Happened to be passing by IKEA on this Wednesday just passed, and noticed that they've brought out not juts the Xmas ornaments but also the food in the food court. Time to stock up on julmust!
Julmust is an old, classic softdrink that keeps outselling Coca-Cola around Xmas time in Sweden. It's bubbly and brown and you might make the mistake in thinking it'll taste like Coke/Pepsi. It doesn't. (I made that mistake the first time I ever tried Dr. Pepper: "it looks like Coke, so it must taste like it" ...it really didn't.) In fact, it has more to do with beer than with anything else, but it doesn't taste of beer either.
Here's what's in it: Carbonated water, sugar, glucose-fructose syrup, food colouring (E150C), aroma (from hops and barley malt, etc.), acidity regulator: citric acid, spice extracts, preservatives E211.
IKEA sell it in 50 cl (0.5 l, i.e about a pint) bottles every Xmas, although they sometimes run out the closer it gets. Probably a lot to do with ex-pat Swedes who think of IKEA's food court as a good (if very limited) source of things from back home. Things you can't get anywhere else, and that's essential if you're celebrating a Swedish Xmas. Such as julmust. The kind they sell is "Nygårda" from Spendrups. (Personally, it's second best. The best one is made by Apotekarnes, but stay clear of the diet/light versions of any brand... they have no depth of flavour!)
The drink was invented in 1910 as an alcohol free alternative to beer, but it would be fairly pointless to just repeat what it says on Wikipedia, when you can just go straight there and read - so if you want to learn more about it, here's a place to go: Wikipedia: Julmust.
Friday 9 October 2009
Pipers Parsnip Crisps
One of the things we picked up from the food festival was a 40g bag of Pipers Parsnip Crisps of the Biggleswade Sweet Chilli variety. "Made by farmers" the logo says and there's a picture of an old, red tractor on the front. It's freshly sliced parsnips that have been batch fried in sunflower oil with spicing added. All made here in Britain.
We quite like root veg crisps, but they can be a little dull. Not these ones, however! The sweet chilli brings in some good flavours. Not particularly hot, but still nice and warming. Good crunch to them, and we'd recommend them.
Ingredients: Parsnips, Sunflower Oil, Chilli, Paprika, Vinegar Powder (Maltodextrin, Vinegar), Rice Flour, Garlic, Sugar, Salt, Yeast Extract, Maltodextrin, Lemon Juice, Chilli Infused Rapeseed Oil, Natural Colour: Paprika, Oregano.
For more information, see www.piperscrisps.com, a company based in Elsham, north Lincolnshire.
We quite like root veg crisps, but they can be a little dull. Not these ones, however! The sweet chilli brings in some good flavours. Not particularly hot, but still nice and warming. Good crunch to them, and we'd recommend them.
Ingredients: Parsnips, Sunflower Oil, Chilli, Paprika, Vinegar Powder (Maltodextrin, Vinegar), Rice Flour, Garlic, Sugar, Salt, Yeast Extract, Maltodextrin, Lemon Juice, Chilli Infused Rapeseed Oil, Natural Colour: Paprika, Oregano.
For more information, see www.piperscrisps.com, a company based in Elsham, north Lincolnshire.
Sunday 4 October 2009
Annual beer festival this weekend!
October in Nottingham means the annual CAMRA Real Ale festival, or, the Nottingham Robin Hood Beer Festival, as it's also called. Hundreds of beers, ciders, perries, wines and other tipples available, and it all kicks off on Thursday, on the grounds of Nottingham Castle. The essentials are as follows:
Opening times
Thur 8th October: 11.00am to 11.00pm
Fri 9th October: 11.00am to 11.00pm
Sat 10th October: 11.00am to 11.00pm
Sun 11th October: 12noon to 3.00pm
Admission prices
£5 per person (CAMRA members £2.50)
Souvenir glass tankards £2.50
Beer tokens £1.25 per half pint
More information: CAMRA Nottingham Robin Hood Beer Festival official website
Oh, apparently this year, they're also going to have comedy on Friday and Saturday night. Looking forward to that!
Opening times
Thur 8th October: 11.00am to 11.00pm
Fri 9th October: 11.00am to 11.00pm
Sat 10th October: 11.00am to 11.00pm
Sun 11th October: 12noon to 3.00pm
Admission prices
£5 per person (CAMRA members £2.50)
Souvenir glass tankards £2.50
Beer tokens £1.25 per half pint
More information: CAMRA Nottingham Robin Hood Beer Festival official website
Oh, apparently this year, they're also going to have comedy on Friday and Saturday night. Looking forward to that!
Alpine Restaurant (Ashfordby Hill): Review
Alpine Restaurant
The Grange Village
Asfordby Hill
Melton Mowbray
Leicestershire
LE14 3QU
01664 812 802
Website | Email
Visit: October 2009
Summary: Disappointed. Good for a coffee, for food, go visit the farm shop.
Tucked away near a Leicestershire village, the Grange is a collection of little shops, like a garden centre, a gift shop, a sports shop, a gun (!) shop and a farm shop. Attached to it is a restaurant, called the Alpine Restaurant.
We had been there the year before, as we drove from the East Midlands Food Festival - which is exactly what we did this year as well. We had totally forgotten that after last year, we wanted to have lunch at the restaurant, so we shouldn't have bothered having anything proper to eat at the festival... well... we decided to have a coffee and a dessert.
Drinks: Nothing to say about the coffee (actually, it was two mochas, but still... there was coffee involved!), because it was okay, and nice and warm on a chilly day.
Dessert: The dessert we decided on sharing was a rasperry jam crumble pie with custard (£4.50). The custard didn't really have any flavour. The crumble pie was only warm-ish where the warm custard had been poured over it, because the rest was cold. The pastry was quite nice, but the crumble top... it had pools of un-melted caster sugar on top. It really wasn't pleasant.
Service: Felt like it took a bit longer than it should've for what we ordered and how it was delivered (i.e. pie straight from the fridge with what was probably microwaved ready-made custard). Instead of waiting for someone to come by so we could ask for a bill, we went up and paid at the counter instead.
Inside: It's called Alpine for a reason: it's styled in an alpine hut type way: lots and lots of wood. Big, rustic wooden furniture (loooks great!), wooden walls, old, wooden skis on the walls, pictures of alpine resorts and that sort of thing. It looks very cosy and quaint.
Outside: It's quite hidden away, but well signposted. After a bit of a drive through a narrow passage among the trees, it opens up to a gravelled yard with a decent amount of parking spaces. Looks inviting.
The Grange Village: We didn't go to the farm shop this year, but we went last year. Lots of different local food, organic food and such. This is the home of Brockleby's Farm, a producer we like to get lamb meat from at our local farmer's market. That's a post in itself, so won't go into detail here. (Highly recommended, though!) The sports shop has some different clothing options, the gift shop has various gifts and things for the home, and the garden centre didn't seem to have a big indoor selection, but maybe we just didn't look very closely.
All in all, knowing how good the Brockleby's food is, we expected the restaurant food to be just as impressive... and it wasn't. The restaurant does look quite amazing inside, but the chairs aren't that comfortable and they're quite heavy to move. It did seem like you get rather generous portions if you go for a cake slice, and they had plenty of cakes to choose from. The pie wasn't a bad size, it was a pretty standard 2-3 inches wide on the outside, but yeah, we weren't all that impressed with it.
Not sure we'd skip lunch at the food festival next year in order to have proper food at the Alpine Restaurant, because if the dessert is anything to go by, a lunch would leave us wishing we had just bought a Brockleby's pie from the farm shop next door and had it when we got home! There's just no way of knowing, aside from going back next time we're in the area... which is probably in a year's time, when the food festival is next on...
The Grange Village
Asfordby Hill
Melton Mowbray
Leicestershire
LE14 3QU
01664 812 802
Website | Email
Visit: October 2009
Summary: Disappointed. Good for a coffee, for food, go visit the farm shop.
Tucked away near a Leicestershire village, the Grange is a collection of little shops, like a garden centre, a gift shop, a sports shop, a gun (!) shop and a farm shop. Attached to it is a restaurant, called the Alpine Restaurant.
We had been there the year before, as we drove from the East Midlands Food Festival - which is exactly what we did this year as well. We had totally forgotten that after last year, we wanted to have lunch at the restaurant, so we shouldn't have bothered having anything proper to eat at the festival... well... we decided to have a coffee and a dessert.
Drinks: Nothing to say about the coffee (actually, it was two mochas, but still... there was coffee involved!), because it was okay, and nice and warm on a chilly day.
Dessert: The dessert we decided on sharing was a rasperry jam crumble pie with custard (£4.50). The custard didn't really have any flavour. The crumble pie was only warm-ish where the warm custard had been poured over it, because the rest was cold. The pastry was quite nice, but the crumble top... it had pools of un-melted caster sugar on top. It really wasn't pleasant.
Service: Felt like it took a bit longer than it should've for what we ordered and how it was delivered (i.e. pie straight from the fridge with what was probably microwaved ready-made custard). Instead of waiting for someone to come by so we could ask for a bill, we went up and paid at the counter instead.
Inside: It's called Alpine for a reason: it's styled in an alpine hut type way: lots and lots of wood. Big, rustic wooden furniture (loooks great!), wooden walls, old, wooden skis on the walls, pictures of alpine resorts and that sort of thing. It looks very cosy and quaint.
Outside: It's quite hidden away, but well signposted. After a bit of a drive through a narrow passage among the trees, it opens up to a gravelled yard with a decent amount of parking spaces. Looks inviting.
The Grange Village: We didn't go to the farm shop this year, but we went last year. Lots of different local food, organic food and such. This is the home of Brockleby's Farm, a producer we like to get lamb meat from at our local farmer's market. That's a post in itself, so won't go into detail here. (Highly recommended, though!) The sports shop has some different clothing options, the gift shop has various gifts and things for the home, and the garden centre didn't seem to have a big indoor selection, but maybe we just didn't look very closely.
All in all, knowing how good the Brockleby's food is, we expected the restaurant food to be just as impressive... and it wasn't. The restaurant does look quite amazing inside, but the chairs aren't that comfortable and they're quite heavy to move. It did seem like you get rather generous portions if you go for a cake slice, and they had plenty of cakes to choose from. The pie wasn't a bad size, it was a pretty standard 2-3 inches wide on the outside, but yeah, we weren't all that impressed with it.
Not sure we'd skip lunch at the food festival next year in order to have proper food at the Alpine Restaurant, because if the dessert is anything to go by, a lunch would leave us wishing we had just bought a Brockleby's pie from the farm shop next door and had it when we got home! There's just no way of knowing, aside from going back next time we're in the area... which is probably in a year's time, when the food festival is next on...
USA Fried Chicken (Hucknall): Review
USA Fried Chicken
27a High Street
Hucknall
Nottingham
Nottinghamshire
NG15 7AW
0115 963 2877
Visit: October 2009
Summary: Almost, but not quite, completely unlike KFC. Except KFC is a lot nicer.
We were in Hucknall for the day, and decided on some quick and easy takeaway food. We had got some fries from this place before, and thought they were quite nice. Very crispy, and that's the way fries should be. That's why we decided to try some of their other food.
You would've thought it's a fairly straight order to have a mix of two meats with chips. (Didn't want the third type of meat, as the little that was left on the spit... well, it looked like it had been there for ages.) The guy who served us suggested we instead go for the "mixed kebab" as that'd be cheaper (£6) instead of ordering the two kinds of kebab separately (£4.80 each). Very confusing. We didn't say we wanted two separate kebabs. At least it had some flavour, although we have had nicer kebabs from other places.
The chicken and lamb were cooked then and there. The chicken fillets for the burgers were pre-done and in a heater, assembled in a bun with some lettuce and some mayo (£2.80, I believe). Not very impressive to look at - and more importantly, definitely not to eat. The coating didn't seem like it had much flavour, nor did the rest of the chicken.
The fries were crispy, but the flavour didn't really impress. Tasted more greasy this time (or maybe we were just really hungry last time so didn't notice as much), and felt like a let-down. Don't McDonald's or Burger King do better fries, come to think of it?
USA Fried Chicken is conveniently located on the high street in Hucknall, so easy to get to if you're in the center of town, and easily recognised by the sign, which has a chicken on it. The inside's a bit tired and the menu display has pictures that doesn't help with making you decide on what to eat - there are drumsticks and what looks like processed and shaped chicken pieces. It doesn't look particularly appetising. The food wasn't bad, it just didn't really deliver on flavour and texture, and frankly, I'd rather go to a KFC. At least you know what you're getting. Next time we're in town and fancy a takeaway, we'll go somewhere else.
27a High Street
Hucknall
Nottingham
Nottinghamshire
NG15 7AW
0115 963 2877
Visit: October 2009
Summary: Almost, but not quite, completely unlike KFC. Except KFC is a lot nicer.
We were in Hucknall for the day, and decided on some quick and easy takeaway food. We had got some fries from this place before, and thought they were quite nice. Very crispy, and that's the way fries should be. That's why we decided to try some of their other food.
You would've thought it's a fairly straight order to have a mix of two meats with chips. (Didn't want the third type of meat, as the little that was left on the spit... well, it looked like it had been there for ages.) The guy who served us suggested we instead go for the "mixed kebab" as that'd be cheaper (£6) instead of ordering the two kinds of kebab separately (£4.80 each). Very confusing. We didn't say we wanted two separate kebabs. At least it had some flavour, although we have had nicer kebabs from other places.
The chicken and lamb were cooked then and there. The chicken fillets for the burgers were pre-done and in a heater, assembled in a bun with some lettuce and some mayo (£2.80, I believe). Not very impressive to look at - and more importantly, definitely not to eat. The coating didn't seem like it had much flavour, nor did the rest of the chicken.
The fries were crispy, but the flavour didn't really impress. Tasted more greasy this time (or maybe we were just really hungry last time so didn't notice as much), and felt like a let-down. Don't McDonald's or Burger King do better fries, come to think of it?
USA Fried Chicken is conveniently located on the high street in Hucknall, so easy to get to if you're in the center of town, and easily recognised by the sign, which has a chicken on it. The inside's a bit tired and the menu display has pictures that doesn't help with making you decide on what to eat - there are drumsticks and what looks like processed and shaped chicken pieces. It doesn't look particularly appetising. The food wasn't bad, it just didn't really deliver on flavour and texture, and frankly, I'd rather go to a KFC. At least you know what you're getting. Next time we're in town and fancy a takeaway, we'll go somewhere else.
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