Nosh! magazine

Nosh!

Northampton’s local food magazine

Spring Edition Issue 1 £3.50

THE GOOD LOAF BAKERY

GROW YOUR OWN VEGETABLE PATCH

MEET NUTRIPAIGE

Contents

A note from the editor...

to the Spring 4 - Nutritiously beautiful Welcome edition of Nosh!, we hope you all had a brilliant Christmas and are not 5 - Battle of the burgers too sick at the thought of pigs-in-blankets or alcohol!

A lot of our Christmas 7- Street food restaurant time went in to producing season’s magazine, to open in Northampton this scouring for the best local produce, recipes and people you guys would 8 - Meet NutriPaige find interesting!

We have carefully put together all of our favourite 11 - Would we starve recipes, including some oozing with alcohol alongside some of our healthy alternatives to suit without bees? all of our readers. This magazine focuses mainly on the natural side of food, with a feature on how to grow your own vegetables, as well as what is 12 - Eat seasonably in season to ensure you shop locally rather than import fruit and vegetables which are unable to be grown in the UK, for example strawberries in 14 - Warts ‘n’ all March are a very rare thing. season, we also got the chance to talk to 16 - Boozy foods - Italian This nutritionist and personal trainer turned blogger Paige Brooks, otherwise known as NutriPaige edition about her success as a blogger and well known instagrammer, giving her own blogging and tips! Another feature worth mentioning 18 - World food buffet to nutritional is that of the Good Loaf Bakery, a bakery which works with women who have come out of prison in order to better themselves, find out more about the open GLB on page.

Grab a cuppa, enjoy and see you in Summer!

19 - The Good Loaf Bakery 23 - Top three foodie apps 24 - Around the world in WHERE TO FIND US! four dishes 26 - Recipes 29 - Elsie’s cafe 30 - Listings @Nosh_magazine www.noshmagazine1.wix.com www.facebook.com/Noshmagazine1

Disclaimer: Not all photography is owned by myself, and any images that have been used via Creative Commons will be credited to the owner of the images.

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Photo provided by Asda

NUTRITIOUSLY BEAUTIFUL

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sda have started to trial a box full of ‘wonky’ food, filled with vegetables and fruit that may be misshapen or have a few blemishes on. The opening of this box saw 20 boxes delivered to participating stores, which were very popular and sold out within 20 minutes of announcing. The boxes were set up as part of their new campaign ‘ Beautiful on the inside’ and were available in 128 stores to tackle food wastage and to help the farmers sell their goods even if they do not look perfect.

The exclusive wonky veg boxes are packed with “peculiar potatoes, crooked carrots and curved

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cucumbers “which are all in season, as well as knobbly peppers, cabbages, onions, leeks and parsnips. They’re just £3.50 each, which is cheaper than regular shaped fruit and veg.

Asda’s existing wonky veg range – which was expanded last November – also includes misshapen carrots, pears, apples, citrus fruits, sweet potatoes and garlic. The specifications on carrots and sweet potatoes in every store across the country were lowered, meaning 340 more tonnes of carrots and 300 more tonnes of sweet potatoes can now be found on the shelves which would have previously been rejected.

A representative from Asda said, “we’ve been eager to take this one step further for a while, so the challenge to make wonky veg more widely available for customers was something we happily accepted from Jamie Oliver and Jimmy from ‘Jimmy’s Farm’” However customers wanting the box were left unsatisfied when the boxes were sold out in record time, leaving them questioning when the boxes will be back again, and how often would they be available. The general consensus from the public is positive and people are itching to get their hands on their own wonky veg.

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VS Battle of the burgers Greasy burgers on one hand or a gourmet burger on the other- which is the most favoured by the Nosh! office? For a fair comparison we chose the generic cheeseburger from each menu, the gourmet one came as a meal, but the greasy one was burger alone or extra charge for chips.

Greasy

‘Cheap but tasty,’

The greasy burger is a classic for many stopping at football matches, motorbike races and other such events. The prices of the greasy burgers range between £3 and £6 dependent on the location of the burger van.

It is often an option at festivals too, where many of the Nosh! tasters had been to prior to this test. The overall reaction to the ‘greasy’ burger were positive but three of the six testers said it was lacking something, some said the salad was missing, another said the substance of the burger just was not filling, making him question the price of the burger.

Photo courtesy of Phil Parker

Gourmet

Overall score: 6/10

‘Meat sweats’

The gourmet burger in question was from Frank’s hamburger house, with bottomless chips and a side salad. When going out for a meal, many testers would not necessarily have chosen a burger restaurant but when tried it said they would now be inclined to return to the restaurant. One of the testers described the experience as having the ‘meat sweats’ which sounded peculiar to many of the female testers, but apparently a common thing among the males! The price of the meal was around £13 which is average when it comes to a fancy restaurant in comparison to a fast food restaurant.

Overall score: 9/10 The winner is..

the gourmet burger

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PLANS FOR NEW STREET FOOD RESTAURANT

Plans for the front of the restaurant - submitted to the council

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lans have been put forward for a street food style restaurant to replace a closed down pizzeria in Northampton.

The pizzeria, on Derngate closed down last year and has been left empty since. The plans put forward by ‘Foodie rocks’ to create a different style of eatery were put forward this week.

If the plans are approved the restaurant will bring delights from all over the world including both sweet and savoury produce from India, Taiwan, China and Mexico alongside others.

The venue aims to create 12 jobs and would be open from 8am until midnight from Sunday to Thursday, and 8am

until 1.30am from Friday to Saturday.

They would also be serving craft beer alongside the food, which is a popular option at the moment in Northampton after a craft beer only pub was opened just down the road from the prospective restaurant.

The statement submitted along with the plans said: “The establishment fits in with the culture quarter of Northampton. The concept compliments the cocktail and food bar two doors down, and the restaurant on the same street.

The main target audiences for the restaurant are students, families with children, theatre enthusiasts, couples and friends. It is a very inclusive environment and seems to be popular

with people who have read about the plans.

The application requests for a change of use from a cafe to a combined restaurant/cafe and “drinking establishment”.

The bottom floor of the two-storey venue would feature table football and an “art gallery” and the menu aims to offer options for breakfast lunch and dinner and “quality coffee throughout the day including evenings.”

The council will decide the fate of the application at a meeting taking place at the end of March.

Would you visit this restaurant?

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Nosh!meets...

In recent years, the reading and creation of blogs has plummeted - blogs about anything and everything. However food blogs have grown excessively in the past five years, from young budding chefs to others sharing tips and tricks from their experiences, or even to amateur kitchen lovers. We had a quick question and answer session with nutritionist-turned-blogger Paige Brooks about what inspired her to start blogging and using Instagram and the effect it has on her business alongside her top tips.

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aige Brooks, a nutritionist and personal trainer from Essex started out using Instagram to document her life and her eating habits. She then took the chance to use it as a platform to increase success within her business, which has now plummeted with 14.5k people viewing her snaps each time it is uploaded, leading to thousands of likes and ultimately sharing her pictures.

What made you start writing a blog?

I started writing my blog because over the years I had developed a huge interest in the health and fitness industry. After struggling with my weight and a positive body image, I found this new way of life that I wanted to share with other girls that may also be struggling. Originally I was not a professional PT but wanted to create awareness of how girls can look after themselves properly, make themselves feel confident and most importantly nourish their bodies so they could function properly.

What blogs do you read personally?

I am very particular about what blogs I read because I think we live in an age where social influences are getting out of hand and those in it may be in it for the wrong reasons. This could be in order to get invited to events or get sent complimentary clothes. Plus, a lot of false information may be taken as fact from peoples opinions, therefore influencing readers based on options, not scientific fact which can be very confusing.

How quickly did you gain followers on both your blog and instagram?

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It took me a good couple of years to get a good loyal following. This number often peaks and drops but to me if I had 100 followers that I was truly helping on their own journey, that enough would be amazing to me.

Is one more popular than the other?

My Instagram is definitely the most popular out of all my social media platforms, I think this may be purely because it is the largest platform for personal users. For readers to see content they just have to slide through their feed and maybe ‘double tap’ if they like the post.

Those who have more of an invested interest in health and fitness or even my recipes and articles I write, would then lead onto going through my blog.

The website is also more informative and has all my information on Personal Training and Nutrition Consulting.

Has the popularity of your social media influenced the amount of business you receive in terms or personal training & nutritional work?

Yes, my social media platform has 90% been the main influencer of attracting business.t people that follow me are more aware of what services I offer. As soon as I was officially up for business, once posting

about it online, I had a full schedule of clients and it has been pretty constant ever since. This was because I already had built up a strong following where people had trust in me and my advise.

I do believe that my reputation in the area has been spread, therefore more interest has gathered however without my form of advertisement over the internet the business would not of picked up as quickly as it did.

Nutri Paige Sweaty Betty, Nike, New Look Sport and a couple more, so keeping current with these brands is important as they have a huge impact on the industry. I would also get invited to promotional events where I am gifted products.

With 14.5k followers do you ever get recognised whilst out?

Funnily enough, I have. I could only count on one hand the amount of girls that have recognised me in public and introduced themselves, but it is still a very weird feeling. I am obviously not a celebrity but it means so much to me that they feel comfortable enough to say hello and have a chat.

What’s one bit of advice you would give to anyone hoping to become a blogger themselves?

Post frequently, have interesting and original material. Stay true to yourself, don’t try and copy what others are doing and speak about what you are passionate about. Make sure you are doing it for the right reasons, because followers can see straight through it.

What are the perks of having a large following?

There are lots of perks to having a large(ish) following, as it does bring lots of opportunities to work with brands of a similar industry. It is also quite fun, as I mentioned earlier I wanted to spread my message so I am pleased it is well received and people appreciate my honesty with what I post.

The down fall of blogging is it can be quite competitive and takes a lot of hard work. A lot of people think it is the easiest job in the world, which in a way it is. It fits around my lifestyle and I work for myself. However, it is important to be posting regularly, be up to date with new content and topics. There are also a lot of pressure to be a role model to others.

Everybody has down days and do not feel their best but you always have to be on your A game to keep your followers invested in you. I have struggled at times and let myself worry

too much about what I was posting, trying to be regimental. I have a new relaxed approach to blogging and ‘instagram-ming’ now and I don’t think too deep into what I want to write.

At the end of the day I want to be as real as possible so followers have a positive role model.

Do you still post for yourself to look back on or mainly for others to see what you’re up to?

I do post for myself yes, as mentioned before I try to stay as real as possible.

Followers want to see that you are a normal person with the same struggles that they do. I post for myself to keep myself motivated and hope that it inspires others to do the same.

Do you get paid to advertise on instagram/blog ?

I do not get paid to advertise. On occasion I may be sent products to review. I have received products from

Paige’s top five nutritional tips 1) Always drink water, and lots of it.

2) Eat clean, fresh food as much as you can. Products at their most natural state.

3) Vegetables, Lean Protein and Complex Carbohydrates are the 3 key macro-nutrients to a healthy diet 4) Balance is everything. Eat well 80-90% and let yourself have ‘cheat meals’ life is for living and finding a perfect balance between eating healthy and enjoying your life is so important.

5) Exercise has so many healthy benefits, and goes hand in hand with nutrition. Do both and you are golden.

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Would we starve without bees?

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ees are responsible for over 80% of pollination when it comes to produce., a question posed towards the Northampton Beekeeping Association was there a possibility of starvation if bees ceased to exist.

Over the past few months, there has been uproar that bees are dying out, with people being encouraged to turn parts of their garden in to a bee haven to ensure they have somewhere where they can survive and get what the need - pollen. Many gardeners and vegetable growers have been trying to boost the awareness of how important bees are to us as a society, encouraging normal people to make ‘bee gardens’ - areas filled with bee-loving plants, bee baths and other such things that bees need in order to keep pollinating our plants.

We have decided to investigate the question whether we would starve if bees were no longer to exist.

Speaking to members of the Northampton Bee Keeping Association, in short their answer was yes. This made questions arise such as how, or why?

Bees are a vital part of the food chain when looking at it in terms of pollination of plants which in turn leads to the eating of both plants by animals or human, or animals by human who start by eating the plants. It is essential to understand the major role that they play and how their homes are coming under attack with the lack of wild flowers that are being planted. Farmers and members of the public are urged to start planting a strip or a window box of wild flowers in order to keep the bees pollinating.

Eat seasonably Eating produce that is available from your own country is an important way that supports local farmers and produce growers both financially and personally. The next few months coming up are filled with exciting dates and opportunities which allow your inner chef to be released - mothers day, Easter and numerous bank holidays. In order to create something a little extra special we have complied a list of all vegetables that are produced locally and seasonally in order to benefit both you with fresh items as well as local businesses.

MARCH/APRIL/MAY

The beginning of the Spring season starts in March bringing new ‘green’ produce with it. The main vegetable that is grown in March is a spring onion, which a giant one is pictured above on the left hand side. It is important to try and adapt recipes in order to include vegetables that are grown in each season, as it reduces the cost of them when it is produced locally rather than having to transport them from abroad which makes it more expensive to you, the consumer. Other vegetables that are grown during March are broccoli, cauliflower and asparagus, these can all be used in your favourite recipes or adapted to fit in. For example cauliflower can be grated and used as a rice alternative giving you one of your five a day but at the same time filling you up. The best place to ensure fresh, reliable and cost effective vegetables is to buy from local markets, such as ones in town or farmers markets where the produce is as fresh as it can be, in comparison to supermarkets where the items may have been sat for a while or filled with chemicals to ensure the longevity of the vegetable.

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As Spring progresses in to April, cauliflower is no longer one of the seasonal vegetables as it is split between Winter and the beginning of Spring. Radishes are introduced as this months best vegetable to be grown. The conditions are perfect for them, alongside the other Spring vegetables that are shown in the above picture, this season consists of a lot of green vegetables with the introduction of salad vegetables such as the radish or lettuce. Although available all year round at big supermarkets, April is the time to buy for the fresh and more locally produced versions.

Similarly in May, the only addition to the vegetable group is peas, but towards the end of the month where it is technically known as Summer in the vegetable calendar, carrots are introduced but as this is a Spring edition, here are your new favourite vegetables for Spring.

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Warts ‘n’ all Growing your own vegetable patch is a lot easier than it seems, you don’t need to have a big garden or even a garden at all in order to produce fresh food on a regular basis. Starting small with a window box can help to see how much work goes in to maintaining them, which will then help you decide whether this is something you would like to do. We will give you steps on how to grow your own raised vegetable beds.

Step one Measure the space for your desired beds, you can either buy wood yourself and measure it or flat pack beds can be purchased online.

Line the beds with felt or another like material to stop weeds poking through, then fill with rocks to help drainage of the bed, then add soil from your garden on top of this and finally layer them with compost, your own or shop bought. Start to think about what you want to grow both amount and what kind of produce.

Step two The next step is to start planting.

It is ideal to plan ahead on how much you will consume instead of planting a whole pack of seeds as it will just end up being turned in to compost instead of eaten.

Dependant on what you grow, you may need to purchase other things such as wire or bamboo canes - an good crop to grow for a first timer would be runner beans as they are easy to maintain and the excess produce can be frozen, these would need to wired to canes to keep them from drooping.

Once you have decided what to grow, plant your seeds and water them daily, every other day with a fertiliser such as Miracle Gro.

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Step three: Watch them grow This is where it starts to get fun, watching what you have grown come to life. It may take a while dependent on the good old English weather, but it will happen slowly but surely. It is important to keep watering and using fertiliser to produce a good crop.

The next thing to worry about is pests slugs, snails and birds. Slugs will eat their way through the produce as if it was grown especially for them, and the birds will peck at the leaves. This can be a disaster if you are trying to grow salad leaves or greens where that is the produce. In order to eliminate these there are pest control options that do not kill the plants and also make them still edible.

Step four The plants will now turn in to something edible. When removing the vegetables, make sure you pick a day where the weather is supposed to be warm continuously in order to get them all out at the same time, also remembering to keep an eye on the suggested length of time taken to grow. It is vital to be extra careful when pulling out produce and removing it from the ground due to breakage which will leave a ‘nasty taste in your mouth’(!). The next step is to wash off all of the dirt from the veg and store appropriately, this may been par-boiling them to keep them fresh but still able to be frozen, however not every vegetable can be frozen.

Got your own vegetable patch? Send us pictures noshmagazine1@gmail.com, or tweet us @Nosh_magazine

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Boozy foods : Boozy and Italian in the same title? Who doesn’t love Italian food and alcohol?! Almost every Italian dish is filled with either lashings of parmesan or alcohol and here at Nosh! we have carefully selected some of our favourite and not to hard recipes to pass on to you. Oozing with yummy goodness and a hint of liquor, here are this edition’s recipes.

Tiramisu - Serves 8 Ingredients - 3 espresso cups of strong black coffee - 3 tbsp caster sugar - 6 tbsp Amaretto liqueur - 2 eggs separated - 250g mascarpone cheese - 250ml whipped cream - cocoa powder to dust - 8 8cm dessert glasses Method - place the cold coffee in a bowl, add 3 tbsp of amaretto and leave - beat the egg yolks and sugar in a separate bowl until thick and pale - add the mascarpone and mix well, then fold in the whipped cream - beat the egg whites until soft peaks form and fold in to the marscapone mixture alongside the rest of the amaretto - dip each biscuit in to the coffee mixture, coating both sides and shake off the excess - cover the bottom of eight individual 8cm dessert glasses - spread over the cream mixture over the biscuits and repeat until the biscuits are shared among the glasses and covered with the cream - smooth the surface and sprinkle cocoa powder on the top - refrigerate for 2 hours or until firm, the longer left the stronger the flavour

Red wine lollies Ingredients - a bottle of red wine - 200g cherries - ice lolly moulds Method - remove the stones from the cherries - blend the wine and cherries together in an electric mixer or using a blender - once all lumps have been removed and the mixture is well blended pour the liquid in to ice lolly moulds - freeze the lolly moulds overnight or until required consistency has been achieved - serve with white napkins for a sophisticated look, but also to catch any drips

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Italian Edition Limoncello Biscotti - Makes 42

Ingredients - 1/2 cup of vegetable oil - 1 cup white sugar - 3 1/4 all purpose flour - 3 eggs - 1 tsp baking powder - 100ml of Limoncello Method - Preheat the oven to 190 degrees.

- Combine the dry ingredients in one bowl, and then add all of the wet to make a heavy bread like dough.

- Divide the mixture in to two pieces, and roll the length of your baking tray and press down to 1/2 inch thickness - Bake each tray for 25.30 minutes or until golden brown - Remove from the baking tray and place on to a wire rack to cool - Once cooled slice each one in to 1/2 inch sections.

- Place the slices back on to the baking trays - Bake for another 6-10 minute on each side, remembering to check throughout to ensure they do not get too hard.

- The slices should be lightly toasted on both sides.

- Once out of the oven leave to cool again - Optional - Melt some dark chocolate and dip the bottom of each slice in to add an extra treat

Drunken Spaghetti - Serves 4 Ingredients - 400g spaghetti - 1/2 bottle of red wine - parmesan - pancetta (optional) Method - Boil the spaghetti in water for 5 minutes - Drain the water and add the wine and cook for the remainder of time ( 10-12 minutes) - If using pancetta whilst the wine is cooking, fry the pancetta in a pan with 1tsp of oil - Sieve the spaghetti and stir in the pancetta - Grate the parmesan on top and serve

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WORLD FOOD BUFFET TO OPEN

Picture showing the inside of the restaurant released last year by the Chilli Village, via Chilli Village Official Facebook Page

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restaurant complex is set to open it’s doors in the next month providing food from all of the different continents. The restaurant which was previously known as ‘Fusion’ based on Wellingborough road has been in the planning process since last year.

Chilli Village, based next to St Edmunds Hospital, offers diners a different experience to other such buffets by combining live entertainment, a shisha lounge and a variety of restaurants.

The original opening date of the village was in November 2015, but due to unexpected delays it has only now started to take shape and be ready for opening in the next few weeks.

Over the past few weeks old style

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wagons from cowboy films have started to fill the outside area of the restaurant, as well as seating areas.

This led people to believe the opening date was getting nearer and after a plea for staff was uploaded on Facebook from the company, the ball started rolling.

The company took to Facebook again to announce when they planned to open which read “We are planning to open the first restaurant at Chilli Village in late March/April 2016.”

Although this may only be one of many it seems to have attracted a lot of comments on the page with people expressing their excitement for the opening.

Work first began at the premises

in November 2014, changing the old restaurant completely. Wooden flooring has been placed throughout and hundreds of antique ornaments are starting to fill the rooms.

Sneak preview pictures were uploaded to their social media platforms to entice customers and show them what will be coming soon.

Anyone interested in applying is asked to send a CV to info@chillivillage. co.uk.

The Good Loaf Bakery “Good bread, doing good”

Northampton’s first Artisan bakery that gives back to the community opened last year. The bakery helps women who are either ex offenders, vulnerable, or suffering from mental health difficulties get back in to work life reality. The bakery brings together good food with doing good for the community. The owner of Good Loaf, Suzy Van Rooyen gave us an insight in to the company.

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The Good Loaf B

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he Good Loaf bakery, is located in an old shoe factory on the corner of Overstone road in the heart of the Boot and Shoe Quarter of Northampton, with on road parking.

The building oozes character with exposed pipes throughout the cafe area. Good Loaf is a trading arm of the charity C2C which is the umbrella charity that works with anyone within the criminal justice system.

The charity first decided to open a business in order to get their own funding, to make a profit and have a social impact on the client group that they work with. The bakery currently works with female offenders, who have been released from prison and are on a probation order alongside community volunteers and paid workers. It gives the ex-offenders a routine that they may not have otherwise after being released due to the conviction that they may have to declare despite having the skills necessary for the job but may not be

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given the opportunity to use the skills they have learnt. The bakery was one of three options put forward for the charity to choose from, the others being social housing and a hair and

“We’re trying to change the stigma around prison” beauty salon.

To be able to choose the best option for the service users, C2C spoke to the people in the prison system to gage what they wanted to do once released and how it would work for

them. Food being the obvious choice because ‘everybody eats’ but not everybody had experience in hair and beauty, and the social housing would not employ a lot of people as very few people would be needed to run the agency. The Good Loaf offers twelve week programmes to teach people skills, baking, as well as how life in a real job, with the plus of getting a reference that can be given to prospective employers.

The products made and served by the bakery are made with using local items such as oils and Heygate’s flour, which can all be bought separately at the bakery itself.

The charity, after much research, saw a gap in the food market that they could fill by becoming the first Artisan bakery in the town, despite this the journey took nearly two years to come in to reality.

The journey started in 2013 when the bid to receive funding from the lottery, which started the ball rolling,

Bakery

Photos provided by the Good Loaf Bakery

but took nearly a year and a half to get approved, once the funding was in place the next step was to look for a premises that would fulfill the needs.

Suzy Van Rooyen and the rest of the Good Loaf team found the location in March 2015, after refurbishing the now cafe, placements were started in June in order to train staff up, as well as the wholesale bakery to get the food distributed to stockists in the town.

On the first of July the bakery opened it’s doors to the public, since then they have won the Local Food Hero award from Carlsberg Food and Drink Awards in 2015/16, which they are more than proud of.

The award was given just months after they first opened in October of last year.

Although the GLB is only for women currently, they run drop in sessions for young offenders and men where interview skills can be developed with usage of computers that they may not have access to at home. Van Rooyen

said during the interview that she is looking at expanding the concept across Northamptonshire and open other types of businesses including one for males and potentially one for young offenders. The current one is only for women due to the nature of some of the workers which may be referred due to vulnerability, which if working with men would put them at risk.

The Good Loaf not only provides fresh bread to the cafe but also to another 20 restaurants and farm shops throughout Northamptonshire as well as supplying to the University of Northampton, all of the stockists can be found on their website.

Another important part of the ethos is that everyone is equal whilst working, hundreds of different stories but the same uniform. This helps with inclusion and visitors the cafe are not quick to judge the staff who are working due to their pasts.

The work placements takes place

over 12 weeks and twenty-five people are on each course, after they may have the chance to be employed back in to the bakery as paid staff and so far five have been employed alongside other staff from church volunteers to unemployed people who started out working as a volunteer just to be doing something.

After being open for nearly a year, the bakery have only had two complaints both of which were given to help the volunteers and others in Good Loaf understand how to change certain aspects which were taken on board positively.

Find out more about The Good Loaf Bakery! www.thegoofloaf.co.uk @TheGoodLoaf on Twitter www.Facebook.com/TheGoodLoaf or pay them a visit 1 Overstone Road , Northampton

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Food apps

Foodgawker

Searching through the app store takes a lot of time, especially when having to read through numerous reviews to see if the app you like is actually worth downloading.

This time could be spent utilising these new apps rather than looking for them, so we thought we would save you the time and let you know the top five apps that we think you need as a food lover.

Marco Torretta/ App Store

WHAT? How many teaspoons are in a tablespoon?

Or how many cups are in 500 grams?

With Amount on your phone, you won’t be tirelessly searching the internet for conversion charts. This app conveniently converts measurements for you so you can go confidently change recipes and adapt them for you. Who needs maths?!

AVAILABLE ON: iOS HOW MUCH? 99p

Mixologist

Cocktails recipes App Store

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WHAT? Foodgawker is a food lovers version of Pinterest.

Filled with thousands of gorgeous images of food and Gawkerverse / App store the ability to discover new recipes collected from around the Internet. You can favourite, save, and add notes to recipes you want to make later. People coming over?

You’re sorted.

AVAILABLE ON: iOS HOW MUCH? 99p

Jamie Oliver’s recipes WHAT? This app brings the Naked Chef to your iPhone, with hundreds of tasty recipes and how to videos starring Mr Oliver. The free app Zomlo Limited / App store comes with a taster pack that includes ten recipes each month, or alternatively you can subscribe for monthly updates which includes thousands of more recipes.

AVAILABLE ON: iOS PRICE: Free with in-app purchases

Purchx

WHAT? Taste for something more fancy than a cheap vodka or glass of wine? Mixologist is here to help you create cocktails with ingredients you have at home.

Show off to your friends and make some glorious cocktails with ease.

AVAILABLE ON: iOS HOW MUCH? 99p

WHAT? This app is great whilst out shopping, it provides consumer reviews on the go meaning gone are the days you sit sieving through the internet looking at reviews. There all here. In one place. Using the iPhone camera you just scan the barcode and the reviews will come up. It also shows a comparison between products, so you get the best one.

AVAILABLE ON: iOS HOW MUCH? free Consumr/ App Store

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Around the world ITALY Spaghetti Bolognese is one of the most popular dishes in Italian cuisine, however not that popular in Italy itself. The name originates from the town Bologna, but the dish itself has been adapted so much since the first creation with the addition of meat to the sauce where as previously the dish consisted of a ‘ragu’ sauce, in short a tomato sauce that a fresh egg pasta was tossed in to. The well known recipe we have now dates back to the 19th century.

Flag image via Pixabay, Spaghetti image via Romi via CC

JAPAN The Ramen noodle dish has unclear origins, some say it originated from China, others Japan. The earliest known source of the dish was through the Japanese soldiers returning from war with recipes they had picked up along the way. Until the 1950’s Ramen was known as Chinese Soba, which gives the impression that the dish was first discovered in China itself.

The dish consists of noodles, a meat substance, vegetables and a soup like liquid. The popularity of the dish has grown through restaurants opening offering this in other areas of the world.

Flag image - via CC Ramen image - Stronglk7 via Wikimedia commons

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Globe image via SusanMoo

in four dishes

sanMoore via CC

GHANA Jollof rice is a popular dish from Western Africa, more specifically Nigeria and Ghana but also it is said ti have derived from the Senegal. Despite making the dishes differently they both fall under the same name. The rice was named after the Jollof Empire that ruled throughout the Senegambian region of Africa.

The name Jollof rice derives from Wolof people of Senegal, where it is considered a “national dish” though now called theibou dienn or benachin.

Flag image via Pixabay Rice image - Charles Haynes via CC

MEXICO Chile Con Carne is a traditional Mexican dish but also has origins within Texas.

The title derives from the Spanish word ‘chile’ refers to the chilli pepper which adds the spice to the dish and the word ‘carne’ represents the meat which is added to the dish, often this is beef.

The first recipe dates back to 1850, which consisted of beef suet, dried chilli peppers and salt which were mixed together and placed in to brick shape moulds and left in the sun to dry. After this process they were then able to carried easily, which meant workers could take their food with them and heat it over an open fire.

In 1893, the San Antonio Chilli Stand was set up at the Columbian Exposition. This helped to popularise the dish by allowing American’s to appreciate the dish. This was successful due to the tourist nature of San Antonio which helped spread the Texan style dish through the South and West areas of America.

Chilli Con Carne is now the official dish of Texas, chosen by those in power of the state in 1977.

Flag image via Pizabay CC License, Chilli picture via dinner3001 via CC

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Pumpkin and ginger soup Recipe and image from Jamie Oliver’s website.

A winter warmer, or a fancy halloween treat with the excess of pumpkins around at the time of year this is a good one to hold on to. The two recipes are both from Jamie Oliver and both have amazing reviews and what more could we want for you?! Let us know how you get on by using the hashtag #JamieOliverNosh

Ingredients 1 kg pumpkin 2 shallots 75 g ginger a few sprigs of fresh herbs , such as chives, mint extra virgin olive oil 1 litre organic vegetable stock 125 ml coconut milk , plus extra to serve ½ tablespoon chilli powder 1 lime

Method Deseed and roughly chop the pumpkin, peel and chop the shallots, then peel and finely grate the ginger. Pick and finely chop the herbs.

Place the pumpkin, shallots, ginger and some oil in a large saucepan and sautĂŠ until soft.

Add the stock, coconut milk and chilli powder. Season, then bring to the boil and simmer for 40 minutes.

Blitz in a food processor then serve with the fresh herbs, lime juice and a splash of coconut milk.

Serve with homemade bread if possible to ensure a delightful winter warmer, or alternatively a good crusty loaf.

This is a dish to wow visitors at dinner parties, and will go down a treat.

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Firecracker chicken salad Recipe and image from Jamie Oliver’s website.

Ingredients 50 g (1 nest) rice noodles 100 g cooked free-range chicken 1/4 cucumber 1 carrot 1 baby gem lettuce 1 small handful of sugar snaps a few sprigs of fresh mint 1 good pinch of mixed seeds 1 tablespoon coriander oil SWEET CHILLI & LIME DRESSING 1 tablespoon sweet chilli sauce 1/2 tablespoon low-salt soy sauce 1/2 tablespoon runny honey 1 lime

Method Cook and refresh the noodles. Shred the chicken, finely chop the cucumber and shave the carrot into ribbons using a speed-peeler.

Shred up the baby gem, finely chop the sugar snaps and pick and roughly chop the mint leaves. Lightly toast the mixed seeds.

Combine the shredded chicken, cooked noodles and coriander oil in a bowl. Add all the remaining salad ingredients, toss to combine, place in your lunchbox and keep chilled.

Place the sweet chilli sauce, soy and honey in a small jam jar. Squeeze in the lime juice, secure the lid and take to work with your lunchbox.

When you are ready to eat, shake the jam jar to mix the ingredients then dress your salad. Close your lunchbox again and give it a good shake to coat.

If you fancy a little winter warmth, remove the lid from the jam jar and briefly heat the dressing in the microwave before pouring it over your chicken salad.

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Elsie’s cafe

Image courtesy of Elsie’s Cafe

E

lsie’s cafe was set up in order to reduce the amount of food wastage that occurred locally within Northamptonshire. The team at the cafe intercept before the perfectly good food gets put in to the bin and with the use of volunteers find ways to use the food in new recipes.

The idea was launched on Valentine’s Day last year at the Looking Glass Theatre during a Seedy Saturday event. Members of the public were served cakes and meals that had been intercepted before going to landfill.

Based on Charles Street in the Mounts area of the town, they are able to use the venue as a place to showcase music, a fully working bar alongside using the club premises during the day.

The cafe also run on a ‘pay how you

feel’ basis meaning donations are welcomed dependent on how much you enjoyed your meal. If you are able to pay for the meal, this ensures that they will be able to continue the work they do, stopping hundreds of thousands items of food being thrown away each day.

The project is run solely by volunteers coming from all different walks of life but with the same goal in mind - to drive the project to success. Elsie’s currently work in partnership along some of Northampton’s well known restaurants and shops intercepting the disposal of food that can be used despite being past the sell-by-date or just not sold at the end of a days work.

It is part of The Real Junk Food Project, which is a nationwide organisation that helps to reduce

the amount of food waste there is.

In conjunction with this, they run events every so often and team up with organisers such as the Baird’s picnic, which was held on Burns Night supplying the food and drink for this event - this is highly dependent on the food that can be salvaged from bins, or given to them via donations from stores, shops and restaurants.

No two meals at Elsie’s are the same, and that is why this is a special place that deserves a mention in Nosh! this season.

If you are interested in becoming a volunteer or attending one of the events put on, visit their facebook page ‘Elsie’s Caf.’ or their website ‘elsiescaftrjfp.org.uk’ to find out where and when they will be taking place.

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Save the date Photo

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Photo by: Rebecca Sagal

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Photo courtesy of Holdenby House

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