Events Archives - Page 3 of 4 - Travels for Taste

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.

Bake Your Dreams Come True with Tate and Lyle

May 18, 2014 by manjirichitnis 4 Comments

When I was invited to the campaign launch for the Bake Your Dreams Come True in East London , I had no idea I would walking into an installation of an edible bank! This art installation is the result of research which reveals that 40% of Brits dream of ditching their day jobs to start out on their own ,of which 20% of the dream of starting their own Baking Business!

While I ate the fabulous decadent cake that made the ATM , I also admired the sugar art world map and meringue art frame and a desk complete with edible paper bank slips and pens filled with sherbet powder.

But of course the Bank of Baking Vault with edible gold coin biscotti,edible bank notes in flavours of green tea, orange zest and cherry, chocolate cake ingots was most tempting, alas we couldn’t eat the vault or it notes and ingots but were free to munch on the shortbread gold coins 🙂

All these beautiful edible art creations were made by artists Bompas & Parr.

This beautiful desk with its rustic look and feel ,with the Tate and Lyle sugar filled money bags ,for one slight moment made me feel like I was in a Harry Potter movie at Gringotts bank…. sighh..if only daydreaming could materialize into sensible dreams….well this event was certainly about an opportunity that should be seized!

I spent almost an hour speaking to financial advisors who were at the event and they explained patiently the nitty-gritty associated with venturing out on your own, how to ensure your business idea is viable to financiers and why it’s never too late to take the plunge! It was a fruitful afternoon and I left feeling very inspired to formulate my own business idea , a money spinner I hope!

The Details

Launched to inspire budding bakers to fulfill their baking dreams this wonderful initiative by Tate and Lyle offers prizes in cash rewards up to £5000 for 5 lucky baking entrepreneurs .This initial financial support will go towards set up of dream baking ventures. In addition there are prizes worth £1 million to be won too.Bakers who have been dreaming of their own cafe, a cupcake or meringue supply business or simply any budding baker with baking dreams are eligible to apply by submitting the pack code of their ‘Bake Your Dreams Come True Tate and Lyle Baking Sugar’ or ‘Lyle’s Golden Syrup Baking Bottles’

So call you budding bakers what are you waiting for ?Pull out your aprons , put on your baking hats and head here to participate! Good Luck!

*With thanks to Tate and Lyle for inviting me to this fun and informative event.No monetary compensation was provided for this post.All views expressed are my own.

Parma Ham Event at the Underground Cookery School

May 7, 2014 by manjirichitnis Leave a Comment

Returning to the Underground Cookery School this time for an event to showcase Parma Ham, I felt very much at home in the school and saw some familiar faces amongst the other invitees too. As was expected I was greeted with a glass of Prosecco that never ran dry as the evening progressed.

While Head Chef, Carlos, freshly sliced Parma Ham we tucked into starters all made using Parma Ham.Parma Ham is 100% natural and the drying process it goes through gives Parma Ham a very low fat content, with many mineral salts, vitamins, antioxidants and easily digestible proteins.Prosciutto di Parma meaning Parma Ham in literal translation is produced in hills surrounding the Parma region of Italy where the dry gentle hilly air gives this meat its unmistakable sweetness and flavour.

Amongst the many delicious apretizers ,I most enjoyed the starter with thin slices of parma ham curled around sweet pan roasted juicy pears.

To cook along with the chefs at the Underground Cookery School we were divided in two groups. Our group started of with preparing the main course for the evening :Breast of Free Range Chicken wrapped with Parma Ham, stuffed with Tarragon and Cream Cheese on top of a bed of New Potatoes, Purple Sprouting Broccoli and Spring Onion

After we all got some serious knife skill into play to cut a 1/2 ” deep pocket into the chicken breast , off they went into the oven to cook after a stuffing was added and generous layer of parma ham was wrapped around it.We then made our dessert for the evening : Meringue Roulade with Candid Parma Ham slices

The unique taste of Parma Ham is dependent on the traditional production process passed down from Roman times, carefully controlled by the Consorzio del Prosciutto di Parma. Only hams that have passed stringent curing regulations approved by the EU can be awarded the stamp of the Ducal crown – a five pointed coronet logo with PARMA in the centre which is branded onto the ham’s skin. The Ducal Crown is now a certification trademark.

No wonder then that this versatile meat can be used even in desserts to create such varied flavours!Then up my favourite bit – the pasta machine! This time around I made Tagliatelle for our starter which was : Fresh Home-made Tagliatelle with White Truffle Dressing, topped with twirls of freshly sliced Parma Ham and Parmigiano Reggiano

The dark yellow colour is attributed to the use of eggs specially coming all the way from Italy with a dark yellow yolk attributed to the chickens been fed on carrots, the beta carotene doing their thing there.Working the pasta machine and watching the Tagliatelle come out so perfect was a very satisfying experience 🙂 After all the hard work 😉 we sat down and bonded over some wine while out Tagliatelle was being served and the chicken was being plated.First up the starter looked so heavenly! Parma Ham in this delicious recipe is such a perfect combination.

The mains looked too good to eat and too delicious to resist !The purple broccoli and potatoes in perfect balance with the cooked ham and the stuffing just envelopes your tongue as it gushes out from the folds of the chicken.

The candied ham in the dessert is a lovely crunchy companion to the eggy Meringue.

Inspite of the dreaded Tube strike the turnout was very good and since the Underground Cookery School is conveniently located a short walk from Old street tube station it makes life so much easier.Underground Cookery School offers a space fun events to conduct cookery events in a easy environment making team building corporate exercises something to look forward to. You can also book the venue for parties and small gatherings.

*With thanks to The Consorzio del Proscuito di Parma for the invite.No monetary compensation was provided for this post.All views expressed are my own.

All Image are Credit: The Consorzio del Proscuito di Parma except the ones with ”sliceoffme” watermark.

Greek Easter Feast with Tonia Buxton and Total Greek Yoghurt

May 1, 2014 by manjirichitnis 10 Comments

One of the things I enjoy most about being a food and travel writer is that I am able to experience various traditions from various cultures. Also, I think it is a privilege and also an incredible opportunity to to celebrate various festivals from across the world. As an added benefit I have had the good fortune of meeting the wonderful people on my journey into exploring various beautiful cuisines and destinations.

I have cooked alongside some very talented trained Michelin-starred Chefs, home cooks, and cookbook authors too.

I am so glad that I had a chance to cook with someone as passionate as Tonia Buxton who taught us how to make a 3-course Greek feast and took us through a journey of how Easter is celebrated back in Greece, relating in a very animated manner the rituals, prayer, and festivity surrounding the occasion. Total Yogurt the makers of the deliciously thick and creamy yogurt put together this cooking fest at a Cookery School called La Cucina Caldesi located in the heart of Central London.

Tonia Buxton a Greek Cypriot is the Total Greek Yogurt Brand Ambassador and a presenter of the award-winning T.V series on Discovery Channel called ‘My Greek Kitchen’ and has also authored a book titled ‘Tonia’s Greek Kitchen’. Soon to star in a new T.V series called ‘Pauls Family Feast’ a TV show by well, Paul Hollywood 🙂

After a quick ice breaker session, we got into groups and started preparing the main dish of the meal – Greek Lamb Pattie Tray Bake. I love cooking lamb and am delighted with the similarities in Greek and Indian cuisines. We too love our spices and cumin does add a very deep flavour to lamb. If I was to make it at home though I would tweak it and amp up the spices especially the cumin and just because I love heat crushed or paper-thin slices of green chillies with seeds ummm!

Here is the recipe:

Greek Lamb Pattie Tray Bake

Serves: 4

Ingredients

100g TOTAL Greek Yoghurt
100g fresh wholemeal breadcrumbs
400g lamb mince
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp ground cumin
4 red onions (2 finely chopped, 2 cut into wedges)
Large handful mint, chopped
4 waxy new potatoes, i.e. the Charlottes cut into wedges
4 courgettes, halved & quartered lengthways
250g pack juicy cherry tomatoes on the vine
2 unwaxed lemons cut into 6 wedges each
4 tbsp olive oil
100g feta cheese, crumbled

Method

Heat the oven to 200°C / 180°C Fan / Gas Mark 6.
Put the breadcrumbs, the lamb mince, egg, plenty of seasoning, and cumin in a bowl.
Add the chopped onion and sprinkle in half the chopped mint. Give everything a good mix and shape into 8 patties.
Lightly oil a large, shallow roasting tray and add the patties.
Place the onion wedges on the tray around the lamb patties with the potatoes, courgettes, and tomatoes. Drizzle with olive oil and season. Bake for around 40 minutes, turning & basting everything once halfway until the lamb is cooked through and the vegetables are tender. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the feta and remaining mint. (We used up most of the mint and our minty lamb patties were very juicy and yum)
Serve with a large dollop of Total Greek yoghurt and tahini sauce.

While our lamb patties were cooking we played a fun Greek easter egg game with eggs painted a cheerful bright red. We had to go about smashing our egg onto everyone else and in the end, I was up against Tonia- of course, she won! Years of experience laster she has mastered the technique 🙂

We then made a Greek dessert called Anarocrema using Anari Cheese, which I flavoured with orange blossom extract, fresh fruits, and generous bits of freshly made filo pastry crispy bits. This creamy dessert is made using goats cheese and marries well with fruits, pistachios, almonds, and honey too is very filling and moreish dessert.

While our desserts were sent for chilling we got cracking on with the starter a light and superbly flavoured starter – Greek Sea Bream fillets with olives, capers, lemon, and yoghurt Tahini Sauce.

Thanks to @satureyes for the brilliant photos.

It was a very well organised event and I got an opportunity to meet so many more bloggers.Cooking up in a team with Fiona (London Unattached) and Heidi was good fun and it great to be working with familiar faces. Many thanks to @TotalGreek yogurt for the lovely event & @ToniaBuxton for her lively, warm, and friendly way of conducting the cookery workshop and sharing so many beautiful experiences.

I hope all of you had a brilliant Easter Weekend and are looking forward to another long weekend coming up!

Disclaimer: With many thanks to Total Uk and Tonia Buxton.I was not required to write a positive review and was not compensated monetarily for this post. Like all my previous posts about events and reviews, ALL opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

French Glace Cherries – Baking Masterclass

March 14, 2014 by manjirichitnis 37 Comments

When someone says cherries all I can think of is one tempting cherry sitting majestically atop a very fancy portion of Black Forest gâteau for dessert and its only the dexterity of your hands that will guarantee you get to pop the tasty little treat, of course, cherries have very many applications in baking as I was to find out at the baking day for bloggers organised by French Glacé Cherries(FGC).

We baked delicious Valentine’s treats developed and demonstrated by French baker and blogger Cindy Robert from Petit Gâteau and Food for thoughts.

To get us settled in we had some rather innovative sweet and savoury nibbles – FGC chutney with blue cheese, FGC oatcakes, FGC & chocolate brownies, mini smoothies, mini cheesecakes and my new favorite party nibble idea – crispy bacon rolled around a cherry – it’s so so good!

Images above Courtesy French Glace Cherries

A few interesting facts about French Glacé cherries They retain their flavour, shape and texture throughout the baking process. As such, they offer unbeatable quality, and reliable results every time. Good To know that they are not just apt in a traditional fruit cake, but equally at home in savoury recipes.

A Slice of History

The love affair between French confectioners and the UK goes back as far as 1868.It was then that business man Mathieu Wood, who was travelling in Provence at the time, discovered candied fruits from the Apt region and decided to import and sell them in his shops. It didn’t take long for the quality reputation of Provence glacé fruits to spread to the UK and beyond.

Images Courtesy French Glace Cherries

Around the same time, the British love of the outdoors and the development of the picnic and camping trends encouraged a preference for food that was easy to carry around. The fruit cake became very popular as it was easier to carry than the traditional pudding and offered something a bit more original. Candied fruits and French glacé cherries in particular are fun, novel and allow for a great http://phentermine-med.com amount of creativity in recipes. No surprise they quickly became a perfect addition to the fruit cake, and thus an integral part of British baking culture.

We were to bake along with Cindy, who had created two exclusive treats: French Glacé Cherry (FGC) Jelly cakes (a cherry twist on the traditional Jaffa cake) and FGC and Pistachios financiers (also known over here as friands).

I must say baking in a group is really fun vis-a vis’ my usual solitary experiments and that too at the venue which was Central Street Cookery School, at St Luke’s Community Centre was an utterly enjoyable experience.The cookery school is exceptionally well equipped and is a perfect place for all sorts of lovely kitchen experiments ! That is a very happy me melting some chocolate chips -ummm

An attentive audience we were …

My French Glacé Cherry (FGC) Jelly cakes progressed quite well and we got to carry back our bakes home, such fun I say , I had a lovely tea session with my neighbour H and her 5 year old daughter she thoroughly enjoyed the taste of these Jaffa cakes !

But my heart was in the FGC and Pistachios financiers, their eggy aroma and perfect for valentines day shape ummm ,lucky us we got the cute moulds to take home in our rather generously stuffed goody bags with the most cheerful apron I’ve got so far in bright cherry red 🙂

1-French Glace Cherries Goody Bag Deconstructed on 8th Feb'14

Did you know that it takes about 10 days for a tray of fresh cherries to become glacé cherries

Image Credit: French Glace Cherries

Disclaimer: I was invited by French Glace Cherries to attend the event and bake with Cindy using recipes developed by her. I was not required to write a positive review and was not compensated monetarily for this post. Like all my previous posts about events and reviews, ALL opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

Underground Cookery School,cooking a 3 course meal and a recipe for a Pear Souffle

November 14, 2013 by manjirichitnis Leave a Comment

When I was invited to spend an evening at the Underground Cookery School in London, never did I imagine that I would learn how to expertly joint a Pheasant , use a pasta making machine & make my first ever ravioli and stir up a souffle in minutes! All this in a matter to few hours and then get to taste all these creations with a bunch of very friendly food enthusiasts. It was a very rainy and cold evening and the very thought of an ”underground” kitchen was heart warming.After a brief introduction ( over canapes and wine) by Chef Matt Kemp, head chef and owner of the Underground Cookery School ,we were split into 3 teams and I was learning from Chef Matt how to joint a pheasant , I most enjoyed creating the stock with a little bit of flour and adding a large ladle of Chicken Stock to the flour ummm. Matt Kemp, who trained under Michael Guérard and has worked at the River Café, The Ivy and Pont De La Tour. Having read this before I got there I was I must say a bit apprehensive , never having worked in a professional kitchen that too with a professionally trained chef but I must say he was pretty happy with my knife skills with the bird and managed to get is through preparing a Pheasant Casserole in a matter of minutes. Somehow he made it seem so easy …. What I loved is how the remainder of the birds were safely kept together in a tray to be used later to make a thick stock, it somehow made me feel so very much at home ,just a warm feeling of how we would work in our home kitchen. Matt’s team fussed over us all through the evening ensuring the glasses never ran dry and I sorely regret not drinking that evening ..ah well, another time maybe 😉 That was how the casserole looked like before it went along with the other pretty Le Crusset pans to be cooked. Somehow the addition of fresh herbs just makes everything look prettier! I have always wanted to use a pasta making machine and this was my chance, though I did almost mange to pass my hand through the machine, only to salvage my fingers in the nick of time , I guess I have have to just practise really hard before I can hope to match the trained chefs dexterous hand movements and finesse with the super fine pasta flour. It is magical how flour and egg together can be transformed into an uber malleable pasta dough. The idea of a pumpkin ravioli was quite appetising ,it just has a very autumn and halloween like ring to it me thinks. After adding just a blog of the pumpkin into the perfectly round pasta discs just dab a little bit of water along the sides, it acts like a sort of a glue to seal of the dough into a beautiful and perfect parcel. I cannot decide what I enjoyed the most , was it learning to make the perfect pasta dough (without passing my palm through the machine) or learning how to make a souffle but I will say this, there is no joy bigger than seeing a superbly well risen souffle emerge from the oven and dust sugar onto it like a thin sheath of snow envelope the lightly browned top.Putting my spoon through the souffle was undoubtedly the high point of the evening. PEAR SOUFFLE The team at The Underground Cookery School was kind enough to share all the 3 recipes with us and here I shall share the Pear Souffle recipe with all of you , please do drop a comment here if you would like the other 2 recipes . Mind you, separating an egg white using your hands is not as bad as you think and no matter how many fancy gizmos you have at home aka egg separators , there is joy in being able to do it just right by getting your hands dirty :). A top tip from the chef, enusure that you do not leave even a tiny spot dry and smother the inside with butter well before dusting it with sugar, taking care not to leave any dry spots inside before adding the pear and egg white mix. Pear Soufflé Serves: 4 Ingredients:

6 Pears Juiced
125g sugar
1tsp corn flower
4 egg whites
Juice of one lemon
Pinch Of Salt

Method:

Butter the ramaquins and dust with 25g of sugar; put in fridge.
Make a Pear juice with 6 pears and 50g of Sugar
Add water to one tea spoon of corn flour and put mix into heated Pear stock. Now add the juice of half a lemon. Reduce down over the hob. The mix should be the consistency of wall paper paste.
Wisk egg whites to a ribbon whilst mixing in 50g of caster sugar. Add a few drops of lemon juice AND A PINCH OF SALT as you go along.
Put one spoonful per soufflé into a bowl and fold in 1/3 of of the egg white to the paste. Then fold in the balance.
Put mix into a ramaquin, smooth over and run finger round the circumference of the ramaquin.
Put in the oven for 8 mins at 160o.

I am so in love with the pear souffle that I decided to make it at home too!But unfortunately had to rush to India as mum had to undergo an operation. But I do promise to post pictures of the homemade souffle once am back.

After all that hard work ,Chef Matt’s team got busy with getting the food to us at the table and let us sit back and relax while they worked hard.Ah, a really efficient ,friendly and polite team he has there , a real pleasure to work with! So with framed photographs like the one below all round our table we tucked into our 3 course supper .Though I did not eat the pheasant I did eat the veggies in there. (I am particularly pleased with my photos taken using my Samsung Galaxy S3 phone camera, love the clarity and am so happy that the kitchen was well lit !) It was an incredible evening in many ways because of the bloggers who came together that evening , I meet some really warm,chatty,vibrant and fun ladies and the conversation flowed as smoothly as the wine. We walked away with a goody bag which amongst other things has a scrumptious chutney and a very large bottle of olive oil infused with herbs.

PUMPKIN RAVIOLI If your looking for a brilliantly different Hen Party idea or need to get some cohesiveness back into your team at work, nothing better than getting people together around a hot stove stirring, chopping ,cutting and clinking wine glasses over a meal cooked together.

PHEASANT CASSEROLE P.S: I have written this blog article out of my own free will because I thoroughly enjoyed every single moment I spent at the Underground Cookery School.