DESTINATION DELICIOUS - FOOD AND DRINK

Introducing Morocco Gold Olive Oil

15/8/2019

A gorgeous extra virgin olive oil that tastes as good as it looks

The best extra virgin olive oil - Morocco Gold

Olive oil is a staple ingredient in any cook's cupboard thanks to its versatility and its simple yet delicious flavour. From drizzling it over salads or freshly baked bread, to marinating meats, the culinary possibilities are endless.

When it comes to choosing olive oil, there is a dizzying range to choose from, but this one really stands out thanks to its strikingly elegant black and gold packaging and its fabulous taste. We normally hide our olive oil away in the cupboard, but with looks this good, it seems a shame, so I'll be keeping it proudly displayed on the counter top!

The best extra virgin olive oil - Morocco Gold

Morocco Gold is an ultra-premium natural, extra virgin olive oil from Morocco made using Picholine Marocaine olives, which are hand harvested and cold pressed within 24 hours. The flavour profile combines green fruitiness, with hints of almond and herbs and a peppery aftertaste with a clean finish.

To test its versatility, we prepared two recipes using Morocco Gold - salmon with fresh dill, garlic and lemon and chicken thighs with fresh lime and coriander, both of which were superb. If you're looking for a fantastic olive oil that goes with pretty much anything, you can't go wrong with Morocco Gold.

The best extra virgin olive oil - Morocco Gold

Our creations using Morocco Gold ...

The best extra virgin olive oil - Morocco Gold

Morocco Gold is available from Fortnum & Mason (£29.95 for 500ml).

Ashley Miln

Fabulous new summer drinks

15/8/2019

Destination Delicious reviews two fabulous new summer drinks mixers - Caleno and Tipplesworth Passionfruit Martini

We're always looking for mixers and non-alcoholic spirits to help us up our cocktail and mocktail game, so we were thrilled to come across these two fab new products guaranteed to elevate your drinks to the next level.

Caleno
Inspired by South America, this non-alcoholic spirit tastes deceivingly like a G&T when mixed with tonic - but without the hangover. Flavours of juniper, inca berry and and citrus make it highly sippable and pleasingly refreshing - in essence, the perfect poolside drink. Available from Sainsbury's (£24.99 for 70cl).

Tipplesworth
If you're a fan of seriously sweet cocktails, than the Tipplesworth Passionfruit Martini mixer will be right up your street. Simply add vodka and you're set! Alternatively, add soda for a tasty non-alcoholic cocktail that's just as fabulous. Flavours of passion fruit, guava, pineapple and lime, with notes of French vanilla and marshmallow will have you planning your next exotic holiday as you enjoy all of it's sweet goodness. Best of all, it doesn't have any artificial flavourings. Available from Ocado (£6.99 for 500ml).

Cheers!

Ashley Miln

Foodie Father's Day gift guide

2/6/2019

foodie Father's Day gift guide - chocolates

Lily O’Brien’s, the luxury Irish chocolatier, has made spoiling Dad this Father’s Day easy with its selection of decadent chocolates that dads are sure to love. We tried their award-winning Desserts Collection (£9.60 for 30 chocolates), which included a selection of scrumptious chocolates, inspired by the world’s best loved dessert recipes. With flavours such as hazelnut torte, passion fruit posset, banoffee pie (our favourite) and creme brulee (a close second), it's certain to delight any chocolate-loving dad.

BBQ Father's Day gifts

BBQ Hamper Gift Box from Not On The High Street

What dad doesn't love a good BBQ?! This BBQ hamper from Not On The High Street (£40) has all the essentials dad needs to get his grill on.

gin Father's Day gifts

Hayman's Old Tom Gin

There's nothing better on a hot summer's day than a cool G&T. This classic gin is perfect on its own or used as a base for traditional gin cocktails.

Cheese and beer Father's Day gifts

Luxury Beer & Cheese Box (£49.99) from Borough Box

Dads will love this Luxury Beer & Cheese Box, a stunning combination of Champagne Style Farmhouse Beer alongside various organic & charcoal cheeses, rosemary biscuits and seasonal quince or chutney. Delicious.

Ashley Miln

Destination: Parma - The home of Parmigiano Reggiano - The King of Cheeses

4/5/2019

Parma city feature - Destination Delicious visits Parma the home of Parmigiano Reggiano

We recently had the pleasure of visiting the charming city of Parma, long renowned as a city of gastronomy, to see first-hand how Parmigiano Reggiano, one of the world’s most famous artisan cheeses beloved the world over for its distinct taste, is produced.

Parmigiano Reggiano - the best Italian cheese

Parmigiano Reggiano factory

Parmigiano Reggiano cheese wheels

Parmigiano Reggiano has been produced since the 1200s, first appearing in the Benedectine and Cistercian monasteries of Parma and Emilia Romana. Today, this 100% natural cheese is still produced how it was then, using only three ingredients: milk (sourced from 3,000 farms across the region, produced from three different breeds of cows - Red Reggiana, Brown Cow and Modenese White Cow), salt and rennet. Only a small selection of tools are used to process the cheese; a mixer (to mix the 520 litres of milk that go into every wheel), a spino (to break up the cheese into granules), and a wooden paddle (to raise the cheese from the bottom and extract it using muslin cloths).

Parma city feature - Destination Delicious visits Parma the home of Parmigiano Reggiano

The cheese is aged for a minimum of 12 months, which allows it to develop its aromas and complexity. Parmigiano Reggiano is lactose free and packed with calcium, which makes it great for those whom are lactose intolerant but still want to reap the health benefits of dairy.

Parma city feature - Destination Delicious visits Parma the home of Parmigiano Reggiano

The making of Parmigiano Reggiano
Every day the master cheesemaker begins at dawn, when the milk from the morning milking arrives. The milk from the previous evening has been resting in steel tanks, resulting in natural separation, which thickens the milk, which is then skimmed. The milk is then poured into massive copper vats the size of hot tubs, where it slowly coagulates with the addition of rennet and whey. The milk is brought up to 55C to encourage curding and the cheesemaker then breaks up the curds, using a spino. The cheese that forms is wrapped in muslin and is hoisted out of the steel vats by two cheesemakers (given its heavy weight). I could see why all of the cheesemakers we saw during our visit were quite fit given the laborious nature of the job at hand!

After the cheese is removed from the copper vats it is weighed down and put into a mold to give it its characterstic wheel shape. Afterwards, it’s moved to the maturation room where it matures to perfection (if only they had a room like this for husbands!)

Parma city feature - Destination Delicious visits Parma the home of Parmigiano Reggiano

Parma city feature - Destination Delicious visits Parma the home of Parmigiano Reggiano

Parma city feature - Destination Delicious visits Parma the home of Parmigiano Reggiano

the best Italian cheese

Only the best cheese gets the stamp of approval
To ensure the utmost quality of every wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano, there is a protection body, The Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium, which includes all producers who process the milk into cheese. At 12 months, every wheel of cheese is quality tested and only if it passes stringent guidelines, will it be branded with its selection mark.

Parma city feature - Destination Delicious visits Parma the home of Parmigiano Reggiano

Parmigiano Reggiano on EVERYTHING
During our visit to Parma, we feasted at several fabulous restaurants, where we were treated to dinners featuring Parmigiano Reggiano in each and every course. Some of the dishes were quite inventive (Parmigiano Reggiano ice cream, anyone?) and we also enjoyed sampling three maturations of Parmigiano Reggiano paired with a selection of chutneys – a new addition to our cheeseboard next time we’re hosting a dinner party!

Parmigiano Reggiano gourmet dishes

Parma city feature - Destination Delicious visits Parma the home of Parmigiano Reggiano

Parmigiano Reggiano gourmet food

Parma city feature - Destination Delicious visits Parma the home of Parmigiano Reggiano

Our favourite restaurants we dined at over the course of the weekend included: Les Caves, Antica Moca, Croce di Malta and Ristorante Inkiostro. Each restaurant had superb service and delicious traditional Italian cuisine, which combined made for a special experience.

Antica Moca restaurant Parma Italy

A beautiful place setting at Antica Moca

Les Caves restaurant Parma

The lounge area at Les Caves

Ristorante Inkiostro Michelin star restaurant Parma Italy

The wine cellar at Ristorante Inkiostro

After learning about how much love and care goes into producing Parmigiano Reggiano, I have gained a newfound respect for it and for the people who pour their heart and souls into keeping the tradition of years bygone alive, making it taste even sweeter.

www.parmigianoreggiano.com
www.parmacityofgastronomy.it

Ashley Miln
*During my visit I was hosted by the lovely teams at Parmigiano Reggiano, Antica Moca, Ristorante Inkiostro, Les Caves, Croce di Malta, and Grand Hotel de la Ville, Parma. All opinions and photography are my own.

Crosta & Mollica - Look no further for delicious Italian bakery products

24/2/2019

best UK food blog 2019 - Destination Delicious - Crosta & Mollica food product review

Crosta & Mollica, which means 'crust and crumb' in Italian, produces a tasty range of authentic fine Italian baked goods made with simple ingredients. Think traditional piadinas, breads, savoury biscuits and seasonal products such as pannetone and pandoros.

We loved the tarallini (Italian snacks with the texture of a breadstick) and also their piadina (Italian flatbread, which looks and tastes a bit like a tortilla). To get the best flavour out of the piadina, we baked it in the oven for the recommended five minutes, and they came out warm, lovely and flaky. We used ours like tortillas and found they were great for making a wide variety of sandwiches and even as an alternative to tortilla shells for tacos. The verdict - we'll definitely be switching our tortillas out for piadinas moving forward as they're so much tastier!

top UK food blog 2019 - Destination Delicious - Crosta & Mollica food product review

London food bloggers - Destination Delicious - Crosta & Mollica food product review

best UK food blog 2019 - Destination Delicious - Crosta & Mollica food product review

best UK food blog 2019 - Destination Delicious - Crosta & Mollica food product review

Crosta & Mollica products can be found across the UK at variety of stockists including Waitrose, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Whole Foods and Booths.

Ashley Miln

Introducing Doisy & Dam chocolates

21/12/2018

Doisy and Dam vegan chocolate

We love any excuse to try new chocolate, so when the team at Doisy and Dam asked us to give their delicious vegan and gluten-free chocolate range a whirl, we couldn't wait to give them a taste test! The high cocoa content of these single-origin Colombian chocolates ensures intense flavour in each and every bar.

vegan and gluten free chocolate

best vegan chocolate

The chocolates are available in two formats: 'Snaps', which are grab bags filled with snapped off bits of snacking chocolate, or mini chocolate bars. We personally loved the snaps option, but be warned, once you start, it's nearly impossible to stop as they are so tasty!

We love the stylish packaging and the unique dark chocolate flavour combinations: maca, vanilla and cacao nibs; goji and orange; coconut and lucuma; maple, toasted rice and pink salt (our personal favourite). They also have two varieties of milk chocolate: Date & Himalayan Pink Salt Organic and Crunchy Almond Butter Single-Origin. With so many scrumptious flavours and ethical creds to boot, we're hooked.

Grab yours at www.daisyanddam.com.

Ashley Miln

The most fabulous gifts for foodies - Foodie Christmas gift guide

29/11/2018

Everyone has a foodie on their list that loves to indulge in the best food and drink products to be had. With this in mind, we've compiled our Christmas gift guide for foodies. Enjoy!

A CHEESE HAMPER

Destination Delicious Christmas gift guide for foodies - cheese hamper from Paxton & Whitfield

Who doesn't love cheese? Apart from the lactose intolerant, of course! We for one LOVE cheese and we're big fans of London cheesemonger Paxton & Whitfield, which in our opinion, has the best range of gourmet cheeses. Their Glorious Gluten Free Hamper, is perfect for the gluten-free foodie on your list. This fab hamper includes: A fig ball, Cote de Duras red, Cote de Duras white, multi-seed and pepper cracker bakes, apricot, date and sunflower cracker bakes, cheddar pounder, caramalised onion chutney, stilton waxed min and Celtic soft. If this won't impress your foodie friends, we don't know what will.

ORGANIC TEA

Best organic teas - Joe's Tea Co

Everyone loves curling up with a good book and a cup of tea when the temperatures start to plummet and we're no exception. We love the range of innovative, award-winning teas from Joe's Tea Co. Bursting with flavour, they're perfect for warming the cockles on a dreary day and the beautiful packaging makes them a great option for a stocking stuffer or a Christmas hamper gift.

The range includes a variety of playfully named black teas, white teas, green tea, caffeine free tea, classic teas and organic and herbal fruit infusions. Our two favourite caffeine-free teas within the range included: Feisty Turmeric Guru (a fiery ginger flavoured turmeric) and a very trendy tea at the minute for those of you who like to post your tea pics on Instagram, and the Rest-Repeat Rooibos (a rich, smooth full-bodied organic rooibos). Available from Joe's Tea Co. priced from £4.25.

Best truffle oil - Fine Food Specialist black truffle oil

Best award-winning gin - Rock Rose Gin

TRUFFLE OIL
There's nothing more decadent than truffle oil, especially when it's drizzled over your favourite dishes. Given that black truffle oil has a more herby, garlic flavour than white truffle oil, it can e used on a variety of dishes.

We love ours drizzled over a heaping bowl of fresh pasta, as a finishing oil on top of pizzas or even drizzled lightly over scrambled eggs.

With it's cute imagery of a truffle hunting dog, it makes a lovely gift and will look great proudly displayed on the kitchen counter.

Available from Fine Food Specialist for £8.50 (100ml).

GIN
Gin is the perfect Christmas cocktail staple. Whether you're planning on serving a traditional G&T or a more festive concoction such as a Bramble, you can't go wrong with giving a bottle of gin.

We recently disovered Rock Rose Gin, a fabulous award-winning premium Scottish gin made with hand-foraged botanicals.

For those of you who want to go extra Christmasey, Rock Rose Gin has launched a limited edition Winter Edition Rock Rose Gin, with earthy spruce tips as the dominant botanical. Hello Christmas tree gin! Rock Rose Gin (£34.00 for 700ml) and Rock Rose Gin - Winter Edition (£37.50 for 700ml) are available from dunnetbaydistillers.co.uk.

HOT CHOCOLATE
Is there anything more relaxing than sitting by the fire with a mug of hot chocolate in hand? We love this of luxury hot chocolates trio by Cartwright & Butler, which boasts three indulgent flavours including salted caramel, chocolate orange, and milk chocolate.

This gift set and other marvellous foodie gifts are available from the RNLI (the charity that saves lives at sea) at shop.RNLI.org. They currently have a 10% discount on hampers, so now's the time to splurge!

|Highbullen Country Club, North Devon afternoon tea

A FOODIE ESCAPE
For the foodie who deserves an extra special treat, you can't go wrong with a visit to the new Laura Ashley Tea Room at Highbullen, Hotel Golf and Country Club. Located in North Devon, Highbullen Hotel enjoys panoramic views across North Devon’s Exmoor and Mole Valley, an oasis of tranquillity with manicured lawns and meadows that stretch out to the edges of this 128-acre estate. In the heart of this beautiful countryside, Laura Ashley the Tea Room brings together the timelessness of afternoon tea and elegant country living.

The menu offers a traditional Devon cream tea as well as full afternoon teas and Laura Ashley’s own special tea blend – all featuring an array of locally sourced produce, home-made sandwiches and jams, buttermilk scones, cakes and other sweet treats. There is also a savoury afternoon tea for those without a sweet tooth, and finger sandwiches, chocolate treats and candyfloss for children.

Ashley Miln

Introducing the Diforti Christmas hamper - The ultimate hamper for the Italian loving foodie

27/11/2018

Give a taste of la dolce vita this Christmas

The best gifts for foodies - The Diforti Italian Christmas hamper

The best gifts for foodies - The Diforti Italian Christmas hamper

We love all things Italian, so when we discovered this gorgeous savoury hamper from online Italian deli Diforti, we fell in love!

Containing all of the staples you need to create a tasty Italian party platter, the 14" wicker hamper includes a bevvy of beautiful Italian goodies:
1x Carnaroli rice (500g)
1 x gluten free penne rigate (400g)
1 x sweet red peppers stuffed with cheese (215g)
1x Nundja spread jar (190g)
1x Taralli with extra virgin olive oil (200g)
1x tuna loins in oil (200g)
1x truffle oil (250ml)
1x salamino Toscano (125g)
1x jar of Sicilian pesto (180g)

With so many tasty delights , it's certain to be a hit with any foodie on your Christmas list. Better yet, buy it for yourself and you'll be prepared for any unexpected guests that drop by for drinks and nibbles during the Christmas party season!

The small savoury hamper is available from Diforti for £50.00.

The best Christmas hampers - Diforti Italian hamper

Ashley Miln

Introducing Tyne Bank Brewery: A range of innovative new beers lovingly brewed in Newcastle

25/8/2018

UK food and lifestyle blog Destination Delicious discovers Tyne Bank Brewery, a range of new beers brewed in Newcastle

We recently came across Tyne Bank Brewery, a Newcastle-based brewery that produces a range of unique beers including everything from a selection of pale ales to a lager and a milk stout. The brewery brews an impressive 20,000 pints a week, which brewers work 12 hours a day to produce. Visitors have the opportunity to go on a tour of the brewery and enjoy tasting sessions every weekend.

The range
Products include:

Mocha Milk Stout: An award-winning stout made with Brazilian chocolate and Madagascan vanilla pods
Summer Breeze: A pale ale brewed with Asian root ginger and lemongrass
American IPA: A hoppy, American style IPA
Helix: A Czech style lager
Strawberries & Cream: A pale ale with hints of English strawberries
Mango IPA: An Indian pale ale with hints of mango
Silver Dollar: An award-winning pale ale brewed with American Centennial and Amarillo hops
Rhubarb & Custard: A pale ale brewed with Yorkshire rhubarb

Our verdict
If your flavour preference leans towards seriously fruity ciders, then the flavours within this range may be too subtle for your liking, but if you're looking for an interesting new beer that deviates from the usual offerings you can find anywhere, then it's worth giving it a whirl. With the Bank Holiday in full swing, now's the perfect opportunity to try something new.

The details
A selection of beers within the range can be found at Booths supermarkets across the Northwest of England.

www.tynebankbrewery.co.uk

Ashley Miln

Introducing The Sweet Beet - A range of seriously tasty condiments to tantalise your tastebuds

20/8/2018

Top UK food blog: Destination Delicious food product reviews - The Sweet Beet

We're a big fan of condiments as they have the power to liven up a variety of dishes quickly and easily. So, we were excited to hear about the launch of The Sweet Beet, a range of innovative condiments that are certain to jazz up your recipes! Founded by Lizzy Hodcroft, a Texas-raised chef turned restaurant manager and now food entrepreneur, the range takes its inspiration from the bold flavours of Texan cuisine.

The range includes five scrumptious variants including Texas Beer Jelly, Oak Smoaked Apple Butter, Maple Bacon Jam, Strawberry Chipotle BBQ and our personal favourite, Habanero Lime Jelly (a bit like sweet chilli sauce but thicker) and it tastes amazing on baked salmon, fresh tuna tacos or burgers. The clever cats at The Sweet Beet have even developed a Texas Beer Jelly Margarita, which we can't wait to try during the upcoming Bank Holiday weekend!

The Sweet Beet is available www.thesweetbeet.co.uk (RRP £4.50-£4.95).

Ashley Miln