To give you an idea of just how rare this particular Balsamic is, they produce just 50 bottles of it each year.

It’s name is certainly not a simple one, and will not be one that many have happened upon before. The Gift Of Oil has a little bit to say on Il Grande Vecchio as follows :

Don’t imagine it drizzled on a salad, this stuff is enjoyed one drop at a time on the finest of foods – lobster, venison, oysters, caviar, foie gras, Parma ham, parmigiano reggiano or even as an after meal liqueur.

Drop for drop it’s as expensive as the finest malts or brandies and at £149.85 for 50ml, everyday use is for the seriously rich, but to feel it on the tongue is to dance with the devil. Lovingly nurtured by three generations of the Mussini family and presented like a rare exotic perfume, each tiny flask is sealed with wax, and carries a certificate of authenticity.

You can have a chance to sample this for yourself if you are one of the many heading to the BBC Good Food Summer Festival which is at the NEC on the 13th-17th June. We will be there, will you?

This week (Monday 14 May to Sunday 20 May 2007) sees Coeliac Awareness Week banging on our noggins with an aim to help more people understand more about the condition.

from coeliac.co.uk,

Thank you to everyone who helped us raise awareness of coeliac disease this past year. With an estimated 1 in 100 people in the UK suffering from coeliac disease and one recent study showing that as many as seven out of eight unaware that they have the condition, it is clear that urgent action is needed to raise the profile of the disease.

Our members, groups and volunteers worked hard to raise awareness of the condition but there are still ways you can help. You could ask your GP surgery or local pharmacy to display one of our ‘Are you 1 in 100?’ posters; or use this New template letter to MPs to ask them to attend our Parliamentary reception or sign our Early Day Motion.

Look out for our special Awareness Week spread in the forthcoming issue of Crossed Grain magazine.

So be sure to do what you can to get people up to speed with all that surrounds the subject of Coeliac disease. Also, do let us know if you have helped support the awareness or have any direct contact with people who suffer from Coeliac disease.

I am awful. I am. I eat badly, at least I did until recently. Sarah has been helping me expand my pallet with new tastes and flavours, not at any rapid pace, but I do try new things quite often, or a variation on a normal dish. I like it, and I want to try more.

I am by no means a fussy eater in the same way as those seen on the “Farm of fussy eaters” TV series that has people who will only eat spaghetti hoops. I do have one fall however, and that is that I love chicken. Pretty much any dish with chicken in will do me just fine. Curry, breaded, roasted, grilled, chopped, whole, seasoned, the list could go on.

What surprised me recently is that I am far from the only Britain to be like this with my limited selection of recipes that I will cook and eat. [Read more...]