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Crystelle Pereira can’t believe how time has flown in the two years since she competed in the Great British Bake Off. “Since I hit send on that application, it’s literally felt like I have just hit, like, times 10 in speed of life!” she tells me, wide-eyed, on a video call from the home in North London she shares with her parents and one of her two sisters. The 28-year-old – who finished runner-up to Giuseppe Dell’Anno in the 2021 season – was working in a fast-paced finance job when she took part. Landing a book deal shortly after the series aired (seven publishers were vying for her signature), she waited seven months before handing in her notice to pursue a cookery career. “I wouldn’t say I’m a pessimist, but I’m a realist,” the London-born cook says. “It’s very easy to quit your job and think, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m famous, this is great’. But I thought, ‘I don’t want to quit my job blindly and chase my dreams’. I need to think, ‘Is this viable? Can I actually get work?'” How did she decide to finally take the plunge? “It got to a point where I was like, I’m just working two full-time jobs – I’ve got no more annual leave, I’m about to burn out. “And also I need to grab this opportunity with both hands and just do it [otherwise] I think I’ll always regret it.” She hasn’t looked back since: “Honestly, it’s the best decision I’ve made. [Cooking] is literally my full-time job, it’s no longer a side hobby that I rush to do after I finish a long day of work. “It means I’ve got more time to really put into my job, I’m free to go on trips to Italy to look at Parmesan,” (an excursion she’s embarking on soon) “and obviously doing my book took up so much time.” Flavour Kitchen, her debut cookbook, is a colourful ode to Pereira’s Portuguese-Goan heritage (her parents met in Mumbai before moving to the UK). Split into two halves, the savoury section features brunch bites, curries, pasta, noodles, salads and more, all bursting with international flavours, such as Goan chilli chicken fry, kimcheese toasty, and honey and chipotle baked camembert. The sweet half is all about cakes, cookies, pies and other treats with a twist. Bake Off fans will remember the pistachio, orange and cardamom carrot cake Pereira created for her final Signature Challenge. “Goa is in the south of India, and it was colonised by the Portuguese,” Pereira says, which is why Goan food is so different to the rest of Indian cuisine. Vindaloo curry, for example, has its roots in Europe: “The Portuguese had this dish called carne de vinha d’alhos, a pork and wine dish. The Goans took that and swapped Portuguese wine with Goan vinegar and that became vindaloo.” Many of the savoury recipes in Flavour Kitchen feature a liberal splash of the tangy liquid. “Our food is very vinegar-based, which sounds a bit off-putting but it just works because it’s all balanced really well,” Pereira says. “If something’s got lots of vinegar, then it’s offset with something sweet like jaggery, which is an unrefined sugar, or coconut, because coconuts are in abundance in Goa.” Given the choice, the adventurous cook would much rather tuck into fiery fish curry, egg fried rice with Korean gochujang chilli paste or noodles with “about 10 cloves of garlic” than a plate of pretentious haute cuisine. “I will be honest, this is really controversial…” she begins, pausing before admitting: “I’m not that big on French food.” Conceding that Parisian pastries are unbeatable, she continues: “I’m just more into pan-Asian and Mediterranean food – I just think the flavours are a bit more vibrant. “Like you think about South Korea, you think about gochujang; in Greece you think about fresh mint, coriander, lemon, halloumi; Mexico, you’ve got chipotle; go to the Middle East, you’ve got harissa, ras el hanout [spice mix], all these flavours.” The cook credits her mum and dad’s cooking for helping her develop a taste for the exotic, and her late grandad – to whom she dedicates the book – with overseeing her success. “He sadly he passed away before any of this took off, but I genuinely believe in life after death – I genuinely believe he’s been a big part in guiding me through all of this. “I think he just knew l was going to end up in food. Funnily enough he used to call me MasterChef – we used to watch a lot of cooking shows together.” Having amassed 190,000 Instagram followers and cooked live on Good Morning America, The Today Show and ITV’s Lorraine, Pereira is well on her way to celebrity chef status. There have been many a pinch-me moment during her first year as a fully-fledged foodie, none more surreal than when she met King Charles (at that point still a Prince) at a Queen’s Jubilee lunch event last summer. “[Charles and Camilla] turned up and I thought, ‘I’m sure they won’t come over to speak to us,” Pereira recalls. “All of a sudden he’s walked over and said, ‘Oh, do you mind if I sit there? Because there was a seat next to me.” What did the pair talk about? “I think I was just word-vomiting! I said ‘Do you like baked goods?’ and ‘Do you bake?’ “The general consensus was he doesn’t bake, but he does like to eat. He likes cakes, he likes Italian cuisine. And then I was just talking to him about my style of baking and stuff. We had a merry old chat!” As well as finding herself starstruck by royals, Pereira has had to get used to being recognised by fans: “It literally happened the day after the first episode, which was wild. “I was going to work, I was on the train platform – I had a mask on my face, which is even funnier. This girl comes up to me and goes, ‘Oh my gosh, are you Crystelle from Bake Off?” Though she was recently “so embarassed” to be spotted at the end of spin class while “red and sweaty”, being asked for selfies is a small price to pay for being able to live out her dream. “I will never complain,” she says. “Like, no one’s there like throwing things at me! If I bump into anyone on the train or on holiday or whatever everyone is genuinely so lovely, so it’s actually just really nice to be honest.” ‘Flavour Kitchen: Vibrant Recipes with Creative Twists’ by Crystelle Pereira (Kyle Books, £22).

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As if 2023 wasn’t hard enough, Americans are now drinking as much alcohol as they did during the Civil War days. A new report from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) has found that the average American drinks about the same amount of alcohol as people did in 1860. In 2021, Americans consumed 2.51 gallons of ethanol – the alcohol found in wine, beer, and spirits – compared to 2.53 gallons at the brink of the Civil War. That amount, which doesn’t include water or other ingredients found in alcoholic beverages, marks a 60 per cent increase in liquor consumption compared to the mid-1990s. Americans have also changed their taste for alcohol. The amount of beer consumed has dropped nearly 20 per cent since 1995, while wine has steadily become America’s drink of choice. Now, 50 per cent more Americans are drinking wine than they did in the mid-1990s. This isn’t the only time the United States has seen staggering levels of alcohol consumption. In 1934, following the repeal of the Prohibition Act, Americans were drinking one gallon of ethanol per person. At the end of World War II in 1945, Americans reached 2.3 gallons. This, compared to 2.8 gallons in 1980, when alcohol consumption was at its highest. The rise in alcohol consumption may also have to do with a key demographic: women. In March, it was revealed that women in the US are out-drinking men for the first time in history. Dr George Koob, director of the NIAAA, recently told the Washington Examiner that binge drinking among college students are to blame. “In 2021, there has been an uptick, particularly among women. Now it turns out on college campuses women are actually binge drinking more than men, for the first time in history,” he told the conservative media outlet. The Covid-19 pandemic also saw a dramatic shift in alcohol consumption, as most states declared liquor stores were considered “essential businesses”. In 2020, the first year of the pandemic, sales of alcohol increased by 2.9 per cent, the biggest annual increase in more than 50 years, according to the NIAAA. Now, with college campuses back in session and local bars open again, Koob attributed the rising trend of women binge drinking to the “alcohol deprivation effect” – in which people “rebound in drinking” after a period of abstaining from alcohol. “A standard drink is 1.5 ounces of vodka, 12 ounces of beer, or five ounces of wine,” he said. “When you go past a standard drink, you really are getting to the point where alcohol ultimately becomes a toxin. You can easily overdose.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that it’s safe for women to drink no more than one standard alcoholic beverage a day, and no more than two for men. However, binge drinking usually corresponds to five or more drinks on a single occasion for men, while four or more drinks on a single occasion for women. Read More Moderate alcohol consumption may lower stress, reduce heart disease risk, study finds Man dies after eating raw oysters from Missouri seafood stand Hip surgery policies based on weight ‘worsen health inequality’, study warns TikToker cooks rack of ribs in hotel bathroom using only items from his room BBQ salad recipes without a soggy lettuce leaf in sight How to shop for and cook Japanese food at home like a pro

A woman who says she was pronounced dead for three minutes after battling with heatstroke has reflected on the experience, and the “strange anomalies” she has experienced since. When Jade, 36, visited a friend during a summer afternoon in Green Bay, Wisconsin, she didn’t expect for her life to be hanging in the balance only hours later. According to Jade, on the day in question, the temperature reached 89.6F, and with the high humidity, it made it feel “unbearable.” Soon after, she started experiencing frequent bouts of nausea, dizziness, dry mouth and exhaustion, which caused her to collapse on the living room sofa. As Jade was rushed to the hospital, medics pronounced her dead for three minutes and said the culprit was heatstroke. Now, in a bid to raise awareness, she’s shared her story on TikTok, where she’s received more than 191,000 views and over 20,000 likes, and where she said the experience has made her “unafraid” of death. “I had experienced an extreme fear of dying prior to this incident, but when it actually happened, I had zero fear,” the content creator, from Wisconsin, told NeedToKnow.co.uk. “I remember feeling consistently yucky and really gross. I was rundown, lethargic and sick to my stomach, with my mouth bone dry. “I went out to smoke and the moment that I finished and stood up, I knew I was in trouble. My priority immediately became getting back inside and I don’t think I understood at this point that I was dying, but I did understand that I was going down.” Jade recalls stumbling into the apartment and slumping onto the couch, before making a gurgling sound. She said: “Everything must have happened in a matter of moments, but it felt like much longer and this profound feeling of utter sickness hit me like a tonne of bricks. My head felt like it was inflating, yet my entire body as if it was shrinking. I had never known anything like it before. “It made me completely okay with dying because I wanted to sleep forever. Then, everything went black and that was the moment I knew I was about to pass away.” Jade was rushed to St Vincent’s hospital via ambulance, where she was revived via a defibrillator. As she arrived, she fell in and out of consciousness, but imaging tests of her head were carried out, along with blood tests and electrocardiograms, a test to check the heart’s rhythm. Over the next four days, she received injections to prevent blood clots and soon, medics told her she had been pronounced “dead” for three minutes on arrival with heatstroke. In the clip, she reflects on the experience and the “weird” occurrences which have happened to her since. Users flocked to the comments to share their reactions, with many detailing their own similar experiences. “I fainted TWICE that summer,” one person said, while another said: “I was pregnant that summer. The heat was HORRIBLE!!!” “Your story was very interesting. Glad you’re safe,” another person added. “Was it scary? What did you see? I really panic about the thought of death,” someone else asked. Jade was born with Wolff Parkinsons’ White and postural tachycardia syndrome, which both cause abnormalities with increased heart rate. Often, she feels like she’s going to “throw up” her heart and sometimes experiences extreme shakiness as well as fainting spells. Due to this, she finds intense heat triggers these episodes and while her near death experience in July 2011 hasn’t made these worse, she believes they were a contributing factor. “My symptoms are still mild, but I have been getting new ones, such as a low grade fever and muscle weakness,” she said “I’m not sure if these are related to the heatstroke. “I’m still waiting for a final diagnosis, as this has only occurred after my incident, but I will always fight for myself and my life.” Since then, Jade has also suffered with frequent seizures, which she had never had prior to the incident. She said: “At first, I thought it was heatstroke again, but I just passed out and doctors believe it’s because I’m still so exhausted from all the anxiety of almost dying. But, I have been admitted a few times for these and I’ve had tests such as MRIs and more blood work done, as well as seeing a neurologist and I’ve been diagnosed with epilepsy. “Now, I don’t have them so much, but I’ve been in touch with other near death experience survivors who said they had seizures for a while after, but then they suddenly stopped.” Jade has also experienced other “strange anomalies” such as not being able to wear regular watches, as they would stop working once she put them on. She said: “It wasn’t something that happened before and the only watches that are safe are expensive smart watches. I’ve given up on them entirely, but vape pens also shut down even with a full battery. “I’ve also had a lot of spooky things happening, such as hearing voices and seeing things that aren’t there. Sometimes it’s been whispers or dark hazy figures and I began recording my home because I was petrified that I was losing it. I believe this is telling me that life continues after death.” She continued: “I feel like I’m in a special club and it’s made me learn how to take better care of myself, as well as valuing life more. I don’t live in fear of death and I know that when my time comes, any fear will melt away like it did before. “The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that it is absolutely true what they say - the fear itself is always worse than the thing we actually fear.” Read More What is the difference between heat exhaustion and heat stroke? How to keep your pet cool and healthy during a heatwave How to tell if you’re seriously dehydrated, as UK temperatures soar

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