Moves are afoot to ban the sale of chicken, except in its frozen form, in New Zealand.

The call comes after a report showed that New Zealand had the "dubious distinction of being the campylobacter centre of the world" A Food Safety Authority (FSA) report showed that all fresh chicken carcasses carried the campylobacter bug. It also detailed that New Zealand has more than three times the rate of notified campylobacteriosis as neighbour Australia. The rate of 370 cases per 100,000 people has been rising at about 12 per cent a year over the past five years. Over the last 9 years it is beleived that 11 people have died from the disease that causes diarrhoea, vomiting and stomach ache for up to a week.

[Chicken Little image from Disney]

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Now this is so much fun. The End of Month Egg on Toast Extravaganza blog event (have egg and bread nought else!) has reached another monthly conclusion. Jeanne has posted the over-view of the latest themed event. This time it was Tabloid Headlines.

Some people have been so inventive and clever. You might have seen the eggcellent newspaper posted on Becks and Posh but the other entries are equally as funny (except perhaps my humble effort hilariously described as 'three under-aged chicks'). There are stories of 'eggsploits with freshly laid eggs' how jilted Bacon tells French Toast to "Get stuffed!" and eggsposures of bizarre geriatric egg-laying.

All fun stuff. Cluck on over to page three Cooksister for full eggscruciating details.

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Proclaimed as the world's first pomegranate liqueur Pama is now available in the UK.

It cashes in of course with the new found popularity of the pomegranate - a super food. Pama is made with 100% pomegranate juice concentrate, premium vodka and tequila. It has been described as having an 'exquisite sweet tart flavour'. It is intended as a base for cocktails and the website handily provides a few recipes. You could try the Champagne Dream (mixed with orange liqueur, fresh orange and champagne) or how about the Peacock (more vodka and orange liqueur).

Pama retails for around £20 a bottle in the UK.

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Two childhood friends from Queens, New York have created Wine Cellar Sorbets for sale through gourmet stores and restaurants. While they were originally looking for products to sell in a wine bar/restaurant business they decided to go the product route instead and now make a range of grape flavoured sorbets. They are currently available across New York and New Jersey.

There are currently seven different 'vintages' or flavours

• Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 Central California (New Vintage)
• Zinfandel 2004 Central California
• Pinot Noir 2004 Oregon
• Champagne N.V. California
• Riesling 2004 New York
• Sauterne N.V. New York
• May Wine N.V. New York (blush)

[Found via CoolHunting]

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Sonya Thomas has won another high speed eating record at her debut competition in Asia plus a cheque for HK$20,000.

This will be her 28th speed-eating record which involved consuming 17 chinese lotus seed buns in 12 minutes at the "Whampoa Asia Eating Championship".

The Hong Kong Eating Champion, Johnny Wu, was the runner up. He 'only' managed nine buns in the speicifed time limit. In the semi-finals, Thomas consumed 176 Chinese-style vegetable dumplings against Wu's 74.

Although she has won plenty of competitions (like eating 552 oysters in 10 minutes and five kilograms of cheesecake in nine minutes) she has not yet dethroned the world eating champion - Takeru Kobayashi of Japan.

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Inevitable I suppose - the hot weather has led directly to a lower than normal wheat harvest. Combine this with rising fuel costs and the price of bread is set to rise in the UK. It is not a huge increase - just 3 or 4 pence per loaf.

The National Farmers Union has warned for several weeks that the shortages of crops, wheat especially wilted in the extreme July heat, would result in higher prices for consumers. BBC reports that the UK's two largest millers - Rank Hovis, which owns eight mills and ADM Milling, which has nine, are both raising the price of flour. This is likely to hit the smaller craft baker more than the own-label ranges pushed out by the supermarkets.

As a side note - did you know that there is a Flour Advisory Bureau in the UK? Me neither. But the site has recipes, conversion charts, sandwich ideas etc etc.

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Bodo Sperlein products do not come cheap - but you can't deny the quality and desirability of their creations.

Bodo's designs are described as "subtle and clean, capturing the essence of the modern with the substance and beauty of the classic". Which basically means they look damn good! ". Handmade china is never cheap and these, from the UK, join a range of products including lighting, furniture, gift and tableware.

For such high quality products the website fails to display them in the most advantageous way. I mean these plates - with a black berry design - are boringly photographed on a dull grey background. A small plate costs £30, the larger £59. Complete the set with napkins holders, vases, salt and pepper sets etc etc. (I hate the flower light though)

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Brownies are not really the most difficult thing in the world to bake - come on even I can make them! But sometimes, well, wouldn't it be nice to receive a beautifully wrapped package of rich and luxurious brownies that "melt in your mouth"?

Coco à Moi, a highly regarded Local Food Hero, use the finest ingredients - the chocolate in the brownies has 70% cocoa solids so they have "a wonderful rich chocolate flavour" while the chocolate chunks have 52% cocoa solids so they "have a nice bittersweet contrast". The chocolate is made with a blend of different West African cocoa beans carefully selected by a chocolatier to give a consistently high-quality product. All this results in brownies that "are soft and fudgy, as real brownies should be". Is your mouth watering yet?

An indulgent treat or as a gift these little boxes are sure to delight. They even post overseas (they are based in the UK). A standard box costs £7.50 including delivery.

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There is an artisan bakery in the Cotswold area of the UK that happens to specialise in cakes. And most generously can delivery them to your door. Meg Rivers Cakes, has received a host of recommendations over the years for the quality of their cakes. While perhaps an indulgence for yourself they make superb gifts. Using the freshest ingredients they bake in small batches to ensure consistent quality.

They run a cake club which ensures a fresh cake is delivered each month for a year. "This has to be the ultimate treat for any true cake fan."

Cake Club members receive a parcel of delicious Meg River's goodies every single month with the cakes dispatched at the middle of each month, UK mainland members' cakes by overnight courier, overseas members' go via Royal Mail. They produce exclusive cakes for club members using seasonal, local produce. These have included an Elderflower and Gooseberry cake, a Rhubarb and Ginger cake, and a Carrot cake.

Tempted? A years subscription is £149.95.

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From the Times a list of the top French restaurants in the capital; plus two easily reachable in the Royal county of Berkshire

• Le Cafe du Marche 22 Charterhouse Square, EC1 "conjures up a rustic bistro atmosphere, where Gallic staff take orders from a blackboard that always has something to make the mouth water" [website]
• L'Escargot 48 Greek Street, W1 "one of the best-value dining room sin the West End, offering classy cooking at reasonable prices" [website]
• Forbury's Restaurant and Wine Bar, 1 Forbury Square, Reading "The head chef Xavier Le-Bellego previoulsy worked with Raymond Blanc and John Burton race, a pedigree that comes through in a menu of traditional French dishes with a hint of modernity" [details]
• The French Table, 85 Maple Street, Surbiton "It's rare to find a restaurant working like a well-oiled machine, but this owner-run eatery is such an outfit" [website]
• Galvin 66 Baker Street, W1 "Both the decor and the food here resound with Gallic charm" [website]
• Mon Plaisir, 21 Monmouth Street, WC2 "The pre-theatre menu (£14.50 for three courses including a glass of wine) is great value." [website]
• Papillon 96 Draycott Avenue, SW3 "The cosy, low-lit dining room boasts comfortable chairs at immaculately dressed tables, and the service is fittingly charming too" [website]
• La Poule au Pot, 231 Ebury Street, SW1 "The cosy atmosphere never fails to charm at this celebrated French den" [details]
• Racine 239 Brompton Road, SW3 "This place set out to be a quality neighbourhood restaurant and it has never strayed from that path" [details]
• The Waterside Inn, Ferry Road, Bray, Berkshire "this three Michelin starred yet homely restaurant offers one of the best dining experiences around" [website]

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That is the title of a great article from blogger, celebrity TV chef and photographer Benjamin Christie.

He opens with "most of us don't have the time to go to great lengths to create the perfect shot, so here are a few ideas, tips and more on how you can achieve your perfect food photo" which about sums up the post - he covers the equipment he uses and the reasons why, the three types of food photography (Close in (food only) and all in focus, Close in with limited depth of field and Table setting elements providing character and a reference situation). Each has a great photograph as an illustration.

He concludes with a few hints in regards to lighting. Worth a read for all budding foodporn image takers.

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• that Bangladesh used to have a large export industry of frogs to the USA, until the government noted a vastly increased fly population. Frogs (the flies' natural predator) were cheaper than insecticides and so the export of frogs was banned.
• that there is a special verb (and perhaps a special utensil), invented just for kiwis: sloop. (from Toast Point)
• that the first reference to Welsh Rabbit (as in Welsh Rarebit) was in 1725, sixty years before "rarebit". There are also English and Scottish Rarebits too - see The Old Foodie for details.
• that you can walk on custard. Custard is a non-Newtonian fluid. When thickened with starch, custard's physical properties change from those of liquid to those of a solid depending on the amount of pressure applied to it, so much so that a person is able to walk across a swimming pool full of custard.
• that Thyme was one of the ingredients used to preserve and embalm mummies in ancient Egypt. The Ancient Greeks believed that thyme was a source of courage and, in the Middle Ages, the herb was placed beneath pillows to aid sleep and ward off nightmares.
• that in the UK there are over 11,500 shops selling more than 250 million fish and chip meals annually. The sector employs around 61,000 people. [From Seafish]
• today (August 12th) is The Glorious Twelfth the official start of the game season in the UK. [more info]

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1. Hodgson's Chippie, 96 Prospect Street, Lancaster
2. Fecci's Restaurant, Lower Frog Street, Tenby, Pembrokeshire [details]
3. fish!Kitchen, 58 Coombe Road, Kingston upon Thames [website]
4. Magpie Cafe, 14 Pier Road, Whitby, North Yorkshire [website]
5. Pittenweem Fish Bar, 5 High Street, Pittenweem, Fife
6. Loch Bay Seafood Restaurant, Stein, Isle of Skye [website]

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OK, so at the moment you can count the number of recipes on a couple of hands, but the idea is sound and could turn out to be an interesting recipe finding resource.

Tasty Cooks offers a world view via a google map and plots recipes via their home country. You click on the marker and read the details; click on these and you go to the recipe. So you have Pad Thai fried noodles displayed on Thailand with a link to google base entry or a Spanish Baked Chicken Recipe that links through to Simply Recipes.

I think how it works is, after registering, you can add your own favourite recipes with links to the specific blog or site entry. Yep, that seems to be it (he says clicking madly to see what happens). Instructions are sparse. There is a Add New Bookmark tab that opens up the form to enter the details of each link you add. So I added two - a Baked Mackerel with Rhubarb and an Austrian dessert, both recipes from my own blog.

It all works fine and if you can be bothered to add recipes you find to the map, a handy resource. (Note the map doesnt work in IE7)

[Found via Google Maps Mania]

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Three simple coffee based cocktails - a great end to a meal

Cafè Amaretto

• 1 shot Amaretto Liqueur
• 1 shot coffee liqueur
• top up with filter coffee

Place liqueurs in a glass and top up with coffee. Float lightly whipped cream on top.

Cafè Gates

• 1 shot Grand Marnier
• 1 shot Coffee Liqueur
• 1 shot dark crème de cacao
• top up with filter coffee

Again mix all in a glass and float lightly whipped cream on the top.

Cafè Toledo

• 1 shot Chocolate syrup
• 1 shot Irish cream liqueur
• 1 shot coffee liqueur
• top up with filter coffee

And agian mix, top with hot coffee and float cream on the top.

[Image is a fridge magnet available from Get Unique for $5.99]

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The UK arm of Gaggia, the coffee machine maker, has started its own blog. It is early days for the site which has been up about a month. I discovered it via Silverbrow on Food who asks the writer, and you have to agree, that the blog steers clear from the 'syrupy management speak' as used on the Disney World post. Perhaps it was written just to supply some opening content for there is nothing worse than an empty blog! The blog is written by Raj Beadle who is Gaggia UK's MD. The blog has a prominent link from the gaggia product site; which is great as it could be a great method of interacting with customers on a more personal level rather than through some annoymous 'help desk'. Knowing you have direct access with a company's MD is great, yes?


[From Silverbrow on Food]

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I have just powered up my feedreader (blogbridge) and ran across several really excellent blog posts from across the foodie-scene that I thought were worth highlighting. They are all inspiring recipes with excellent photographs that should get you all racing to the kitchen...

Chocolate in Context offers us a Dark Chocolate Mousse Cake with Gold Dust. Ground almonds, Maya Gold Chocolate.. what's not to like?

My sweet tooth must be dominating this week as Clivia's Brussels Cookies or Brysselkex in Swedish. When making these in the past Clivia's grandmother described them as 'Church People' - all different!

My good friend Celia over at English Patis has Blueberry Muffins made with sour cream (pictured)

Fat Free Vegan cooking has Grilled Orange-Ginger Tofu with Mango Chutney, Shirataki Noodles, and Grilled Chayote; which while not a fan of tofu does sound fresh and delicious.

Wild Greens Fritters (Hortokeftedes) grace Je Mange la Ville cant wait to try these with some dipping yoghurt as suggested.

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Beau wants to know and is running a poll on Basic Juice. The simple question is if shelf talkers - those wine descriptions resplendent with a large point score - do they influence your purchasing decision when it comes to wine.

It is a little different in the UK to America. Seldom do wine scores appear on our Shelf Barkers. They might repeat a tasting note from one of the national newspapers (they have wine sections in the Saturday and Sunday editions) but usually they will be personal descriptions from a member of staff; quirky, personal, honest (one would hope). Alternatively, with the big chains, the note will be printed and supplied by head office. But neither will have any type of score blazoned across them. The only exception for this will be high end clarets. It is this market that is so heavily influenced by Robert Parker that those with the readies to buy such fine wines will be instantly aware of Parker Points.

For me I like a personal description on a wine but it is more the region, the grape varieties and of course the price that influences what I buy.

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