+++SCOFF! - The free email newsletter on good food and drink. - ISSUE TEN, DECEMBER 2005. For a printable colour version of this newsletter (in a ‘pdf’ file), see: http://www.gastronomail.com/archive.htm . Please forward to all your friends and colleagues so they can register to receive their own copy by visiting our web site: http://www.gastronomail.com . We never pass on email addresses. Further information at the end of this issue. ++Issue Ten Contents: 01: An A-Z of Scoff: the alphabet of food wisdom - ‘J’ is for ‘Juice’: Is it bad for your teeth? 02: December offer - All About Wine, by Jonathan Ray. 03: A culinary marriage of elegant tast. - Review: La Porte Des Indes Cookbook, by Mehernosh and Sherin Mody with John Hellon. Reviewed by Dan Jellinek. 04: Recipe: Trionfo di Natale (Triumph of Christmas) - by Anna Venturi. 05: The drink spot: Christmas Champagne. - Go on, spoil yourself, by Chris Orr. 06: Titbits and crumbs: Beyond Baked Beans - Student food and cookery; Wine Lovers’ Page – the oldest on the web; GM Food News – worldwide resource. 07: The food spot I’m a celebrity, get me some algae. It’s tough being a celebrity – when it comes to diet, anyway. Mimi Spencer on the Tiny Tims of the modern age. 08: How to: Make a friend of your freezer, Part 1 - Tips on using your freezer as a time-saving machine, by Rosemary Perkins. [Contents ends]. +01: An A-Z of Scoff: the alphabet of food wisdom - ‘J’ is for ‘Juice’. Drinking fruit juice has long been associated with a healthy diet, particularly in comparison with fizzy drinks. But from time to time one also hears about concerns over the sugars in fruit juice causing almost as much tooth decay as the dreaded fizzies. The British Nutrition Foundation (www.nutrition.org.uk) says that, while eating fresh fruit is not strongly associated with tooth decay because the sugars are bound up in the fruit cells, in fruit juices the sugars are released and can cause decay, especially if the juice is in contact with the teeth for a long period (for example if it is fed in a baby’s bottle). The acidity of some fruits and fruit juices such as citrus fruit can also cause the erosion of tooth enamel. The Food Standards Agency advises drinking fruit juice only with a meal, to minimise the risk of tooth decay. Between meals, water or milk is better. The agency also says that drinking juice isn’t enough on its own to make up the recommended five portions a day of fruit and vegetables. A 150 ml glass of fruit or vegetable juice does count as one portion towards your five, but juice can’t make up more than one portion a day because it does not offer the same nutritional benefits as whole fruit and vegetables. It also advises consumers to check the labels of fruit juice products very carefully – many so-called ‘juice drinks’ contain as little as 5 per cent fruit juice, and have a lot of added sugar. It is important to make sure you buy only 100 per cent juice. Meanwhile, the NHS Direct website (www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk) suggests diluting fruit juice if you need to reduce sugar in your diet – perhaps with sparkling water to make a healthy form of fizzy drink. +02: December Offer: All About Wine. All About Wine is the latest best-seller from Scoff! Co-Editor Jonathan Ray. A perfect Christmas gift for anyone who likes wine and is interested to find out more about how it is made and how it is best enjoyed, the book covers all the basics. The main grape varieties and the part they have to play in creating a wine’s character; the qualities and composition of wines from all the world’s wine-producing areas; how to choose wine; how to set up your own wine tastings; and which vintages are considered best for which type of wine: all this and more is contained in this beautifully illustrated volume. All About Wine is published by Ryland Peters and Small. It is available to Scoff! readers for the special price of £17.99 including p&p (compared with a regular retail price of £19.99) by calling Macmillan Direct on 01256 302 692 and quoting the following reference code: GLR D47. +03: A culinary marriage of elegant taste - La Porte Des Indes Cookbook, by Mehernosh and Sherin Mody with John Hellon - Reviewed by Dan Jellinek. Britain’s involvement with India is well-known, but it is less remembered that the French held sway for short periods in south-east India in the eighteenth century, at one point even capturing Madras. One way or another, based in and around Pondicherry on the south east coast of India in the state of Tamil Nadu, there have been French colonies for almost 300 years between 1670 and as late as 1954. It is unsurprising that this part of India is noted for its French influences in its trade, architecture – and food. The London restaurant La Porte Des Indes draws on this little-known influence, featuring creole dishes from the sub-continent. This is Indian food with a genuine, historically-based French twist, as opposed to the more artificial marrying of the two forms of cooking sometimes seen in higher-end modern Indian restaurants in the capital. Now executive chef Mehernosh Mody and his wife, executive director Sherin Mody have teamed up with food writer John Hellon to create the restaurant’s eponymous first cookbook, and it is an elegantly crafted collection of simplicity and taste. From smoked aubergine crush to a seafood stew reminiscent of a bouillabaise and cited as a Pondicherry favourite, most of the recipes are simple and based on a few good ingredients, in a fascinating cross between a rustic French approach and highly spiced Indian cookery. Ranging from standard Indian basics such as chai and naan bread to the delicacy of banana flower salad and smoked tomato and pepper soup, the cookbook would make an excellent first buy for someone interested in exploring the basics of Indian food in an accessible and innovative way. NOTE: La Porte Des Indes Cookbook is published by Pavilion at 20 Pounds. +04: Recipe: Trionfo di Natale (Triumph of Christmas) - by Anna Venturi. This is the perfect ending to an Italian Christmas dinner. It can be made up to four days in advance, and serves 6-8. - 1 panettone (500g); - 300g mascarpone; - 3 eggs, separated; - 6 tbs icing sugar; - 1 espresso cup Marsala; - 1 espresso cup coffee; - Whipping cream for decoration. Place the panettone upside down into a bowl that fits it perfectly and with a sharp knife cut the lid off and reserve. With your fingers, gently remove all the inside of the panettone, ensuring the shell stays intact. Shred the panettone that you have removed and reserve. Separate the eggs; beat the yolks with the sugar and add the mascarpone while still beating. Add the shredded panettone, mixing gently. Whip the egg whites until firm and gently mix them in as well. Now you are ready to assemble: mix the Marsala with the coffee and brush the inside of the panettone generously. Fill the panettone shell with the panettone/mascarpone mix, pressing gently, and place the lid on top to close. Refrigerate overnight in its container. When ready to serve, turn it onto a serving plate and decorate with whipping cream or icing sugar for a lighter version. NOTE: Gourmet chef Anna Venturi runs Italian Secrets – 0208 871 4888 www.italiansecrets.co.uk +05: The Drink Spot: Go on, spoil yourself - by Chris Orr. This is my first submission to Scoff! and I have been told I am allowed to rant, but only a little bit. The rest of it must be interesting and informative. Oh well. So here goes the rant. It is that while I certainly don’t mind paying peanuts for big brand champagnes when it comes to Christmas time, I don’t quite understand the point of it. I certainly don’t understand the point of affordable, everyday champagne. It’s meant to be a luxury. If you had luxury items every day – well, they’d cease to be luxurious. And I really do feel that way about champagnes. That’s why I actually prefer these days to spoil myself on a big occasion with a prestige cuvée, such as Dom Pérignon, Krug, La Grand Dame or one of my particular favourites, Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill from Pol Roger. It’s not that I am grandiosely wealthy – hell, I’m a journalist of sorts, and that never pays well. But I do subscribe to the belief that if you’re going to spoil yourself when something really momentous happens in your life, then frankly you ought to do it with something that isn’t on three-for-the-price-of-two offers, or half-price, or – well, I am pretty sure you know what I mean. So end of rant, and here comes the informative bit. If you are like- minded, and you do want to spoil yourself – what on earth should you go for, when it comes to spending serious money on a bottle of fizz? And given that the festive season is upon us, I would hope and imagine that that will be sooner rather than later. Well, we’re quite lucky at the moment that the various key champagne houses have released a bevy of great vintage prestige cuvées over the last 18 months, whilst others seem to have been exceptionally good at eking out remaining stocks of some very good existing vintages. Perhaps one of my favourites of the moment is the Dom Pérignon 1998. Now I am not usually a fan of DP when it is first released. I prefer it with a bit more bottle age. Ten years at least. But the 1998 is so forward, so damn delicious, that I really find it difficult to fault. It’s elegant, creamy, wonderfully inviting and altogether a damn fine drink. Not cheap of course, at £87 a bottle. But I think it is worth it. Next up is the Krug 1990. Not that easy to find these days, but if you can, go for it. It was only released last year, but popularity has made it a sought-after commodity. And it’s popular because it is one of the best vintages in the last two decades that Krug has produced. Rich, round and voluptuous, mixing citrus, baked bread, toast, brioche and a hint of wild lilies on the nose and palate, it is an incredibly attractive champagne (but also not cheap, at some £112 a bottle). But for me one of the most delicious prestige cuvées you can lay your hands on at the moment is the Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill 1995 from Pol Roger. It’s one of those wines that you find yourself wondering how you live without – but somehow you do. Just for once this Christmas, don’t try and live without it. Again not cheap, at £78 a bottle, but just so wonderfully elegant, appealing, and downright charming that you can’t fail to be seduced. So my advice this festive season is to try to restore some luxury status to your festive fizz. Ignore the £17 a bottle, half-price tat, and invest in some serious, heavy duty smutter. You know it makes sense. NOTE: Glenfiddich Award-nominated Chris Orr is a former editor of Wine magazine and author of the Virgin Guide to Wine. +06: Titbits and Crumbs. - Beyond Baked Beans. Student food and cookery rarely ventures beyond the tin opener, but it doesn’t have to be that way . . . this fun site from food writer Fiona Beckett is packed with tasty, low-cost recipes, including a quick and easy Christmas feast: www.beyondbakedbeans.com/ - Wine Lovers’ Page. Billed as the oldest, largest and most popular independent wine- appreciation site on the web, this is a highly browseable treasure-house of tips, advice, quotes and links: www.wineloverspage.com/ - GM Food News. A site run by the anti-GM movement, with links to relevant news stories on reputable sites worldwide including BBC News: www.gmfoodnews.com/ NOTE: Scoff! is giving away books on food and wine to readers who send in their favourite link, if published. Email to: dan@gastronomail.com. +07: The food spot: I’m a celebrity, get me some algae - by Mimi Spencer. It’s hard being famous. Really, it is. If the world’s celebrity population ever stopped making a supreme effort to look incredible, I’m convinced that they’d all collapse, like ice-cream sundaes left out in the sun. Nicole Kidman would pretty soon look like Brenda Blethyn, and George Clooney like John Prescott. As part of their strict maintenance regimen, many A-listers get by on a peculiar diet of obscure foods that most of us wouldn’t recognise. Far from living on lobster thermidor and truffle-infused Kobe beef, they prime themselves on bee pollen, barley grass, spirulina and grape-seed extract. This Christmas, spare a thought for those poor dear super-stars, the Tiny Tims of the modern world: while you’re doing turkey and trimmings, they’ll feast on warm algae and macrobiotic sprouts. Gwyneth Paltrow, I’m reliably told, is partial to a cup of Kombucha tea, made from fungus and bacteria. Eminem and J Lo use Myoplex protein shakes to build up muscle and cut down fat. In the run-up to filming Million Dollar Baby, Hilary Swank would wake up in the night to drink a delicious glass of egg whites; now she relies on Amino Vital, a water with added amino acids. Jennifer Aniston, meanwhile, drinks Fiji water, which is a rich source of silica – to keep her swishy hair swishing and her skin aglow. Celebrities even have their own berries, barely available to us at ground-level. Naomi Watts likes Goji berries, which boast 50 times more vitamin C than a lowly orange; Sienna Miller prefers Acai berries, which come squashed into Brazilian Borba water. Caprice, since you ask, takes Udo’s Ultimate Oil Blend, jam-packed with omega 3s and 6s. Oh, and omega 9s. Omega 9s! It makes me wonder whether famous people have access to a whole range of essential fatty acids denied to the mere mortal. Does Al Pacino get Omega 12s? Is Madonna on 15s? In the interests of research, I have been knocking back Udo’s Ultimate Oil Blend for a week now, and I do feel rather glossy, like a well- lubricated piston. The Myoplex shake, meanwhile, is unfathomably grim. It may contain 42 grams of Quality Protein to support muscle growth. It may well be an excellent source of 24 vitamins, minerals and micronutrients. But it still tastes like dental amalgam. The Fiji water, though, is rather good. It comes from a pristine environment, surrounded by 1,500 miles of Pacific Ocean; the silica, it says here, helps to reduce the appearance of premature ageing. And that, of course, is the point. The rich and the famous are desperate to hold back the march of time, and are prepared to eat shit if there’s a suggestion it will banish wrinkles. Of an evening, of course, the high- rolling habitués of Hollywood really get to party. But even then, they’re not likely to eat food as we know it. At the Beverly Hilton, executive chef David Gilbert has a new schtick. Diners spray fruit nectar into their mouths and sniff a vanilla bean between courses, to clear the palette. Sniffing. It’s all set to be the new eating, mark my words. NOTE: Mimi Spencer is a food and lifestyle writer for the Guardian and Observer Food Monthly, a columnist for the Mail on Sunday and contributing editor of Grazia and Elle magazines. 08: How to: Make a friend of your freezer, Part 1 - by Rosemary Perkins. I make a great deal of use of my deep freeze, not principally for storage, but as a time-shifter. I prepare some things in advance to help out when I am rushed. It really comes into its own at times like Christmas, and these are some of the things I freeze around this time. 1: Puff pastry. Make puff pastry in 500g butter/500g flour quantities, cut into about three pieces, weigh and mark each piece and wrap well before freezing. Defrost in the fridge for a few hours before rolling out and using. I also roll out freshly made puff pastry cut into shapes (thin rounds, apple shapes with the edge scored etc) then wrapped with layering tissue between the shapes for easy release after freezing. These can be baked in a hot oven straight from the freezer. 2: Shortcrust pastry. Shortcrust is so quick to make it is not worth freezing in a block, then waiting for it to defrost, but it is useful to make the pastry, roll it out to fill tart tins, flan tins etc and freeze either unbaked or half-baked, well wrapped. 3: Mince pies. At Christmas I make all my mince pies in advance, both shortcrust and puff. The shortcrust ones I bake lightly, then freeze, ready to refresh in the oven when I want them. Puff pastry mince pies I fill then freeze uncooked, ready to go straight from frozen into a hot oven after glazing. In both cases it works best to open-freeze the pies in their little tart tins, then when frozen tip them into freezer bags and return to the freezer. They do not stick together if frozen this way. 4: Fruit fillings. I prepare and freeze some pie fillings, fruit ready for pies, apple sauce, fresh tomato pie filling, and fruit purees ready for souffles. Note too that jam-making works just as well with frozen fruit as with fresh. 5: Chicken. I buy large fresh chickens, bone them carefully, roll them up and wrap them ready for later stuffing and roasting them. I then use all the bones, wing tips and giblets to make a strong chicken stock, which I reduce and freeze in ice cube containers. ++End notes. +HOW TO RECEIVE YOUR REGULAR ‘SCOFF!’ To subscribe to this free monthly bulletin, Send a blank email to scoff-subscribe@gastronomail.com Please encourage your friends and colleagues to subscribe! To unsubscribe at any time, email: scoff-unsubscribe@gastronomail.com For further information on subscription see: http://www.gastronomail.com . +ACCESSIBILITY NOTE: This newsletter conforms to the accessible Text Email Newsletter (TEN) Standard, which makes email publications easier to access for people with impaired vision using text-to-speech devices. For details see: http://www.headstar.com/ten . +COPYRIGHT 2005 Gastronomail Ltd. If you would like to reproduce stories from this newsletter, we generally allow this as long as a full credit is included, with our web address and a description of our newsletter. For permission please email jo@gastronomail.com . +PERSONNEL: Food Editor - Dan Jellinek dan@gastronomail.com Drinks editor – Johnny Ray johnny@gastronomail.com Consultant Editor – Hattie Ellis hattie@gastronomail.com Marketing Director – Jo Weatherall jo@gastronomail.com [Issue ends.]