Food

News that flagship BBC television series Masterchef is relocating to Birmingham has been warmly welcomed as a ringing endorsement of the city’s creative talent and culinary pedigree. Councillor Ian Ward, Leader of Birmingham City Council, said the diverse range of dining options in the city, along with its burgeoning creative sector meant Birmingham was natural new home for the long-running popular series.

Mainbrace, a Cornish brand known for its award-winning golden rum, launches Mainbrace Cornish Dry Gin to celebrate The Queen's Platinum Jubilee.

It has announced an extension to its spirits range in the form of a craft gin. Born from the naval term 'splice the mainbrace' that celebrates courage, teamwork, and friendship, Mainbrace's history is rooted in naval traditions.

The Head Chef at Birmingham's fine dining Indian Restaurant, Pushkar Cocktail Bar & Dining has been announced as a finalist at the Asian & Oriental Chef Awards.

Pushkar’s Head Chef, Vinod Singh has been announced as a finalist and will be invited to a live final cook-off event, to be held at Pillars Kitchen, at the University of West London, in late February.

Next Home has created a TikTok recipe index containing the most popular recipes on TikTok alongside their nutritional values, the ingredients and a step-by-step guide to recreate at home. 

Recipe trends such as Feta Pasta and Dalgona Coffee have taken the internet by storm, with some TikTok recipe videos seeing as many as 3.2 billion views (and counting). But what are the world’s favourite TikTok recipes and how can they be recreated in your home kitchen? 

The Four Oaks pub in Sutton Coldfield, in the West Midlands, is set to undergo a major renovation, with stunning new interiors, an enhanced outdoor space and an outstanding new food offering, celebrating the very best of British produce. 

The multi-million pound renovation and redesign of The Four Oaks is set to begin in February and will see both the interior and exterior spaces thoughtfully reimagined, ahead of officially reopening in May. 

Galentine's Day – 13 February – is now a firm fixture on the calendar when singles (or those with a partner saving a romantic date for the 14th) can get together with their pals to celebrate all their female friendships. 

To mark the date, celebrity baker and former Great British Bake Off (GBBO) contestant, Lizzie Acker, is partnering with Nielsen-Massey Vanillas to create a delicious vanilla-based Blondie recipe that can easily be shared with friends.

Charity Vegetarian for Life has announced the finalists for its 2021 Awards for Excellence in Vegetarian and Vegan Care Catering. Now in their sixth year, the awards are a celebration of those going the extra mile for their vegan and vegetarian residents. 

All winners will be announced in a virtual awards ceremony commencing at 2pm on Wednesday 26 January 2022.

A Coventry University student has designed an app that aims to make it easier for people with specific dietary requirements to know what food they can eat.

Third-year student Jake Sarkar used the skills he learned on his computer science course to design an app called Avoid with his friend Khaled Saker. The app allows people to check if food they want to buy from a shop fits their dietary needs but it is not designed as a primary safety measure for people with serious allergies.

The Midlands’ favourite family get-together, the ‘Sausage and Cider Festival’ is returning to Catton Park, Derbyshire in summer 2022. From Thursday 23rd to Sunday 26th June, festival-goers can get ready for four days of top notch food and music from many of the globe’s best tribute acts, including The Bootleg Beatles, Whitney Houston Tribute, Belinda Davids, Take That Rule the World and Kings of Lyon.

Following on from the hugely successful tenth anniversary awards' celebration last autumn, entries are now open for the prestigious 2022 Food Drink Devon Awards, supported by 2022 platinum sponsor Partners&.

The gold standard industry accolades, which celebrate Devon's finest food and drink, recognise the county's most talented producers and establishments and this year will also include the new 'Chef of the Year' category.

A top Chinese consumer group has called for a boycott of a KFC meal promotion, saying it encourages food waste. The China Consumers Association (CCA) says the promotion sent some customers into a buying frenzy.

KFC launched the promotion last week with Pop Mart, a Chinese toy maker known for its mystery boxes.

If you are a community group or charity looking to plant trees this spring, then Thatchers Cider may be able to help.

The Somerset Cider maker's Community Orchard Project is being launched this week, with 250 apple trees to be donated to groups either undertaking new planting this year, or looking to extend a community orchard they already have.

Families will be given support to help improve the diets of their children through a new campaign as the new statistics reveal the number of parents giving unhealthy snacks to their children has increased during the pandemic. The multimedia Better Health campaign has been launched to encourage families to eat better and includes a new ‘scan, swipe and swap’ feature for the NHS Food Scanner App, which provides a simple solution to help families maintain a healthier diet.

With growing calls to go greener due to the current climate crisis, Brits are being encouraged to make their lifestyle as green as possible where they can. With nearly nine in ten Brits (88%) saying they are environmentally conscious, this call to action is simple to act upon, even when dining out this holiday season.

Pie, chips and gravy. It’s a British institution and one that a Tipton pie factory believes no-one should miss out on.

And, thanks to their latest innovation, which offers a meat-free alternative to a British classic, their vegan customers won’t have to.

McDonald’s is proud to announce the national roll-out of its plant-based offering, the McPlant, to all restaurants across the UK and Ireland from Wednesday 5^th January 2022, following a successful trial at over 250 restaurants last year.

The impressive McPlant, which took over three years to develop, features a patty co-developed with Beyond Meat and has already proved hugely successful with McDonald’s customers.