Food

As the second series of Outlander hits TV screens, Edinburgh's five-star visitor attraction, The Scotch Whisky Experience, has launched a unique package to awaken the spirit of times gone by. The new Outlander Whisky Tasting has been created in response to interest from visitors from across the world about Scotland's hidden past, with a focus on the country's 'ghost distilleries'. 

A pioneering Indian restaurant owner is making deliveries in a 100% electric Nissan LEAF as he aims to create Britain's greenest takeaway. Minesh Agnihotri of Indian Summer in Brighton is using the car as he trials a new environmentally friendly waste-free service in the city. The members-only club, being piloted by the restaurant, will see takeaway orders delivered in reusable metal containers known as tiffins.

Craft beer from the Black Country will soon be served in bars in Finland after award-winning craft brewery Sadler’s Ales won its first major exporting deal. The Lye-based brewer will be shipping thousands of bottles of its Hop Bomb and Red Ale IPA over the next 12 months  as it looks to ramp up its overseas business, following a UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) trip to Latvia in November last year.

As it celebrates the 600th birthday of its historic Auld Keep, luxury venue Dundas Castle has launched a series of unique dinner packages. Created specifically for groups, the dinners take place within the historic and atmospheric surroundings of the Auld Keep.

The countdown to the 25th anniversary of National Doughnut Week is well underway as National Doughnut Week is taking place 7th -14th May.  You can get involved and help raise funds in a number of different ways for The Children’s Trust, the UK’s leading charity for children with brain injury.

A Norfolk couple have launched an ultra-premium vodka that is set to shake up the spirits market. Forget ice, orange juice or Coke. Wild Knight® Ultra-Premium English vodka is so pure that masking the flavour with mixers would be a crime. Aimed at the discerning drinker and pitting itself against the very best spirits on the market, a sip of Wild Knight will change your opinion of vodka forever.

Waitrose is to launch a major campaign taking customers beyond the barn door to real farms, giving customers the chance to see first-hand where their food comes from. The campaign kicks off with a series of TV adverts which will be filmed on the same day of broadcast. The unprecedented short timescales between filming and screening will give the advert immediacy and authenticity.

From fermented Kombucha tea and naturally flavoured ice cream to vegetable crisps and Greek honey, the trade-only exhibition, which attracts more than 1,000 visitors each year, promises to give food and drink buyers a first-glimpse of many innovative products that have never before been seen at a trade show, helping them explore new ideas and refresh their offering. 

McVitie's Ginger Nuts are back on sale, almost exactly four months after the site was affected by the floods in Northern England last year. Household favourites including McVitie's Ginger Nuts, Custard Creams and Bourbons, along with a number of other products under the McVitie's, Jacob's, Carr's and Crawford's brands, will be returning to supermarket shelves across the UK.

One in five Britons now experience a food intolerance* and while many are using technology to help them manage their diet, until now there’s never been a single app dedicated to offering food options for those who deal with intolerances. From April 2016, the new Spoon Guru app, initially available for iOS (iPad, iPhone) will offer the most comprehensive choice of ingredients, products and recipes for those living with multiple allergies, food intolerances or unique dietary preferences.

The Asian Curry Awards are now in their sixth year, which sees the awards expanded to include Turkish and Middle Eastern restaurants and takeaways for the first time. New award categories for vegetarian, curry pub, buffet and event caterer have also been created. The ACA organiser, the Asian Curry Federation (ACF), is to give away 500 tickets for the awards ceremony, being held at the Grosvenor House Hotel on Park Lane in London's Mayfair on Sunday 23rd October 2015.

With the celebrity chefs we have lined up to appear at this year's Nantwich Food Festival in September, you can expect to see some hot, sizzling cooking demonstrations at what promises to be the best festival yet! On the 2nd, 3rd and 4th September 2016 The Nantwich Food Festival is one of the largest events of its kind in Europe and this year it will be featuring two famous chefs who everyone who knows anything about food will recognise - including the Prime Minister! 

The organiser of the only dining awards specifically for eateries with a wood-fired oven is firing up pizza chefs and urging them to put their wood-fired food on the map. Logs Direct, kiln-dried log supplier to the restaurant trade, as well as woodburner fuel specialist, has seven more of its iconic wooden, flame-shaped Woody Awards to bestow on Italian restaurants, and other eateries and pubs cooking with wood-fired ovens, this year.

A former North East Chef of the Year winner, Mark Percival, has been appointed head chef at 14th century luxury hotel and restaurant, Langley Castle. Mark, aged 30, has returned to head up a kitchen in which he was a sur sous chef at the time of his title-winning success in 2011.  He has also entwined his life even further with Langley Castle, by getting married within its impressive seven-foot thick walls on Good Friday (March 25 2016).

Sophi Tranchell, CEO of the acclaimed farmer-owned company Divine Chocolate, is today named as a Schwab Social Entrepreneur of the Year – the most prestigious international award for social innovation. Tranchell was chosen, after a rigorous selection process, for the role she has played in demonstrating how a much more equitable trading relationship with smallholder farmers in Africa can not only work, but also flourish in highly competitive environments in both UK and USA, and provide a model for a sustainable future for cocoa.

With so many farmers being forced out of business, something needs to change and it is up to shoppers to vote with their wallets. Throughout May shoppers are being urged to 'make one change' to the way they shop for food. In a bid to end supermarket domination, Anthony Davison, a Cambridgeshire farmer and founder of local food and drink website www.bigbarn.co.uk says buying local could help preserve the UK food industry and ensure the survival of rural communities.