At RumFest 2019, Mainbrace launched their unique brand of rum, as they entered the welcoming but saturated Spirit community. Two years and multiple awards later, our EateCollective editor, Mike McShane, spoke to co-founder of Mainbrace, Richard Haigh to discuss how it all started.
Read More“Food is much more than a mere combination of ingredients. Yet, despite this widespread understanding, cookbooks, the guardians of our cuisines, are habitually viewed simply as collections of recipes. This over simplistic perception is directly rooted in widespread ignorance concerning the complex set of functions cookbooks perform.” This week, Jacob dives deep into the question ‘how do cookbooks shape our identity?’
Read More‘Britain conquered half the world for spices and decided it didn’t like any of them’ is a caption usually accompanied by a photo of a mound of anonymous boiled stodge. The internet is littered with this sort of thing, it’s a joke which recurs with reliable regularity. Though this epithet of the United Kingdom’s cooking is little more than a harmless quip, I did find it interesting how far removed the great joke of British gastronomy is from reality.
Read MoreGuilt, sin, pure, clean and sacrifice. All morally charged words with strong religious connotations that you’d likely hear in a sermon. Alarmingly, however, they’re the buzzwords propelling the ‘clean eating’ epidemic. Where food is now framed in the dichotomy of good or bad; we must cleanse and repent our dietary misbehaviour and weight loss group Slimming World quite literally categorises certain foods as ‘syns’. Is clean eating the new religion of 21st century, non-secular capitalist culture?
Read MoreTo tell the story of a product through branding alone is something that requires a razor-sharp understanding of the market that you are operating in. For the wine industry, this means an intimate understanding of the vineyards, growers, and flavours that you work with. We talked to Daniel Hanna, Sales Manager at Vineyard Productions, and asked him a bit about himself, his company and the industry he represents.
Read MoreThis week, Jacob delves into the rich and storied tale of the remote Atlantic island of St Helena, and how the rare and exquisite coffee that is grown there was intertwined with the life of one of history’s greatest military commanders.
Read MoreFirst We Eat is a powerful exploration of the meaning of food sovereignty and security, and a celebration of the joys of eating local, seasonal food. The sweeping, meditative shots of the pristine but threatened Yukon valley remind us of the unique remoteness of the location where the growing season is just 66 days. As several characters in the documentary point out, ‘if it can be done here, it can be done almost anywhere’, ‘it’ being source 100% of one’s food locally and ‘here’ being at the inhospitable latitude of 64° N, and a six hour drive from the nearest Starbucks.
Read MoreLouis tells the story of one of the pillars of Germany’s fast food scene - from its disputed origins to its power to overcome divisions in its home country.
Read MorePDO or ‘Protected Destination of Origin’ status helps us, the consumer, to make informed decisions about authentic products, reducing time spent in impersonal supermarkets whilst also enhancing the taste experience in our cosy kitchens. However, what benefits does it bring to the producers and manufacturers, many of whom stand as the sole guardians of ancient practices?
Read MoreIn an exclusive interview for EATE, Louis talks to beloved chef and television personality Gennaro Contaldo about his deep rooted love for Parmigiano Reggiano, the famous hard cheese that is one of the most iconic flavours of Italian cuisine. Gennaro reminisces about his time growing up on the Amalfi Coast, and shares with us his tips for creating unusual yet delicious flavour pairings to compliment Parmigiano Reggiano.
Read MoreFood waste has been steadily increasing over previous decades due to the linear model of consumption, the mechanisation of farming, and globalisation of food supply chains. These individual processes when combined have resulted in a society which views food as an easily replaceable commodity instead of a precious resource. Fortunately, the hyper connectivity of current times - propelled by widespread smartphone ownership - has allowed for innovative software solutions to address these issues.
Read MoreWhen the war in Korea ended in 1953, a playground for Cold War tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States, the 38th parallel across the peninsula marked a division between two of the world’s poorest nations. Although the regions went in opposite directions - the South into American-inspired democratic and economic success and the North engaged in communist juche or self-reliance under a totalitarian leadership - they still share a table.
Read MoreAlexandra shares her experiences of the social and cultural barriers to adopting a vegan diet in the deeply religious, meat-orientated, classically-southern state of Alabama.
Read MoreThe imposing Cattedrale di San Lorenzo, its black and white banded medieval façade cast in a most brilliant light by the July sun, isn’t the most normal of dining locations - but there are few places better to sample the street food most synonymous with Genoa.
Read MoreBe it the cobbled streets of a small provincial European town or the back alleys of Marrakech’s souks, it is many a hungry traveller’s dream to happen upon one of those “hole-in-the-wall” places. If you have been in this situation, then you have felt the thrill of “discovering” a hidden gem - although, let’s not kid ourselves, the locals haven’t known about and eaten here for aeons.
Read MoreLouis takes look back at the career of the late TV chef and culinary personality, and explores how his bombastic broadcasting style paved the way for a new crop of on-screen cooks.
Read MoreIt seems to make such little sense that the gastronomical industry is so male-dominated when there is ample global culinary talent from both men and women alike. So, if the archaic rhetoric that ‘women belong in the kitchen’ still exists, why is the culinary industry so male-dominated?
Read MoreJacob explores the history and philosophy surrounding our relationship with drinking establishments, and the way in which they can help incite revolutionary cultural change.
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