Food

Spirits are set to be high this March, with the return of Itihaas’ popular curry and comedy night at Birmingham’s Botanical Gardens. Following the sold-out whisky-fuelled feast last September, the event is back on 31 March, giving guests the chance to indulge in a culinary feast like no other. The Comedy Rum-Ball will seeItihaas’ head chef Pavneet Sangwan and comedian and chef Hardeep Singh Kohli join forces again, this time with Ampersand’s head chef Phil Bradley and rum specialist, Alessio Franzese from London’s famous Rum & Sugar in the Museum of London Docklands.

Ever fallen in love with an appetizer so much you just wish you could make it your whole meal? Or finished off a plate of hot wings and just want a few more? Well, wish no more –  because TGI Fridays has just become the first restaurant in the country to offer endless appetizers across all of its award-winning UK locations.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is launching a campaign to ‘Go for Gold’, helping people understand how to minimise exposure to a possible carcinogen called acrylamide when cooking at home. Acrylamide is a chemical that is created when many foods, particularly starchy foods like potatoes and bread, are cooked for long periods at high temperatures, such as when baking, frying, grilling, toasting and roasting. The scientific consensus is that acrylamide has the potential to cause cancer in humans.

Council chiefs are working with takeaways to tackle one of the biggest public health issues facing Wolverhampton. Members of the City of Wolverhampton Council's Environmental Health have teamed up with proprietors to help them serve up healthier options – and in doing so, do their bit to address high levels of obesity in the city.

Tesco and Yeo Valley have joined forces to create a delicious new yogurt variety to help tackle food waste and support food redistribution charity, FareShare. This is the latest move by the retailer in its bid to reduce food waste from farm to fork. Tesco has partnered with leading organic dairy, Yeo Valley, and Adam Wakeley, the UK's largest organic fruit grower to create an exclusive new Apple and Custard Left-Yeovers yogurt which helps to tackle food waste.

Checks on meat and dishes claiming to contain goat meat showed more than half were actually lamb or mutton, Sandwell Council's trading standards team has revealed. Trading standards officers visited takeaways, butchers shops, supermarkets and restaurants selling goat meat and dishes to check they were made of goat. Nineteen samples were taken of raw and frozen meat, curries and other dishes and 11 of them were found to be mis-described - they were in fact lamb or mutton.

Welsh Rastafarian executive chef Craig Jones from Cap Maison's fine-dining restaurant The Cliff at Cap will welcome head chef Simon McKenzie from the five-star Old Government House Hotel & Spa, Guernsey, into his Kitchen on the 24th and the 25th of  February. Simon McKenzie will be taking a taste of Guernsey to the Saint Lucian sunshine as part of the Guernsey International Food Festival and his menu will include tuna sashimi, BBQ pineapple, chilli & shallots plus pork belly, confit rock lobster with fennel and lemon.

Tesco has revealed its food surplus redistribution initiative, Community Food Connection, has so far helped serve five million meals to more than 3,300 community groups and charities since its launch less than a year ago. This work is a key part of the retailer's target to ensure no food safe for human consumption goes to waste inside Tesco's UK operations by the end of 2017.

Tesco has launched 'Food Love Stories brought to you by Tesco', a new campaign which aims to set out the retailer's food quality credentials and celebrate the passion and care that goes into the meals we all love. The campaign will introduce food love stories each month to demonstrate Tesco understands the special role food plays in its customers' lives. The stories will aim to capture the mind-set of its customers throughout the year, from wholesome, hearty meals in January, to fresh, vibrant meals perfect for a summer evening.

January sees the return of the popular Veganuary campaign which intends to encourage vegan-curious, health conscious or simply people looking to feel better to go vegan for a month. Demuths Cookery School has seen a huge rise in demand for plant-based diets as more people are choosing to give up not only meat but also dairy products, for health and ethical reasons. Incorporating lighter, plant-based dishes into diets is popularizing vegan food immensely.

Had one too many over the Christmas holidays? People who are making it their New Year's resolution to cut down on the amount of alcohol they drink in 2017 – or even give up entirely – are being encouraged to take part in Dry January. Alcohol Concern's annual campaign to abstain from alcohol throughout the first month of the year kicks off on Sunday (1 January). More than one in six adults attempted to give up drinking during last year's event.

With the launch of the renowned „Guide Michelin“ for 2017 this month, the East-German city of Leipzig was awarded another Michelin star: The “Residenz im Herrenhaus Möckern”. A former mansion, Herrenhaus Möckern is set in the floodplain of the White Elster River. The manor from 1317 has undergone some extensive renovations over the last years and is home to two new restaurants since 2015. While "Die Residenz" (Residence) attracts guests with upscale delights, "Die Brennerei" (Distillery) offers traditional home cooking.

Brits are going premium with their festive spirits this season. In the lead up to New Year's Eve, Tesco has seen an increasing number of customers who are treating themselves to top of the range branded and own-label liquors. And they are not solely being tempted by familiar brands, they are also looking for high quality and exceptional value as well. Amongst the most popular drinks in the range is the supermarket's award-winning Tesco finest* French Grain Vodka.

British savoury-snack maker Jacob's has on-boarded Oxford University food scientist, Charles Michel, to create the perfect cheese and cracker formula for consumers to enjoy this Christmas. Charles has been experimenting with the nation's much loved Jacob's Cream Cracker, to uncover the exact quantity of ingredients and the perfect balance of different flavour sensations needed to create the most delicious combination, tapping into all of our taste buds and senses.

Christmas has come early for Simply Cornish, the retail brand of Warrens Bakery, who are thrilled to have been awarded the accolade of 'Tastiest non-supermarket Christmas pudding' by Country Life magazine. Simply Cornish's legendary Christmas pudding beat off stiff competition from fourteen other finalists including Harrods' Decadent Christmas Pudding which was placed second. Praise for the popular pud included 'utterly delicious', 'tastes just like Christmas' and 'Christmas pudding as it should be'.

Artisan sloe gin makers from across the world gathered at a village pub on the Kent/Sussex border near Tunbridge Wells, to vie for the 'Sloe Ginster World Champion' title for 2016 on Wednesday 14th December. Now an annual event, hosted by The George Inn in Frant, this was the 8th such competition. The “liquid deli” Demijohn, which has outlets in Edinburgh, Glasgow, York and Oxford, using sloes foraged in Worcestershire, was crowned Sloe Ginster World Champion for the third year in succession.