Dangerous Dumplings

Dangerous Dumplings

The recent bout of food poisoning caused by contaminated Chinese made frozen dumplings, imported into Japan, has damaged Sino Japanese relations.

A pesticide called methamidophos was found in the dumplings made by Tian Yang Food.

The Japanese government are to send a team of officials and experts to China to investigate the case.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary, Nobutaka Machimura, said that the four-member team will be dispatched to conduct on-the-spot inspection of the factory and exchange views with officials of the Chinese government.

It is not yet clear whether the food products were contaminated during the production and transportation process in China. However, small holes have been found in some of the packages.

Several hundred people throughout Japan have reported discomfort due, allegedly to having Chinese food in the last few days. However, the number of people confirmed by the Japanese government as suffering from eating the poisoned dumpling remains at 10.

Restaurant Baerlin

Restaurant Baerlin

Those of you passing through Seoul, with a penchant for hearty German food, should pop into Restaurant Baerlin (baerlin is German for "little bear").

It has been given an enthusiastic thumbs up by a good friend and colleague.

Cookery Lessons

Cookery Lessons

I am very pleased to see that cooking lessons are going to be made compulsory in schools.

However, I would note that when I was a child I was taught to cook by my parents not by my school.

I would also like to ask how all schools will manage to teach cooking, given that many of them don't have kitchens?

Traffic Lights

Traffic Lights

The government is going to push food firms into adopting a single system of nutritional labelling. Currently there are three different systems being used for products in the UK.

Around 20,000 food and drink items carry one system that shows guideline daily amounts of key nutrients, but which doesn't show the traffic light colour-coding system recommended by the Food Standards Agency (FSA).

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) wants red, amber and green colours on all products to indicate the levels of fat, salt and sugar contained in processed foods.

Eight retailers, 16 manufacturers and four service providers are using this system.

The third system uses a mixture of guideline daily amounts and traffic light colours.

Health Secretary, Alan Johnson, will announce the need for a "single, simple and effective approach to food labelling used by the whole food industry".

Egg On Jamie's Face

Egg On Jamie's Face

Celebrity chef, anti battery farm campaigner and spokesman for Sainsburys' Jamie Oliver got egg on his face the other day when it was revealed that his showcase restaurant in Cornwall (15) was serving battery farm eggs.

Jamie said that "heads would roll".

The Hofbrauhaus

The Hofbrauhaus

Those of you with a yearning for German food, and an oompah band, who happen to find themselves in Seoul; should pop into The Hofbrauhaus.

I am advised by a good friend and colleague that it is an excellent establishment.

However, quite what their motto

"Hofbrauhaus Seoul is best of sweet pension

We'll see what we can do."

means is anyone's guess!

The Verona

The Verona

Those of you passing through Seoul should check out The Verona Italian Restaurant in the Imperial Palace Hotel.

"Verona is a place for authentic Italian food, where you will find the best quality steaks, seafood, pasta, pizza and desserts. The unique furniture of the restaurant creates the ambiance of an Italian country home."

I am reliably informed by a good friend and colleague that it is excellent.

Contradictions

Contradictions

Expense doesn't necessarily mean quality when it comes to dining.

In early November New York City's Serendipity 3 restaurant was noted by the Guinness Book of World Records for having the planet's most expensive dessert (a $25K chocolate sundae, featuring, among other delicacies, edible gold flakes).

By mid November all had changed, the city's Department of Health had ordered Serendipity 3 closed after inspectors found a live mouse in the kitchen, along with mouse droppings, fruit flies, house flies and more than 100 cockroaches.

Don't fall for the hype of an overpriced restaurant.

Christmas Tips

Christmas Tips

Now that the season of overindulgence, and colds, is with us again here are a few tips to stay healthy:

1 Eat plenty of raw garlic, to stave off colds and other bugs

2 Eat plenty of fresh ginger, to ease bloating and to promote a healthy digestive system

3 Drink plenty of water to flush your kidneys

4 Drink hot toddies when you are feeling cold:

-whisky
-lemon juice
-cinnamon stick
-cloves
-sugar
-hot water

5 Make sure that your turkey is properly cooked; 25 minutes per pound at 180 (allow for the weight of the stuffing), and make sure that the juices run clear when the thickest part of the flesh around the legs is pierced.

Have a happy and enjoyable Christmas!

Croydon's Dirtiest "Restaurants"

Croydon's Dirtiest "Restaurants"

The Croydon Advertiser names and shames Croyodn's dirtiest restaurants. However, it fails to let the readership in on the secret of Croydon's cleanest.

It also rather misleadingly uses the word "restaurant" in the article's title, given that many in the list are takeaways this description is misleading.

The Truffle of The Century

The Truffle of The Century

Congratulations to Stanley Ho for securing ownership of the the largest truffle found in half a century.

The massive truffle, weighing in at 3.3lb, was unearthed in Italy last month and sold for $330K at an auction held simultaneously in Macau, London and Florence.

The winning bid on Saturday night came from Macau casino mogul Stanley Ho, who bid by phone.

Tesco's Crab Paste

Tesco's Crab Paste

Why does Tesco's Crab paste contain more mackerel than crab?

Money To Burn

Money To Burn

Those of you with a spare £100K or so lying around could emulate Li Sze Lim, who sat down to dinner last night in Hong Kong with some friends and feasted on a truffle that cost him £102K in an auction.

The white truffle, all 750g of it, has gone into the record books as being the most expensive ever.

Those of you who fancy a nibble can take part in the online auction of truffles being held on www.whitetruffleauction.com.

Try some shaved over omelettes, scrambled eggs, risotto, polenta and pasta dishes.

Bird Flu

Bird Flu

Bird flu has struck a UK turkey farm at the most inopportune moment, namely the run up to Christmas.

Vets have ordered 5,000 turkeys to be slaughtered at a free-range farm in Diss, Norfolk.

Needless to say this could not have come at a worst time for the British food and farming industry, in the wake of foot and mouth and an earlier flu scare at Bernard Matthews turkey plant in February.

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said that early tests showed the turkeys had the H5 strain of bird flu, but it is not yet known if it is a highly pathogenic form.

The deputy chief veterinary officer, Fred Landeg, said the cause of the infection was unknown.

"Everybody needs to be concerned. This is avian influenza.

We are asking every poultry keeper to be vigilant, to house their birds where they are required to do so in any restricted area and carry out good bio-security measures and report any signs of disease."

We will be looking at the movements on to the premises and off the premises of birds; and movements of people, vehicles and things, to see whether there is another origin somewhere in the country or whether the disease could have spread."

Peter Kendall, president of the National Farmers' Union, tried to put a brave face on it.

Quote:

"We fully support the measures Defra have put in place in the protection and surveillance zones and we will be working with them to make sure producers within the zones understand the implications of the restrictions.

But it is important to remember that avian influenza is a disease of birds. There is no reason for public concern and the Food Standards Agency says there are no risks from eating poultry meat and eggs provided they are cooked properly as, of course, all food should be."

He is of course quite right.

Unfortunately, the already unnerved British consumer may well not see it that way, sales of turkey's in the run up to Christmas are likely to be adversely affected if this is not resolved very quickly.

Yorkshire Truffles

Yorkshire Truffles

I see that Asda has announced plans to plant and grow gourmet truffles in Yorkshire. They are conducting a trial to see if truffles, a valuable and much sought after delicacy, can be grown successfully at a one-acre site near Cridling Stubbs, near Pontefract.

Normally truffles sell for thousands of pounds per kilo.

However, Asda spokesman Alan Slator has a mission to bring them to the tables of ordinary people:

"Truffles are normally the food of millionaires. People eating in some restaurants can pay £50 just to have a few scrapings on the top of their food.

We want to bring them to ordinary people."