Marbling in Wagyu ~ It’s what all the “cool people” are talking about

One taste and you will understand why wagyu beef is considered a delicacy. The meat produced from the black Tajima-ushi breed of  Japanese Wagyu cattle is unlike any other beef on the planet. It  behaves differently than any other beef  thanks to  its highly prized extensive inter-muscular fat or  ”marbling” as the culinary cool call it and the low heat required  at which this  fat will reach melting point . It’s these qualities  that give Wagyu meat its unique rich quality and succulent melt in the mouth texture.

This huge amount of fat is also the reason why when cooking a good slab of Wagyu steak it needs to be handled differently to a normal cut of beef. The fat that is found in a good cut of Wagyu may seem excessive to those who are concerned about eating a healthy well balanced diet, but in actual fact, Wagyu meat is high in unsaturated fats which means it  produces less energy or has fewer calories than other types of fat that you may find in the  other beef products like   butter and cream.  It is the chemical composition of  unsaturated fat  which is the reason why it melts at lower temperatures compared with saturated fats which are more solid at ambient temperatures and less prone to rancidity and have better keeping qualities, hence why food manufacturers love using high levels of them in processed foods.

Photo by Clkao

Wagyu meat is graded on a scale determined by the amount of inter- muscular fat it contains, the quality and color of the fat , the color of the meat and the meats texture. The higher the number, the better the quality. When choosing your slice of heaven, make sure to get advice from your butcher and do your homework, as the cost per kilo can be out of  reach of everyday dinners.

Below you will  find a recipe for a large  sirloin cut of Wagyu. The piece should weigh in excess of 700g and of the highest grade that your bank manager will allow. If you don’t own an induction cook top, you might want to try cooking in two pans, one inside the other to act as a heat diffuser and at the same time  have the flame or element set on the absolute lowest possible heat setting.

Bridget and Tetsuya on set with Wagyu

You can of course cook Wagyu by slicing into small pieces and frying gently as pictured to the right, or by cutting into paper thin slices and serving it Shabu Shabu style, but if your fortunate to have the opportunity to get your hands on the best, the method described below is worth re-mortgaging your house for. Enjoy!

The Ultimate Wagyu Beef Cooking Guidelines

Ingredients

1 slab of Wagyu Sirloin steak  700g-1kg in weight.

1 Tbsp of grapeseed oil

Sea salt flakes

Freshly ground black pepper

Fresh wasabi and soy sauce to serve

Method

• Before you start to prepare your wagyu, ensure that it has been stored in the coldest part of the refrigerator, covered completely in cling film. The meat needs to cooked straight from the fridge, as cold as possible to ensure the fat  renders gently.
• Carefully trim the external fat from around the outside of the Sirlion ~if this hasn’t already been done for you by your butcher. Keep the fat and render at a later stage by chopping into small chunks or mincing and placing into a small pot on induction setting 2 and leaving to gentle melt to a liquid. Drain through a fine seive and  store in the fridge to use in pastry cases, pie crusts, for frying and basting.
• Wrap the meat in cling film and put it back in to the fridge to chill again for at least one hour.
• Prepare the steak for frying by gently and carefully patting the steak dry with paper towles before covering every single inch of the larger cut sides of the steak with  ground natural sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper. Using a small knife, flatten the spices and gentle push into the flesh.
• Heat a large non stick heavy bottomed frying pan on induction setting 8 with 1 Tbsp of grapeseed oil until a light haze comes off the pan. Reduce the setting down to 7 and place the beef into the pan and cook on one side for 90 seconds to create a delicious crust on the outside. Flip the steak carefully and repeat. You want the outside of the steak to a be a beautiful caramelized brown, and it may require additional time if you are not using an induction cooktop.
• Set the induction cooktop onto heat setting 1, place a lid on the fry pan and allow the steak to ever so gentle cook for 45 minutes to an hour. There is no need to turn the heat up on the cook top as the heat captured in the pan with the lid on will create a very gentle yet very complete heat that is evenly distributed and warm enough to cook the steak through without shocking it so it looses all its fat.
• Once the cooking time is up, remove the steak from the pan and slice into mouth sized chunks. Serve  with fresh wasabi on top of each slice and a light soy sauce drizzled over top.
• Serves 4

How do you cook and serve your wagyu?

8 Under Handed Ways McDonald’s Markets to your Kids.

Photo credit : The Craze of our lives Blog!

The last time I checked, I wasn’t living in a bubble. My family and I  live in a leafy inner suburb of a large sprawling metropolis. We own a flat screen  TV, a little  car which we’ve affectionately  named ‘Brutus’  and all manner of technology to keep us connected to the world around us. Our children attend the local school and we are a part of the wider community at large. So what chance do we have of surviving the McDonald’s predatory marketing onslaught?!

From Cradle to grave are the marketing techniques/strategies that McDonald’s employs to get you in and get you hooked to the food and that overall” McDonald’s experience”. “Would you like fries with that?”  has become the catch cry of a generation.  Once you start looking, you begin to realize that McDonald’s marketing is  everywhere, that Jolly Happy Clown is peddling his dirty hamburgers in some equally dirty and underhanded ways meant to bypass parents (or ‘the gatekeepers’ as McDonald execs refers to parents) and market directly to your children, and you may not even be aware that it’s happening.

Such as been the success of McDonald’s  marketing and  advertising, parents’ resistance to the McDonald’s product is dulled by the  clever and clandestine tactics employed by this Food System Industrialist. Here are 8 Under handed Ways that McDonald’s markets  to YOUR kids!

NOTE: Before you start to read these Top 8 Sneaky marketing strategies of the sixth largest brand in the world I would like you to keep one thought in mind. McDonald’s Aim is to sell your kids more Hamburgers, Fries and Soda! 99% of what they do is commercial ~ they are in the business to sell more  Hamburgers, Fries and Soda! That’s it. They disguise their primary objective behind charities and  social responsibilty which in fact is only done to Sell More Hamburgers, Fries and Soda.

At School

McDonald’s spends 40 % of its multi billion dollar marketing budget* on marketing directly to kids and what better way to indoctrinate them than at school. As school is a place of learning and holds a high level of trust with kids, the presence of McDonald’s helps to boost its brand perception through positive brand association by leveraging their appeal within the education system.

‘MC Spellit’ competitions, ‘Ronald McDonald roadshows’ to tackle bullying and even ‘McTeacher evenings’ at the local McDonald’s to raise money for the school. McDonald’s has identified the grossly underfunded education system as an easy way to market its so called Social responsibility. But please remember McDonald’s is in the business to sell your kids more Hamburgers, Fries and Soda!

Hospitals

The hypocrisy is astounding. McDonald’s has managed to work its way into the Hospital system. The place where you go to get better when you’re sick is housing a “family” restaurant whose Main aim is to sell your kids more Hamburgers, Fries and Sodas! McDonald’s food is responsible for high levels of food related illnesses like heart disease, type 2 diabetes  and obesity levels within children that are 4 times higher than that of 30 years ago*.

Hospitals all around the world, including Pediatric hospitals have McDonald’s in their lobbies and food courts, and some have McDonald’s as the ONLY food option!

The above picture even made it on the wildly popular FAIL BLOG! Go the FAILS!!!!!!!!

On the Sports Field

McDonald’s has done a “wonderful” job at tying in some of the most well known sporting personalities around the world. NBA superstar LeBron James has signed a multi-year sponsorship deal with McDonald’s. What message is that sending kids? Eat McDonald’s and you too can become a basketball superstar? NOT likely! McDonald’s also sponsors other top athletes like Serena Williams and Michael Phelps who only help to give the perception that a diet high in Fat and sugar  like the type McDonald’s sells is conducive to maintaining high levels of athletic excellence. More myth than reality one would suspect. And don’t forget that McDonald’s sponsors the largest sporting event on the planet ~ The Olympics.

Once again, McDonald’s are targeting kids through their sporting heroes and using positive brand associations to improve their perception of being a good choice, because if the best player in the NBA is in  a McDonald’s commercial that means that McDonald’s is the best for me!

Even the Clown is in on the act with Ronald being officially marketed as McDonald’s ” ambassador for a balanced, active lifestyle” *. This wouldn’t be so hard to comprehend  if McDonald’s main aim wasn’t to sell your kids more Hamburgers, Fries and Sodas!

Happy Meals and Happy Playgrounds Equals Happy Kids?

The invention of the happy meal and playgrounds  helped to secure McDonald’s as THE family restaurant and target the little ones they were intending to capture. As children are guided by what’s  fun and exciting rather than nutritional value and health, the Happy Meal and colorful playgrounds holds every child’s fascination. Something greasy, something sweet, a new toy to unwrap and a playground to let loose on.

McDonald’s were able to lure kids and their Mums and Dads at alarming rates as kids got hooked into the “McDonald’s experience”  and parents were able to relax and have a little breathing space over their ’McCappuccino’. Have your own McDonald’s birthday party and sit in your very own themed McDonald’s high chair. From their first birthday, they are being seduced back in time and time again by collector toys, undercover playgrounds and food that has had the largest and most negative impact on the industrial food system and how we eat today.

Billions of dollars are spent every year to ensure that your kids eat more Hamburgers, Fries and Sodas!*

McEducation

If McDonald’s can’t make it into your child’s classroom, how about the classroom makes it to McDonald’s? About 5 years ago McDonald’s started offering nutritional classes or school field trips for kids to come to a McDonald’s restaurant and learn about nutritional health. All the while they are learning about nutritional health they are doing so in one of the  establishments that is partly responsible for the current childhood obesity epidemic.

On one hand they are learning about the nutrition of vegetables and then they get to make their own McDonald’s hamburger. Now which part of this so called educational trip do you think the child is going to remember? What vitamin can you find  in a carrot or which comes first, the all beef patties, then the special sauce… oh that’s right and then the lettuce and the cheese and pickled onions on a sesame seed bun.

There is NOTHING educational in this field trip as McDonald’s Aim is to sell your child more Hamburgers, Fries and Sodas.

Map of McDonalds Restaurants in the United States by weathersealed.com

Location Location Location

Don’t think for a second that the location of a McDonald’s restaurant is coincidental. McDonalds goes where the kids go. Shopping malls, main streets, entertainment complexes and of course their main location beaker. Schools.

As Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonald’s so adequately put it “ Back in the days when we first got a company airplane, we used to spot good locations for McDonald’s stores by flying over a community and looking for schools. Now we use a helicopter, and its ideal”*

In one American city, a recent study showed that 90% of McDonald’s restaurants were within walking distance of a school*. McDonald’s is the billboard that kids walk past or drive past every day as they make there way to school. A magnificently placed billboard that only acts to encourage your kids to eat more hamburgers, Fries and Soda!

Charitable Trusts

Probably the most disturbing of them all is McDonald charitable trusts and social responsibility programs. All the great work that is done within places like Ronald McDonald House is done by McDonald’s with one primary focus in mind. Yup you guessed it, to sell your kids more hamburgers, fries and soda.

As former CEO Fred Turner explained McDonald’s involvement in charitable activities ” We got into for very selfish reasons. It was probably 99 percent commercial. It was an inexpensive and imaginative way of getting your name before the public and building a reputation to offset the image of selling 15 cent hamburgers”*

If McDonald’s are so committed to these charitable trusts, why not give anonymously without the need for names like Ronald McDonald house or McHappy Day? Please note how the McDonald’s name and logo is ALWAYS prominent in any charitable advertising ~ please see the disturbing image above!

Building Brand Loyalty

McDonald’s knows how important it is  to create customers for life and they throw the ‘big bucks’ at advertising and marketing to ensure this happens. This wouldn’t be so terrible if the products they were selling were beneficial to the consumer, but when there main aim is to sell your kids their core products which is Hamburgers, Fries and Soda, terrible doesn’t even begin to describe the long term effects and impact that this is having on your child’s health.

It’s never to early to get them started in the McDonald’s craze either, with products targeting under ones and there besotted parents. Once the child can eat solids its Happy meals and playgrounds. As that child  becomes a teenager and first job is looming they could become fry cooks and work the drive in before heading off to McDonald’s very own Hamburger University where they can get a McDegree. I’m not kidding about any of this by the way.

With so many positive associations for the child and young adult when they become parents, where do you think it will be that they take their little angel? The evolution of our species seems to be the ability to hop in our cars and drive our kids to McDonald’s.  Its been conditioned into us since birth.

There are many methods that McDonald’s utilize to market their products. What are your thoughts on McDonald’s and their marketing strategies? Can you name any others or is it just a storm in a soda cup?

*Read more at retireronald.org

Want to do something about it? Join Corporate accountability International

The Healthy Snack

From the depths of one small metal box covered with slender calved pink fairies and wistful looking princesses, I endeavour to supply my culinarily adventurous 7  year old daughter Coco with an  appetizing array of healthy snack lunch offerings for her to take to school each day.

I have discovered that the more ambitious  we become with the daily delights, the more disappointed we end up  by whats available on our supermarket shelves.

A trip to my local supermarket, recycled canvas bag in hand, had me tripping and fumbling my way through a product list on the back of a granola bar that contained no less than 39 separate ingredients.  I thought I was buying a cereal bar not a tub of polyunsaturated  cholesterol free omega enriched low salt margarine.  Healthy snack? I think not.

As I’m not one that normally sports a scientist in my handbag when I go to the grocery store whom is able to tell me what raising agents 170  and food acid 296 are doing shacked up together in my cereal bar alongside a mountain of sugar and a truck load of fat (breathe breathe), I decided that what’s best for me and little Miss Coco is a matter of refining and simplifying the snack  process.

So in times of great inspirational need, I find myself chatting with fellow foodie friends on twitter like @dragonskitchen and @figandcherry and visiting my favourite Internet food blogs to help me collect a beautiful selection of healthy snack recipes that I can now share with you in all there wholegrain glory.

I have avoided recipes that are high in fat, sugar and anything artificial or plastic sounding, as well as trying to keep it interesting and palate exciting for who is now a mighty pleased wee scholar.

Microwave potato chips by Nooschi

Baked masala vadai- Chef In You

Baked chicken buns- Cafe Nilson

Fruited muffins- Dishing Up Delights

Bento box ideas- Soy and Pepper

Watermelon pops by The Hungry Housewife

Apples and nutella by Taste Duds

4 ingredients Granola bars- Kiss My Spatula

Peanut butter honey bars- Active Life Cooking

Nut free granola bars by Vegan Visitor

Potato chips- The Good Mood Food Blog

Healthy chocolate cake by Healthy Indulgences

Corn and black pepper crackers- NYtimes

Monkey bars by Healthy Tasty Chow

Popcorn snack mix- Latest Addictions

Oatmeal Almond Cookies- ZOMTbakes

Roasted Pepitas-The Brassica Diaries

Smoothie roll up by Veggie Wedgie

Banana choc granola bars- Bitchincamero

Roasted Chickpeas by The Sweetest Kitchen

Golden beet chips by Foodista

Multigrain energy bars- Wholegrain Gourmet

Superfood your popcorn by Veggie Wedgie

Garlic Edamame by The Cooking of Joy

Cinnamon spiced dates by Veggie Wedgie

Smoky cashew nuts by Dana Treat

Oat Fig Bars from Artsy Foodie

Granola Bars by The Sugarshop

Apple chips by Food Lovers Journal

Homemade snack bars by Food 4 Tots

If you love our posts, please Nominate Bridget Davis for a social media award in the Shorty Awards

Within this episode of The 10min foodie, not only will you learn how to cook a succulent piece of ocean trout, you will also learn how to do it all in under 10 minutes. What could be simpler and what better way to eat yourself to better health.

Fabulous fish facts: via Bridget_cooks on twitter

• People who regularly eat fish have a lower incidence of depression. Depression can be linked to low levels of omega 3 in the brain.
• Fish averages less than 2% fat, is low in kilojoules, with fewer kilojoules than even the leanest meat or chicken.
• Omega 3 fatty acids found in fish helps reduce the risk of, breast, ovary and prostate cancers.
• Eating fish at least once a week helps with prenatal and postnatal neurological development.
• The omega 3 fatty acids in fish may reduce the risk of many types of cancers by 30 to 50 per cent.
• Elderly people who eat fish or seafood at least once a week may have a lower risk of developing dementia.
• Children who eat fish may be less likely to develop asthma.
• Eating fish every week reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke by reducing blood clots and inflammation.
• Fish rich in omega 3 fatty acids can contribute to the health of brain tissue and the retina.
• People who eat fish once per week are less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease than those who never eat fish.
• Fish is a good low calorie, high protein choice to assist in weight loss.
• Fish is good choice for people with diabetes. The high protein supply aids in the regulation of blood sugar.
• Fish is good source of Vitamins helping to maintain healthy nerve tissues,strong bones,  teeth and a glowing complexion.

• Simple  fresh green salad of spicy rocket and mizuna leaves with a citrus vinaigrette
• Cooked red and orange beetroot salad with slivers of ruby grapefruit and fresh mint
• Classic oven baked crispy potato wedges with homemade tartare sauce and fresh lemon wedges
• Steamed mussels with chilli and lemongrass in a butter broth
• Soba noodles with fresh wasabi, sliced shallots, ginger and sesame oil

photo by Latente 囧 Il Bipensiero al Governo

When the World Health Organisation- WHO releases a global warning about a possible pandemic, currently swine influenza A (H1N1) or the swine flu public reaction tends to  take one of the following forms.

You have your pragmatist or ‘well stocked pantry personality’  who is boy scout ready for any possible outbreak including stock piling face masks, bottles of drinking water and long-life batteries.

I am exceptionally  fortunate that my man-about-the-house @iconic88 is one such boy scout and I adore him even more than normal during these times of uncertainty.

Another type of personality that you’re bound to come across is one that I like to refer to  as your ‘peanut butter personality’.  This person is the spreader. They talk about whatever’s hot, trending and topical and lay it on thick, ensuring the news of the day is out there and as much people as possible are in the “know”.

You may find yourself in close proximity of the joker- the ‘Turkey shaped tofu at thanksgiving personality’.  Someone who finds that lighter and funnier side of everything. Let me introduce you to @lyndons , whose recent post regarding the #swineflu on twitter asked the question “Will everyone less than 6 degrees from “Kevin Bacon” check with their doctor?” Say no more…

How about the ” Rose teacups in the china cabinet personality” the person who you rarely see, doesn’t bother with this or that and only comes out on special occasions. “What pandemic?” You might hear them say.

I’d like to introduce you to a new personality that came about from  my twitter discussions with online friends since the swine flu scare was announced.  The “Food Evangelist Personality” – Everything can be healed, fought, stopped and prevented if you know how to eat right!

Preventative and immune boosting eating during a possible pandemic is the tamiflu for the foodie! Not to be replaced, but definitely to be included!

photo by paulS

1. Red Chilli Peppers

Chilli is a great immune booster and first line of defence against invading pathogens. Eating foods rich in chilli is a great kick start to your immune system as well as your taste buds.

One of my favourite foods to prepare that is high in chilli yet well balanced is the most famous of Thai dishes  ‘Tom Yum Goong’ or Hot and Sour Soup with prawns.

photo by Bridget

2. Citrus Fruit

Now is the time to make sure that we get our daily intake of Vitamin C which is the wonder vitamin of the immune system and can be found in abundance in the citrus family.

It’s simple and easy to grab a glass of  ‘OJ’  before you run out the door, but if you want to spruce it up a bit, I suggest you try one of these amazing Immune boosting smoothies.

photo by modomatic

3. Garlic

Garlic is well known as a cold fighter and immune booster and should be added with reckless abandon to everything you plan on cooking! And to take it one step further and immerse yourself in everything garlic,  you could try this little garlic soup recipe which will knock your socks off!

photo by house of sims

4. Better Beta Carotene

Foods high in beta carotene are the immune system enhancers. The natural infection fighting cells that help and protect your body from invaders. Dose yourself up on sweet potatoes, carrots, spinach, mangoes, papaya and squash to name just a few of these yummy protectors.

Here’s a marvellous recipe for sweet potato shoestring fries that are marinated in orange juice! 2 immune boosters in 1 dish!

photo by jlastras

5. Fish Friendly Omega3

Omega 3 fats that you find in fish such as Salmon, Mackerel and Tuna are essential in the maintenance of the immune system as they increase the activity of  white blood cells that are responsible for eating up bacteria.

And what a great and tasty way to maintain! One of my favourite ways to eat salmon is freshly smoked salmon  and here’s recipe by the clever team at Saveur magazine that teach you how to smoke salmon in a wok!

photo by sporkist

Strictly speaking, I became a  masala chai drinker for the most obvious reason… it just tastes really good!

But after a quick look  into the health benefits of drinking chai I was so impressed by the  storehouse of goodness , I just had to blog about it and sing its praises . So do yourself a favour, and sup on a cup of masala chai today!!!

Top 10 Reasons to drink chai…

1. The black tea found in masala chai is high in antioxidants which can help to build and strengthen the immune system and fight off disease.

2. Research has discovered that the black tea in masala chai is one of the most practical cancer preventative foods.

3. Drinking masala chai is good for the heart! The teas  ingredients have been found to thin the blood, relax blood vessels and even lower cholesterol.

4. Cardamom, which is part of the spice mix in masala chai can help treat depression AND  is an excellent breath freshener- So instead of reaching for a tic tac, sip on a cup of chai.

5. Masala chai is rich in cinnamon and cinnamon is a wonder spice that helps to stimulate other spices in your body to work. It also  aids in the digestion of milk, fruit and other dairy products.

6. Feeling a little flat? The cloves in  masala chai are said to invigorate the body and help relieve the symptoms of colds and flu’s.

7. Chai is a great drink for pregnant women! If your suffering from morning sickness, masala chai can help to relieve the symptoms of nausea.

8.  Some of the ingredients found in  masala chai are natural antiinflammatories.

9. Chai is great for maintaining a healthy digestive system. If your having digestive problems, masala chai works to relieve the symptoms but it also works on preventing them as well!

10. Drink Chai because it tastes good!!! Masala chai has a fabulous multi layered flavour that warms you as well as satisfies the taste buds. The spices are subtle to start and rather pronounced as they finish, leaving you with a great creamy mouth feel. This , I have to say is my TOP reason for drinking Chai!!

Recipe Link—> The Art of Chai… Bridget’s Ultimate Masala Chai Recipe.

photo by Lisa Brewster

15 Powerful reasons to eat chocolate

t’ will make old women young and fresh
Create new motions of the flesh
And cause them to long for you-know-what
When they but taste CHOC-O-LATE

William Wordsworth (1770-1850)  British poet

Early Central American cultures worshipped and revered it, European ladies supped it during mass and the french aristocracy surmised in its amorous potentials. Chocolate or cacao has been in culinary and therapeutic use as far back as 1500BC were the Mayans used the seeds from Theobroma Cacao as currency.

In those days 3 cacao seeds could buy you an egg or splash out a tad and 12 seeds could buy you the attentions of the village strumpet.

Fortunately for us, Christopher Columbus was the adventurous type and in 1502 commandeered a canoe laden with the now infamous seeds and brought them back to the new world for all to surrender to its chocolate grandeur.

So at the risk of sounding superfluous to some certified granivorous  choc-o-holics, I set out to discover  whether we required any more reasons to eat chocolate other than it tastes delicious and came up with a few advantages that indeed make it  vital for us to partake daily!

Not only will you be doing your heart a favor by nibbling on a square of dark rich heaven but it also helps to increase levels of “good cholesterol”, enhances brain function by improving blood flow to the brain and researchers have shown that eating dark chocolate can fight skin cancer.

Ultimately chocolate appears to be extremely beneficial to our skin with recent studies showing that dining on chocolate can improve skin quality and reduce wrinkles and even increase the skins natural SPF quality making it less vulnerable to sunburn. And speaking of skin, what of the supposed old wives tale that chocolate gives you pimples? I can joyfully proclaim that chocolate neither causes nor aggravates acne.

So far eating chocolate seems to be ticking all the boxes and couldn’t possibly go any higher on my daily things to do list but as Jack Ripely so coined the phrase “believe it or not” I challenge you to believe it, the food of the gods just keeps on getting better.

Certain times of the month can be tougher on the fairer sex with hormones raging and tempers flaring, chocolate helps to improve PMT symptoms.

Feeling a bit low and unhappy? Chocolate contains serotonin which is an anti-deppresant and is cheaper than seeing a therapists.

Need a bit of help with bedroom gymnastics? Chocolate contains the natural chemical compound phenylethylamine that produces similar feelings to falling in love, increases libido and caffeine  is also found in chocolate which will help to keep the energy levels going…and going.

“Who needs love, I’d rather eat Chocolate” as stated by one true chocolate aficionado, none other than Mr. Willy Wonka-

What of the health benefits? , Its delicious and that’s all that most people need to know. But surely some  of you may be thinking it’s fattening and full of sugar. This leads us in to the type of chocolate that is being consumed as well as the quantity.

Choose a good quality dark chocolate- “as dark as the devils bum..” so said the Marquis De Sade from his prison confines as he ordered his daily rations of dark chocolate and sexual aides.

The darker the better as  this type of chocolate contains higher levels of antioxidants and flavonoids and is a natural appetite suppressant and contains chemicals that block the cravings for sweets.

Anyway, I’ve heard that if calories are an issue, store your chocolate on top of the fridge as calories are afraid of heights.

In all seriousness, everything in moderation is the key to a successful and happy life and chocolate is no exception.

It melts in the mouth thanks to its tempering quality of melting at blood temperature or 37 degrees Celsius which just adds to its mystic qualities.

So I leave you with this magical recipe that hails from two kitchen wizards in the form of Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers from The River Cafe in London. Chocolate at its best.

Chocolate Nemesis Cake

Serves 10-12

675 gms bitter-sweet chocolate 70% broken into small pieces
10 organic eggs
575 gms caster sugar
450 gms unsalted butter, softened

Preheat the oven to 160 C/325 F and line a cake tin with greaseproof and then grease and flour it.

With an electric cake mixer,beat the eggs with a third of the sugar until the volume increases by four. This should take about 10 minutes.

Heat the remaining sugar with 250mls of water until the sugar dissolves to a syrup.

Stir the chocolate and butter into the hot syrup and then remove form the heat and allow to cool slightly.

Add the warm syrup to the eggs and mix gently for 20 seconds, no more. Pour into the cake tin and place in a bain marie.
It is essential that the water level in the bain marie comes up to the top of the cake tin so that the cake cooks evenly.

Bake for 50 minutes or until set. Test by placing the flat of your hand gently on the surface.

Leave to cool in the tin before turning out.