We often provide outdoor kitchens for events such as at the Flavours Summer Food & Drink Festival at Henham this weekend. Well, strictly speaking, they’re in a tent – but they could be outdoors in a strong wind! It struck us that, with temperatures increasing, an outdoor kitchen may be an option for part of the year. A quick search produced these ideas courtesy of Builder magazine: –
This weekend the The Anglia Factors Cookery Theatre at the Flavours Summer Food & Drink Festival features the following great chefs: –
Saturday June 6th Compere: Robert Mace
10:15: Jeremy Medley, Infusions4chefs
A Master Chef of Great Britain with a Michelin star to his credit, Jeremy Medley is the commercial director of Infusions4chefs – a family-owned company that supplies ingredients, equipment, books, recipes and accessories to professional and hobby chefs all over the world. Based in Rougham near Bury St Edmunds, its customers include a “who’s who” of the great chefs.
Focused on next-day delivery, Infusions4chefs and its sister company, Infusions, pride themselves on the exceptional quality of their products and the high standards of service they offer their customers.
11.15: Mark Allen, The Angel, Stoke by Nayland
Mark trained at West Suffolk College and has cooked at some of Suffolk’s top destinations – Scutchers in Long Melford, The Mill Hotel in Sudbury, The Angel in Bury St Edmunds and The Swan in Lavenham. He’s was a high profile celebrity’s personal chef … but he’s giving nothing away on that front!
He also made fudge for sale in National Trust shops. While classically French trained, Mark describes his style of cooking as the best of English.
12.15: Jason Shaw, The Wentworth, Aldeburgh
Born in Colchester, Jason got his first job in a kitchen when he was just 13 years old. Inspired by the experience, he went on to study at Braintree College. Following placements at The Royal Garden Hotel and The Ritz in London, he returned to Essex to work with Mark Baumann at Lagans Brasserie, where he stayed for 10 years. His first job in Suffolk was at The Brudenell Hotel in Aldeburgh, where he won the hotel its two rosettes.
Returning to Aldeburgh, he worked at the White Lion Hotel for three years before moving to the Wentworth Hotel.
13.15: Jonathan Nicholson, The Bell at Sax, Saxmundham
Starting in one of Marco Pierre White’s famous restaurants and ending up as one of his sous chefs, Jonny Nicholson spent a decade leading some of London best kitchens, including Chelsea’s iconic Bluebird as Executive Chef for Sir Terence Conran. Now chef proprietor of The Bell At Sax’, where he works alongside with partner Natalie, Jonny previously co-owned two award-winning restaurants, The George in picturesque Cavendish and, most recently, Carlton Manor in Carlton Colville.
Re-opened as a stylish relaxed restaurant-with-rooms, The Bell has gained a following for laid-back high quality dining, using superb local ingredients wherever possible – Deben mussels, Clarke’s home-reared Red Poll beef, Darsham lamb, Ramsholt asparagus and more.
14.15: Anmar Odendal, The White Lion, Aldeburgh
South African born Anmar is pastry chef at the White Lion. She arrived there having worked in a number of hotels and on a private super yacht, cooking all over the Med, Caribbean and the Pacific. CRUMB, her wedding cake business, won “Best Wedding Cake Designer” in the East of England at the National Wedding Industry awards in London in 2012.
In 2014 she was listed as one of the UK’s top 20 “most incredible wedding cake bakers”! Anmar is known for making large, over-the-top designs, one of which was featured in OK! magazine.
15.15: Nick Attfield, The Bell, Walberswick & The Harbour Inn, Southwold
Well known at food festivals and events as the seafood chef with his pop-up seaside-themed beach hut on wheels, The Fish Hut, Nick also runs two of Adnams’ busiest and prettiest pub-restaurants on the north Suffolk coast.
The Harbour sits right next to the water down on the Blyth at Southwold whilst a short walk over the river or a longer drive around the estuary, he also has the equally popular Bell in Walberswick.
Trained as an economist, Nick helped run Harrods wine dept. for several years before coming back to native Suffolk and taking over The Golden Key in Snape as well as The Oyster in Butley. He was swiftly asked to move on to two of Adnams’ flagship establishments. A distinct fan of local ingredients and fresh produce, both his inns are always busy not just for their great bars and beer but also the great laid-back enjoyable food.
16:15: Andrew Storer, The White Hart, Blythburgh
Originally from Suffolk, Andrew moved to London when he was 18, straight after qualifying as a chef. Working at 5 star hotels around the capital, he quickly discovered a passion fine dining.
At 23, Andrew joined Roux Fine Dining. Two years later, he was appointed head chef for its restaurant at Goldman Sachs, where he cooked for some the richest people in the UK. Andrew’s next stop was the Groucho Club in Soho, where he cooked for the likes of Kate Moss, Frank Lampard and Chris Evans. In 2009, he moved to the new Irish Club, gaining 5- and 4-star reviews in various London magazines. A year later, he moved to the Naval and Military Club in Piccadilly – one of the oldest members clubs in the world.
In 2013, Andrew returned home to Suffolk. He moved to The White Hart, Blythburgh, this February.
Sunday 7th June Compere: Tyler Torrance
10:15: John Jackaman, Infusions4chefs
A Master Chef of Great Britain, John Jackaman is the managing director of Infusions4chefs – a family-owned company that supplies ingredients, equipment, books, recipes and accessories to professional and hobby chefs all over the world. Based in Rougham near Bury St Edmunds, its customers include a “who’s who” of the great chefs.
Focused on next-day delivery, Infusions4chefs and its sister company, Infusions, pride themselves on the exceptional quality of their products and the high standards of service they offer their customers.
11.15: Tyler Torrance, The Brudenell, Aldeburgh
Of English and Canadian descent, Tyler began his culinary career working in his father’s delicatessen. He trained in Vancouver, and worked in some of the city’s finest establishments using pan-Asian ingredients and lots of seafood. He also worked there in Aurora, a pioneering Slow Food restaurant, which is sadly now closed.
On arrival in the UK with his family, he enjoyed a one month internship with Heston Blumenthal at the Fat Duck in Bray, where he says he was fortunate to see the very best of British cooking. From there, he moved to The George on the Isle of Wight and has since worked with a variety of different chefs, all adding to his culinary knowledge.
Tyler likes to know exactly where his food is coming from – a concept he explains as “from pasture to plate” and uses produce from within a 100 mile radius.
12.15: Emma Crowhurst, independent chef, writer and teacher
Chef and teacher Emma Crowhurst worked at Leith’s School of Food and Wine in London before she moved to Suffolk. While there, she became something of a TV celebrity. Appearances as an expert on the Generation Game were followed by regular contributions to Prue Leith’s ‘Tricks of the Trade’ and Chefs School, which followed students as they progressed through their courses at Leith’s .
Emma also appeared on Ready Steady Cook and, for four years, on the BBC’s Food and Drink programme. Today, she runs courses at The Cookhouse at the Suffolk Food Hall, Helmingham Hall and The Taste Academy.
13.15: Robert Mace, The Sail Loft, Southwold
Having established his reputation at Satis House, Robert Mace headed the kitchen at The Westleton Crown before moving to The Sail Loft, Southwold.
Robert’s great knowledge, love of the area and local produce show in his imaginative menus, which change with the seasons. He describes the style of his dishes as “rustic modern British”.
14.15: James Barber, The Three Blackbirds, Woodditton
A national finalist in both the Gordon Ramsay and Roux Brothers scholarships, James spent seven years at The New Angel in Dartmouth before moving to The Brudenell in Aldeburgh.
In Dartmouth, he worked under John Burton Race, progressing from chef de partie to head chef, maintaining the restaurant’s coveted Michelin star. He left The Brudenell in Aldeburgh just a few months ago, taking up a new role as head chef at The Three Blackbirds at the other end of the county.
15.15: Charlotte Gaffer, independent chef
Charlotte is a blogger, cake-baker and all round food fanatic, eating and writing her way through life. A regular contributor to Flavours magazines, she never fails to provide us with interesting recipes using seasonal ingredients.
As we discovered at Flavours of Summer 2014, she is also an accomplished chef and presenter in her own right. In addition to her other work, Charlotte now runs her own catering business, cooking in people’s homes.
Pop in and see us, we’re here to help..
UK-based Moley Robotics unveiled an autonomous kitchen machine on Hannover Messe 2015 that uses two UR5 robot arms from Universal Robots and robot hands to reproduce the movements of a human chef from a 3D-recording of a cooking process that maps every individual motion. In the space of 25 minutes, the robotic gourmet prepared a bowl of crab bisque from a recipe developed by Tim Anderson, a previous winner of BBC’s Masterchef competition. Its UR5 robot arms, which are mounted above a kitchen surface including a hob and a sink, move up and down as it scrapes butter off a spatula. They even wipe the ladle on the side of the saucepan to prevent drips.
Or….pop in and see us, we’re here to help.
Dawn Elsom at a recent demo
Anglia Factors, Suffolk’s leading kitchen specialist, is showcasing the latest Neff appliances at a cookery demonstration on Saturday 16th May at its recently extended showroom at 34 Gloster Road, Martlesham.
The demonstration, led by Neff’s home economist Dawn Elsom, will take place on the purpose build demonstration kitchen. Dawn will show the audience the advantages and practicality Neff appliances offer by creating a range of dishes for guests to try, while offering explanation and answering questions throughout the demonstration.
Daniel Barr, Owner of Anglia Factors, said: “Neff is the UK’s market leader in built in appliances. Its Slide & Hide oven doors have been in the spotlight recently in the Great British Bake Off tent. These demonstrations have been very popular with our customers. It’s a fun, relaxed way to see how to get the best results from Neff appliances while having a nice time. As a provider of Neff appliances, we want to show people what the appliances can do and invite them to see first-hand how they produce tasty and nutritious food.”
The event is free to attend although booking is essential as places are limited. There will be two seated demonstrations: 10.30am – 12.30pm and 1.00pm – 3.00pm. There will be a raffle in aid of St. Elizabeth Hospice to support the fund raising efforts of Owner Daniel Barr and his son who are taking part in the 300 mile Hospice Team 100 London-Paris cycle ride later this year.
To book a place at the cooking demonstration visit: bookwhen.com/angliafactors or call 01394 383646
From an old blog http://www.oddee.com/item_97251.aspx we were intrigued to see how some people let others announce themselves at their front door.
May have to agree this with the flat downstairs!
Pop in and see us, we’re here to help.
Bedroom inspiration last year from freshome Blog Magazine, a peculiar online commentator started in Romania and now with 10m page views per month.
Pop in and see us, we’re here to help.
This year has seen the market flooded with a slew of wifi-enabled gadgets and home automation products, and even regular kitchen appliances are getting the high-tech, “internet-of-things” treatment. At the popular American blog OnePlus blog they recently listed just a few of the latest connectable gadgets.
WeMo-Enabled Gadgets
Belkin has been partnering with various home brands to bring their “WeMo” home automation platform to everyday appliances, notably resulting in wifi-ready slow cookers and coffee brewers.
The Crock-Pot Smart Slow Cooker allows you to control cooking times and temperatures straight from your smartphone via an Android application. It will also send notifications when cooking is complete.
Mr. Coffee’s WeMo-enabled coffee brewer takes the form of their 10 Cup Smart Optimal Brew Coffeemaker. Similar to the slow cooker, settings can be altered and brews can be scheduled via the WeMo application. How did we ever survive without the ability to make a pot of coffee from 500 miles away?
Phillips takes the concept even further with their HomeCooker neXt protoype. Like something straight out of the Jetsons, this auto-dinner contraption is a sort of Frankenstein’s monster, combining a food processor, steamer, blender, and electric cooker. Using an Android application to browse and send recipes straight to the device, users will be walked through the entire cooking process. The HomeCooker neXt will even stir the cooking food at the correct intervals, making the entire process rather fool-proof. The bad news is that Phillips has yet to announce a concrete release date, so our evenings will still be filled with regular cook-it-yourself grub for the time being.
Nomiku Sous-Vide
We have been strong proponents of sous-vide cooking for a while now. French for “under vacuum,” meats or vegetables are placed in air-tight plastic bags and then into a hot water bath. Because temperatures are much lower than with other cooking methods, it can be a long process (taking days in many instances). It’s worth it, though, as the resulting food is impossibly moist and evenly cooked. Our celebrity chef Paul Foster frequently uses our KitchenAid sous vides during his cookery demonstrations.
Unfortunately, this process is… difficult. Without precise temperature control and timing, things can go horribly awry. Like, petrol-station-food-at-3 am awry. If your budget doesn’t run to a KitchenAid system then a gadget known as sous-vide immersion circulator can handle most of the process for you, leading to consistently-perfect results. And, this year, a company called Nomiku took the next logical step: adding wifi. Users can browse, create, and share recipes via the aptly named “Tender” mobile application. Then, instructions can be sent straight to the device from your phone.
Vessyl
While not strictly a kitchen gadget, Vessyl helps to monitor your intake of sugar, protein, calories, fat, caffeine, and more. A seemingly ordinary (albeit beautifully-designed) cup, Vessyl is lined with sensors that identify what beverage you are drinking and how much of said beverage you’ve drank. What makes Vessyl a solid piece of future-tech, though, is its ability to differentiate by brand as well. If you pour, say, a Diet Pepsi into the Vessyl, sensors will automatically recognize the drink by name and send all relevant nutritional data back to your smartphone. Simples.
It’s a great office party accessory for your informal “who has consumed the most absurd amount of coffee today?” competitions.
LG’s HomeChat
This is where things get a bit spooky. LG recently released its HomeChat line of wifi-enabled home appliances in South Korea (though international versions are being planned). In the kitchen, this line includes the “Smart Refrigerator” and “SmartLightwaveOven.” Both are controlled using Line, a hyper-popular texting application in parts of Asia.
The idea here is that you literally “talk” to your home appliances via text messages. For example, text your SmartWaveOven what food you will be cooking, and it will automatically preheat to the correct temperature. Send a text to your Smart Refrigerator letting it know that you are going on vacation, and power-saving mode is wirelessly enabled. The Smart Refrigerator even includes an internal camera that keeps track of your supplies, so users can check what foods need to be purchased right from the supermarket. And, because your newfangled refrigerator knows what foods you have on hand, it will happily suggest compatible recipes (which take into account your health requirements and BMI). Great. Now your appliances will tell you that you’re fat.
Something for the future perhaps – but do pop in and see us, we’re here to help.
They may not be able to spell it but home theatre is big in the ‘States and here are some ways they furnish smaller rooms
Pop in and see us, we’re here to help
There is nothing new about the habit of singing in the shower. North African philosopher, Ibn Khaldun, wrote in 1377 that “when those who enjoy a hot bath inhale the air of the bath… they are found to experience joy. It often happens that they start singing, as singing has its origins in gladness.”
These feelings of joy and gladness can be explained scientifically. For many people, time spent in the bath or shower is the most relaxing of the day; and when you relax, your brain releases dopamine, which gets your creative juices flowing. When singing, your need to breathe more deeply helps to oxygenate your blood and lift your mood.
Another reason to sing in the bathroom is that the hard surfaces and lack of soft furnishings enrich one’s voice: giving it fullness, depth and bass that can’t be achieved elsewhere in the home.
Whatever the reason, though, bathroom singing has become synonymous with mediocrity. However, this association with all things amateur does have a few exceptions. Paul Simon used to play ‘Sounds of Silence’ alone in his bathroom and Björk recorded ‘There’s More to Life Than This’, the fourth track on her 1993 album ‘Debut’, live in the toilets of Milk Bar in Soho.
Here’s our top ten songs to sing in the bathroom (from suggestions given by Spotify):
If you have Spotify then you can view the entire playlist online here: http://goo.gl/lmxESd
Anglia Factors Blog 