+++SCOFF! - The free email newsletter on good food and drink. - ISSUE FIVE, JANUARY/FEBRUARY 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 each month by email, at: http://www.gastronomail.com . We never pass on email addresses. Further information at the end of this issue. ++Issue Five Contents: 01: An A-Z of Scoff: the alphabet of food wisdom - ‘E’ is for ‘E-numbers’. What’s in an additive? 02: Reader offer: Win six bottles of Brown Brothers wine - by emailing us the answer to one question. 03: Revelatory recipes for the contemporary baker - Review: The Handmade Loaf, by Dan Lepard. Reviewed by Andy Lynes. 04: Recipe: Roast chicken with rice - by Lilian Lopez. 05: The drink spot: The perfect rusty nail - How to conjure up this classic whisky cocktail, by Marcin Miller. 06: Titbits and crumbs: BBC iCan – Healthy eating campaigns; Truffles from Périgord – hurry before season ends; The Daily Bread – a food ‘Blog’. 07: The food spot: Easy ways to trim the fat - by Trisha Brandon. 08: How to: Cook with chocolate - by Rosemary Perkins. [Contents ends]. +01: An A-Z of Scoff: the alphabet of food wisdom - ‘E’ is for ‘E-numbers’. E numbers are European Union-authorised additives and flavourings — any substance added to food to perform what are known as ‘technological functions’ such as to colour or to preserve. Additives are authorised at EU level for all EU states (for details of the law see fastlink.headstar.com/add1). A comprehensive list of E numbers can be found on the UK’s Food Standards Agency’s web site (www.food.gov.uk/safereating/ additivesbranch/). As well as major groups such as flavours and sweeteners, there are a host of more exotic groups such as acidity regulators, anti-caking agents, foaming agents, anti-foaming agents, bulking agents, firming agents, glazing agents, humectants, packaging gases and sequestrants. Although all authorised additives are only permitted if they present no health risk, there are widespread concerns about their excessive consumption. The US Center for Science in the Public Interest has compiled extensive information about the relative safety of additives, including a sobering ‘cemetery of additives’ that are now banned, but were previously deemed safe (see www.cspinet.org/reports/chemcuisine.htm/). And in the UK, a Southampton University study found parents of three-year-olds reported more disruptive and inattentive behaviours in children consuming the additives, although this was not confirmed by clinical assessments. The researchers concluded that further work is needed – work which has now been funded by the Food Standards Agency (http://fastlink.headstar.com/soton1). The full study can be accessed for a small charge in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, volume 89, page 506 (see http://adc.bmjjournals.com/). +02: Reader offer: Win Six Bottles of Brown Brothers Wine. Brown Brothers have come to be known as Australia’s leading varietal winemakers – producing a series of wines each made principally from one variety of grape. The family also has a passion for matching wine with food, and in 1994 established the Milawa Epicurean Centre, where each wine is carefully matched with each dish, so that the flavours of the food and wine are enhanced. Now Brown Brothers have teamed up with Scoff! to offer the chance for two readers to win six bottles each of their wine, specially selected to accompany your favourite dinner party menu. Simply email competition@gastronomail.com with the answer to the following question in the subject box. What is the name of the Valley in Australia where Brown Brothers are based – is it: a) Queens Valley? b) Princes Valley? c) King Valley? The winners will be randomly selected from those who get the question right. The competition closes on 28 February 2005. +03: Revelatory Recipes for the Contemporary Baker. - Book review: The Handmade Loaf, by Dan Lepard. - Reviewed by Andy Lynes. If the thought of the hard work usually associated with making bread has so far deprived you of the joy of a homemade loaf, then this new book of “contemporary European recipes for the home baker” will come as something of a revelation. Author and master baker Dan Lepard explains that “there are no recipes in this book in which the dough is kneaded for 10 minutes”. Instead, his preferred method calls for the gentle manipulation of the ingredients and extended periods of resting. The book provides instructions for creating your own natural leaven as well as an overview of mixing, shaping and baking a loaf. Beginning with simple white leaven bread, things soon hot up with the likes of red wine loaf with pine nuts and figs and another made with cherry fennel and rye. Despite the book’s title, recipes for crisp cornmeal sticks, prune and rye babas with Armagnac syrup, and black pepper pancakes are also included. Lepard says that he would like to “resurrect the grand tradition of the bun” and his sweet brandy, scrumpy and Chelsea varieties might well see him succeed. A read through the primers on flour, gluten and yeast will have the rank amateur sounding like a professional in a matter of minutes. A series of short essays describe Lepard’s fascinating journey through Europe. Travelling from Russia to Ireland, he bakes with amateurs and professionals, observing techniques and individual styles which are reflected in the book’s recipes. In Denmark, he meets 76-year-old Bodil Koelster who claims to have perfected the recipe for rye bread, and makes a pilgrimage to the Plaza Athenee in Paris to see the “special, beautiful, spiky bread rolls” created for Alain Ducasse’s restaurant there. It is a remarkable book, managing to shed new light on an ancient craft. NOTE: The Handmade Loaf by Dan Lepard is published by Mitchell Beazley at £20. Scoff! readers can purchase the book at the special price of £16 by calling 01903 828503 and quoting PUB195. Andy Lynes is publisher of UKGourmet.com and UK manager of eGullet.org . +04:Recipe: Roast Chicken with Rice - by Lilian Lopez. Here is a method my mother always liked to use for roast chicken. Before roasting your chicken on a rack, scatter a layer of rice on the bottom of the roasting tin, and cover it with water up to just beneath the rack. You can make it even more tasty by using chicken stock. Scatter slices of onion over the rice, and season well, adding a bay leaf. Put the rack on top, with your chicken prepared with butter and herbs, and vegetables to roast. As it cooks, the rice absorbs the water or stock and the drippings from above, becoming succulent and crunchy. You can baste the chicken as you go, until all the liquid becomes absorbed into the rice. The timing works best with a small or medium bird. The only snag with this method is that you can’t use the scrapings from the roasting tin for a gravy, as they go into the rice. A solution to this is to roast a tray of cherry tomatoes for about 40 minutes before you are due to eat the chicken. Drizzle the tomatoes with olive oil, and season with pepper and garlic. About 10 minutes before they are done, sprinkle with chopped anchovies which have been rinsed and dried with kitchen paper to remove some of the salt. When the tomatoes are collapsing, with the edges slightly blackened, stir into some fried shredded greens or wilted spinach to make a juicy accompaniment to the chicken and rice. +05: The Drink Spot: The Perfect Rusty Nail - by Marcin Miller. Everyone I meet has endured their worst hangover because of whisky. It’s probably a generational thing; for those of us in our late 30s, chances are there was always a bottle of blended Scotch somewhere around our parents’ house. We grew up in a world where no-one knew that Glenfiddich was a single malt — it was just another whisky — and the sophisticated drink of choice was Chivas Regal. It seemed natural, therefore, to usher in any pretensions of adulthood by drinking what the real grown-ups drank, with predictably disastrous results. If you have been so psychologically scarred, you are missing out on a world as fascinating as that of wine. Honestly. The best thing to do is ease yourself back into whisky gently and this is the perfect season for a classic whisky cocktail: the Rusty Nail. Developed in New York’s 21 Club in the late 1950s, the Rusty Nail was created specifically for the US market. On the West Coast, one enterprising barman tried to re- name it Knucklehead but for some reason it never took off . . . The creator of the Rusty Nail was Norman MacKinnon, a descendant of Captain John MacKinnon who sheltered Bonnie Prince Charlie on Skye in 1746 and to whom, by way of thanks, it is claimed that the Prince gave his only possession; the ‘treasured secret recipe’ of his personal liqueur. The classic Rusty Nail is simply Drambuie (www.drambuie.com) with any blended Scotch. Recipes vary between a ratio of 1:1 and 2:1 whisky to Drambuie. It is recommended that you pour over a glass full of ice cubes; while I don’t really do ice with whisky – the reduction in temperature means it is much harder to enjoy the nose of the drink – the same rules don’t apply to cocktails. I’d go for a ratio of 1:1; that way you can always add whisky (surreptitiously topping up your glass) in a bid to get your ideal balance. And that’s the key: if you like it, if it is in balance for you, well, that’s all that counts. Having cut your teeth on the basic Rusty Nail, you can then explore further. Try using different blends; from a light J&B or Cutty Sark to a heavier Johnnie Walker the structure of the cocktail will undergo a subtle change. At the lighter end of the scale, there is more of a sense of heather honey whereas Johnnie Walker Black will add wisps of smoke to the nose, add weight to the body and lengthen the finish. Then move onto single malts, although this is not recommended by folk at Drambuie as the liqueur has a high malt content anyway (plus it is not strictly a Rusty Nail). Then, when you are feeling really cocky, go for broke. Try using Loch Fyne Liqueur (www.lochfyneliqueur.com) rather than Drambuie. If you want to cut to the quick, the ultimate Rusty Nail isn’t a Rusty Nail, it’s a Busty Nail; 1:1 Loch Fyne Liqueur with Laphroaig. The nose of chocolate-covered orange peel of the liqueur enjoys a wonderful, long-term relationship interplaying with the ludicrously powerful, peaty, maritime Islay malt. And the warming finish goes on and on. A Rusty Nail with J&B and ice (with a little lemon zest) makes a great aperitif. A Rusty Nail made with Johnnie Walker is a magnificent post- prandial drink. In essence, the cocktail makes whisky less harsh (for those of you with long memories) and Drambuie less sweet. Fill your hipflask to make winter a little less bleak. - Marcin Miller is former editor of Whisky Magazine. +06: Titbits and Crumbs. - BBC iCan – Healthy Eating. Not many people have yet heard about ‘iCan’, a superb new internet service from the BBC. Currently still a trial, but fully functioning , it aims to provide a public space for citizens to form online groups or campaigns with others who share a vision or a passion. There is already a ‘Healthy eating’ section, where fledgling campaigns include an online petition against the pushing of junk food to children: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/ican/C2069#clubs - Truffles From Périgord. How about ordering some real French truffles online? The truffle season ends in late February or early March, but until then you can contact Hugues Martin, Trufficulteur by email and arrange an international delivery. You pay by bank transfer, and fresh, brushed truffles arrive by courier or ordinary post: http://truffiere.bressac.free.fr - The Daily Bread – a Food ‘Blog’. A weblog or ‘blog’ is an online diary which can be kept by an individual or group of people and enables its readers to post comments and interact. The daily bread is a ‘food blog’ written by a diverse group of people (including Dr Eamonn Butler, director of the political think- tank the Adam Smith Institute) who share thoughts, ideas and ravings about anything edible: http://www.gastroblog.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: Easy Ways to Trim the Fat - by Trisha Brandon. After all the eating, drinking and merrymaking of Christmas, is it time to take a step back? Do you want to slim down after Christmas? I for one will enjoy simplifying things a bit in the effort to lose a bit of festive ballast. One seemingly easy option would be to fill your shopping basket with fat- and calorie-controlled ready meals, or meal components like sauces, light yogurts and lower fat processed foods. By doing this, you may be able to count every gramme of fat and every calorie, but what about all the other rubbish you’ll be consuming in the quest for healthy eating? If you love food and cooking, there’s no need to let your standards slip. Fresh foods are still the best for you, and ditching them in favour of “good for you” meals will not help you lose weight. Here are some easy rules you can apply to your everyday routine: - Find an Alternative to Frying Onions, Garlic, Vegetables or Meats in Oil: Simmer them in a few tablespoons of good quality stock instead of oil. Don’t let the frying pan dry out, though – add another tablespoon when needed. Experiment with an oil mister – it’ll just coat the pan without using too much and is great for coating vegetables before roasting. If you want the taste and texture of the oil, measure the minimum amount out you’ll need to do the job. You may find that you’ve been using more than necessary. - Add Vegetables to Everything: You know they’re good for you but they also are very filling for very few calories. Add more than you usually would to stews, chillies and bolognese sauce to bulk them out. Have prepared crudités in your fridge for when you fancy a snack. - Find Alternatives to Cream and Full-Fat Dairy: Avoid light yogurts that are full of artificial sweetener and have a gelatine-induced texture that screams DIET. Look for quality low-fat or fat-free yogurt, such as Rachel’s. Total 0% Greek Yogurt makes a thick and creamy base for many desserts, dressings and sauces too. Use half-fat crème fraiche instead of cream in sauces and soups. If you use cheese in cooking, go for quality over quantity. Use a good quality mature cheddar in a cheese sauce and you won’t have to use much to get a robust flavour. - Drink Lots of Water: Try to cut back on tea and coffee and increase the amount of water you drink. It’ll help boost your metabolism and help fill you up too. - Have a Starter: Having a light starter can help you reduce the amount you have as a main course. A soup or salad will not only help fill you up, but it can also trigger you to eat more slowly so you can more easily recognise when you’re full. - Cook and Eat at Home: It’s very hard to lose weight if you don’t have control of ingredients or portion sizes. Make eating out a treat, rather than a regularity. - Enjoy What You Eat: There is so much food around in our environment, be it sandwiches at the petrol station or snack breaks at work that it’s easy to fill up on foods that don’t really satisfy you. Try to eliminate these “okay” foods from your routine. Life is too short to eat foods that you don’t really love. 08: How to: Cook with Chocolate - by Rosemary Perkins. A few simple precautions will make working with chocolate much easier. The major hazards to avoid if you want good results are overheating and getting steam or small amounts of water into the chocolate, which will cause it to seize in clumps. You should use a good quality chocolate, in general something with 70 per cent cocoa solids, though in recipes such as flourless chocolate cakes you will get a lighter result using something with perhaps 50-55 per cent cocoa solids. 1: Melt chocolate in a round-bottomed bowl, preferably metal, placed over a pan of water which has been brought to boil then turned off. It will melt more easily if chopped into small pieces first. This is specially true of milk or white chocolate. While chocolate is melting stir gently from time to time but do not beat air into it – you want to avoid bubbles. 2: If melted chocolate seems too thick, you can thin it by adding a small knob of butter or a teaspoon of vegetable oil. If you want a much thinner chocolate glaze melt the chocolate with a teaspoon or two of butter, a teaspoon of golden syrup, and a couple of tablespoons of double cream. You can then thin with a little hot water from the pot below, which will at first cause the chocolate to thicken and clump. Add more hot water, a spoonful at a time, stirring it until until you reach a consistency which will coat the back of a metal spoon well, but is thin enough to run off and leave a shiny glaze – add the water cautiously. 3: If you have managed to ruin the chocolate by overdoing the water, add a little more butter, cream and golden syrup and use it as a warm chocolate fudge sauce. 4: To add melted chocolate to other ingredients, such as beaten egg whites, first loosen the chocolate a little by stirring in a quarter of the lighter mixture to loosen the chocolate, then fold the two mixtures together very gently. You will actually get more volume this way than if you try to fold in the egg whites in one go. 5 If your smoothly glazed cake has gone dull, perhaps if you have refrigerated it, restore the shine by waving a hair dryer over it just before serving. ++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 2004 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.]