Tuesday, 9 September 2008
Wednesday, 27 August 2008
Fish and chips
Fish and chips is not only one of Britain’s favourite dishes - it is also the nation’s favourite smell, according to a study.
Britons judged the mouth-watering aroma of fish and chips to be even better than the scent of freshly baked bread and clean sheets.
The survey, of 3,000 people, also saw freshly cut grass, frying bacon, lemon zest and the smell of a roast dinner, in the top ten favourite smells.
Fish and chips was the overall favourite scent, but when it came to the smell that is cleanest and freshest, the majority of people rated lemon as top.
Researchers also found more than 53 per cent of people felt happy when they caught a smell of their favourite scent, while 46 per cent said it relaxes them.
Professor Tim Jacob, a scent expert at Cardiff University, said: “The sense of smell connects the deep subconscious regions of the brain and triggers different emotions and behaviours.
The survey, of 3,000 people, also saw freshly cut grass, frying bacon, lemon zest and the smell of a roast dinner, in the top ten favourite smells.
Fish and chips was the overall favourite scent, but when it came to the smell that is cleanest and freshest, the majority of people rated lemon as top.
Researchers also found more than 53 per cent of people felt happy when they caught a smell of their favourite scent, while 46 per cent said it relaxes them.
Professor Tim Jacob, a scent expert at Cardiff University, said: “The sense of smell connects the deep subconscious regions of the brain and triggers different emotions and behaviours.
SOURCE: The Telegraph UK
UK Awaits Return Of Long-Lost Sun
UK Awaits Return Of Long-Lost Sun 12:09pm UK, Monday August 25, 2008
British skygazers are bracing themselves for a rare meteorological phenomenon later this week when a mysterious yellow glow will appear overhead.
British skygazers are bracing themselves for a rare meteorological phenomenon later this week when a mysterious yellow glow will appear overhead.
The sun has not set on this summer yet, experts say
It is called the sun, and forecasters are predicting that it will come out for at least a while before the summer is gone for good.
Sky News weather presenter Sarah Pennock said: "Just when you thought the summer was over, there is a hint of hope on the horizon.
"The last weekend in August promises a drier and sunnier few days with temperatures in the mid-20s for central and southern parts."
Despite some places having the wettest August on record - Northern Ireland, south east Scotland and Northumberland have all had a soaking - Pennock said some parts of the country were heading for "a cracking end to the month".
"It is definitely time to try to squeeze in one last barbecue before the kids go back to school," she said.
But it is by no means certain that the nicer weather will herald an Indian summer.
The warm spell will most likely be bracketed by cloud and showers for most parts - and some regions will be denied this better-late-than-never show of sun.
"It'll be a cloudy week for the bulk of the UK, with the best of the brightness reserved for eastern Scotland, Lincolnshire and East Anglia," Pennock said.
"As the weekend approaches, we'll see more in the way of warm, sunny days in the south east, but the far north west will still be plagued with light and patchy rain."
It is called the sun, and forecasters are predicting that it will come out for at least a while before the summer is gone for good.
Sky News weather presenter Sarah Pennock said: "Just when you thought the summer was over, there is a hint of hope on the horizon.
"The last weekend in August promises a drier and sunnier few days with temperatures in the mid-20s for central and southern parts."
Despite some places having the wettest August on record - Northern Ireland, south east Scotland and Northumberland have all had a soaking - Pennock said some parts of the country were heading for "a cracking end to the month".
"It is definitely time to try to squeeze in one last barbecue before the kids go back to school," she said.
But it is by no means certain that the nicer weather will herald an Indian summer.
The warm spell will most likely be bracketed by cloud and showers for most parts - and some regions will be denied this better-late-than-never show of sun.
"It'll be a cloudy week for the bulk of the UK, with the best of the brightness reserved for eastern Scotland, Lincolnshire and East Anglia," Pennock said.
"As the weekend approaches, we'll see more in the way of warm, sunny days in the south east, but the far north west will still be plagued with light and patchy rain."
SOURCE: SKYNEWS
UK's Weather Turned Upsidedown
4:21am UK, Wednesday August 27, 2008One of the most northerly places in Britain has been the sunniest in the UK this month.
Lerwick was the sunniest place to be in August
Lerwick in the Shetland islands basked in 136 hours of sunshine in the first 25 days of August, according to MeteoGroup UK, the weather division of the Press Association.
It had far better weather than the second sunniest place in the UK, Wittering in Cambridgeshire, which has seen 107 hours of sun for far this month.
Much of the rest of the country did not even reach 100 hours of sun.
John Hutchinson, a Meteogroup forecaster, said Shetland had been lucky to escape the bad weather which has hit the rest of the UK.
He said: "Normally the low pressure moves to the north of Scotland but the lows have been further south than normal so the worst of the weather has been across central areas of the UK.
"Lerwick has been above all the bad weather so it has had sunny spells.
"Shetland really has been fizzing above the gloom and rain that has been affecting everywhere else."
Lerwick is the only place in the UK which has seen more sun than average so far this month.
Eskdalemuir in Dumfries and Galloway has yet to reach 40 hours of sun, while many places have yet to see half their average August sunshine.
SOURCE: SKYNEWS
Tuesday, 26 August 2008
FRENCH CUISINE vs BRITISH CUISINE
"The
French... have surrounded food with so much commentary, learning and connoisseurship as to clothe it in the vestments of civilization itself... Cooking is viewed as a major art form: innovations are celebrated and talked about as though they were phrases in the development of a style of painting or poetry... A meal at a truly great restaurant is a sort of theatre you can eat."
Richard Bernstein, The Fragile Glory
Indisputably, one of modern France's greatest treasures is its rich cuisine. The French have an ongoing love affair with food, and their reverence for time spent eating is evident in any culinary establishment nationwide. It is also manifested in the traditional family gatherings around the home dinner table, particularly the Sunday mid-day feast which is prepared lovingly over many hours and consumed leisurely through a bevy of appetizers and main courses, usually accompanied by a number of wines and often lively discussion which tends to center on political topics.
What is perhaps less widely recognized is that France's reputation for fine food is not so much based on long-held traditions but on constant change. In fact, the general expectation of good eating is a relatively new experience for the French. At the time the Bastille was stormed in 1789, at least 80% of the French population were subsistence farmers, with bread and cereals as the basis of their diet, essentially unchanged since the time of the ancient Gauls nearly two millenia before. In the mid-nineteenth century, following the demise of the aristocracy, food was a conspicuous symbol of social position, swiftly adopted by a new ruling class of bourgeoisie, who recreated the sumptuous meals of the very aristocracy they had once criticized. At the same time, two-thirds of Parisians were either starving or ill-fed, five times more likely to be nourished from vegetable proteins than from any meats or dairy products. The golden age of haute cuisine benefited only those at the very top of the social ladder.
It took a world war at the beginning of the twentieth century to halt the gross inequality of wealth at the table, and to bring about a more even distribution of the nation's produce. The advent of improved transportation, especially by train, brought culinary revolution to the regions, and slowly the spreading affluence could put a chicken on every peasant's table. Eventually, tourism fanned the flames of change in France's commercial kitchens, as chefs were obliged to create dishes appealing to an ever-widening audience of British, Japanese, Middle Easterners, and Americans, as well as French travelers hungering for new experiences. In some instances the reasons for change in regional products were a pragmatic reaction to a decline in other industries (such a silk) or to the economic disaster brought about by the Phylloxera pest, which wiped out most of France's grape vines at the turn of the century
What is perhaps less widely recognized is that France's reputation for fine food is not so much based on long-held traditions but on constant change. In fact, the general expectation of good eating is a relatively new experience for the French. At the time the Bastille was stormed in 1789, at least 80% of the French population were subsistence farmers, with bread and cereals as the basis of their diet, essentially unchanged since the time of the ancient Gauls nearly two millenia before. In the mid-nineteenth century, following the demise of the aristocracy, food was a conspicuous symbol of social position, swiftly adopted by a new ruling class of bourgeoisie, who recreated the sumptuous meals of the very aristocracy they had once criticized. At the same time, two-thirds of Parisians were either starving or ill-fed, five times more likely to be nourished from vegetable proteins than from any meats or dairy products. The golden age of haute cuisine benefited only those at the very top of the social ladder.
It took a world war at the beginning of the twentieth century to halt the gross inequality of wealth at the table, and to bring about a more even distribution of the nation's produce. The advent of improved transportation, especially by train, brought culinary revolution to the regions, and slowly the spreading affluence could put a chicken on every peasant's table. Eventually, tourism fanned the flames of change in France's commercial kitchens, as chefs were obliged to create dishes appealing to an ever-widening audience of British, Japanese, Middle Easterners, and Americans, as well as French travelers hungering for new experiences. In some instances the reasons for change in regional products were a pragmatic reaction to a decline in other industries (such a silk) or to the economic disaster brought about by the Phylloxera pest, which wiped out most of France's grape vines at the turn of the century
The "French Paradox"
It is well-known that the stereotypical French meal is heavy in saturated fats; heavy creams and butter are a staple in many dishes. Despite this fact, the French populace suffers from lower incidences of cardiac disease than many other western nations, including the U.S. Much research and medical opinion seems to credit their consumption of red wines with an overall reduction in cholesterol levels (see "The French Paradox"). Whatever creedence one might place in this theory, it is a given that all French food is best accompanied by wine to be enjoyed to its fullest.
SOURCE: discover france.net
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