Official: organic is better for you
A four-year, £12m study funded by the European Union has concluded that organic food is more nutritious than industrially-grown produce, in contradiction to UK government advice that there are no significant differences. It found organic fruit and vegetables contained up to 40% more disease-fighting antioxidants and higher levels of minerals such as iron and zinc, while antioxidant levels in milk from organic herds were up to 90% higher than in milk from conventional herds. Project co-ordinator Professor Carlo Leifert said the differences were so marked that organic food would help boost the nutrient intake of people who don’t eat the recommended daily portions of fruit and vegetables. “If you have just 20% more antioxidants and you can’t get your kids to do five a day, then you might just be okay with four a day,” he said. The Food Standards Agency is reviewing whether to change its advice.
Steers heading for UK
Speaking on the radio this week the CEO of Steers confirmed they would be heading for the UK to teach the Poms a ting or two about burgers. ” We get an enquiry probably one every second week from somebody who wants to open a Steers in and around London. I am sure you are aware there is a hell of a lot of expats over there, they miss the Steers brand, they are looking for the Steers brand.So in the past we have never been able to accommodate those requests because simply we haven’t had an office over there and to manage it out of South Africa would be complicated. We now have an office over there, we have an infrastructure that can service that so we will probably be looking to export and install the Steers brand there towards the latter part of next year.”
Storm in a D Cup
Kitchen queen Nigella Lawson has blasted telly chefs Gordon Ramsay and Jamie Oliver as performers who do not cook real food. BBC star Nigella, 47, believes the elaborate dishes offered by Ramsay, Oliver and Heston Blumenthal are not practical for the average British household.The domestic goddess – who has two kids – said: “I have never been inspired by a chef because I am not a chef – I am a cook. I want to champion home cooking. There is something theatrical about chefs – they are performing.. What they do has nothing to do with what you have for dinner.”
Top TV chefs reveal their ‘Last Supper’
ALDO ZILLI
Starter: White truffle with fois gras. It’s something I normally can’t eat because it’s so rich, but if it was my last supper I wouldn’t care.
Main: Spaghetti with a nice fresh lobster, because I really love eating lobster.
Dessert: Chocolate souffle with some white chocolate ice cream – a rare treat for me.
KEITH FLOYD
Starter: Cornish lobster.
Main: Roast leg of Welsh spring lamb, onion sauce, new potatoes, runner beans and broad beans.
Dessert: Scottish raspberries and Cornish clotted cream.
GORDON RAMSAY
Starter: Golden caviar from the albino sturgeon served with an ice-cold bowl of tomato consomme.
Main: Fillet of Aberdeen Angus beef, black Perigord truffles and pomme puree de Joel Robuchon with white Alba truffle.
Dessert: Chocolate fondant with white, milk ice cream.
HESTON BLUMENTHAL
Originally I thought of a huge banquet as it would take a long time. Charles the Second once had a banquet for five people with 173 courses. One course had 15 desserts. It would take a lifetime to finish so my true last supper would probably be beef and roast potatoes.
NIGELLA LAWSON
Starter: Linguine alle vongole (clams in pasta made “al bianco” – no tomatoes).
Main: Lemon roast chicken, creamed spinach, fennel salad, petits pois a la francaise, roast potatoes, chips and mash.
Dessert: A wodge of gorgonzola and toffees from Paris. And all at home…
BRIAN TURNER
Starter: A plate of deepfried whitebait
Main: A hearty steak and kidney pudding
Dessert: Steamed date and ginger pudding with an old-fashioned vanilla custard
