Archive for the ‘Cooking’ Category

We’ve just started receiving fruit and vegetable deliveries from a local branch of Riverford Organic after seeing them at the village fete. Much of the produce is grown locally and the selection changes each week so delivery day is quite exciting (is that sad?!).  It’s also great for the kids to see carrots and potatoes with mud on! But my favourite part of it is the lack of packaging that we now receive. Most things come in open boxes that we return at the end of the week – such an improvement over all the plastic packaging you get from the supermarket. Visit www.riverford.co.uk for details of your local branch.

Well, after the first barbecue of the summer (the first of many I hope!) our Bambu veneerware has gone down a treat. In the past, like many people, I’ve gone down various paths as far as serving food outdoors is concerned, especially for barbecues where the food is hot, sauces abound, and most of the eating involves standing up, moving around and holding food over a hard and unforgiving patio.

Having had more china plates cracked, chipped and dropped than I care to remember I switched to paper plates – a disaster. I refuse to use plastic plates, knowing that they cause an even bigger carbon footprint than my somewhat smoky barbecue, but paper plates are hardly the greatest idea for a barbecue.

Transferring the heat directly from the food to your hand or your lap means a continual shuffle to relieve the blistering fingers, whilst at the same time wolfing down the food as fast as possible before the plate completely disintegrates and deposits the food in your lap.

The Bambu veneerware is made of bamboo – well, you can’t get much more natural than that. But because it’s made of 3 ply it is very rigid, completely failing to fold up at the merest site of a charcoal hot dog in a bun, and protecting the supporting fingers from incineration nicely. As well as three sizes of plates and trays, we also do cutlery sets and funky ‘sporks’ so guests don’t have to suffer the indignity of trying to eat coleslaw with their fingers!

I know my guests would agree that the Bambu veneerware combines the best features of plastic (smooth) with china (firm and more heat resistant) and with paper plates (disposable and biodegradable). The Bambu veneerware biodegrades completely within 6 months, which is almost as long as it might take to scrape the burnt bits off my barbecue for next time.