According to the Independent this weekend - everything Putin needs arrives by plane - Russian cooks, Russian waiters, Russian ingredients - and teams of diplomats who negotiate what he will be eating with the host country. He cannot be served milk products but no-one (except him?) knows why. He might be lactose intolerant but could just be terrified of poisoning. He cannot consume any foreigh foodstuffs that haven't been cleared by the Kremlin, and the cooking of any of his (Russian) ingredients by local cooks has to be supervised and approved by his 'Special Services'.
And I thought asking for a large espresso with hot milk on the side was fussy!?
Smart Casual - jacket not required. Smart - no jeans, no trainers, no shorts but ties not necessary. Casually Smart - jeans and trainers acceptable, jacket and standard shirt collar, tie not required. No sneakers... I do not want to be told what to wear when I eat out. Daft dress codes in dining rooms make me mad. A scruffy suit, an un-ironed shirt and a bad tie can look far worse than a smart pair of jeans and sneakers. There are many different pedigrees of jeans and sneakers and who is to tell me if mine are acceptable?
We called in at AquaShard last week - you don't need to book to get into to the bar on the 31st floor! We made it through the welcome party on the door to the fast and direct lift up to the bar. 'Sorry, I can't let you in' said the Maitre D' at the door. 'You are wearing sneakers'.
'Young man', I said in my best Suffolk dialect, 'there are people inside wearing sneakers'.
'They booked a table' replied the Maitre D'. 'If you had booked, we wouldn't turn you away, but as you have not booked, I cannot let you in wearing sneakers'.
We thought for a minute, then went up one more floor, in our sneakers, to Oblix, the bookings-only restaurant. We told them we had diamonds on the soles of our shoes. They let us in.
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If you want to go all "molecular" with your cookery then look at infusions4chefs, based in Rougham, Suffolk for your ingredients. I bought a Sosa Candy Floss aroma to use in a food trends workshop that I was running. Now my car smells like a sweet shop.
Fancy a drop of camel milk in your coffee? Well head down to Taylor Street Barista's at 125 Old Broad Street, London this week and 28 Queens Street, Brighton next week and you will find the United Arab Emirates produced camel milk "Camelicious" on the menu.
We are not ones for advocating produce that has travelled half way around the world, but this is in aid of Farm Africa, with customers encouraged to give a £1 donation for each coffee purchased.
Camel milk is very popular in the Middle East and North Africa and has five times the Vitamin C and half the fat content of cows milk. New rural enterprise anyone?
... all the things those Google billionaires could sponsor and they choose a stem-cell burger.
Do we like this idea? Are things moving in foodie-world or am I just distracted by that really fit waiter with no shirt on...?
Are you sad and alone? Because iphone5 owners only take photos of their food...
The fifty best food websites - according to the Independent
Written by ClaireThis Saturdays media contribution to foodie enlightenment - featuring Pump Street bakery, and rather too many blogs from the US we think. But we do quite like A Girl Called Jack who has the cheapest tastiest recipes imagineable, proving that as long as you know how to cook, being on a low income doesn't mean you have to go to Iceland for everything.
...look for foodie pictures on the internet.
More...
The Guild of Food Writers are calling for entries to their annual cooking competition for 10 - 16 year old children. Some great prizes are on offer to the winner who comes up with a two course menu which will impress the judges. The deadline for entries is April 19th. Follow the link
Shake up your wake up because this week is Farmhouse Breakfast week. This morning I made buckwheat pancakes filled with delicious locally cured bacon and a poached free range egg. It also happens to be gluten free!
Jim Messina was Obama's campaign manager in 2008 and says in a recent article in the Independent..."I miss how bad a campaign office smells at midnight." He once ate twenty-seven consecutive meals at McDonald's.
Little Dish is a £10 million a year business that makes children's ready meals for the big supermarkets. The range includes spaghetti with meatballs, cottage pie, fish pie, risotto... Like some of us - it's founder Hilary Graves had the inspiration for her business when she was pregnant. 'I realised no-one was making fresh healthy food for toddlers and young children' she says.
Well Hilary, we were - we were just giving them some of our dinner.