Liz Williams, managing director, The Real Greek, said she has introduced the calorie labelling because of the company’s commitment to supporting the goal of the Foods Standard Agency to reduce obesity in the UK through the promotion of healthier diets.

“This is not a pilot scheme. We are fully committed to delivering clear nutritional information to all our customers and we are delighted to adopt the FSA’s recommendations wholesale, rather than trial the new menu in only one or two of our restaurants. We are proud to be setting an example to the rest of the industry

.”

In January 2009, the FSA announced its initiative to see consistent nutrition information for consumers when they eat out of home.

The calorie counter has been introduced to coincide with The Real Greek’s new menu inspired by dishes local to the island of Crete. Many of the ingredients have been sourced direct from Greece, and the menu includes Santorinian fava, octopus salad halloumi melitzano, dolmades and grilled sardines. Each dish from Crete is clearly marked on the menu by an olive symbol.
The Cretan diet has been proven to have particularly positive health benefits by the Seven Countries Study. Rich in unsaturated fats from fish and olive oil, the Cretans have one of the highest life expectancies in the world.

The Real Greek has undertaken full nutritional calculations for each dish on its new menu. This data is available in the restaurants and on The Real Greek website.

For further information on The Real Greek and to view its new calorie -counted, Cretan-inspired menu, visit www.therealgreek.com

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London Restaurant Group First To Put Calories On The Menu

“Picota cherries have been grown and hand-picked by family farmers form the beautiful Jerte Valley in the region of Extremadura for hundreds of years. This unique fruit is juicy, has a deep sweet flavour and like a good bottle of wine, is protected by Denomination of Origin status – they are not grown anywhere else in the world.

You’ll notice these cherries fo not have a salk. This is beacause, in the mild, sunny climate of the Jerte Valley, Picota cherries ripen slowly – for up to twice as long as other cherries – and the stalk naturally detaches from the fruit when it is picked.”

Picota cherries are delicious eaten oin their own or in a bowl with some good quality vanilla ice cream – add a splash of Pedro Ximenez for an additional flourish. Each punnet I opened contained a recipe booklet offering differing recipes created by José Pizarro – chef patron of the Brindisa tapas restaurants. the dish pictured is a variation of their Serrano Ham and Manchego Salad. Full details can be seen on SpittoonExtra.

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Picota Cherries

Goodies in this programme include;

- A whirlwind tour of this year’s Henley Food Festival – where the crowds turned out in spite of the rain.

- a look at the famous and “refreshed” Langan’s brasserie – now with no scaffolding…

- a visit to two more fabulous Paris cafes

- The great Elena Salvoni tells how London nearly lost its most fabulous maitre(sse) d’ to the rag trade.

- Fancy some tapas? Here’s how to get the real thing – leave your passport at home.

- And a new restaurant in Kent – The Mulberry Tree – that’s becoming a true destination. (You’d never find it by accident.)

You can still watch any or all of the previous programmes at coolcucumber.tv
and all programmes are available to download and take with you to watch away from the Internet.

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Coolcucumber 7

The project is still a little under wraps, but I can tell you that production will be kicking off shortly. We need to find Britain’s most passionate home cooks, people who love to cook, and to entertain, and who would be willing to open up their home to guests to put their skills to the test.

The show will be very different to cookery shows currently on television and it takes inspiration from the current trend for Pop up restaurants

Are you a passionate Home Cook?
~
Do you have a talent for entertaining your friends and family?
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Would you like to cook for guests in your own home?

RDF Television and the BBC are looking for Britain’s most talented home cooks to take part in a new BBC series. In each show our hosts compete against each other by putting their cooking and hosting skills to the test. This show will take home cooking to impress to a whole new level.

For more information please visit www.meontv.co.uk/homecooks, contact us on 0117 970 7629, write to us at RDF Television West, Regent House, Regent Street, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 4HG or email us at homecooks@rdfmedia.com.

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Calling All Home Cooks

“Over one in four of our thousand-plus top pub recommendations has a really nice garden,” says editor Fiona Stapley. “So if the weather turns up trumps, you can enjoy all the best of British pubbing outside, in appealing surroundings. But if it turns grey, what you’ll find inside will be top-notch too.” The Guide’s spot-on descriptions take you to good waterside pubs, too – around one in twelve of the better pubs is well placed by river, sea or lake.

Backed up by countless reader reports, The Good Pub Guide 2009 is easily the UK’s bestselling guidebook to British pubs and is the only truly independent guide of its kind. The accompanying website provides browsers with access to over 55,000 pubs with features that help find the perfect destination for that special outing.

The entire list of carefully selected Good Pub Guide recommendations and descriptions from the UK’s annual guidebook is on the site with the added bonus of latest news, customer ratings and comments with space for publicans to announce ‘what’s on’ every week. Each entry has full contact details and an integrated Google map.

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The Good Pub Guide Online

She has even been getting offers from some of her diners to purchase the notes with hard UK currency, with the irony of the GBP equivalent versus the high face value not lost. The notes are made up of a 100 trillion, 50 trillion, 20 trillion and 10 trillion and were acquired when a customer recently made an unconventional request to purchase a bottle of the Thelema Chardonnay 2007 with the Zimbabwean notes.

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Bottle of Chardonnay Goes for 180 Trillion Dollars

Yu-foria will offer delicious 100% fat free, natural frozen yogurt, available in three mouth-watering flavours; original, chocolate and a surprise flavour that will change each week. As if they weren’t good enough on their own, all flavours can be topped off with a selection of toppings- with healthy options ranging from fresh fruit and granola, to marshmallow, chocolate and fudge sauces, for those of us with a sweet-tooth!

Yu-foria’s frozen yoghurt is made from an original, top-secret recipe with ingredients entirely sourced from within the UK. The ultimate guilt-free summer snack, it will satisfy the health conscious as the yoghurt is packed full of live cultures with NO artificial ingredients, flavourings, colourings or other nasties and contains only 74 calories in a normal serving. Not only good for you but good for the planet, all of Yu-foria’s packaging is made from 100% recycled or biodegradable materials and if left in the shop, will even be recycled for you.

Yu-foria’s first ever shop will be in keeping with the theme of the frozen yoghurt’s natural goodness, as 28 feet of living wheatgrass makes its home throughout the store, along with a giant 21 square foot living plant wall, complemented by natural wood, timber and exposed brick décor.

Yu-foria is the first food venture for young entrepreneur Leo Bedford. Leo says: “Food has always been a real passion of mine and we’re so excited that the first ever Yu-foria store will be opening up in such an iconic London location like Covent Garden, in the heart of the West End. We believe in a no-nonsense approach to frozen yoghurt and Yu-foria will be exactly what people want this summer- a delicious, simple, healthy treat that is completely natural.”

The Yu-foria Frozen Yoghurt Co. will be opening in Covent Garden:
Unit 19a
South Wells
Covent Garden Market, WC2E 8RB

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Yu-foria Frozen Yoghurt Co. Opens First Ever Store in London

With many people striving to reduce their wheat consumption but still wanting to eat bread and cakes, teff, a gluten free grain, which in flour form can be used as a wheatflour substitute, is available from Tobia-Teff. Those suffering from coeliac disease can also now get a prescription for a supply of the grain from the NHS. For more information, to download an NHS form, get recipe ideas or place an order visit www.tobiateff.co.uk

Teff is the smallest grain in the world and supplies more fibre rich bran and nutritious germ than any other grain. It also packs a high mineral content, with 17 times the calcium of wholewheat or barley. It takes 150 grains of teff to weigh as much as one grain of wheat which accounts for its high nutritional value. Teff flour can be cooked as porridge, added to baked goods such as bread and cakes instead of wheat flour, or even made into ‘teff polenta’. A number of recipes using teff are available on the Tobia-Teff website including gingerbread men and bread.

As it is gluten free, it is ideal for those suffering with coeliac disease (a serious, lifelong auto-immune condition triggered by eating gluten). However, it is also recommended for those participating in a lot of sport, and pregnant women, amongst others, as it has a very high iron content. It is also ideal for those looking to reduce their wheat consumption as it is widely reported that people feel positive benefits of doing so.

Sophie Sirak Kebede, Managing Director of Tobia-Teff, explains “in my homeland of Ethiopia, teff is widely used for its nutritional value, being one of the most ancient grains that grows. It is most commonly used in injera, the pancake-like base of traditional Ethiopian meals and when I owned Tobia, an Ethiopian restaurant, diners frequently commented how healthy the food made them feel and would ask to buy some of the grain. I have since spoken to nutritionists and researched the health benefits of teff and am a big advocate of substituting it in more traditional Western dishes to enable everyone to enjoy the associated health improvements.”

Tobia-Teff sells three types of teff flour – brown (£3.60 per kg), white (£3.60 per kg) and organic white (£4.50 per kg). Larger orders (20kg bags) can also be placed for businesses such as restaurants and cafes and it is also possible to buy ready made injera.

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Teff, A Gluten Free Grain

The iconic retailer will be hosting a number of Australian-themed G’dayUK activities to help raise the profile of Australian food & wine. Visitors to Selfridges’ Wonderbar will have the opportunity to sample premium Australian wines through the bar’s innovative enomatic machines which offer a wide range of wines by the glass. Dawn Davies, Selfridges Wine Buyer, will also be adding a touch of ‘Down Under’ to the store’s wine shop using themed displays and VIP wine tastings with well-known wine personalities.

Lisa McGovern, Director Wine Australia UK/Ireland/Europe commented:
“We see this as a great initiative through which Wine Australia will be showcasing the excellence achieved and diversity of fines wines now coming out of Australia. Our programme includes new and unique activities for both trade and consumers such as a tutored day for the industry led by the Australian Wine Research Institute on wine judging and evaluation plus the inaugural presentation to consumers of Matthew Jukes 100 Best Australian Wines at a glamorous evening event to be held at Australia House.”

Michelin-starred chefs Shane Osborn and Brett Graham will also be creating an Australian-themed food & wine menu exclusively for the Selfridges Restaurant using products that will be available in the Selfridges Food Hall to purchase.

Please visit the website www.gday-uk.co.uk for more information on the initiative

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G’Day UK Week

Local Food Heroes is back for its fourth consecutive year, and in 2009, it’s airing on Good Food channel’s daily show Market Kitchen. Matt Tebbutt, Market Kitchen’s very own presenter, will be championing all that’s great about regional food businesses with the aim of finding this year’s local food champion.

Market Kitchen will ask food lovers across the nation to nominate and vote for regional businesses that help put great food on our plates. Voting opens on Monday 22nd June and closes on Friday 7th August. Every vote counts, with the number of online votes dictating the top ten businesses in each of the ten regions that go through to the next round.

Once public votes are in, a panel of experts will select three finalists in each region, based on their Local Food Hero credentials (see notes to editors for the set criteria). Market Kitchen will be looking for those committed food businesses that are passionate about their craft, their customers, and their community.

After the panel have made their choices, Matt Tebbutt, who’ll be assisted by fellow Market Kitchen presenter Matthew Fort, will take a roadtrip around the country visiting the three shortlisted candidates in each region. At the end of October, the judges will select one winner from each of the ten regions as well as selecting the overall champion.

The battle hots up in November, as Market Kitchen broadcasts ten regionally themed shows across two weeks. Each regional victor will be announced at the end of each show, and in early December, all ten regional finalists will appear together where the wait will finally be over and this year’s winner will be announced. The overall champion will receive a fabulous trophy, a cheque for £5,000 and hold the highly coveted title of Local Food Hero 2009.

The competition has raised the profile of thousands of local businesses since its launch in 2006. It’s easy to help your Local Food Hero by visiting goodfoodchannel.co.uk and placing your vote.

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Market Kitchen Local Food Heroes 2009