Chef Wise

A selection of celebrity chefs are set to serve up a stunning start to the festive season at Padstow's star studded 5th annual Christmas Festival, starting on Friday 7th December and closing on Sunday 9th December 2012. The Tanner Brothers and Jack Stein kick things off in style on Friday with a series of scrumptious food demonstrations and talks. On Saturday Phil Vickery of ITV's This Morning starts the day off at 10.30am followed by a fascinating food forum featuring Nathan Outlaw, Jack Stein, Carl Clarke and Mark Hix. At 2.15pm Angela Hartnett, Gaynor Coley and Polly Dent step up to the stage, followed at 4.30pm by a master class demonstration with Rick Stein and Paul Harwood. Sunday sees a further series of demonstrations, closing at 4.15pm with rising star Nathan Outlaw. Where to stay Visitor's looking for a place to stay nearby can enjoy 10 per cent off short breaks with Blue Chip Holidays and up to 20 per cent off seven night breaks. Lower Trevorgus H...

Be one step ahead of the crowd this Christmas and introduce your guests to the perfect accompaniment to all those canapés and nibbles. A dry, fino style of sherry best served chilled, Tio Pepe's palate cleansing properties enhance the flavours of savoury festive foods, meaning each mouthful tastes better than the last. Greet your guests with glasses of chilled Tio Pepe accompanied by Christmas canapés such as smoked salmon blinis or mini chorizo sausages for a memorable combination. Party essentials such as Parmesan straws, seeded crackers and salted nuts are enhanced by the bone-dry, almost savoury, taste of Tio Pepe allowing you to savour every bite. Elly Curshen, expert party caterer of The Pear Café and Catering Co Ltd in Bristol, suggests cooking a batch of Festive Pork Puff Parcels. Elly says "These Festive Pork Puffs are so easy to cook and are guaranteed to fill your house with those mouth-watering pastry smells that we all enjoy so much at Christmas. I l...

The Denhay Dorset Drum Cheddar was developed over thirty years ago as a smaller version of the Denhay Traditional 27kg rinded cheddar. Ideal for cheese boards or as a gift for discerning foodies, this 2kg mini truckle is hand made in the same way as all Denhay's West Country Farmhouse Cheddar, but matures differently. Sold at between 7-12 months, it never becomes a very strong 'roof-off-the-mouth' cheddar, but develops its own distinctive cheddar flavour, found only in a small truckle.  The Denhay Dorset Drum comes in an attractive box, relating the history of the company and the origin of the name - Dorset Drum - which was conceived from a naval drummer boy who would have been on a ship in Admiral Lord Nelson's fleet, commanded by an ancestor of one of Denhay Farms' partners, Henry Hood. Denhay Cheddar is made using only milk from our own cows. It is hand made on the farm to traditional methods, and then matured on age old wooden shelves. The natu...

A few years ago if a company wanted consumer insight they would set up a focus group and provide some incentive to a small group of people to sit in a room for a few hours and answer questions about a product, service, or brand. However in a bids to expand their reach and really tap into the minds of the consumer,  Merchant Gourmet  have decided to turn this conventional function on its head by expanding their social networking community to develop a new online focus group.   Dubbed “Foodie friends”, it has been set up through the simple process of funnelling followers from Facebook and Twitter into a more intimate and structured online community. Developed with the aim of receiving impartial feedback about their products and engagement methods Merchant Gourmet  believe that this idea will steer away from manipulated conversation that is often associated with traditional focus groups, and encourage people to feel free to share their honest thoughts and opinio...

To mark its first birthday, Roti Chai is hosting a series of Monday evening Supper Clubs in its Dining Room with the emphasis firmly on having some fun. Since launching late last year, Roti Chai has established both its Street Kitchen and Dining Room, with their distinctly different vibes and separate kitchens, as destination restaurants each in their own right - with a loyal following and profile guests including amongst others the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Alan Yau, Georgio Locatelli and Madhur Jaffrey. The all-day diner-style Street Kitchen serves traditional Indian street snacks and rustic 'Road & Rail' curries whilst the brasserie-style Dining Room is open for dinner with a Modern Indian menu of Street inspired small plates and contemporary takes on Regional and Seasonal specialities from across the Sub-Continent. The ethos at Roti Chai is all about innovative honest well-executed menus, which have involved owner Rohit Chugh and his team trialling hundreds...

Attention all Pie Makers  – the 2013 British Pie Awards are fast approaching and are now open for entries. The highly successful British Pie Awards, now in their fifth year, invite entries from all professional butchers and bakers to take part in these prestigious industry awards. Judged by some of the countries most respected food writers and chefs; the awards comprise of twenty individual classes of pie – with pie makers competing to be crowned the ultimate ‘Champion of Champions’. 2012 was the most successful British Pie Awards ever. More than nine hundred pies were entered, from over one hundred and forty producers and judged by a panel of ninety experts. The 2013 Awards take place in Melton Mowbray at the end of April 2013. This year judging takes place on Wedneday 24 th  April, and successful pie makers from each class will be invited to an all new Awards Pie Lunch on Thursday 25 th  April. In addition to the new Awards Pie Lunch for 2013, new ...

Food lovers will know there is nothing more satisfying than eating the fruits of your own labour, which is why Hell Bay on the tiny island of Bryher, Isles of Scilly, has created a  Wild Food Foraging Break . The package includes six diverse foraging walks across the untamed Scilly isles where an abundance of seasonal foods grow in the wild - talk about a free lunch!  Led by Wild Food Expert Rachel Lambert, who is well known for her knowledge of the countryside, guests will be sure to find a feast of unique and rare plants which they can take back to the hotel's kitchen. Here the experience continues with Head Chef, Glenn Gatland, using the best of the wild seasonal tastes to produce an elegant, mouth-watering dinner. Each day guests will have the option to join one or two leisurely walks where they'll discover the secrets of wild food on Scilly, take in the views and forage for their dinner. DATES: April 17 - 20, Sept 20 - 23 Costing £695pp, including 3 nigh...