Aesthetics & Gastronomy

Christmas Wishes

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year!

The Military Wives Choir

This post is totally unrelated to anything that I normally write about and I make no apologies for this because these ladies are fantastic!

 

Earlier this year, choir master, Gareth Malone temporarily relocated to Devon to make another series of The Choir for the BBC.  The idea for this series was to create a choir on the military base at RMB Chivenor, and later at Plymouth, to provide some much needed distraction for the wives and partners of those men who had been deployed to Afghanistan.  And as usual, Gareth worked his magic.  He really ought to be cloned - every community needs a Gareth!  The result is not only a fabulous choir but a lifeline for the brave wives and girlfriends whose lives are left in limbo as they anxiously wait for their loved ones to return home safely.  At the same time the Military Wives Choir has become a voice for other, previously overlooked, military wives throughout the country.  An incredible achievement don't you think?

 

Gareth commissioned the 'royal' composer, Paul Mealor to write a song for the choir to perform at the Albert Hall for the Festival of Remembrance, using words taken from personal letters written by the wives and their husbands.  The result is this exquisite and emotive piece of music that is guaranteed to reduce even the toughest amongst you to tears:

Find some tissues before you press play!

 

 

Listening to the soloist, Sam, now, singing so beautifully and confidently, it's hard to believe that she could barely bring herself to sing anything on her own at the start of the series.  

 

With the backing of Chris Evans, they have released Wherever You Are as a single and are hoping to raise as much money as possible for two military charities (SAFFAS and the Royal British Legion).  And they'd also quite like to be the Christmas Number One as well.  [Update 21/12/11 - they are storming to the top of the charts and it looks like the government is going to waive the VAT on sales of the single and donate it to charity - what a result!]

 

 

You can buy the single online from:

 

Amazon

If you purchase the single using  this link, I'll donate all the affiliate payments that I receive from Amazon to the choir's chosen charities.

 

iTunes

And you can buy the single as a download from itunes too if you prefer.

 

 

Spread the word to all your friends and family and let's make sure that they are the Christmas Number 1.

xo

 

 

 

 

Dinner

Salmon & Summer Veg Risotto

 

Cook Book of the Month: The Flavour Thesaurus by Niki Segnit

 

The Flavour Thesaurus

 

This is such a clever little book!  The idea was conceived by Niki Segnit when she was at a dinner party where a friend served up a dish with an unusual flavour combination.  Flavours that she would never have even considered putting together.  Intrigued by how people knew what flavours worked together, Niki decided that she needed a guidebook that she could refer to.  But there wasn't one.  So, she wrote the book that she needed!

 

There are 99 different flavours in the book, both single ingredients and where it is more appropriate, sets of similar flavoured ingredients, and these flavours are grouped into 16 categories, such as:

 

earthy

sulphurous

meaty

cheesy

bramble & hedge

citrusy

woodland

green & grassy

 

Niki has then compiled lists of different pairings for each of the flavours.  If this sounds like a dry, monotonous reference book full of lists, then I can assure you that it isn't!  The flavour combinations are brought to life with anecdotes, historical and scientific references, recipes and Niki's own personal preferences.

 

It may not cover every flavour that you'll ever use, that would be a mammoth task, but this book is a real gem when you're lacking in inspiration or just simply want to try something different.  I quite often dip into it when I'm devising a recipe and want to see what other flavour combinations might work.  Not just what may work, but why too which then often triggers another idea that may not be in the book.

 

Here's a few of the flavour pairings taken from the book:

 

 

"Chilli & Mint: Vada pav, a popular fast-food snack indigenous to Mumbai ... [is] spread with a vibrant chutney made of mint leaves ground with fresh green chillies, lemon juice and salt.

 

Rosemary & Chocolate: A backdrop of dark chocolate shows off rosemary's cool, evergreen flavours ... the dominant flavour compound in both rosemary and cardamom is cineole, common to bay leaf too (think how all three make great milk based desserts).  Cineole has woody, eucalyptus slightly minty notes ...

 

Walnut & Celery: ... share distinctive aroma compounds called phthalides, which you can also detect in lovage. ... This flavour overlap ensures they combine beautifully in stuffing and Waldorf salad.

 

Cinnamon & Orange: Cinnamon not only combines beautifully with orange but its sweetness offsets the fruit's sharpness ..."

 

60 Years of Elizabeth David Cookery Books

 

This year sees the 60th anniversary of the publication of Elizabeth David’s first book, Mediterranean Cookery.   To celebrate, her former editor, Jane Norman, has compiled ‘her very best everyday recipes’ in the book ‘At Elizabeth David's Table ’.

 

My copy arrived last week and although the recipes are decades old, this book has a very contemporary feel to it.   Particularly as the recipes are illustrated with some beautiful photography by David Loftus and the book itself is a modern chunky hardback.

Elizabeth’s books were originally published as Penguin paperbacks filled with pages and pages of writing and only illustrated with pen and ink drawings and the occasional water colour.  Although today, we expect to find cookery books filled with lavish photography, Elizabeth’s entertaining prose is more than enough to bring her recipes to life.  However, I have to admit, I do prefer the style of the new book and the photographs are definitely the icing on the cake!   In acknowledgement of past designs, this new book also contains pen and ink drawings to illustrate each chapter heading.

At the time, Elizabeth’s recipes were ground breaking, she brought the colours and flavours of the Mediterranean to a generation of people who had been used to war time rationing.   They had never heard of the exotic avocado or aubergine and olive oil could only be bought from the chemist.   Her writing gave people inspiration during the bleakness of post war Britain.   Imagine reading these recipes after years of surviving on wartime ration

Piedmontese Peppers - halved peppers filled with garlic, tomato, anchovy, butter and olive oil.

Circassian Chicken - whole chicken served with rice and a walnut, almond and hazelnut sauce.

Pan Bagna - French rolls, halved and rubbed with garlic, spread with black olives, peppers, tomatoes, young broad beans and olive oil.

Siphniac Honey Pie - shortcrust pastry case filled with a mixture of cream cheese, honey, sugar, butter, eggs and cinnamon.

To read more about Elizabeth David’s eventful life, click on the link.

Surprise Parcel

This parcel arrived in the post yesterday.  Initially I thought it was just one of the regular brochures from Fattoria La Vialla albeit quite a bit larger.  But to my surprise, the lovely people of La Vialla had tucked in a couple of treats.

 

A bottle of sweet wine ...

 

... and some little biscuits to drink with the wine, called Brutti ma Buoni which means ugly but good.  They taste similar to Cantucci but lack their elder brother's good looks!

 

 

La Vialla is a farming estate in Tuscany, owned by three brothers who are passionately committed to running the farm organically, bio-dynamically and sustainably.

 

Each of La Vialla's beautiful catalogues is a work of art filled with delicious looking foods entwined with captivating stories of life on an Italian farm.  Picking and pressing olives; the grape harvest; baking handmade biscuits in traditional wood fired ovens and quintessentially Italian lunches sat around long outdoor tables - it sounds like a foodie's paradise.  In fact you can even be part of the whole experience.  The family owns over twenty 18th century farmhouses which are let out to guests who are encouraged to get involved in farm life from making ricotta and pecorino to picking vegetables and helping with the wine and olive harvests.  At the end of the day you can relax in the farm's al fresco restaurant and enjoy all the delicious foods that Tuscany has to offer.

 

Now that sounds like a fabulous holiday.  Maybe next year ....

 

I have to admit that each time I receive one of their catalogues, I do feel a twinge of guilt that I've never bought anything from them.  Partly because in an ideal world, the things I would most like to try are: the pasta, which is supposed to be amazing; various different red and white wines and Vin Santo; Pecorino cheese and traditional Italian biscuits.  But in reality these foods are off limits so I have to make do with looking at the photos!  (The freebies will be enjoyed by another grateful recipient!!)

 

However, this is my must try soon list:

Olive Oil

Orange Olives

Preserved Artichokes

Pepperonata

Sun Dried Tomatoes

Asparagina (asparagus sauce)

 

If anyone has had the pleasure of trying any of La Vialla's products or have even stayed at the estate, please share your experiences with us.

 

FoodCycle

 

The quantity and quality of perfectly edible food that gets thrown away in the UK is astonishing.  To highlight this problem, in a Great British Menu special, shown last month, chefs Angela Hartnett, Richard Corrigan, Matt Tebutt and Simon Rimmer salvaged enough discarded food to create a banquet for 60 VIP guests.

 

Supermarkets are responsible for discarding 1.6 millions of surplus food every year.  Fortunately, some of this waste food is now being rescued before it gets to the rubbish bins.  FoodCycle is a charity that was set up in 2008 to literally recycle the food that would normally be thrown out by retailers.  Volunteers turn the unwanted food into free healthy meals for those people in the community who aren't able to provide healthy food for themselves.  Isn't that a fantastic idea?

Click on the link to see a video of their Kings Cross community cafe project.

If you want to reduce the amount of food that you personally waste, have a look at the Love Food Hate Waste website for ideas and advice.