Spice up a classic: Eton mess with strawberries and black pepper
Even if the weather lets you down, the flavours of this spiced-up summer treat never will. We bring to you a warming twist on a British classic,” says Sanjay Aggarwal, author of Spice Kitchen. Eton mess with strawberries and black pepper Serves: 6 Ingredients: 500g strawberries, hulled 6 tbsp caster (superfine) sugar 1 tbsp whole black peppercorns Freshly ground black pepper 300ml double cream 6 shop-bought meringue nests Method: 1. Put half the strawberries in a saucepan with four tablespoons of the sugar. Squash them a little and place over a low heat. 2. Add the whole peppercorns and simmer until the strawberries have collapsed (keep an eye on them, as you don’t want the sugar to turn into caramel). Squash completely, pour through a sieve and set aside to cool. 3. Meanwhile, slice the remaining strawberries into quarters and put in a bowl. Cover with the rest of the sugar and a good grinding of black pepper. Toss and set aside. Whip the cream to soft peaks and crumble the meringues. 4. Gently ribbon the strawberry sauce through the cream, then fold through the sliced strawberries and meringue pieces. 5. Serve immediately. Recipe from ‘Spice Kitchen’ by Sanjay Aggarwal (Quadrille, £22).
1970-01-01 08:00
Brazil's Embraer returns to China with deal for freight conversions
By Gabriel Araujo SAO PAULO Brazilian planemaker Embraer is returning to China with a deal to convert passenger
1970-01-01 08:00
Suspected smugglers detained pending trial over migrant shipwreck off Greece
ATHENS (Reuters) -Nine men charged over the worst shipwreck in the Mediterranean Sea this year that killed at least 82
1970-01-01 08:00
Celebrity chef bans vegans from his restaurant after a negative review
A celebrity chef has “banned” vegans from his restaurant after reportedly receiving a negative review from a customer who criticised the lack of plant-based options. On Tuesday, Chef John Mountain revealed on the Facebook page for his restaurant Fyre that the eatery would no longer be catering to vegan diners. According to Mountain, the decision to ban vegans from the Perth, Australia, restaurant was due to “mental health reasons”. “Sadly all vegans are now banned from Fyre (for mental health reasons),” the post on the restaurant’s Facebook reads. “We thank you for your understanding. Xx.” The post also included the caption: “Yep. I’m done.” and the hashtags #vegan, #not, #pleasegoelsewhere, #veganfreezone, and #nomorevegans. The decision allegedly stemmed from a bad review posted by a vegan customer, with Chef Mountain telling PerthNow that a customer had reached out to him to ask if there were any vegan options at the restaurant, and that he’d promised he would accommodate her. “A young girl reached out to me and said she was coming to the restaurant… and asked if there were vegan options,” he said. “It was my only shortfall… I said I would accommodate her, I said we had gnocchi, vegetables… and that was that.” However, according to Mountain, who previously starred on the BBC show Great British Menu, he’d forgotten about the woman’s request when she came to dine on Saturday, as he’d been busy catering a private party. “Saturday came around and sadly I’d forgotten… I had a private party I had to cater for,” he told the outlet, adding that his sous chef had reportedly reprimanded him for “not telling them about the vegan customer”. According to the UK-born chef, the woman wrote a complaint to the restaurant on Facebook the following day, in which she’d criticised the $32 vegetable dish that had been her “only option”. The woman’s message also reportedly read: “I think it’s incredibly important nowadays that restaurants can accommodate everyone and to not be able to have actual plant-based meals shows your shortcomings as a chef. “I hope to see some improvements in your menu as I have lived in Connolly for quite some time and have seen many restaurants come and go from that building and none of them last. If you don’t get with the times, I don’t hold out faith that your restaurant will be the one that does.” The restaurant reportedly addressed the woman’s complaint in a response of its own, in which it noted that it tried to “accommodate everyone” before encouraging the customer to “feel free to share your sh**ty experience”. “Thanks for your negative review… please feel free to share your sh***y experience and I look forward to not seeing you again. How very childish. You and all your vegan mates can all go and enjoy your dishes in another venue, you are now banned,” the restaurant’s response read, according to PerthNow. Although Chef Mountain admitted he’d said he would accommodate the woman and then “didn’t,” she’d made the complaint “personal”. The chef also claimed that, as a result of the woman’s complaint, his restaurant was flooded with negative one-star reviews on Google, which he said “really hurts the business”. “F*** vegans seriously… I’m done. At the end of the day, it’s not what I want to do, they can f*** off,” he added. Mountain reiterated the sentiment while speaking to 7News, with the chef telling the outlet: “F*** vegans, I’m done with them.” Mountain also claimed that customers should “know what they’re getting from me,” as he has previously written a cookbook titled Pig. “I once wrote and sold a book called Pig which had pork recipes. People know what they’re getting from me,” he said. “I understand where vegans are coming from but my job is to make food taste as good as I can and I can’t always cater to everybody’s dietary requirements.” On social media, the chef’s ban on vegans has sparked an intense debate among customers, with some praising Mountain and Fyre, while others have condemned the decision. “Bravo! Good on you mate, great stance. It’s nowhere near where I live but I will definitely come to your restaurant now,” one comment under the Facebook post reads, while another person wrote: “Can’t wait to try this place, just booked a table! Looking forward to a nice piece of rare steak.” The restaurant has also received a flood of positive reviews on its Facebook, where many have praised both the food and the staff, while others have applauded the restaurant’s “principles” and “ethics”. “Outstanding chef. Great rules and ethics,” one review reads, while another recent review states: “Great staff, great food and a chef with principles.” However, the restaurant has also continued to face criticism over Mountain’s “ban” on vegans, with one recent review reading: “You can’t call yourself a chef if you can’t even cook veggies. Owner is very arrogant and can’t take criticism.” “Discriminating and refusing vegans into his venue, all for a complaint for not following an agreed vegan option. How disgusting,” someone else wrote. The restaurant’s alleged ban on vegans comes after a vegan landlord in New York City recently went viral after requesting that only tenants who follow a plant-based diet live in the building. The Independent has contacted Chef Mountain for comment. Read More Vegan landlord seeks tenants for $5,750 New York apartment with period features. Meat eaters need not apply Vegan family asks neighbours to close their windows when cooking meat Former vegan says meat ‘saved her life’ after diet ‘made hair fall out’ Italian waiter refuses to serve woman her cappuccino until she finishes pasta The top 10 most satisfying food sounds have been revealed Chef says ‘don’t get hung up on authenticity – it’s unachievable’
1970-01-01 08:00
German recession will be sharper than expected: Ifo
BERLIN The German economy will contract more than previously expected this year as sticky inflation takes its toll
1970-01-01 08:00
German carmakers accused of not complying with supply chain law for Xinjiang links
BERLIN Germany's top carmakers have been accused by a Berlin-based human rights group of not showing they have
1970-01-01 08:00
Russia says it downed 3 drones outside Moscow, suspects it was attack by Ukraine
Russian authorities say two drones have crashed outside Moscow as they were approaching the warehouses of a local military unit
1970-01-01 08:00
Man Utd takeover: Gary Neville slams Glazers for 'embarrassing' sale process
Manchester United legend Gary Neville has hit out at the Glazer family for delaying the club's sale process, with Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani looking to buy the Red Devils.
1970-01-01 08:00
2023 Global Esports Summit in China: Leading Speakers Kenneth Fok, Xu Haifeng, H.R.H Prince Faisal and Global Leaders Link to Future
SHENZHEN, China--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 21, 2023--
1970-01-01 08:00
Study finds that conservative politicians are ‘happier and more attractive’
Conservative female politicians look happier and more attractive in pictures than liberals, according to artificial intelligence. A study conducted in Denmark and published in Scientific Reports found that those on the right were more likely to have happier facial expressions, whereas liberals looked more neutral. The scientists inputted some 3,200 photos of political candidates who ran in the 2017 Danish municipal election into Microsoft Azure’s Face API tool to assess the person’s emotional state. The analysis found 80 per cent of the faces displayed a happy expression, while 19 per cent read as neutral. “For females (though not males), high attractiveness scores were found among those the model identified as likely to be conservative,” read the findings. “These results are credible given that previous research using human raters has also highlighted a link between attractiveness and conservatism.” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Meanwhile, left-leaning male politicians showed more neutral, less happy faces than their conservative counterparts, the study found. “Attractiveness was not the only correlate of model-predicted ideology,” the scientists explained. “We also found that expressing happiness is associated with conservatism for both genders. “Previous work has found smiling in photographs to be a valid indicator of extraversion,” they continued. “And while extraversion is not broadly associated with ideology some studies have found that right-wing politicians are more extraverted.” Scientists noted that “because attractiveness generally helps electoral success, all candidates are incentivised to provide an attractive photograph.” “Politicians on the left and right may have different incentives for smiling — for example, smiling faces have been found to look more attractive which is comparatively important for conservative politicians,” the paper reads. “Future work is needed to explore the extent to which happy faces are indicative of conservatism outside of samples of politicians." Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.
1970-01-01 08:00
Analysis-China to tread warily on easing as concerns over impact on banks mount
By Kevin Yao and Ziyi Tang BEIJING China's central bank is likely to cut lending rates further in
1970-01-01 08:00
Stock market today: Asian shares mostly lower, tracking Wall Street retreat
Shares are mostly lower in Asia after Wall Street benchmarks retreated following the S&P 500's rise to its highest level since the spring of last year
1970-01-01 08:00
