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Fosters ads – a perfect mix of comedy and advice

April 19, 2012 By

The latest series of Fosters beer ads starring Brad & Dan are winning over the beer drinking British public with their blend of out and out comedy and down to earth advice.

If you’ve not seen them yet, check them out when you’re next in front of the box or you can find them on Youtube. The boys are sitting in a yellow beach shack on a beautiful day in sunny Australia, dealing with a series of calls from British men who have social conundrums that they need help with.

For example, there’s Dean, who calls while on holiday in Cyprus. Dean’s standing next to a pool in his swimming trunks and he doesn’t know if he should put sun cream on his mate’s back. Brad & Dan are horrified: “Holy Dooley! A delicate matter, but a burnt wingman is useless.”

They go on to say it’s ok to do it as long as Dean follows the rules: “Only put cream on where he can’t reach, between his shoulder blades – the safe zone!” Before they sign off, they add: “And remember, Deano, the following things are not permitted: Eye contact, scented candles, power ballads, and do not apply if he’s wearing budgie smugglers. Are we all clear?”

As the ad ends we see Dean’s mate ambling up in a pair of tight speedos – Dean sends him off to get changed!

The latest Fosters advert is a far cry from the earliest ones we’ll remember starring 80s hunk Paul Hogan of Crocodile Dundee fame. These boys fulfil the Aussie stereotype; they know how to enjoy a beer, they’ve got strong views on how things should be done and while they’re dishing out the advice you can see girls in the background carrying out chores like hanging up their dartboard for them.

Fosters seems to have hit the right chord with their irreverent ads – the British public can’t get enough of them!

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How to be a good chef

April 16, 2012 By

What’s the secret to becoming a good chef? The first and most important ingredient is of course, a passion for food! If you enjoy tasting new foods, trying new recipes and tantalising your taste buds then you have won half the battle already!

 

Of course, there is a little bit more to becoming a chef than just having a love of food. You will need to get lots of hands on experience in the kitchen, for starters, and restaurant kitchens can be a much busier and more stressful environment than the kitchen at home, so can take some getting used to.

Many chefs undertake catering courses at college which involve practical experience in the kitchen, whereas others start in the kitchen and then gain their official qualifications on day release to college.

 

If you are already working in a kitchen, your employers may well pay for you to do your official chef qualifications, such as NVQs and other practical certificates, so it is well worth speaking to them about this as it will only enable you to do an even better job for them.

 

As well as chef qualifications that can be carried out at college, there are food hygiene courses that you will need to complete in order to become a chef. It may be that you have to pay to do a food hygiene course, or that your employer will pay for you to do one, as it is another important part of your job.

 

Once you have fully qualified as a chef you can consider where you would eventually like to work, whether you want to move restaurants, become head chef eventually or even own your own chain of restaurants in the future. All of these options will be open to you as a good chef with all the right experience and training.

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Ringing the changes for lunch

March 7, 2012 By

If you find yourself stuck in a bit of a rut with the same old cheese and ham sandwiches for lunch every day, there are plenty of ways you can ring the changes and liven up your lunchtimes!

One of the easiest ways to make lunchtime butties that bit more interesting is to swap your usual white bread for granary, wheatgerm or wholemeal. If you only like the taste of white but want to make your sandwiches a little bit healthier, Best of Both bread is a great alternative.

Instead of sandwiches, try a delicious and tasty jacket potato with a filling that you’ve prepared the night before or with leftovers from the previous night’s meal, such as chilli, Bolognese or even curry. If you cook your potato for a couple of hours in the oven the night before, you can heat it up the next day in the microwave or under the grill for that extra crispiness.

Another lovely lunch idea is to make your own soup which can be frozen in batches and heated when you need it. It’s a really cost efficient way to eat and you can choose from a whole variety of seasonal soups to try out, from spicy parsnip to cheese and broccoli, tangy carrot to nourishing chicken; whatever takes your fancy!

For a summer or springtime lunch, salads make a great alternative to sandwiches, and it’s not just about lettuce and tomatoes! Add some more exotic, unusual or indulgent ingredients to your lunchtime salads, such as chicken and avocado, crayfish and mango, hummus and falafel or bacon and blue cheese. The choice is as big as your imagination!

Have a go at different dishes for lunch by using ingredients that are in season and make your own soups, salads, sandwiches and jacket fillings for varied and delicious lunches every day!

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Beer can be good for you

December 19, 2011 By

If you have always fancied settling down at night with a beer but worry about the risks to your health, you need not worry – beer can be enjoyed as part of a healthy lifestyle.

Obviously the operative word when it comes to any alcohol is ‘moderate’. In moderation, beer can actually be good for you and even good for your liver!

That sounds ridiculous on the face of it, but it is true. Beer can get rid of poisonous heavy metals like lead and copper and alcohol causes the small blood vessels in the liver to expand which speeds up metabolism.

Drinking beer also reduces the risk of having a heart attack. Medical studies have found those drinking beer on a daily basis, between one to three beers per day, have a low rate of heart attacks.

Now I have touched on a couple of the reasons why beer can be consumed as part of a healthy lifestyle, let’s take a look at the best and tastiest beers out there.

Fruit beer has become increasingly popular over the past few years. There are all kinds of different flavours and fruit beer offers a sweeter alternative to traditional beer. The underlying fruity taste supplements the attributes of traditional beer nicely.

Premium beer has been the mainstay of the beer industry. Brands such as Stella Artois, Carling and Fosters continue to lead the way in the UK. Fosters has recently launched a new premium bottled lager, Fosters Gold Beer. That is well worth a try.

There is so much choice out there – from real ale to beers of the world – it can be really enjoyable sampling different beers. Just remember, beer is a well-balanced, relatively low-alcohol drink and can be used to supplement a healthy lifestyle. Next time you fancy a beer, don’t hesitate.

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The Food Standards Agency

April 4, 2011 By
Food Standards Agency

Food Standards Agency

“Natural foods” and “all natural foods” are generally used terms in food labelling and promoting with a spread of definitions, some of which are imprecise. The term is presumed to imply foods that are minimally processed and don’t contain made ingredients, but the absence of standards in some jurisdictions suggests that the term assures nothing. The term “organic” has similar implications and has a long-time legal definition in numerous states and a global standard. In some places, the term “natural” is outlined and implemented. In others, eg the US, it doesn’t mean anything.

In Britain, the Food Standards Agency released standards for the usage of one or two terms in food labelling. The direction, generally, proscribes the utilization of natural to foods that have “ingredients produced naturally, not the work of man or meddled with by man.” Natural flavours are explicitly outlined by separate laws.

There are several standards for assorted kinds of foodstuffs, like dairy foods. It also gives standards for some food processing methods, for example fermentation or pasteurization. The standard explicitly rules out “foods gleaned from novel processes, GM or cloning.”.

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The Local Food System

February 17, 2011 By
Think Local Food

Think Local Food

Local food systems are an alternative choice to the worldwide company models where producers and patrons are separated thru a chain of processors / makers, shippers and outlets. As the food industry grows, the ‘middle man ‘ is increasingly able to control the quality of food. Inversely, the local food system redevelops these relations and inspires a return of quality control to the patron and the producer respectively. These quality traits are not merely in the product but in the strategy of manufacturing.

Networks of local farmers and producers are now collaborating together in Great Britain, Europe as well as in Canada and the US to supply an online farmers market to consumers. In this fashion, more purchasers can now buy regionally even online when they can not attend a local farmers market. This also provides local farmers and producers another path to market and keeps outgoings low as web site costs are shared. Examples of this are Tastes of Anglia in the United Kingdom, BALLE (Business alliance for Local Living Economies), and the 30 Mile Meal Project in the US.

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