The Table of Zekki

Tim Zekki is a chef and foodie who spent many years as a chef in Italian restaurants, and later specialising in tapas and mediterranean food, with a particular interest in the food of his homeland, Cyprus.

In 2009 Tim set up a deli in South West London.  Within seven months customers had voted Tim onto the shortlist of Gary Rhodes’ Local Food Hero on TV.  Tim was the only deli chef in the London area to make it into the finals on television.

In 2010 Tim opened a second deli in Twickenham’s picturesque Church Street.  At the end of 2011 Tim sold both deli businesses in order to concentrate on what he loves best – cooking, which he writes about in his food blog.  This week it featured a fascinating and incisive write up about how much we know about what we eat.

April 25th 2013 The Table of Zekki

This last week has been an eye opener for me. Like many people, I’ve chosen to eat organic where possible, with the vague notion that it’s to avoid pesticides, or chemicals. I’ve also been thinking that what I eat, and what others eat, is a matter of personal taste.

I’ve balked at the amount of sugar in fizzy drinks that I see young kids knocking back, and winced at the sight of already overweight people chomping through McDonald’s fries and shakes on the tube. But I still thought we all had a choice.

It turns out I was wrong.....and you can read rest of this article by clicking on this link.

This year, 2013, Tim is opening a new venture, which is all about great food from good provenance, meat raised by free range organic principles and sustainability and recycling, an ethos mirrored in The Egg Award 2013.

Cater Source - a website for food professionals

Cater Source is a website for all things food and drink.  They've been good enough to feature The Egg award 2013 on their site and their featured chef this week is Egg Award judge Ernst an Zyl.

It's a website that sources contributions from food industry professionals. They hope you'll enjoy the site and the content published. Maybe, it just may inspire you.

There are regularly changing guest contributors like Zuvu Fresh Fish and Seafood Bar  based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire.


They currently operate two wet fishmongers shops which are open 5 days a week in the small Doncaster suburb towns of Tickhill and Bawtry.   As well as serving seasonal and sustainable wet fish to take away they also have seating areas at both outlets where customers can enjoy anything from simple Fresh Crab Salads to Large Seafood Platters accompanied by a glass of ice cold beer or wine.  In both shops they have a selection of great books which can be perused before making a purchase.  Their aim is to get the people of South Yorkshire enjoying the great produce which is available from coastal waters.



There's a regularly updated Job Board and Cater-SourceUK  are in partnership with GRH Relief Chef Services Ltd.  They advertise the same positions as you would find on their own website.

Should you take interest in any of the positions listed contact Gradyn at grhreliefchef@aol.com






There's a weekly guest blog, an online forum where chefs and industry professionals can chat or air grievances, featured recipes and news on what's in season.  The site is run by chef James Maulgue who entered a professional kitchen at the age of 14 as a kitchen porter, earning a bit of money in the evenings & weekends. 

His love for the industry grew from that. Watching the pass, seeing chefs work together to create exciting dishes & the exceptional 'banter' being thrown about. No windows, no natural light, high temperatures, long hours, flaring tempers. It's hard to believe the industry can appeal so much to a person, but it did. 

From there he started to become so interested in food, it became an ambition. 




Over the years he learned so many things. The industry still enthralls him and gave him the idea to create a website that extends to anyone with interest in catering & hospitality. 

Thus began Cater Source. A website that sources contributions from industry professionals.

Chocolate Orange Meringues

This dish for The Egg Award 2013 was entered by Kupkuchen food blog

Click this link for details on how to enter your recipe

Chocolate Orange Meringues with Seville Orange Curd, Creme Fraiche and Cocolate Ganache




Irish food blogger 'Kupkuchen' keeps her own hens so her eggs couldn't be any more fresh or local, perfect for this The Egg Award entry!

"I’m lucky enough to have a fairly constant supply of fresh free range eggs courtesy of Guinness, Pepper and Buffy, my three back garden hens. The quality of ingredients really does affect the finished recipe – use free range eggs and you will notice the difference!"









The Seville Orange Curd (River Cottage recipe) is delicious and following on the River Cottage theme of pairing orange curd with meringue I decided to put the left over egg whites to good use making chocolate orange meringues with Seville orange curd and creme fraiche filling.

Meringues

Ingredients: 

4 egg whites (from free range hens!)

200g white caster sugar

50g good quality dark chocolate broken into small pieces from 100g bar.

Zest of 1 orange

Filling

Ingredients: 

About 8 Seville oranges, enough for 400ml of juice, strained

Finely grated zest of 1 navel orange

75g cornflour, sifted

4 egg yolks

250g caster sugar

Method:

In a clean bowl whisk the egg whites until stiff (and yes I do test with the upside down bowl method!). Continue whisking and add in the sugar one tablespoon at a time until all the sugar is incorporated. Gently fold in the broken chocolate pieces and orange zest to mix well.

Spoon or pipe the meringue mixture onto a baking sheet lined with baking paper (use little dabs of meringue mixture to stick the paper to the tray) – roughly 5-6cm wide circles – a good heaped tablespoon per meringue.

I use a fan oven and for mine I find heating to 140°c then dropping down to 120°c to work well for meringue – if you like them to stay white try the temperature a bit lower – pop the meringues in the oven and immediately turn the temperature down to 120°c – bake for about 1 hour.

Once baked allow to cool completely and gently peel off the baking paper.

Sandwich the meringues together with a spoonful each of thick creme fraiche and orange curd. Drizzle with chocolate ganache (melt the remainder of the chocolate and whisk through a couple of tablespoons of cream).

Enjoy!

Black Pudding Scotch Egg

This dish for The Egg Award 2013 was entered by The Edinburgh Larder Bistro

You can enter your recipe by clicking in this link

The Edinburgh Larder is a licensed cafe on Blackfriars Street, just off The Royal Mile and a bistro on Alva Street in Edinburgh's West End.

The Edinburgh Larder is passionate about excellent quality, seasonally fresh, locally sourced food. We specialise in creating our delicious range of food and drinks from a wide range of Scottish produce, sourcing as many free range ingredients as possible, and working with lesser-known but sustainable cuts of meat and fish.

Launched in 2009, The Edinburgh Larder Cafe has been included in The List's 2012 Food and Drink Guide Hit List, and has built a solid reputation as being the gem of the Royal Mile for seasonally fresh, locally sourced delicious food.

Their organic free-range Scottish eggs come from Phantassie in East Linton. They are also their supplier for vegetables too.  The Edinburgh Larder went on a supplier trip last month and paid them a visit, had a tour of their farm and had a bowl of soup with some of the guys who work there!




Black Pudding Scotch Eggs

Ingredients:

4 large free range eggs
300g Stornoway Black Pudding
200g organic sausage meat
2 sprigs of thyme, leaves removed and chopped
1/2 teaspoon of fennel seeds
1 teaspoon of English mustard
1 teaspoon of chilli flakes - optional
flour, whisked egg and breadcrumbs for coating



Method:

Cook eggs for 5 minutes 30 seconds in boiling water then transfer to iced water.

Blend the sausage meat and black pudding, add the fennel seeds, mustard and thyme and place in the fridge for an hour.

Sandwich two heaped tablespoons of the sausage and black pudding mixture between two sheets of cling film.

Roll to 5mm thick, remove the top sheet of cling film and carefully wrap around one of the eggs.  Ensure there is a tight seal and pinch off excess mixture.

Roll in flour, then whisked egg and cover in breadcrumbs.

Place in oil at 180c for 5 minutes then transfer to a 200c (400f, 180c Fan, Gas mark 6) oven for a further 5 minutes.

Allow to cool slightly, then slice, serve and enjoy with home made chutney, piccalilli or brown sauce and a seasonal salad.

Foodlink Northwest

Welcome to the first of our weekly bulletins on businesses and organisations that mirror the ethos of The Egg Award 2014.  Due to interaction on Twitter with Foodlink Cheshire we take a look at the Foodlink Northwest Project

Foodlink Northwest encompasses the whole of the field to fork activities of the local food chain in the Northwest and represents a partnership of interests with a passion for the region’s locally produced foods.



At the outset they obtained support for the project from a diverse group of individuals, charities, businesses and not for profit organisations that recognise the connection local foods have on the environment, communities, sustainability, tourism, and lifestyle choices.  In understanding the driving philosophy behind the Foodlink Northwest project it is easiest to consider it as a compendium of common cause which will be brought together in a flexible approach where converging aims and objectives define a need for co-operative effort.



In that sense the Foodlink Northwest project isn’t about them, but more about the connections they make during the project with others who share common views.  This was one of the features that attracted The Egg Award 2013 to take a look at what they do.


As the project develops they hope to enlarge this initial co-operative arrangement as others see the benefits of working to the common cause and the flexibility the project has to enable differing interests to be drawn together and contribute in the local foods common bond whilst maintaining their own individual characteristics.

The Foodlink project encompasses the whole of the region including the three predominately rural counties of Cheshire, Cumbria and Lancashire, and the two metropolitan counties of Greater Manchester & Merseyside.

Within this region is arguably one of the most diverse food-producing areas in the country. Rural Cumbria is noted for its sheep & beef production together with a well established artisan micro producer base. Cheshire is the county of orchards, cereal, dairy and vegetable farming.




Lancashire bridges the two with sheep and beef from its Bowland & Pennine regions; cheese and other dairy products from the green pastures between Chorley and Lancaster; and vegetables from the lowlands on both north and south sides of the Ribble estuary.

Tourism features strongly with the counties of Cumbria and Lancashire boasting designated areas of outstanding natural beauty (AONB) whilst Manchester, Merseyside, Chester and Blackpool are increasingly seen as tourist hubs to commence the journey to explore the rural northern heartlands.


 
Cumbria is world renown for the Lake District and all five counties have significant river and waterway leisure systems whilst all except Manchester are bounded by the Irish Sea.

The Northwest is certainly blessed with geographic diversity which is then reflected in its local foods.

Support for the Foodlink Northwest application came from a number of sources across the region all of which we would like to thank here, and as the project rolls out we will take the opportunity to thank in person.  Support has been received in a variety of forms including encouragement, pledges to the project, and letters of support which they were able to include in their successful application.




Without the wide support received they would not have been successful and it is testimony to the fact that engagement can and does make a difference.

Here's a list of those who provided letters of support included in their submission for funding and these include:

Cumbrian Delight/ Friendly Food & Drink	www.cumbriandelights.co.uk
Appleby Creamery Ltd	www.applebycreamery.com/
Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution	www.rabi.org.uk
Country Harvest	www.country-harvest.co.uk
Enterprise4all	www.enterprise4all.co.uk
Ladies in Beef	www.ladiesinbeef.org.uk/
The Watermill	www.organicmill.co.uk
Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses	www.butlerscheeses.co.uk
Cumbria Farmers Network	www.thefarmernetwork.co.uk/cumbria
Food4Macc	www.maccinfo.com/Food4Macc/
Farming & Countryside Education	www.face-online.org.uk
The Lake District Hotels	www.lakedistricthotels.net
Friends of the Lake District	www.fld.org.uk
The Lowry Hotel	www.thelowryhotel.com/
Mawsons of Bailey Ground	www.mawsonsofbaileyground.co.uk
Bailey Ground Hotel	www.baileygroundhotel.co.uk
Low Sizergh Barn	www.lowsizerghbarn.co.uk
Blakemere	www.visitblakemere.co.uk
CPRE (Northern)	N/applicable
Nurture Lakeland	www.nurturelakeland.org
Councillor Lynn Wilson (Hyndburn BC)	http://bit.ly/lur6KE
Northcote (Nigel Haworth)	www.northcote.com
Alderley Edge Hotel	www.alderleyedgehotel.com
The Sun Inn – Kirkby Lonsdale	www.sun-inn.info
Macdonald Manchester Hotel	www.Macdonaldhotels.co.uk/Manchester
Freemasons at Wiswell	www.freemasonswiswell.co.uk
Radisson Edwardian Manchester	www.radissonedwardian.com/

In compiling the application they had more detailed and substantive discussions with The Kindling Trust, The Cumbria Fells and Dales Action Group, and The Solway, Border and Eden Action Group.

These groups gave help and encouragement in working up the bid and helping to formulate elements of the project’s direction. 

The Kindling Trust      http://kindling.org.uk/

The Cumbria Fells and Dales Action Group    http://www.fellsanddales.org.uk/

The Solway, Border and Eden Action Group    (http://www.cumbria.gov.uk/business/rdpe/sbe/rdpesolwayborderandeden.asp)

Hugh Grierson Organic

Welcome to the first of The Egg Award's weekly bulletins on organic businesses whose ethos mirrors that of The Egg Award 2013.  This first blog features Hugh Grierson Organic at Newmiln Farm in Perth, Scotland.  

Their delicious Scottish organic beef, organic lamb, organic pork and organic chicken is.....

• Grass fed and full of flavour
• Organic meat matured in the traditional manner (beef is hung for 3 weeks)
• Locally bred and reared organically on their farm in Perthshire, Scotland
• Meat is vacuum packed for maximum freshness
• Packed in convenient sized cuts

On their organic farm they rear traditional Scottish beef, lamb, chicken and pork. Their beef is organic Aberdeen Angus beef, bred from theirr own herd, built up over 35 years. Their organic Aberdeen Angus herd graze on lush pastures on their organic farm in Perthshire, Scotland and are fed a natural grass diet with animal welfare as their top priority.

They believe in producing quality food, whilst caring for the countryside.  They achieved organic status in October 2002 and are certified by the Soil Association.  Organic meat has to be produced under a strict code of practice to ensure that the animals are treated in a humane way throughout their lives.  They rear their herd and flocks in a traditional manner producing healthy and contented animals, and so the finest organic meat.  



As they live in natural, stress-free conditions they produce the highest quality beef, pork chicken and lamb you can buy. The organic beef, lamb and pork is processed locally by a traditional butcher, to ensure the cuts of meat are of top quality and the animals are not stressed by traveling great distances.

Their Scottish beef, lamb and chicken has a superb taste and quality. The beef is hung for 21 days which relaxes and tenderises the meat, leading to a fine texture and flavour.  The animals are fed on organic grass and clover, and this varied natural diet ensures their organic products have an exceptionally delicious flavour.



They supply online UK-wide and are Scotland’s top organic meat supplier.  They've set out to be the best organic meat supplier in the UK and to order organic meat online you couldn't go to a better place.  They believe (and their customers tell them) that their farm produces the finest organic meat in Scotland.



To place an order.....

Call them in the office 01738 730201

Email them: orders@hughgrierson.co.uk

For general information.....

Email: sascha@hughgrierson.co.uk

Call them on 07876 732633

Wholesale Enquiries: sascha@hughgrierson.co.uk

No 2: Prune Sour Cream Coffee Cake

FIRST DUCK EGG - A GOOD EXCUSE FOR A CAKE

This dish for The Egg Award 2013 was entered by Gloria Nicol of ‘The Laundry’ Blog

Click on this link to enter your recipe  

At the end of last year four rescue ducks arrived, 2 runner ducks and 2 call ducks. They have joined our merry flock of chickens, sort of, as they all seem to rub along together but the ducks live their lives in a different way. The ducks are quite ditsy and get in a flap about things, giving the impression they are total air heads and they walk everywhere in a line, in order of height, tallest leading. They are muckier and muddier than chickens and dredge up water so it doesn’t stay clean for long. But they are very cute and the first time one of them jumped into a bucket and bobbed around on the surface of the water, was a very sweet sight. They do have a little pond made out of a babies paddling pool in the shape of an apple. The other morning I found an egg on the floor of their house, our first duck egg, and there has been an egg waiting first thing, each day since. Its seems like a good reason to bake a cake to celebrate.







My first thought was a prune sour cream coffee cake, which is a real favourite of mine. I came across the recipe printed on the side of a box of prunes, when learning to bake in the 70s. I copied the recipe by hand onto the end papers of my first cookery book, Traditional British Cooking for Pleasure by Gladys Mann, and every now and again get the book off the shelf and bake the cake again. 





To begin with, as a complete novice, I didn’t have a clue how to translate the ingredients, as it was an American recipe, written in cup measures and called for a tube pan. It took some years to work out what a tube pan is, what a cup of butter looks like and why a cake called a coffee cake has no coffee in it. I suppose I’m just more cosmopolitan these days. Consequently I’ve had many a disaster bumbling along and following the recipe but it still became a favourite as the flavour of the cake is so good. So here is the recipe with my conversion to metric. It is also a good reason to use a vintage enamel bundt tin that takes up far too much house space and needs to occasionally earn it’s keep.






PRUNE SOUR CREAM COFFEE CAKE
250g (1 1/2 cups) ready to eat prunes
100g (1/2 cup) walnuts, roughly chopped
75g (1/2 cup) soft brown sugar
1 tsp grated lemon rind
275g (2 cups) plain flour, sifted
1 tsp each of baking powder and baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp cinnamon, ground
225g (1 cup) butter, unsalted
200g (1 cup) sugar
2 large eggs
225ml (1 cup) sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract

Grease a large bundt tin and pre heat the oven to 180C, 350F, Mk 4. Chop the prunes into smallish pieces and place in a bowl, add the walnuts, brown sugar, lemon rind and 2 tbsp of the flour and stir together to combine and coat the prunes. Sift together the remaining flour, baking powder, soda, salt and cinnamon. Cream the butter and sugar till light and fluffy then add the eggs one at a time. Slowly beat in the flour mixture, alternating with the sour cream and vanilla extract. Fold in the prunes. Turn the mixture into the bundt pan and bake for 55-65 minutes until a skewer when pushed into the centre comes out clean and the top feels set. Cool on a cake rack. Turn out and dust with icing sugar.