Category Archives: Food

Viva veganuary! 17 delicious ways with tofu – from thai red curry to chocolate mousse

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The high-protein meat substitute is one of the world’s most versatile ingredients. Here’s how to use it in everything from tasty stir-fries to nutritious smoothies

On 11 January 1770, Benjamin Franklin, then in London, wrote a letter to a friend in Philadelphia, enclosing some soya bean seeds (“Chinese garavances”, referring to garbanzos, or chick-peas) and forwarding a recipe for a type of cheese that could be derived from them, which he called “tau-fu”.

Franklin may never have actually tasted tofu, and certainly didn’t know much about making it, much less cooking with it. To some extent this ignorance persists in the west, where tofu is prized as a high-protein meat substitute, albeit one so bland that it is basically a texture awaiting a flavour. Tofu may be versatile, but that doesn’t necessarily mean we know what to do with it and, unless you’re a vegan, it can be hard to get excited about it. If that’s the case, here are 17 recipes to change your mind.

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Chef and Le Gavroche restaurateur Albert Roux dies aged 85

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Member of Roux culinary dynasty died on Monday after a long illness, his family has said

The chef and restaurateur Albert Roux has died at the age of 85.

The founder of the Michelin-starred Le Gavroche and member of the Roux culinary dynasty died on Monday after a long illness.

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21 things to look forward to in 2021 – from meteor showers to the Olympics

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From finally seeing the back of Donald Trump to being in a football stadium – the new year is full of promise

You probably found a few things to enjoy about last year: you rediscovered your bicycle, perhaps, or your family, or even both, and learned to love trees. And don’t forget the clapping. Plus some brilliant scientists figured out how to make a safe and effective vaccine for a brand new virus in record time.

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Comfort and joy: 10 hearty, delicious vegan meals for an icy January – from lasagne to tiramisu

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Whether you fancy a pulled ‘pork’ sandwich or a filling chana masala, these are the meat-free recipes to get you through the first chilly weeks of the year

At this time of year, the air is colder, the nights are longer and all anyone really wants is something warm and comforting to eat. However, if you happen to be vegan, your options can still be embarrassingly limited. Still, never fear, here’s the pick of the best vegan comfort-food recipes around.

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Football, flights and food: how the EU reshaped Britain

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As Brexit’s tangible effects kick in, we look at the impact the EU’s most far-reaching project has had on British society

Historians of the future will judge the politics of the half century before the Brexit transition ended on 1 January 2021. What, though, of social and cultural historians, those who study how we live?

Perhaps the most symbolic cultural artefacts of the last 50 years will turn out not to be a blue flag but a bottle of Blue Nun, a block of mozzarella, a Ryanair boarding printout or a ticket to a Bayern Munich v Manchester City football game.

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French snail farmers lament sluggish year as Covid crisis dents sales

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Escargots are traditional hors d’oeuvre at end-of-year celebrations that account for 70% of business

For France’s heliciculteurs, or snail farmers, 2020 was a desperately sluggish year.

With seasonal festivities all but cancelled, Christmas markets called off, a lack of tourists and restaurants shut down because of the coronavirus crisis, business has slowed to, well, a snail’s pace.

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‘Everything tastes better’: Guardian readers on their culinary discoveries of 2020

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From turning up the heat with exotic chillies to the ubiquitous and ultimately rewarding rise of sourdough, readers share their ingredients of the year

Discovering – or rediscovering – the joy of cooking has been one of the few bright spots of a year spent largely at home. We asked 43 of Australia’s leading chefs, cookbook authors and bloggers to share their favourite ingredient of the year. Their answers ranged from the humble and comforting (flour, mince, red lentils) to ingeniously umami (kombu, chilli bean curd, prawn oil), with native Australian ingredients also making many a No 1 spot (wattleseed, karkalla, cunjim winyu).

Now it’s our readers’ turn to share their finds.

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The food quiz of the year: from sexualised mac’n’cheese to celebrity doughnuts

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The pandemic couldn’t put a stop to pretentious restaurants or angry chefs – but can you tell which was which?

Before we had a pandemic to stress about, bakers in southern India entered Guinness World Records by baking the world’s longest cake. Roughly how long was it?

65 metres

650 metres

6.5km

65km

According to a spoof WhatsApp message that went viral in March, why was the government about to requisition Wembley stadium?

To turn it into a food bank

To host its own version of Bake Off

To cook the world’s biggest lasagne

To use as storage for the nation’s leftover sourdough

Muse in Belgravia, London, was this year labelled the most pretentious restaurant in Britain. Which of these is not a real item on the menu?

Conquering the beech tree (langoustine, pork fat, burnt apple)

Neither black nor white (cauliflower panna cotta, pickled gold raisins, caviar)

A date with Pablo (’nduja, thyme mist, polenta)

Mother’s puzzle (lemon, fennel pollen, yogurt)

Which public figure did Donuts Delite in Rochester, New York, pay tribute to with a special doughnut bearing their likeness?

Donald Trump

Bernie Sanders

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Dr Anthony Fauci

This year the Guardian ran a widely commented on guide to making the perfect burger at home. According to Honest Burger’s Tom Barton, where should the pickle in a burger go?

Under the meat patty

Above the meat patty but under the cheese

Outside the bun, as a side accompaniment only

In the bin – there’s no place for pickles on a burger

What started going missing from boxes of Quality Street after Covid-19 disrupted production lines?

The chocolate caramel brownie

The purple hazelnut caramel

Wrappers around each individual chocolate

The orange one that no one likes anyway

This year Kraft was accused of “sexualising mac’n’cheese”. What had it done?

Placed billboards featuring models bathing in the creamy pasta dish

Set up a promotion encouraging fans to “send noodz”

Added “sexy” anthropomorphic pasta shapes to the package design

Mistakenly advertised its snacks on a pornographic website

What was described by this newspaper as “Jamie’s Oliver’s worst nightmare”?

An EU law banning the use of the word “pukka” on food items

Toploader splitting up

Uber Eats getting banned from delivering on Vespas

The return of the Turkey Twizzler

Who did chef Tom Kerridge blast as “selfish” and “disgraceful”?

Dominic Cummings

Customers who fail to show up for their reservations

Diners who refuse to socially distance

People who don’t tip

Which would-be food critic came out with the unforgettable take down: “One thing I will say about Italy in general … the food is actually shocking! It’s meant to be the home of pizza and pasta and I really can’t see how”?

Selling Sunset’s Chrishell Stause

Fitness guru Joe Wicks

Love Island’s Molly-Mae Hague

Nigel Farage

2020 saw the return of the “wine window” … but what is it?

A tiny crack in a wine bottle that allows the precious drink to seep out undetected

A house window that uses bottle-green instead of clear glass

A hole in a wall through which wine can be passed to people on the street

The brief period of time in which parents can have a sneaky glass while their kids are napping

11 and above.

100%! You deserve a (socially distanced) meal out to celebrate!

8 and above.

You’ve clearly spent isolation gorging yourself stupid (on food knowledge)

0 and above.

Oh dear, have you spent your year eating nothing but homemade sourdough?

4 and above.

Your correct answers came around as often as an Ocado slot during lockdown

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Ephemeral edible: gingerbread monolith appears on San Francisco hilltop, then collapses

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Christmas day sweet sighting in Corona Heights park attracted visitors who took pictures and even took a bite

Like the other monoliths that have mysteriously appeared across America and the world in the waning weeks of 2020, the one that popped up on a California hilltop on Christmas Day seemed to come out of nowhere.

Also like the others, it was tall, three-sided and it rapidly attracted crowds of curious visitors before an untimely destruction.

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Yotam Ottolenghi’s Boxing Day recipes for using up Christmas leftovers

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Boxing Day BLT, veg samosas with cranberry sauce, and Christmas pudding eccles cakes with marzipan – stylish ways to use up excess food

The thing about Christmas day, as no one’s stomach needs reminding, is that there is always so much food. It is, however, a truth universally acknowledged that the whole point of cooking a great big bird – not to mention enough vegetables to feed twice as many people as are actually eating them – is to be able to enjoy the leftovers the day after. For all the ceremony, and the focus on the food served at the right time in the right place at the right temperature on Christmas Day, does anything, truly, beat the likes of a soft-bun sandwich filled with all the good bits? Gravy sauce for dipping into (and a sofa for sinking into) optional.

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17 ways with leftover turkey, from warming ramen to rich risotto

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With Christmas gatherings reduced in size this year, you may have more poultry than usual to eat up. But there are myriad ways to make that more interesting that in sounds

On top of all the problems we have faced in 2020, we could be experiencing a larger-than-ever glut of turkey this season: restrictions on large gatherings, combined with high demand for – and a corresponding shortage of – smaller birds, may have left a lot of us with more meat than we can eat in one, two or even three sittings.

Fortunately, help is at hand: here are 17 easy, delicious and slightly different ways to use up your Christmas turkey.

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How to properly load a dishwasher: ‘If you pre-rinse it might actually come out dirtier’

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Should you pay attention to ‘not dishwasher safe’ labels? And what really belongs in the bottom drawer? Experts solve your family washing-up conflicts

If you still feel the sting of parental reprimands for barbarically stacking your plate in the dishwasher without rinsing it first, one good thing 2020 can offer is vindication. While everyone has their own methods, tricks and opinions on conventional wisdom, the misinformation around a machine that’s meant to make our lives easier has caused generations-long feuds – and water wastage.

Fact: You do not need to pre-rinse. Just scrape the solids into the bin, says Ashley Iredale, white goods expert at the independent consumer advocacy group Choice. Most dishwashers have inbuilt turbidity sensors that measure how much dirt is in the water from the first rinse cycle, so rinsed plates may fool the system. “If you pre-rinse everything, your dishwasher’s going to think that your plates are cleaner than they actually are, so it won’t wash as intensely and they might actually come out dirtier,” says Iredale. The food filter is there for a reason, he adds – simply remove and clean it once a month.

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China to bring in law against food waste with fines for promoting overeating

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Inspired by Xi Jinping’s ‘operation empty plate’, new law means restaurants will be able to charge patrons for leaving leftovers

Xi Jinping’s war on waste is set to be enshrined in law, with the submission of draft legislation to China’s highest legal committee recommending large fines for businesses that enable or promote wasting food.

In August the Chinese leader said the amount of food wasted nationally was shocking and distressing, declaring in a speech that: “waste is shameful and thriftiness is honourable”.

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Global food industry on course to drive rapid habitat loss – research

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World faces huge wildlife losses by 2050 unless what and how food is produced changes

The global food system is on course to drive rapid and widespread ecological damage with almost 90% of land animals likely to lose some of their habitat by 2050, research has found.

A study published in the journal Nature Sustainability shows that unless the food industry is rapidly transformed, changing what people eat and how it is produced, the world faces widespread biodiversity loss in the coming decades.

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Chicken pulao and an orange and piquillo pepper salad: Nik Sharma’s Christmas recipes

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The perfect combination: spicy chicken jewelled with cranberries and cashews, and a sharp fruity side

The simplicity and elegance of pulaos combined with their ability to moonlight as a one-pot meal stole my heart long ago. Pulaos saved my mother and grandmother hours in the kitchen; they’d make a large pot and all that was needed was a salad or pickle on the side. I’m keeping that principle in mind with this winter-themed chicken pulao, jewelled with cranberries and cashews, alongside an orange and piquillo pepper salad. You can serve the meal with a bowl of salted plain yoghurt.

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EU set to miss targets on sustainability after agreeing fishing quotas

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Member states blame uncertainty over Brexit as reason for breach of next year’s limits

Fish populations will continue to be over-exploited in EU waters, partly as a result of Brexit, after a decision on next year’s fishing quotas among EU countries fell well short of scientific advice.

Fishing limits are set to exceed scientific advice for about a third of EU fish stocks, after EU ministers met on Thursday morning, with EU member states citing the uncertainty regarding fishing rights after Brexit as a reason for breaching limits on sustainable catches.

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Sushi, pasta and Paxo stuffing: what Britain’s top chefs eat at Christmas

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From watermelon to tiramisu and Caribbean pepperpot, here are the festive home menus from Rick Stein, Angela Hartnett and many others

Rick Stein, chef and founder of Rick Stein restaurants, nationwide
I love it at Christmas, when there are festive lights all around the harbour and the pubs are at their cosiest. This year, I’m spending it at my cottage in Padstow. I’ll be cooking goose with sage and onion stuffing, potatoes roasted in goose fat with artichokes and parsnips and a melange of vegetables – broccoli, peas, broad beans and carrots – all cut small and braised in butter and tarragon. It’s not traditional but I can’t have Christmas at my place without two or three dozen native oysters from the river Fal to start, and Cornish blue cheese instead of stilton with the port.

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Top bun: Tom Cruise’s cake-mailing habit proves he’s a real Christmas miracle | Stuart Heritage

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Rosie O’Donnell, Jimmy Fallon and Graham Norton are just a few of the famous recipients of the ‘Cruise cake’, a white chocolate coconut ring which might as well be a halo

Tom Cruise follows me on Twitter. Until now, I have been relatively proud of this fact, even though he follows tens of thousands of people, and only tweets three times a year, and his account is probably run by his staff, and he wouldn’t actually be able to tell you what Twitter was if you held a gun to his head. Regardless, I was proud.

But now I feel like a failure, because Tom Cruise has never sent me a cake. And it turns out that all Tom Cruise does is send cakes to people. According to Yahoo, every year he orders more than 100 white chocolate coconut bundt cakes from Doan’s Bakery in Woodland Hills, California, and sends them to his famous friends. Rosie O’Donnell gets one. Kirsten Dunst gets one. Jimmy Fallon gets one. James Corden gets one. Graham Norton gets one, and his staff eat it without telling him. Henry Cavill called it “the most decadent, the most amazing cake”. Barbara Walters once ate hers live on television, in a power move as yet unmatched by any mortal human.

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