Greek the new Italian?

At the beginning of the year I was asked to put forward my food trends for 2007 and one of the tastes on the top of my list was ‘Greek Cuisine’. Of course Spanish cuisine has been enjoying huge popularity overseas for years now thanks to the work of our fabulous Spanish new wave chefs many of them inspired by El Bulli and Spanish gastronomic guru Ferran Adria. But despite the movie ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’ inspiring a resurgence of plate smashing, Greek cuisine and restaurants have remained within the minority unless you happen to live in Greece. Until this year that is! New York magazine has declared Greek food this years top trend and an interest in Greek everything has exploded. Restaurants, Recipes, Cookbooks, you name it, if its Greek it’s HOT! Tourism to Greece as a foodie destination is quickly growing and there are now a multitude of Greek cooking schools that cater for the ‘gastro tourist’ who now requires not only snapshots but also recipes to return home with.

Fly Me To The Moon

If your idea of a fabulous long weekend is checking into a hotel to admire the view and enjoy some room service then a must for your list of possible establishments must be the ‘Galactic Suite Space Hotel’ although you’ll have to wait until 2012 to check in. Xavier Claramunt a Barcelona based architect is promising a 3 night stay in his space hotel, 300 miles in orbit for a mere 3 million Euro. Claramunt says he believes that there are at least 40,000 of us here on earth that can actually afford his luxury getaway. Perhaps not the most relaxing long weekend experience though as guests will use Velcro suits to crawl around their pod style hotel rooms by sticking themselves to the walls a la Spiderman. Showering will also be a challenge to say the least as guests will have to enter a spa room filled with floating bubbles of water. No news yet as to the galactic goodies on the roomservice menu, but Oh My God…. Just think of the view. Guests will be able to watch the sun rise 15 times per day! Although I cant help worrying about the zero gravity toilets… To make your reservation send an email to reservations@galacticsuite.com

Plastic is not so Fantastic

Ahhhh..... Research, Research Research. So much of it being done and so much of it being available to us these days its getting hard to know which study results to take seriously. Once upon a time the future looked bright in the world of ‘plastics’ but as more and more designer drinks and miracle waters hit the beverage market in their prettily branded plastic bottles you may want to think about the recent results of yet another study that were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. A research team at Duke University have found that exposure to bisphenol A, a chemical widely used in the manufacture of plastic bottles and food containers, can alter genes in fetal mice. A couple of scarey things happened to the poor mice. Apart from the exposed rodents becoming prone to obesity, diabetes, and cancer as adult mice, their fur also turned bright yellow! The study did not examine the effects of the chemical in humans who consume food and beverages stored in plastic so I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.

Master Porridge Maker of the World

If you love your porridge and want to taste the best porridge in the world you’ll now have to make the journey to Scotland. Maria Soep from Kilchrenan, Argyll has walked away with the coveted Golden Spurtle, or stirrer, at a competition where a dozen cooks from across the UK had gathered for a tense porridge cook-off where the appearance, consistency and taste of their oats were evaluated. The reigning porridge champ, now officially titled 'Master Porridge Maker of the World' claims that pinhead oats bought from Oban on Scotland's west coast are the secret behind her success. Aside from that she says don’t forget to soak them overnight, added a bit of salt and some good water.

Spanish Health The Best In Europe

News from typicallyspanish.com this week. The health of the Spanish people is among the best of Europeans according to a new study of the Academy of Healthy Ageing. The Mediterranean diet and the Spanish quality of life mean that the average life expectancy in Spain is now 70 years for men and 75.3 for women. The numbers are beaten only by the Italians at 71 and 76 years. The report says that that in the Mediterranean Countries not only do people live longer, they enjoy a better quality of life than others in the E.U. So for those of us enjoying the expat lifestyle, fingers crossed that a little of this will rub of on us! However there IS a bad side to the numbers. The low birth rate here, coupled with the long life expectancy, will make Spain one of the countries with the OLDEST population in the world.

Chef Shortage?

Whilst British cuisine continues to gather a growing reputation for world-class cuisine, it is facing a shortage of skilled chefs, according to reports from the BBC. Chefs of ethnic origin are the most in demand, and some experts are now calling for fast-track immigration of foreign-trained, expert chefs to help deal with the problem. However restaurant industry experts argue that it’s the pay and working conditions that need to be improved to attract more skilled chefs towards the industry in general and with the multitude of celebrity chefs now hitting our TV screens the hospitality industry could also be suffering due to the unrealistic portrait that chefs paint of their profession. Peter Harden co-editor of Harden's restaurant guides says "It does seem so sexy on TV, but it's a lie isn't it? You are spending your entire life in a hot, stainless steel box. All the glamour is on the other side of the kitchen door."

Sausage Roll 101

News today that Britain is experiencing a nationwide craving for sausage rolls. Due to the recent onslaught of rain, a yearning for comfort food and a £3 million national advertising campaign for sausage rolls featuring Paddy McGuinness of Phoenix Nights fame, sausage roll sales have surged. Ahhhhhh..... The sausage roll. As an Aussie, for me a sausage roll brings back memories of mum pulling huge trays of the things out of the oven (homemade of course) to serve at almost every special occasion. ACDC even wrote a song about them. “It’s a long way to the shop when you wanna sausage roll” No wait!....... It was actually “It’s along way to the top if you wanna rock and roll” but most of us sang the sausage roll version as kids. I suppose it was the Brits that took the sausage roll down under in the first place, but how did the original concept of the sausage roll come about I wonder? A quick google brings up a very amusing theory on Uncyclopedia. Something about an English lord back in 1647 who was understandably starving after battling the forces of evil back then, and rode into the nearest farm demanding to be fed pork pies. Unfortunately the farmers wife was a terrible cook and hadn’t mastered the art of the pork pie. She had however mastered the art of rolling pastry crudely around minced pig meat, but I won’t tell you what else they say she added to the dubious mix. If anyone out there has any more credible info on the history of the good old sausage roll, feel free to comment. Meanwhile I’ll leave you with a fabulous sausage quote from Otto von Bismark a Prussian and German statesman of the 19th century: "To retain respect for sausages and laws, one must not watch them in the making." Also given as "People who enjoy sausage and respect the law should not watch either being made" Judging by the list of ingredients in the farmers wifes sausage roll mix I'd say that quote goes just as well with sausage rolls!

Beauty Gordon!

British chef Gordon Ramsay must be feeling mighty confident these days. He has just conquered New York to become the holder of the MOST Michelin stars in the world. The chef's New York eaterie 'Gordon Ramsay at The London' has been awarded two stars, making his overall Michelin stars tally a whopping 12! The honors come after the restaurant was slammed when it first opened back in January this year with food critics gaily throwing around descriptions of Ramseys food as 'overcooked', 'rubbery', 'leathery' and 'a distinct disappointment'. His Gordoness says "It is a great honour to have received two stars from the Michelin Guide in our first year. To achieve such recognition means a huge amount and I am very proud of chef de cuisine Josh Emett, the maitre d' Jean- Baptiste Requein and our very talented team."

How To Cook Your Life

Move over 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' Here comes Zen and the Art of a Good Meal! We have german filmmaker Doris Dorrie to thank for the latest food movie to hit our screens and judging by the trailer its definitely a movie that will give you some food for thought. A documentary film featuring Zen master, cook, baker and cookbook author Edward Espe Brown as he explores the guiding principles of Zen Buddhism as they apply to the preparation of food as well as life itself. Truly a movie for passionate cooks ‘HowTo Cook Your Life’ really brings home that old saying ‘You are what you eat’. Catch the trailer on YouTube.com

Sweet Dreams Are Made Of Cheese

How the hell did I miss this? It's Moldy Cheese Day! Only problem is I’m not sure if it’s a national thing in America or an International event, but who cares? I LOVE cheese. The great thing about Moldy Cheese Day is that it gives me an excuse to give you some interesting cheese facts. Did you know that eating cheese just before bedtime can not only aid a good nights sleep but the type of cheese you choose will affect the type of dreams that you have? A few years ago and in-depth cheese and dreams study was carried out by the British Cheese Board and the study results were quite astonishing. Many people still believe that eating cheese before bedtime will give them nightmares when in fact of the 200 volunteers who participated in the week-long study, 72% slept well every night, 67% remembered their dreams and none recorded experiencing nightmares after eating a 20g piece of cheese half an hour before going to sleep. Cheese contains an amino acid called tryptophan which has been shown to reduce stress and induce sleep so perhaps a late night cheesy snack is not such a bad idea after all. Although you might like to choose your bedtime cheese carefully. 85% of females who ate Stilton had some of the most unusual dreams of the whole study. 65% of people eating Cheddar dreamt about celebrities, over 65% of participants eating Red Leicester revisited their schooldays, all female participants who ate British Brie had nice relaxing dreams whereas male participants had cryptic dreams, two thirds of all those who ate Lancashire had a dream about work and over half of Cheshire eaters had a dreamless sleep. The Cheese and Dreams study was the first study of its kind and the study results suggest that eating cheese before going to bed could turn sleep into a whole new adventure!

Chillout in Dubai

Dubai isn't usually a city known for restraint, but having spent over 10 years living and working there in the relentless heat I can understand the attraction of their latest novelty theme bar. They've allready got just about every theme imaginable available throughout their amazing city and now they have 'Chillout' the new 'Ice Lounge' designed to keep the locals cool and taking excess to the absolute extreme. Chillout sets the theme for yet another massive mall project in Dubai. $3 million dollars worth in fact. The bar has been constructed inside a huge freezer and is made entirely of ice shipped in from Canada. Everything... And I do mean EVERYTHING is made from ice. The walls, the decor, and the furniture are all ice and Dubai's coolest characters chill out as they sip cocktails at 21 degrees inside the worlds trendiest freezer. Oh and don't worry about anyone catching a chill. 'Chillout' offers parkers, gloves and insulated shoes for rent!

Gwyneth and Mario hit Spain!

We reported last month on an exciting new food show being shot here in Spain. The show is called 'Spain ... On the road again and the cast hit spain this week to begin shooting the 13 part series. Gwyneth Paltrow and celeb chef Mario Batalli have hit the road along with Spanish actress Claudia Bassols and New York Times food writer Mark Bittman on a journey to discover Spains food, culture, wine and nightlife. The new show is set to air on PBS in the USA with negotiations ongoing for Spanish and Latino networks.

Booze Makes You Deaf!

Hows your hearing these days? When you pop down to your local wine bar, do you ever have a hard time hearing conversation around you? Perhaps find yourself having to ask people to repeat themselves and then blame it on the background noise in the bar? The reason I ask is that a new study suggests that it may not just be because of the noise in the bar. UK researchers have found that ALCOHOL seems to temporarily drain a person's hearing - particularly when it comes to discerning the sounds of conversation. In a study of 30 healthy volunteers, they found that as participants drank, their hearing became less acute and lower frequency hearing, which is necessary for discerning speech, suffered the most. They are calling this new phenomenon ‘Cocktail Deafness’ but don't let that fool ya as Cocktails were not the only things being sipped by the volunteers. Actually it’s not so surprising to hear that alcohol affects the hearing. It affects pretty much everything else as well. In general, the researchers found, the higher a volunteer's alcohol level - as measured by breath test -- the greater the deterioration in hearing. The hearing loss tended to be more significant in relatively older volunteers, as well as those who said they had a history of heavy drinking. The researchers are not too clear on just WHY drinking alcohol may have this effect, but they say that alcohol could either damage the auditory nerves or affect the brain's processing of sound. Ahh well! The eyes, and the back have already gone, I guess the ears are next. Cheers! Or should I say ChEARS?.

"EAT MY FOOD... FEEL MY FORK!"

Hey this tickled me this morning……… Yet another example of the powers of advertising. If you haven’t seen the ‘QOURN’ add on TV, it’s a commercial for a vegetarian ready meal, where a school girl sitting down to dinner with her family threatens her plate-robbing brother with the words: 'Eat my food, feel my fork!' Of course the brother beats a hasty retreat as she points her fork at him looking as if she’s about to poke his eyeballs out if he touches her food. Well now a woman has performed her own version of the advertisement after coming home to find that her partner had WOLFED down the pork chop dinner she had prepared for herself. How very DARE he! Incensed, the woman took the add a stage further and actually stabbed her 56 yr old boyfriend Anthony in the leg with a kitchen knife. She said she intended only to 'prick' him with a fork as a joke, however she slipped and stabbed him behind the knee. Realising what she had done, 45-year- old Tracey Wenn immediately screamed 'I'm sorry,' and called the police and paramedics. Anthony Donkin pulled the knife out himself and the injury turned out to be not too serious. Tracey and Anthony are still together though, and despite telling police that he didn’t want Tracey to get into any trouble, the powers that be decided to press charges and she was given a nine month suspended sentence. Apparently on that fatefull night the couple were due to meet for a drink at a pub in Hull, but Tracey failed to turn up and Mr Donkin went home to their flat in Dagger Lane. Feeling a tad peckish he looked in the fridge and saw the plate of pork chops, peas, carrots and onion gravy, heated it up and polished it off. When tracey got home and asked him about her pork chops he casually replied 'I've eaten it.' That was when she lost it and shouted “EAT MY FOOD…..FEEL MY FORK”. After court Tracey told reporters “I just lost it when I found out he had eaten my tea…… They were lovely pork chops as well!” Hell Hath no Fury and all that!

What a HUGE Tosser

Imagine a salad so large it takes 20 cooks over 3 hours to put it together. That’s one hell of a big toss! 6,700 kilos of lettuce, tomato, onion, peppers and olives went into the worlds largest salad last weekend, proudly produced by the 'Association of Businessmen and Storekeepers of Pulpi' in Almeria, one of Spains largest fruit and vegetable growing areas. Of course waste not want not, after having a Guiness World Records judge confirm the new record the huge salad was distributed to local restaurants to be given free to their patrons. I just hope the dressing was on the side?

Need Atmosphere? Use a Wine Glass!

This weeks innovative invention: The new wine light. You´ve rushed home from work, Dinner is in the oven, Nibbly bits ready to go, the table is set, but it all just looks a bit drab and dreary...... well all you need is a couple of wine glasses and 'Gorgeous Helen'..... And No, Gorgeous Helen is not the latest interior decorator from Sweden, but the newest product by Anke and Katrin from the designers cooperative Dekoop in Hamburg. These innovative little mood enhancers were officially presented for the first time at the Tendence Design Fair in Frankfurt earlier this year. Gorgeous little lamp shades that fit right on top of your favorite wine glasses. Made out of fragile parchment, each set contains 3 different shades with cute and whimsical designs that are printed in a faint white. All you need to do is take them out of the package, stick a tea light into a wine glass and then pop the shades on top and your set to go.....no nasty cords and plugs in sight! you can find them at www.charlesandmarie.com

Diet Drinks Make You Fat!

Over the years i’ve constantly reassured myself that drinking low or zero calorie soft drinks has put me miles ahead on the old daily calorie counter. You know how it goes…… ¨I can have that scoop of ice cream as long as I have a diet drink with it.¨ However, according to a recent study from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, in New York, just the opposite may be true! Drinking soft drinks actually causes your body to absorb MORE sugar. Turns out that artificial sweeteners trigger the same taste receptors in the small intestine that glucose does, releasing hormones that absorb sugar into the bloodstream. So next time you reach for those choccie biscuits, or packet of crisps, it might be a good idea to wash them down with a nice glass of milk or a juice instead. That is if the ‘E’ numbers in the snack don’t get ya first!!!

Deep End Dining

This is bizarre! And I have absolutely no idea why this bunch of loonies did this other than to raise money for charity BUT….. Up to 500 wannabe mermen and mermaids joined in to help break the world record for the largest sub-aqua dinner party recently, and incase you don’t know what that is its Dinner served UNDERWATER! Yep, they all dressed in their absolute best and sat down to a three course meal in an outdoor swimming pool at the Park Club in Acton West London. The Guinness Book of Records is set to confirm exactly how many guests actually dined undewater on what sounds like an extremely limited menu. Smoked salmon, vegetables and toffee apple. Whoopee! Although I can’t even begin to imagine how hard it was for the diners to remove their aqua lung mouth pieces, fork in the food and then replace the breathing equipment while pressing a button to purge away the water all the while dressed in dinner jackets and ball gowns. What a stress free dinner that would be. In case you’re wondering, the food was served to sittings of about 20 people every 20 minutes and was prepared in jelly to stop it from disintegrating in the water. BUT WHY?

Something Fishy Going On?

Do you like a little Pilchard every now and then? Do you even know what a Pilchard is? Well apparently if you invite the average shopper to taste test a pilchard the response is likely to be a swift: "No thank you". However change their name from PILCHARDS to CORNISH SARDINES and they will fly out of that refrigerated fish display, eagerly snapped up by health- conscious customers keen to enjoy the benefits of eating oily fish. Marks & Spencer has just proven this by gaining a massive sales boom in fresh pilchards just by giving them the new name. How fickle are we? Elsewhere in the industry fishmongers and restaurants are trying the same trick by replacing traditional names such as Rat-tails and Witch with the less off-putting Grenadier and Torbay Sole. So Slimehead has become Orange Roughy, and Patagonian Toothfish sells better as Chilean Sea Bass. Not a bad idea really as traditional fishy favourites are facing dangerously low stocks due to over fishing. Just to keep you in the know….. Rockfish is now sold as Pacific Red Snapper, Dogfish has become Rock Salmon and there are rumours that Megrim will be renamed as Cornish Sole…. Sneaky huh?

New World Burrito Eating Champ

The competitive eating circuit is alive and well with ‘EATER X’ munching his way through 10 3/4 burritos in a dozen minutes last Saturday to win what was billed as the world burrito-eating championship. Not bad for a day trader and aspiring pizza chef who loves Mexican food and admits his only preparation for the big event was eating candy for a day to help clear his system. (Huh?) Over 100 spectators watched outside the Costa Vida restaurant in Maine as over a dozen competitive eaters gulped down the 18 ounce burritos stuffed with rice, pork, cheese and a mild sauce. Interesting to note that the burrito record holder Eric "Badlands" Booker was not around to defend his title. Apparently Badlands has retired fro the competitive eating circuit, however world lobster eating champ Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas turned up to finish second by downing 10 "Big Kahunas."