Author: Scoffo
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Ciabatta
Ciabatta is a type of Italian white bread which includes olive oil as one of its ingredients. It was first created in Verona in response to the popularity of the French baguette. Literally, the name means ‘slipper’ as it was named by Francesco Favaron, the original baker, who thought its shape looked like his wife’s…
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Cranberry
Cranberries are little red berries with a bitter flavour. They grow wild on shrubs throughout Northern Europe and North America, but their cultivation is a major commercial operation in some American states and Canadian provinces. They have a high nutritional content and are believed to be valuable for their health-giving properties. Because the berries are…
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Ginger
Ginger is a flowering plant whose rhizome, or root, is highly prized as a spice. It originated in Southern Asia and was exported to Europe as early as the Roman times. These days it’s mainly grown in India, Jamaica, Africa, China and Australia. It’s widely used as a flavouring for many Asian and Caribbean dishes…
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Gurnard
The prehistoric-looking gurnard is a lean, firm, white-fleshed fish which lives on the seabed using its wing-like fins to find crabs, shrimps and other bottom-feeders. They are rather bony and lacking in flavour so the best use for them is to use the fish head to make a tasty stock.
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Lobster
Lobster is often considered to be the king of crustaceans and is thus an expensive delicacy. It has firm, white meat which is succulent and sweet. When raw it has a dark blue-green colour which turns a bright orange-pink when cooked. There are three main types of lobster: Canadian or American; European; Slipper or Squat…
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Gorgonzola
Gorgonzola is a sharp-flavoured, blue-veined, creamy cheese which is named after the Italian village near Milan from where it originates. It’s made from unpasteurised cows milk and injected with greenish-blue mould which gives a lovely sharp contrast to the creamy cheese. It’s often found as a dessert cheese and is a cheeseboard favourite. It can…
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Apricot
The apricot originated in China and spread slowly westward. It was introduced into England from Italy in 1542 by Jean Le Loup, Henry VIII’s gardener. It’s a fragrant fruit with a soft velvety skin and is a relative of the peach, nectarine, plum and cherry. British apricots are available from May to September, but more often…
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Allspice
Allspice originates from the West Indies. It’s made from the dried, unripened berry of the tree Pimenta dioica, which is of the eucalyptus family. Historically it was called ‘Jamaican pepper’ and was frequently imported from Britain’s Caribbean colonies. Later it became more commonly known as allspice – the name given to it because it was…
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Bakewell tart
A Bakewell tart is a confection originating from Bakewell, a town in Derbyshire, England. Historically, it was served at any holiday occasion. Nowadays one could eat them on any day, usually with a cup of tea. Commercial versions are easily available. The tart consists of a shortcrust pastry shell, topped with a layer of jam,…
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Almond
Almonds are the nuts of the almond tree, a close relative of the peach, apricot and plum. The are two types of almonds – bitter and sweet. The bitter almonds contain prussic acid but can be used sparingly to produce oils, extracts and flavourings, eg for the liqueur amaretto. The sweet almonds are the ones…