cook up a feast from his new and exclusive fusion menu at Gourmet Burger Kitchen.

Peter Gordon has been dubbed “the Godfather of Fusion cuisine”. One look at the menu at any of the restaurants he is associated with and you know that is true.

Peter made his name as Head Chef of The Sugar Club in Wellington in the late 80s. Award-winning incarnations of The Sugar Club followed in Notting Hill and Soho. Today, he oversees the running of The Providores & Tapa Room and Kopapa in London, and Bellota and The Sugar Club in Auckland. In 2009, he was awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit by HM The Queen for services to the food industry.

When GBK was first launched in 2001 by owners Adam, Greg and Brandon their aim was to introduce U.K. to new and premium beef burgers. Back then to develop the very first menu they worked with fellow Kiwi Peter Gordon – who now after 14 years is back with a fabulous new fusion menu that experiments with textures, ingredients and flavours.

It was also my first ever meal at any Chef’s Table so soon after I arrived at the Baker Street branch, we were taken to the secret kitchen which is separate from the main kitchen, this is where Tim Molema – the Head of Food at Gourmet Burger Kitchen creates his magic.

L-R: Tim Molema – the Head of Food at GBK and Peter Gordon.

For mains, we had Peter’s new creation – The Duck Confit Burger. The combination of crisp confit duck with a thick layer of creamy duck liver pâté and melting Cheddar cheese is a heavenly ménage à trois. Though there were those who were not too pleased with the mention of duck liver pâté, I was quite pleased, as I absolutely love pâté especially when served as a generous layer on thin, crisp toasted bread (a perfect nibble with bubbly, don’t you think?)

The crispy shallots give the burger a lovely crunch (reminded me of layered biryani with crispy fried onion) whereas the fiery ginger and apricot chilli jam is probably what gives this new invention an umami flavour, cleverly combining the rich taste of duck with the other ingredients.

Encased in soft and fresh brioche buns this burger is simply irresistible.

The hors-d’oeuvre of sweet potato fries was topped with a very familiar tasting dressing – Tamarind (reminded me of Mumbai’s famous street food – Bhel!) and also a generous splattering of the Egyptian spice mixture – Dukkah – a nut-free version to ensure that those with nut allergies can also enjoy it – Peter is there anything you did not think of? Guess not 🙂

For the other side dish – Fresh Summer Homeslaw, Peter has drawn inspiration from Middle Eastern spices like sumac and pomegranate molasses. Sumac gives a lovely tart edge to the minty slaw while the mint and pomegranate molasses give it an unmistakable depth of flavour.

Every good burger should be washed down with a thick and delicious milkshake – or so I think and Peter’s creation – a Banana Biscoff milkshake is a mind-meltingly fabulous fusion of banana ice cream and Lotus Biscoff caramelised biscuits, also known as Speculoos cookies- a great way to create a fusion of flavours.

To watch Peter Gordon live in action, cooking up what he does best – creating a fusion of flavours and being able to drink in the experience of being at the Chef’s table was truly memorable.

After that fabulous and exclusive Lunch preview, I spoke to Peter for an exclusive interview where he gave me an insight into the inspiration behind his new menu.

In Peter Gordon’s words, “The UK burger scene has evolved hugely over the last 14 years. It seems like every day a new burger is making headlines, so when it came to creating my own, I knew it had to be something unique to stand out. Putting my own stamp on the menu has been an exciting process and I’ve put the same care into this as I do with every dish I create for my own restaurants. Our fans are always on the lookout for the next big thing in burgers and I am confident they will agree this one is something a bit special.”

You too can get behind the scenes with Peter in the GBK kitchen with this little video clip:

Still here? There surely is a GBK branch you can get to in time for dinner today right? All you need to do is … grab your coat and …leave!

**Peter’s Menu is now available at Gourmet Burger Kitchen restaurants nationwide.

*With thanks to the PR Agency and Gourmet Burger Kitchen for the invite. No monetary compensation was offered for a positive review. All opinions expressed here are entirely my own. Kindly do not re-produce any images without my prior permission.

Godiva chocolates festive Giveaway – Closed

December 19, 2014 by manjirichitnis 92 Comments

In early October I was invited to the Godiva ‘Experience Christmas’ preview at the posh Godiva store located at Regent’s Street,London, where their range of luxurious chocolate-filled hampers, Swarowski adorned gift boxes, seasonal whiskey truffles and hot Chocolixir in new flavour sensations was revealed to a few select people from the food industry, journalists, bloggers and food writers.

To fully understand why Godiva is such an iconic brand the story of Lady Godiva must be shared.

Legend has it that when Lady Godiva, an 11th-century Anglo-Saxon noblewoman and wife of Lord Leofric, protested against the taxation of his subjects a deal was struck: fair Lady Godiva would ride through the streets of Coventry, “clad in nought” but her long tresses, and if the population remained in shuttered buildings, their tax burden would be lifted. The following morning she made her famous ride, the citizens graciously stayed inside and Leofric kept his word and reduced the taxes.

Lady Godiva won the hearts of many and her legend has lived on through the centuries. Nowhere is her passion, purity, sensuality, style and boldness more symbolised than in Godiva chocolates, which in turn, am sure win the hearts of those who taste them.

Known worldwide for being irresistibly delicious Godiva chocolates are a treat for all the senses. These decadent chocolates and pralines are made to produce thrilling tastes, textures and sensations in each and every bite by creative Chef Chocolatiers who uphold the Godiva values and by using the finest GMO-free ingredients that are used in every single aspect of Godiva chocolate making to create the highest quality end result – the most sumptuous chocolates imaginable.

As always I would like to share a slice of my experience with you by offering ONE lucky readers to enjoy a box of Chef Inspirations Saveurs Du Monde 16 chocolates from Godiva by entering a simple giveaway, to find out how have a read through the easy T& C’s.

Wishing all my readers a very, very Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year, may the spirit of Christmas fill your hearts and lives with warmth and joy and may you forgive and forget any old bitterness and embrace with joy the goodness of spirit , only then will the true magic spin it’s web around you…or so I think..:)

GODIVA CHOCOLATES FESTIVE GIVEAWAY

ONE lucky winner can win this fabulous prize ! Chef Inspirations Saveurs Du Monde Box of 16 chocolates from Godiva

How to enter the giveaway:

You too could WIN a box of Chef Inspirations Saveurs Du Monde Box of 16 chocolates from Godiva, all you have to do is :

Follow me on twitter – @manjirichitnis
Tweet out the following – #GODIVAGIVEAWAY #WIN with @manjirichitnis Chef selection box of 16 chocolates from @GodivaUK bit.ly/1x3OYgn
Leave a comment below telling me who will you share your box of Godiva chocolates and also mention your twitter handle. I will find you on twitter via the hashtag so it’s not required for you to mention your twitter handle in the comments. Do not share your email id in the comments please.

Please have a read through the Terms and Conditions below:

Winners will be picked using Random Number.
Deadline for entering this contest is 31st December’ 2014 midnight GMT.
Entry is open only to residents of the U.K except Scotland and Ireland.
All entrants must be 18 years old and above.
ONE lucky winner will be chosen using random number generator.
The giveaway prize is as mentioned in the post. Neither Godiva or I am liable for any damage of goods in transit.
Please allow a minimum of 15 days for delivery of the prize, which may reach earlier or later. The chocolate box will be sent directly by Godiva.
The prize is as stated: no cash alternatives are available.
I retain the right to DISQUALIFY any entrant who do not complete all the 3 steps mentioned above.
The winner will be notified on 2nd January’ 2015 on Twitter by me and here on my blog post. I shall tag the lucky winner on Twitter via their twitter id . If you are declared as the winner you agree to allow me and Godiva to contact you via email id to arrange for the goody bag to be sent out to you.
If the winner fails to respond by 5th January’ 2015 then another winner will be chosen.

*With thanks to Godiva and their PR team for inviting to their exclusive Christmas event . No monetary compensation was offered for a positive review. As always all opinions expressed here are entirely my own. Images Wiki unless watermarked as ‘travelsfortaste’.

CONGRATULATIONS to the LUCKY winner of this fabulous GIVEAWAY of a box of Chef Inspirations Saveurs Du Monde Box of 16 chocolates from Godiva !!!

AND The lucky winner is : Hold your breath! …….

TRACY K NIXON – Twitter id : @tracyknixon

While you are here why not have a look at the other giveaways on my blog and increase your chances of winnings cool freebies!?!

Win one of TWO Goody Bags from KNORR packed with 2x of EACH Knorr flavour pots and stock cubes to participate click here.
Win one beautiful Hotel Chocolat gift bag with fabulous cocoa cuisine products, to participate click here.
WIN 5 delicious sauces from the WORLDFOODS Asian Fusion Flavour Sauces, to participate click here.

Cooking with WORLD FOODS at the School of Wok and WORLD FOODS Giveaway – CLOSED

December 16, 2014 by manjirichitnis 12 Comments

Cooking out of jar is something we resort to only when we are really hard pressed for time or in a situation when we simply do have access to fresh ingredients, but there are few jarred sauces that defy this belief and World Foods sauces I think deserve to be one of those. The reason I say this thank to a really well planned and executed cookery class at the School of Wok courtesy WORLDFOODS and expertly conducted by Head Chef at School of Wok Jeremy Wong.

WORLDFOODS produces a range of seven ready-made sauces totaling 51 variations in all with tantalising Asian dipping sauces, pastes, noodle sauces, stir-fry, cooking sauces, marinades, chutneys and salad dressings . The best bit is that they do not use preservatives and artificial flavorings. AND their products are food allergens free, trans-fat free and gluten free with no artificial preservatives, coloring or flavouring. The aim being to produce and maintain a range of “clean” products that are suitable for Vegetarians, Vegans and Celiacs.

Once we had a brief introduction from Jeremy, we were each asked to pick a partner to cook with and since I was going to be eating the duck and Nayna is a vegetarian we picked other partners and Fiona and me started working on the ingredients.

Jeremy showed us some really amazing knife skills and we sliced a pepper like I’ve never done before using a rather huge cleaver imported straight from the Far East. In spite of both Fiona and me still having wrists in bad shape we managed this bit smoothly thanks to picking up some basic techniques that Chef Jeremy very lucidly explained.

The mention of Panang Curry duck with Thai basil stir fry made my mouth water. On the menu was a also a Masaman roast poussin and for the vegetarians similar dishes using the same WORLDFOODS sauces but with aubergine replacing the duck and delicious and cute squash used in place of poussin. I love paneer and the squash was stuffed with paneer – I felt slightly greedy especially when I saw the beautiful roast squash was taken out of the oven – turning a visible shade of green (with envy – which scared Fiona a little and Nayna a lot 😉 !). The vegetarians also made Rendang tacos.

After the veggie chopping when we started cooking I was really impressed with the huge portion of duck that we were going to cook and it watching the duck sizzle and ooze its fat and juices on the pan made my tummy rumble in anticipation of a fab meal.

What happened next was the most interesting part of the evening – we learnt some cool wok handling skills and the basics of how to get a stir fry going, I even managed to get a really cool video of Jeremy giving us some amazing tips – why not head over to my Instagram feed and watch the video now?!)

After our cooking session we sat down to a delicious meal and really enjoyed the the taste of the dishes – fresh and full of flavour – nothing that you will expect coming out of a jar – ever! The Lemon drizzle cake made with WORLDFOODS lemongrass paste had a beautiful fluffy and light texture and was irresistibly yummy. I am not a fan of traditional lemon drizzle cakes and find the sharp citrusy taste overwhelming but the milder lemon grass was a very welcome taste for me and I really think that this is going to be my favourite not so secret ingredient for my future bakes!

With minimal prep done for us, I picked up some excellent knife skills and cookery tips, ate some gorgeous Asian Fusion food and spent a very pleasant evening in the company of some old food blogger friends and met some more really lovely bloggers. The most important part was the superb time management by Jeremy and his efficient in house chef.

WORLDFOODS have kindly agreed to give ONE lucky reader a selection of 5 delicious sauces to experiment with so you too can create asian fusion foods using natural ingredients in the comfort of your own home.

How to enter the WORLDFOODS Asian Fusion Flavour Sauces Giveaway with sliceoffme blog:

How to enter the giveaway:

You too can WIN 5 delicious sauces from the WORLDFOODS range, all you have to do is :

Follow me on twitter – @manjirichitnis
Tweet out the following – #WORLDFOODS #WIN @fusiontasteteam sauces with @manjirichitnis, to enter #GIVEAWAY head to sliceoffme blog bit.ly/16oX4oj
Leave a comment below telling me what is your favourite asian dish and your facebook name used to like my FB page. I will find you on twitter via the hashtag so it’s not required for you to mention your twitter handle in the comments. Do not share your email id in the comments please.

Please have a read through the Terms and Conditions below:

Winner will be picked using Random Number Generator.
Deadline for entering this contest is 5th January’ 2015 midnight GMT.
Entry is open only to residents of the U.K except Scotland and Ireland.
All entrants must be 18 years old and above.
ONE lucky winner will be chosen using random number generator.
The giveaway prize is as mentioned in the post. Neither WORLDFOODS, nor I am liable for any damage of products and / or contents in transit.
Please allow a minimum of 25 days for delivery of the prize, which may reach earlier or later. The sauces will be sent directly by WORLDFOODS.
The prize is as stated: no cash alternatives are available.
I retain the right to DISQUALIFY any entrant who do not complete all the 3 steps mentioned above.
The winner will be notified on 6th January’ 2015 on Twitter by me and here on my blog post. I shall tag the winner on Twitter via their twitter id. If you are declared as the winner you agree to allow me and Knorr to contact you via email id to arrange for the goody bag to be sent out to you.
If the winner failS to respond by 8th January’ 2015 then another winner will be chosen via Random Number Generator.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE LUCKY WINNER WHO HAS WON 5 DELICIOUS WORLDFOODS Asian Fusion Flavour Sauces

Sarah Davies @haonharas

*With thanks to WORLDFOODS and the PR team for arranging the fabulous sauces for my giveaway and inviting me for the event. A special thank you to School of Wok and Jeremy for his time, generosity and teaching me some cool skills . No monetary compensation was offered for a positive review. As always all opinions expressed here are entirely my own

In the Knorr kitchen with Master chef Marco Pierre White

December 7, 2014 by manjirichitnis Leave a Comment

Unilever – a name synonymous with some of the best and biggest brands , is headquartered in London at Leatherhead and I was invited a few weeks ago to spend an entire day exclusively in the Unilever kitchen cooking up a storm with some of the most amazing brands in the food and drinks industry with a series of Masterclasses.

I arrived at the Leatherhead office on a rather grey and chilly October morning and since I managed to reach on time inspite of a massive delay on the SW trains and just before some major traffic signal issue threw the tube network off balance at the peak morning rush hour , I spent some time waiting in the beautiful lounge and gazing around. The fact that I was sitting in the very building where many brilliant minds conceptualise and give us brands like P.G Tips which are a part of our everyday lives lent a sense of admiration and awe to my thoughts.

When the other bloggers arrived I was glad to see some familiar and friendly faces – Heidi from Heidi’s Kitchen Talks and Fiona of London Unattached . It’s always makes me very happy to meet in person bloggers whose blogs I regularly visit and feel as if I already know – like Dom from Belleau Kitchen.

To kick start the day , we sat down to a very engaging and interesting session with Tea Expert – Jane Pettigrew. Of course we were served this lavish spread before the session and after much of crunching and munching we got onto some tea tasting.

Now we are all familiar with the cute P.G Tips talking monkey and his friend Al who have been regaling us with some rather hilarious adverts on the telly for a while now, but are you aware of the vast range of teas available with P.G.Tips? Also, did you know that drinking Tea regularly helps keep cholesterol levels low?

For all green tea aficionados – here’s a fab tip from Jane – Green Tea is best brewed at 80 C because adding boiling water will make the tea taste bitter. Useful tip knowing this, knowing that green tea has many health benefits – it helps cleanse the kidneys aids weight loss and is great for keeping age related diseases at bay.

We tasted several teas including the new P.G.Tips range of fruity, herbal and green teas.

With a sudden flurry of activity the room was abuzz with an electric energy and the very charming and rather famous Master Chef – Marco Pierre White was in the kitchen with us. Gasps and silent whispering later we gathered around as he showed us how to cook the perfect steak and took us through a taste test. Steak which was rubbed with just sea-salt and pepper and steak rubbed a little olive oil and a Knorr Beef Stock Cube. Opinions for the which tasted the best strongly leaned in favour of the ones flavoured with the Knorr stock cube due to it’s rich meaty taste with well balanced herbs and spices.

Then Chef Marco made a rich, creamy sauce using my favourite Knorr 3 peppercorn flavour pot and a whole bottle of Worcestershire sauce, which paired with the perfectly cooked steaks seasoned with Knorr Beef Stock Cubes went down a real treat.

We were then given workstations and assigned the task of cooking up one main dish in pairs. Fiona and me had to cook up a curried parsnip soup and flavour it using the versatile Knorr vegetable stock cubes. I must say that it was only when the masterchef stepped in to take over that the soup actually turned out really amazing…well, no shame in admitting that the Masterchef knows best right? 🙂

This is one picture that I am going to really treasure forever!

The charisma of this great personality filled the room with an unmistakable electric energy. And yet inspite of his obvious charm he came across as very humble and very real as he shared his experiences of working in a professional kitchen at the very start of his star studded career.

The other bloggers made Bruschetta with fresh tomatoes and Knorr Mixed herb flavour pot, a simple bolognese sauce and Risotto al Funghi – all using various Knorr flavour pots and sauces.

As you can see they also had great fun posing;)

After a fabulous lunch sharing the food we had prepared together we then had a baking masterclass with Stork expert baker Sue Batty. We made fluffy cupcakes and Sue gave us complete rein to let our imagination run wild with the toppings and flavourings. The end result of course was a combination of colourful and delicious cupcakes.

After we were given goody bags stuffed to the gills we were dropped off to the station, bringing to an end a fabulous day packed with masterclasses, cooking with a masterchef, getting excellent tips from a tea and baking experts.After a rainy and chilly journey back home I enjoyed my evening cuppa with not one but 2 cute P.G.Tips company as Fiona’s monkey decided to come home with me. As you can see from the picture below, both of these naughty monkeys tried to sabotage my cuppa;)

Keep an eye out the cute limited edition monkey available with certain packs of P.G.Tips – I want to collect them all!

*With thanks to Master Chef Marco Pierre White, Tea Expert Jane Pettigrew, Baking Expert Sue Batty ,Unilever and the entire PR team for a fabulous day out. No monetary compensation was offered for a positive review. As always all opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

London’s Hottest Food Trends with Loyd Grossman

August 21, 2014 by manjirichitnis 14 Comments

Excited to know that I would be introduced to Londons Hottest food trends at an ”Evening of flavour” I made my way to the Underground Cookery School – @cookinglesson . I love going to events hosted at this venue and I seem to have developed a great comfort level with the warm staff who always make our evenings special.

The mention of Loyd Grossman sauces – @LoydFood #GetFlavour- brings to mind their telly ad showing the man himself as a young boy keen savouring food seasoned with sauces made by him and that always comes back to when I see the bottles on supermarket shelves, as it did when I saw a huge table full of various jars and sachets of their cooking sauces .

Cru Coffee aka Cru Kafe – @crukafe , helped set the mood for the evening with their rather nice looking coffee based cocktails and many of the bloggers even tried their hand at mixing some of the cocktails , but I was already under the grips of a massive hay fever attack around that time and steered clear of the cocktail counter, although I must admit it took all of me to not steal a sip or two off my friends glass – darned Hayfever …. few months of sunshine with an opportunity to drink cold beer and eat plenty of ice cream and this mad Hayfever keeps me away from all of it …

Predicting food trends is probably as or even more difficult than predicting who stocks will rise or fall in the stock market, but The Food People – @thefoodpeople – seem to have it all figured out and they shared some of their research with us, foodies, that evening. Their research also takes into consideration what the Twitterati and food bloggers talk about, and is an indication of the future of food blogging in a way me thinks..

A staggering 37000 food outlets cater to London’s hungry tummies alone, which is quite a number,one that makes one wonder what tricks one would need to have up their sleeves in order to survive and stand out from the crowd?! So what exactly are the Hottest Food Trends that will dominate London city ,and rule the cities taste buds?

The folks at The Food People shared :

Burgers ,fries and all things American are here to stay including the rather fantastic cronut! ( Cronuts,Duffins and now Crodough – what WILL people come up with next ?!) (I had a huge craving for sinking my teeth into a juicy burger with smoky crispy bacon yesterday and I did just that by cajoling my colleagues – they didn’t need much coaxing really , to go to our fav high street burger haunt – I guess that says a lot about how trends affect our choices huh? )
The magic of Mediterranean cuisine is not going to fade anytime soon, so lovers of Greek and Lebanese food – rejoice!
Mash – ups ( think ”Ramen burgers” (!!) and ”Nacho lasagne” ) are hot right now too, classic meets new age mantra in a savoury war with gastronomically pleasing results – who can complain?

Top Trending styles are :

Small plate or tapas style dining with loads of opportunity to sample various dishes and have sharing platters doing the rounds. I can safely say I like the sound of this trend the most.( I spent yesterday evening at an authentic Spanish tapas bar and I can easily say that it is something I enjoyed thoroughly and my opinion is no way skewed by nature of having consumed over 6 glasses of the most delicious Sangria I’ve ever had!)
Meaty, smoky, spicy and moorish – no not the only BBQ food just plain and simple ”Dude Food” has charmed not just the dudes !

The flavour trending in 2014 is CHILLI – whether fiery or sweet, Chilli that is the STAR of the trend wagon! Now that one made me smile! ( I love using chillies in my cooking, think it has to do with how we prepare and relish our food back in India ,where chilli powder has a place of prominence in our beautiful round spice boxes which are a must in every Indian kitchen. So enamoured am I that even though I have very less space in my kicthen the size of a postage stamp , I still went ahead and purchased 2 small potted chilli plants one with bright yellow chillies and one with with deep aubergine coloured ones to keep on my kitchen window sill. They taste so good, promise to have them feature in my recipe posts soon! )

Future Trending cuisines are going to be Persian ( fresh,light and plenty of choice for vegetarians! ) , Israeli ( Lucky me I have an autographed copy of Ottolenghi’s book ,thanks to FBC this year!) and Greek ( Not the heavy ,oily stuff that been churned out but the beautiful,authentic flavours that feel like summer on your plate!)

John Quilter also known as the ‘Food Busker’ – @JohnQuilter – then went on to cook some brilliant fusion food for us using Loyd Grossman cooking sauces , all the while entertaining us and telling us how he has added his own imaginative touch to all the dishes based on the food trends. This fusion of food and format came onto our plates as :

Lobster Thermidor with juicy, buttery lobster in a cheesy pot with a small amount of samphire for that salty taste of the sea.

Korean Fried Chicken topped in a thin ,drippy batter infused with vodka which lends a fabulously crisp quality to the coating ,so unlike thick bulky batters that we see otherwise.These were topped with ribbons of crunchy spring onion which were dipped in ice cold water to give it a sharp crispy edge.These vanished off the plates as they were passed around , I lost count of how many wings I gobbled that evening 😉

We also had Sashimi, Iberico Schnitzel and oxtail sliders. All finished by a show stopping Panacotta with just the right wobble beautiful vanilla specks all over with a side of peaches smothered in amaretto and a crumbly sprinkling of buttery crushed biscuits.

So Londoners , those food trends should keep up in the know of how the food scene in our vibrant ,multi-cultural melting pot will be tickling our taste buds. Thanks to the ‘Food Busker’ we relished food that has yet to hit city restaurant menus created using the well researched and flavourful sauces from Loyd Grossman. So next time you are in a mood for a culinary adventure and shudder at the thought of cooking from scratch ,confidently reach out for a jar of one of these sauces knowing that it can create something as brilliant as the Korean Fried Chicken! ( Need an easy recipe to make some yourself this long weekend? Give me a shout in the comments below and will send you the recipe that was shared with us ,in a flash !)

Disclaimer: With Thanks to Loyd Grossman Sauces for a fabulous ‘ evening of flavour’ with the Food Busker – John Quilter. Many thanks to Cru Coffee and the efficient team at Underground Cookery School.

Blossom Hills new Sun Kissed Red and White wines – a great way to enjoy fruity wines in the Summer!

July 6, 2014 by manjirichitnis 9 Comments

Hope all you folks are making the most of the sunny climate! Bbq’s ,picnics and loads of great days out with the family! Am sure most of you have enjoyed drinking Blossom Hills wines , I certainly have and am now a great fan of the fruitier newly launched summer ready wines called the new Blossom Hill Sun Kissed Red and White wines.

When I was invited to a blogger launch party I walked into a pretty room all done up like a fab picnic in the park , a faux green grass carpet included !

One sip of the chilled fruity red wine and I was sold! It makes drinking red wine for those just starting out especially so much easier because these wines are much lighter ,sweeter and taste great with all the usual summer party essential and will go well with barbecued meats and grilled veggies as well. I also think because the red is so light on the system it makes it way easier if you enjoy say one glass of red every evening while catching up say Midsomer Murders on the telly …my way of unwinding after a long day!Traditional Rose wines enthusiasts in particular will enjoy this new red.

A mixture of ripe summer fruits and strawberry flavours envelope your palate making the red wine a light and easy drink.

This table with nibbles was so much fun and I loved the jelly a lot 🙂

Moving onto the white which I loved too, I am quite the white wine fan and this light white with luscious juicy fruits and peachy notes was so good ,it almost made me want to plonk onto the fake grass on one of those lovely picnic blankets and grab one of the books and enjoy the rest of the afternoon just sipping chilled wine and reading!

But more hard work lay ahead 😉 , a pamper session by Illustrated Nails where I got a complimentary manicure in a dark chocolate nail colour, we even got 2 lovely white and red nail colours in our goody bags 🙂

These red and white summer wines are best enjoyed chilled , a great way to enjoy the long summer evenings.What I like most about lighter fruitier wines is that they are great to serve and gift to those that drink only occasionally and regular wine enthusiasts alike.Because they are not as heavy as traditional wines they are just perfect for the hot summer weather , in fact I’d say they are the new summer picnic basket essential!

Blossom Hills Sun-Kissed Red and White wines are available nationwide in ASDA,Morrisons and Sainsburys.

*Many thanks to Blossom Hill wines for the invite .

Samsung Food Show Case Refrigerator Launch – a Tall,Sleek and smart Fridge!

June 19, 2014 by manjirichitnis 11 Comments

I always thought that Central London would have cramped accommodation but that notion was blown to bits when I took a house tour the very modern but charming – Violin Factory – Conversion of a crumbling old ruin that the old violin factory was into a fully equipped, functional house ,ney a luxurious loft-style home!Also the venue for the UK launch of Samsung’s latest innovation a 28.5 cu ft shiny ,smart refrigerator with multi functional space organising and energy-saving design.

The V.P of Consumer Electronics for Samsung UK & Ireland Robert King took us through the features and utility of the Samsung Food Show case Refrigerator.

What better way to showcase such snazzy features than by calling in a professional declutterer to the celebrities – Vicky Silverthorn(Yes! That sounds like an awesome profession to be in right?!) . Vicki took us through simple but brilliant ideas on how to organise space in the kitchen and optimise utilisation of all available space inside the Samsung Food Show case Refrigerator.

While we bloggers sat down to enjoy Champagne , the efficient team of chefs led by Michelin Starred Chef Mikael Jonsson of Club Des Chefs served us canapes ,followed by Tapas style mains including Pork Belly.

FoodScape Photographer Carl Warner who’s foodscapes are all works of art , created a foodscape inspired by the Samsung Food Show case Refrigerator. And why not I say the Innovative Organization with Easy Access to On-The-Go Items is good enough to inspire art.

Why the name Food Show Case ? Well, the most intriguing part of the design for me was the Inner and Outer cases ,its like a opening a huge pop up book! The space available in this refrigerator can be sensibly utilised and actually customised to easily organize your food by type or family member.The exterior showcase gives you instant access to drinks and condiments – Perfect for frequently used items, while the Inner Case lets you store large, fresh food items.Think little people who love opening the refrigerator door just to gaze inside or cool themselves on hot summer afternoons 😉 not to mention the menfolk who love admiring the beer stacked inside – wonder why 🙂 . No surprise then that this Samsung refrigerator not only meets ENERGY STAR® requirements, it exceeds them!

L-R :Robert King – V.P – Consumer Electronics Samsung,Vicki – the decluttering guru,Carl Warner – FoodScape Photographer

Metal Cooling locks in cold and seals in freshness while the sleek and smart stainless steel paneling helps maintain consistent temperature throughout the refrigerator and it does good things to the external appearance of this beauty.Don’t we all want things to be as simple as pressing a few buttons and set things in place , well the external Ice Blue Digital Display does just that !! It allows you to easily control settings at the touch of a button. The freezer design is again pretty smart Thats not all ,the Automatic In-Door Ice Maker can produce up to 4.2lbs of ice per day and stores up to 5.5lbs of ice! You can get crushed ice too!Woohoo bring on the parties ,barbies in summer, kiddie birthdays with icy cold drinks and the cocktail and cheese nights for us adults!

High-Efficiency LED Lighting emits less heat and is more energy-efficient than conventional lighting. The sleek design saves more space than traditional incandescent light bulbs.

Need more convincing ? It comes with a vacation function – smart for when your away for long periods it saves energy and there’s always something to come back to when your back late with a hungry family in tow. As far as I can think of Samsung has thought of everything one could wish for! This fridge gets top marks and is on my want list ,I would love to have one in my kitchen – cough cough anyone at Samsung listening? 😉 Space, utility, common sense, energy saving,child safe lock function,vacation mode ,adjustable shelves,a smart double door to ensure easy access to things that one needs the most – the Food Show case has it all, combined with its sleek ,modern good looks it will fit well into any kitchen – modern or rustic alike!

I manged to find time to chat up Vicki and she gave me some fab wardrobe organisation tips especially for the n number of black trousers I possess! After which we were taken on a tour of The Violin Factory, I couldn’t help but think of how fab this conversion home is for a fashion model photo shoot, wat with one of the main bedrooms that is equipped with a concealed jacuzzi and the fabulous skylights. There is a fab nook at the very top – a desk where your creative juices would absolutely flow unabated! Sigh… think dream house!

With all the trapping of fab evening – delicious food , interesting conversation, a superb product and a brilliant venue , the folks at Samsung know how to throw a party! Now all I need is a complimentary Samsung Food Show Case fridge for my kitchen;)

*With thanks to Samsung for the invite .

Wine Pairing made easy by Waitrose Cellar

May 22, 2014 by manjirichitnis 2 Comments

On a fine evening last week when the sun suddenly decided to shine upon us Londoner’s I happened to be invited to a blogger bash to celebrate the launch of Waitrose Cellar – the new online wine service by Waitrose ,at the London Canal Museum.

With over 1200 interesting & exclusive wines,Champagnes & spirits to choose from at Waitrose Cellar online you can order any 6 wines with free delivery.The best part is the Waitrose Cellar experts hand pick mixed cases and they are just a phone call away to address any queries you may have related to their wines ,but if you’d rather do the food and wine pairing yourself ,there’s a wealth of knowledge on the Waitrose Cellar website where you can browse through 40 articles, watch over 150 tasting videos and read ratings on product pages,you can even learn how to expertly pop open a bottle of champagne!

Our wine experts for the evening – Stèphane and Xenia set the mood for the evening by popping some champagne.Stèphane started with a level 3 award in wines and spirits from WSET and perfected his wine knowledge to become a wine waiter, then head sommelier before he became part of the Waitrose Cellar team. Xenia a Master of wine (2003) came to Waitrose last December ,with 24 years experience in the wine trade, she has worked as an independent wine consultant,a buyer for a large brewery,retailer and wine importer. After a spot of introductions over some champagne and starters I chatted with some very familiar friendly faces. It’s then that I noticed my name badge had a little picture of a glass of red and some others had picture of white wine on their badges ,the red wine gang set sail with Stèphane and the white wine badges went off with Xenia.We were taken onto a traditional canal boat to sail along the Regent’s Canal ,sample some of the brilliant Waitrose wines while Stèphane, took us through the story behind each wine and got us to think how best we could pair our wine with various mains.

If like me you’ve never sailed before on a traditional canal boat these beauties come equipped with a cute compact kitchen, ‘leisure’ accommodation and a nice little seating area for socialising which we promptly abandoned for a place on the deck, after all who can resist the soft evening sunlight and the light cooling breeze while sipping some fine wine and dreaming of delicious food to pair it with! While sipping on Prosecco, Stèphane shared a naughty little trick to amp up your sweet bakes,he adds just a tiny pinch of pepper along with some salt ,takes the tooth-grinding sweet edge off the bake and gives just the right hint of flavour,am definitely going to give this fab idea a try soon!

We started with tasting the white wines ,of the white wines we tried I loved the Cave de Lugny Sparkling Burgundy Blanc de Blancs NV the most ,perfect for summer parties and nibbles.This Chardonnay from Burgundy has a fresh, crisp, apple and citrusy flavour makes it really easy sparkling wine to drink. Also quite liked the Vasse Felix Sauvignon Blanc/ Semillon,which is a very dry,fresh western Australian Sauvignon which would go really well with fresh seafood,steamed greens by the side or a sinful portion of gnocchi with toasted pine nut and fresh green basil pesto. This white,I daresay is even better than the other Antipodean varieties like Chardonnay. Moving on to red’s, by which time we had passed through the Reagent’s Canal and am sure managed to gulp some stray drops of water falling off the musty old bridge as well, but am sure we were either honestly engrossed in conversation or blissfully unaware of anything expect how much fun we were having by then , which I shall safely blame on the progressive climb towards feeling pleasantly buzzed – no , not shamelessly tipsy.Am eagerly waiting to once again savour the Waitrose Chianti Classico Barone Ricasoli. This full-bodied Tuscan red is a delight on the palate with its woody notes and velvety texture,perfect for grilled meats and roasted peppers- think juicy kebabs with minty chutney. Made in partnership with Ricasoli family who were the first producers of Chianti , no wonder then this wine has won the Decanter Bronze Medal for classic Chianti. Before we knew it, we had worked our way through 16 different ,fabulously delicious Waitrose wines and by the time we got back to the Canal Museum we had worked up quite an appetite and speedily devoured the fab spread laid out for us.

Stèphane and Xenia continued to reveal one secret after another of how best to choose a wine just right for you and how to go about pairing food & wine.Then it was time for some speed wining – yes you heard that right Speed Wining! I’ve never been speed dating but enough hours of watching crime and romantic dramas on the telly have left me no stranger to what its all about ,only this was way more fun because we got to talk about our favourite food and wine and didn’t need to impress our very friendly bunch of fellow foodies. I think I managed to ask some rather interesting and fun questions along with some rather boring ones but the user-friendly Waitrose Cellar website made it really easy for us to look for wines that would best suit the personality and tastes in food of our speed wining partners.

Don’t we all look like we really had a great time ‘speed wining’? 🙂 And now a look at my favourites from the evening, the sparkling burgundy and classic Chianti both perfect matches for the sea food lover in me who also has a weakness for juicy kebabs,lamb curry and a major sweet tooth.

Am happy to say that as a result of our speed wining session my fellow red team mates Becky,Snigdha,Anne,Laura and May managed to almost accurately guess which type of wines I’d enjoy the most.So when the 6 wine case for each of us, sent by Waitrose Cellar online, reached me I couldn’t wait to get cooking and wine pairing!

First up of course I shall be popping some Champagne – Waitrose Blanc de Blancs Brut NV(picked for me by Laura for my love of sweet and a bit of fizz) – to celebrate becoming aunty to a bonny boy and my niece clearing her GCSE equivalent in India with flying colours!Definitely calling for some bubbly,loads of canapes and well some more bubbly 😉

For my Sunday lunch with my family I will be pairing lamb curry with Catena Malbec chosen for me by Anne .I know my dessert wine for this month will be the Limited Reserve Peachy wine from my wine case selected for me by May to appease my sweet tooth after a spicy meal. Dr. Loosen Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Kabinett will keep me company for familiar flavours of fresh seafood curries and fusion meals with scallops and soft shell crabs ,thanks to Snigdha’s choice.Waitrose Chablis picked for me by Becky who quizzed me and learnt of my love for ciders.This Chablis is so apt for a lazy summer afternoons with sea food starters.Last but certainly not the least the Sparkling Burgundy with a beautiful label that adorns the bottle ,which also is in my case,will be shared over lots of cake for a double birthday celebration with my family who are visiting us end of this month – exciting times ahead!

Feeling a bit of envious are we now? Don’t !For even you can win £1000 worth of wine specially chosen JUST for you by Waitrose Cellar Experts .Plus 5 runners-up will win a ready-made collection of Waitrose Wine Teams 30 favourite wines. Now I would certainly clink my glass to that! You can also tweet away – @waitrosewine and chat up the wine experts.

All the fabulous photos in this post are by Emma @emmakerf.

*With thanks to Waitrose Cellar for the invite.No monetary compensation was provided for this post.All views expressed are my own.