247 days ago
The team at Radio 4’s Today programme got an enormous stiffy on this scoop by the BBC’s climate change team. It seems that climate change has caused bad weather in parts of West Africa which has sent cocoa prices surging and so makes your chocolate bars more expensive. It sounds like a great tale except that it is bollocks.
594 days ago
You may have worried, after my earlier piece, on a Welsh Easter in Greece, that I had starved the family of chocolate. As you can see below, I caved into consumerism and unhealthy living in a big way. The Mrs is hiding her chocolate Easter Bunny, Jaya was more excited about the pink wrapping than the actual egg.
1330 days ago
What sort of Birthday cake does mummy want? I asked Joshua. “Chocolate” he answered. He assumes that is what everyone wants. And thus as the Mrs went out for the afternoon with her pal J, who is staying for the weekend, Joshua and I created this two layer chocolate sponge cake below. Everyone agreed it tasted excellent but I concede that the presentation leaves something to be desired.
2823 days ago
Having been deprived of chocolate and sweets for most of the year, late October until November 5th at Butterwell Farm, Byfield provided some greatly appreciated treats.
2825 days ago
Perhaps it explains why I have picked up such a sweet tooth later in life but, in my early years at Butterwell farm Byfield, chocolate was a real rarity and sweets were just non existent. This was my mother at work.
2895 days ago
I was wandering through the large shopping centre in Bristol when I spotted a pop up stall for "The Amazing Chocolate Workshop." All of these items below really are made entirely from chocolate. This is just such jaw dropping stuff and will make you drool.
4042 days ago
Just for Hop-tu-Naa we are tweaking our normal Manx chocolate pizza. Instead of milk chocolate we have a darker thicker chocolate with a seasonal fruit topping. Naturally it tastes awesome.
Leno will be serving both today and on Hop-tu-naa itself (Thursday)
It is one of two dessert course on offer ( the other being Reda’s chocolate mousse cake) on our special Hop-tu-naa menu running at Clerkenwell’s No 1 Celtic Italian restaurant all day Wednesday and Thursday.
The full menu can be found here.
4168 days ago
It tastes even better than it looks. The first customer to try this moist mixture of white and milk chocolate said it was “gorgeous”. It is. Perhaps it is not an ideal part of a calorie controlled diet but it’s summer, it’s time to treat yourself.
It is not on the menu as super head chef Reda served it up as a new creation just today. But you can ask for it, at any time at Real Man Pizza, our quirky Celtic Italian restaurant in Clerkenwell.
4328 days ago
Super chef Aldo served this up as a trial tonight as an alternative to my own creation of chocolate pizza and it is just awesome. The adult version comes with a dash of chilli in the thick chocolate sauce. The kids version is just thick brown dark chocolate sauce. A quick management meeting was convened ( myself and Aldo) and it is now on the menu as of tonight.
Roll up, roll up and head off to Real Man Pizza Company for an out of this world experience.
4339 days ago
Wandering around the Co-op on the 11th day of Christmas I noticed that the store was selling Hot Cross Buns (a simple bun with a cross on its front). Frankly the Co-op can sell what it wants and I gather that it sells this item all year round not just at….er…Christmas. But there is something not quite right about this.
When I was a boy my mum used to make Hot Cross Buns as a special treat for Good Friday. That was when, historically, we in Britain ate them. The cross signifies the cross on which Jesus met his end on Good Friday. The buns taste great so if folks want to eat them all year round that is their call. I just wonder how many kids growing up today actually realise how this dish came into being and what its significance is. I have a sneaking suspicion that if you polled 100 eleven year olds in Britain today very few of them could actually tell you the day of the year when we celebrate the crucifixion of Jesus.
I wonder how many could tell you what Advent means and why they have an Advent calendar. What Easter Sunday represents and why they have a chocolate egg on that day? Or indeed why we give each other presents at Christmas. I wonder if any at all could explain why they get even more chocolates at Halloween?
Though I am not a believer (I struggle to be one but just do not have faith), I do find the idea that the Christian festivals are now blurred into one great mish-mash of chocolate and consumerism as rather sad. That kids today have no idea why they celebrate as long as they can celebrate is all rather depressing. If it’s Christmas/Easter/Halloween all year round, the actual days themselves become less and less special.
