ISSUE
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FREE MAGAZINE
THE DIGESTION ISSUE
GO FIBRE AT FOOD SECRET HEALTHY EATING STARTS AT HOME 10 SECRET TIPS FOR YOUR NEW DIET JESSICA ALBARN ON HER NEW BOOK
CATWALK GENIUS KATIE EARY’S NEW RANGE
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DISCOVER Food Secret is a new fast food concept that helps customers to make healthy lunch choices through a tailor-made menu service, well-informed chefs and a nutritional labelling system. At the Tailor Made counter, customers choose from a variety of ingredients and design their own salad, sandwich or soup. On-site chefs offer advice based on taste preferences and nutritional needs and enter ingredients into a touchscreen monitor as they prepare the meal. This information is relayed to a counter-top display, showing customers the total calorie count, nutritional values and price of their meal as ingredients are added. The completed order is also printed onto the packaging, with a nutritional breakdown of the meal as a proportion of the recommended nutrient intake. Customers can also use kiosks at the front of the store to design meals, which are collected from a quick-serve counter. There are plans to offer the meal customisation service online, with orders to be picked up instore or delivered across central London. Food Secret works with leading chefs and nutritionists to design the menu of ready-prepared meals and who also helped create the patent-pending software database used in the touchscreen monitors. A five-star rating system highlights the healthiest options. Food Secret has plans to host cookery courses and classes on nutrition-related topics such as how to slow down the ageing process through a judicious diet. Food Secret . . . For more information visit www.foodsecret.com
contents Food Secret Magazine
THE DIGESTION ISSUE COVER JEXIKA by Giulia Maresca
SECRET FOOD 2 4 6 7
Discover Food Secret Go fibre at Food Secret Healthy eating starts at home 10 secret tips for your new diet
ART 8
Jessica Albarn talks about her first book ‘The Boy in the Oak’
STYLE
Catwalk Genius talk about crowd-funding 10 and their first collection with Katie Eary
IF YOU WISH TO CONTRIBUTE TO FOOD SECRET LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE CONTACT US AT magazine@foodsecret.com STAY IN TOUCH facebook.com/foodsecret twitter.com/foodsecret
I HAVE ALWAYS BELIEVED that you are what you eat, and as I have grown older I have gone to great lengths to educate myself in how to create a healthy diet to live on.
My time working in the City of London opened my eyes to whole a community of people like me… young, energetic, time poor, but health conscious. We needed fast and nutritious food to facilitate a long day in the office, but where could we get it? Gone were the days when young city types had a beer and curry at lunch time, I was amongst a group who worked hard, played hard and lived a fast and furious lifestyle. Being Italian, I have been brought up in an environment where food is celebrated, and taste can never be compromised. The enjoyment of food is at the heart of Southern European and Mediterranean wellbeing. To be clear, I am a foodie first and foremost, and I believe that is perfectly possible to create cuisine that offers fantastic flavour alongside nutritional benefit. But I also believe that is perfectly possible to create a new brand that would serve its food in such a different way to be seen as a pioneer of food experience. Food Secret is a tailor made fast-food restaurant and food shop. Our mission is to discover the secret to the best food experience and share it with you. We source the best and freshest ingredients. We challenge international recipes and techniques to create new products that enrich the taste of every single ingredient. We challenge chefs, nutritionists, architects, music writers, fashion gurus and software designers to collaborate and provide new and provocative food experiences. A magical combination of research, passion and creativity is the secret ingredient of Food Secret. Before Food Secret there was no simple system in place to instantaneously measure the nutritional values of what we eat. So we’ve devised one to do just that. During this pioneering food journey we are developing essential knowledge that we are willing to share. This is why we decided to create the magazine: to enable the information to flow freely to you. The new magazine aims to share our brand ethos; telling you what we know about food and nutrition in a friendly, simple and palatable manner; explaining why we are so involved in fashion and art; presenting a beautiful and interesting publication that you want to keep. Food Secret is my life and my passion; I aim to make life better by giving Londoners a new experience... I look forward to seeing you at Food Secret. Sergio M. Mottola
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GO FIBRE AT FOOD SECRET There are many ways you can look after and support your digestive system. Start your day by giving your beneficial bacteria a boost.
“YOU ARE WHAT YOU DIGEST AND ABSORB” IS PROBABLY MORE ACCURATE THAN SAYING “YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT”. If your digestion is not working effectively then you could experience health problems – even if you are eating healthily. Your body needs a wide range of different nutrients on a daily basis in order to keep functioning optimally, so what you eat and how much you actually digest and absorb can have a fundamental effect on many areas of your health. Poor digestion can produce symptoms such as bad skin, low energy and low immunity, and can be linked to many degenerative diseases including osteoporosis, arthritis and bowel cancer. There are many ways you can look after and support your digestive system. Start your day by giving your beneficial bacteria a boost. They help you get more out of the foods you eat by helping to breakdown foods as part of the digestive process. Try the Berry Compote Granola Pot, or the Soaked Orchard Fruit Granola Pot. Wheat is high in a substance called gluten, which can be hard work on the digestive system and can make you more bloated. Instead of a sandwich, choose a soup or a salad to help flatten your stomach. Salmon and Spring Vegetable Soup contains high fibre foods such as spinach, brown rice and asparagus and is completely wheat free. Or try Moroccan Chicken and Quinoa Salad. Quinoa is a South American seed similar to couscous, but it’s completely gluten free. Fibre is vital for proper digestion. Soluble fibre can help keep your bowels moving more regularly, and it may also be beneficial for lowering overall blood cholesterol as well as helping to eliminate any toxins in the body. Beans and pulses, vegetables, fruits, oats, barley, rye and seeds are all good sources of soluble fibre. Get a real fibre-boost from the Wholegrain and Super Vegetable Salad that contains a mixture of wholegrains and mixed beans. Or go for the Crunchy Vegetable Detox Soup that contains a bumper amount of different soluble fibre sources such as a mix of wholegrains, seeds, broccoli and spinach. As an added bonus the soup also includes some ginger which can help sooth and heal irritated digestive tract.
secret food
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HEALTHY EATING STARTS AT HOME
secret food
DID YOU KNOW that digestion begins even before you put food in your mouth? Just the sight and smell of food is enough to start the process that helps you digest food. Once you start chewing, enzymes in your saliva start breaking down foods. A health digestive system is a sum of many parts and there are a number of different ways you can help keep it functioning well. Start your day by being gentle on your digestion. Mix up a tablespoon of linseeds in a glass of water, keep in the fridge overnight, and drink the liquid and the seeds in the morning. The fibre from the linseeds will help keep you regular and sooth your digestion. Follow your linseed drink with a bowl of porridge. Oats are low in gluten, the substance high wheat which can irritate your digestive system. They are also high in soluble fibre and in addition to being gentle on your digestion can help lower cholesterol levels. If you want to add an extra boost to your porridge, soak some almonds, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds overnight and mix into your porridge. Soaking makes the nuts and seeds easier to digest so you’ll get more benefit! If you suffer from flatulence and bloating, add more ginger to your foods. Grate some into your stir fries, or make fresh ginger tea by cutting slices of ginger root and pouring hot water over them. Look after your friendly bacteria, and top them up regularly by eating live yoghurt and cottage cheese. Miso, a fermented soya bean paste, is also a good source of beneficial bacteria. You can make a satisfying broth by adding 2-3 tablespoons of miso paste into 1 litre of hot water. You can then add a selection of vegetables and beans to make a satisfying soup that’s also high in fibre. And finally, instead of traditional teas and coffees, stock up peppermint and fennel teas and drink some after each meal to aid digestion.
Food Secret top 10 tips Keep yourself topped up with water – drink at least eight glasses a day to help your digestion run more smoothly. You can also include herbal teas. Peppermint, dandelion, chamomile and fennel teas are all calming for the digestive system.
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Keep yourself topped up with water – drink at least eight glasses a day to help your digestion run more smoothly. You can also include herbal teas. Peppermint, dandelion, chamomile and fennel teas are all calming for the digestive system. Get acquainted with different forms of fibre. Contrary to the marketing talk, fibre doesn’t only exist in the high fibre cereals. Wholegrains, fruit and vegetables are all great natural sources of fibre, so make sure you include plenty in your diet on a daily basis. If your digestion is struggling, you might want to start with lightly steamed vegetables rather than raw ones as they are less work for your digestion. Take time to relax and chew your food well. If you can, eat lunch away from your desk so that you can concentrate on enjoying (and chewing) your food rather than fighting with your e-mails. The chewing action will send a message to your body to start producing more digestive enzymes to improve the breakdown of foods. Avoid refined “white” foods such as white bread, white rice, white pasta, cakes, biscuits and sugar. They are low in fibre and can make you feel more bloated. Feed the beneficial bacteria that support healthy digestion. Fermented milk products such as live natural yoghurt and cottage cheese are good sources of “friendly” bacteria. They also feed on fibre, so remember your wholegrains, fruit and vegetables. Avoid excessive intake of dairy products, red meat and saturated fats (such as butter and hard cheeses) as these all increase mucus in the bowel and can disturb the digestive system. If you suffer from frequent digestive issues and bloating, get yourself checked for food intolerances as these could be the culprits behind your symptoms. Limit your caffeine intake to a maximum of two caffeinated drinks a day. These include coffee, tea, colas and energy drinks. They all stimulate gastric emptying before food is properly absorbed so can make you lose precious nutrients. Add some ginger to your food, as it can stimulate digestion and helps sooth irritation in your gut.
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Incorporate regular exercise into your lifestyle. Exercise helps promote regular bowel function and can also reduce stress, another enemy of a healthy digestion.
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Artist and illustrator Jessica Albarn recently launched her first book ‘The Boy in the Oak’ with an exhibition at Liberty. Food Secret were there to support Jessica’s event and managed to grab five minutes with the artist to ask her about the book, her work and career to date. Jessica Albarn is best known in the art world for her fascination with nature. For her delicate, detailed pencil drawings of dragonflies, spiders, butterflies and most recently, her latest obsession - bees. She even collects dead insects in specimen jars, where they’re kept, along with a stuffed owl and a few bones and skulls, in her shed turned studio at the end of her North East London garden. And it’s this overwhelming interest in the natural world that’s central to her first book, The Boy in the Oak, a beautifully illustrated fairytale aimed at adults and children alike. ‘The idea originated from a tree in my friend’s garden which has, what always looked to me like the strange face of a boy in the bark and the story begins in a cottage in the woods that I used to visit as a child,’ explains Albarn, who sketched the oak tree in the book on visits to Trent Park. ‘In the book, the actual drawing of the face is cartoony but in my friend’s garden it was a very spooky image. I guess it’s a bit like when people see Jesus in candles. It got my mind going, imagining how something could be trapped inside a tree’. The story tells the tale of a lonely, destructive boy who is cruel to nature, trampling on flowers, carving his initials into trees and frightening creatures for fun. In return, a group of faeries cast a spell and trap him in an enchanted tree at the end of his garden. The faeries are magical, if a tad mischievous: when they’re in our world they ‘shapeshift,’ taking on the guise of the insect that reflects their personality the most. For Albarn, who’s slight with short dark hair, the book is something that she’s wanted to do since she was a teenager. ‘Back in secondary school I was hit by a car. I had a long period of being at home and during that time I wrote a story about being a dormouse. Foremost I’m an artist but years later when I saw that face in the tree it made me think it would be nice to write a book and illustrate it myself’. She’s been working on the book on and off for the last four years and has certainly put her own distinct stamp on it; the story is a mix of close-ups such as butterfly wings, spider webs, leaves and fire, each overlaid with her signature delicate pencil drawings. The faces of the children in the book are based on her own son Rudy, now age 12, and daughter Lola, 15. It’s not unusual for Albarn to go off on slight tangents in her work, happily taking whatever opportunities come her way. Last year she collaborated with Helmut Lang, putting her spider drawings on their spring collection,
and she’s designed a rug (also with a spider) for the Modus Design. Then there were her butterfly, rose and bird illustrations which landed on a series of limited edition silk dresses at high street chain Oasis, and now The Boy in the Oak. Growing up, Albarn always loved drawing and animals, at first wanting to be a vet before choosing a career as an artist instead. After a Fine Arts degree at Middlesex University, she set up the Northbank Gallery with a collective of artists, before having children and establishing a studio at home so she could work easily when they were young. ‘I don’t think my route has been that conventional which has given me a freedom because I haven’t been too attached to the fine art world in the traditional sense,’ she muses momentarily. In complete contrast to her drawings of insects, she also does portraits, racking up a prestigious list of sitters who include Alison Goldfrapp, Pearl Lowe, peace protestor Brian Haw and Banksy. ‘I do exhibit them and sometimes get commissioned but the portraits are an ongoing thing that I do for myself. They’re quite a personal thing,’ she says. Albarn has recently drawn her grandmother and is about to do her mother Hazel (a sculptor) and brother Damon, of Blur and now the Gorillaz. ‘I like the idea of documenting my family and being able to look back over the years. I did a portrait of my grandfather when I was 21, which is on the wall in our ancestor room and I did one of my father last year so I’m gradually going through them’. Although the two bodies of drawings have always been very separate, Albarn says that in her next phase of work she’s going to bring the two together, introducing different elements into her portraits. Not that she’s necessarily going to have all that much time - she’s already started working on her second book, another illustrated tale for children but ‘more of an insect story this time, not so much about faeries,’ and the wheels are in motion for The Boy in the Oak to be made into a short film. ‘It’s in the quite early stages but there’s a director on board and I’m just putting together a script. The idea is that it will be filmed in real time but I’ll animate the faeries and interlace them with the footage which is another new arena for me’. There’s a series of portraits for a hush-hush exhibition next May and of course, there’s still the bees. ‘A couple of years ago I became aware of what’s going on with bees. Their population is in great threat and the consequences for the food chain are dire. I began collecting dead bumblebees, which like other insects, retain their shape and don’t deteriorate if you look after them. I recently had a window in Liberty as an homage; I’m really very fond of bees’. It seems that not only do Albarn’s drawings shine a spotlight on an all too often forgotten natural world, but with her pencil, insects become that bit more magical too. The Boy in the Oak, by Simply Read Publishing at £12.99. Visit www.jessicaalbarn.co.uk Emma Love writes for The Independent, Elle, Sunday Times Style/Culture and Grazia
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JESSICA ALBARN THE BOY IN THE OAK
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CATWALK GENIUS KATIE EARY
‘Catwalk Genius is at the forefront of the new wave of ‘crowd-funding’ fashion websites. They’ve teamed up with edgy menswear designer Katie Eary to produce their first ever womens collection which is now available to buy online. Food Secret found out more about how we can all become investors in the latest design talent.’
style Designer Katie Eary is the forerunner of the latest trend in a credit crunched fashion world: ‘crowd-funding’. The economic downturn following the worst global recession since the 1930s generated a wave of new ideas and concepts in attempt to sustain start-ups and young businesses. One of the most popular concepts created from this post economic depression is the ‘crowd-funding’ principle, a new way of raising capital for a start-up where a large number of people (the crowd) invest small amounts of money to accumulate into an investment large enough to finance a new business. Catwalk Genius has adopted the ‘crowd-funding’ concept in fashion offering customers the opportunity to support designers and brands with a small financial contribution for a share of the final profit. Catwalk Genius source and approach a suitable designer to collaborate with and set a financial target for funds to raise in order to produce a collection solely for the site. The shares equating to the financial target go on sale through the website and, when they are all sold and the target is reached, the designer is given the funding to design and produce a collection that goes on sale exclusively through the site. All supporters get first option to purchase the new collection, as well as the chance to receive exclusive perks such as a visit to the designer’s studio, tickets to the launch and a free custom-made sample. At the end of the season, the revenues are split and distributed equally between the designer, the supporters and Catwalk Genius.
Choose from a variety of ingredients and design your own food
London based menswear designer Katie Eary is now participating in the first ever public fashion funding scheme from online portal Catwalk Genius. The website raised £5,000 that enabled Eary to design, develop and produce her collection. After making her notable debut just over a year ago, Eary’s profile is rapidly continuing to grow and has been attracting critical acclaim since the launch of the label as part of the Fashion East MAN collective two seasons ago. Her work has been attracting high profile admirers both male and female hence the choice to develop a range specifically for women. Amongst her fans are style icons Lady Gaga, Kate Moss, Courtney Love, Roisin Murphy, Sienna Miller and many more. Her bold statement prints, fusion of traditional tailoring with streetwear styling/design details and macabre accessories are best described as aggressively beautiful. Eary applied her dark, boldly unique aesthetic also to her debut womenswear collection that is now available to buy exclusively through Catwalk Genius. For more information log onto www.catwalkgenius.com Cecilia Maresca writes for Italian Vogue
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