World's Best Food Country (2nd Place)

2nd Place France

5th Place, South Africa
4th Place, Spain
3rd Place, America

I don't think there was ever a doubt that France would make it into this list but the fact that the strong favourite has been beaten into second place is a real turn up for the books.
When you think of good food France is probably one of the first countries that springs to mind and if it were not for the quality of our winner France would certainly have taken home the honours! I could go on about the reasons why France didn't win but I personally think there is more value on focusing on it's merits and with an entry of this quality there are no shortage of those!I've been lucky enough to spend a lot of time in France and it is clearly evident that the people live for their food. What i love the most is their culture of food and their respect for the value of the local artisan producers. In a world that seems to be obsessed with bigger and cheaper supermarkets and with bulk buying it takes a stubborn group of people to ignore the lure of the cheap quick fix but the French seem to be fighting their corner well! Don't get me wrong, you will still find plenty of big supermarkets in France including Carrefour, one of the world's biggest but the French would never allow their small local food suppliers to be treated as they are elsewhere in the world. This passion for food manifests itself all the way through the supply chain and I can say with some confidence that French produce on a whole is the best I have ever seen. Chefs (and France has the best standard of these in the world) can only be as good as the produce you give them and in Frane they have the best selection of truffles, fois gras, chicken, game, vegetables, seafood, cheeses, breads and every other kind of ingredient you care to name.

What I love the most about france is that it really doesn't matter if you are in a local bistro or a 3 star michelin restaurant, you will be guarenteed to be served great food at a modest price. Top that all off with some of the world's best wine and a surly french waiter and what more could you possibly ask for!

World's Best Food Country

5th Place
South Africa

I have been lucky enough to travel all over the world tasting amazing food and am often asked what the best I have ever tasted is so the only way to answer is to list the top 5 based on flavour, consistancy and local produce. This will run over the next few days with the big winner being announced on Friday!

This might come as surprise to a lot of people as this country is probably better known for it's wine than it's culinary ability but believe me for those of you who havn't been lucky wnough to visit this gem of a country yet there is a beautiful range of gastronomic treats awaiting you if you do make it there! The country not only has huge Oceans surrounding it packed with incredible fish but has vast acres of incredibly fertile land that is not only perfect for growing wine but also everything thing from osterich to warthog! I must say that the cuisine does lean towards meat quite heavily but there are always plenty of seafood options.


The other best thing about SA is that it is like a huge melting pot of cultures with African food sitting alongside the best of Indian, Chinese and Western cooking. What has happened over the years is that there is natural fusion cooking that has developped rather than just some random chef throwing wasabi on parsnips and calling it fusion! The fusion element actually works really well here to the extent that some of the best curries I have ever had were in Durban and I think it must have a lot to do with the quality of ingredients the chefs are workig with.

The best thing about SA is that it is a country well and truly on the rise from a culinary perspective as they have had bigger battles to fight over the last century. Now that there are a new crop of chefs coming through and torism is booming the quality will only rise along with their ranking on this list in the future.

See Position 4 tomorrow!

Marco Pierre White Interview

Ask any household cook who their favourite chef is and the same old names will pop up; Jamie, Gordon etc etc but ask professional chefs and one of the names you will hear most often is Marco Pierre White. Some readers will remember him from the recent series of Hell's Kitchen but to be honest that is best forgotten as his best work was done where it should be by all chefs and that is behind the stove. He achieved his career zenith at 33 by being awarded 3 prestigious Michelin stars. However it wasn't just the Michelin guide who were taking notice but also the whole generation of budding chefs (including myself) who had found a new hero! His book white heat is widly regarded as one of the greatest cooking books ever written and so far removed from the glossy mass produced examples that abound these days. If you love food and consider youself a foodie I stronly urge you to buy it and drool in awe at some of his creations. The following video is long at 44 minutes but it gives an excellent and in depth insight into the mind of a true culinary genius. If you grew up with Marco as your hero you will thoroughly enjoy this.

Yummy smoothie Video

It can be tough getting going in the mornings and a lot of people resort to coffee, i on the other hand have a wonderful solution, just pack as many berries and a few other things into a blender for 2 minutes and give yourself a natural kick! This really does leave you full of energy for a couple of hours after drinking it! Best part about it is that it has all the serving of fruit in one glass that you are meant to eat in one whole day! Even better that, it tastes bloody good as well!!

Ingredients

1 cup strawberries
1 cup blueberries
1 cup blackberries
2 strawberry low fat yoghurts
1 banana low fat yoghurt
2 sprigs mint
3 cups orange juice
maple syrup

The Perfect Hamburger Video

Well i'll let the video do the talking here. I love burgers and am always looking to find the next "ultimate" one. having been disapointed recently ihave made the perfect one here myself. Let me know what would be in your perfect burger and what you think of this effort.

Ingredients
serves 4

half pound beef fillet
half pound ribeye
1 Onion
10 small tomatoes
Ketchup
Sprig of rosemary
Sprig of thyme
Worchestire sauce
salt and pepper
sweet pickles
1 cup cheddar cheese
12 slices maple bacon
4 hamburger buns

Vegetable cous cous video

well the first signs of summer are upon us and it's time to start eating a bit lighter and start watching those figures for your perfect beach body! this is a really quick and easy way to make cous cous, and it's perfect to have in the fridge and eat for a few days with a grilled chicken breast or some marinated fish. even serve a big bowl of it at a barbecue. I try to keep it really really simple here at iFoods and make recipes that just about anybody can make, even if you've never cooked before in your life! Let me know how it goes for you!

Ingredients
1 LB cous cous
2 cups water
2 stock cubes(chicken or vegetable), use fresh stock if available
20 mint leaves
bunch chives
1 red pepper
4 Carrots
1 red onion
salt and pepper

Guacamole video

I love a good bowl of guacamole and i'm not talking about the dodgy stuff you get in packets in the supermarket either, I'm talking about good quality home made stuff that will literally take you ten minutes. I think this is perfect to make just before your guests come over or even make a small bowl of it for yourself during the week as you sit down to a movie or sports event. The best way is with tortilla chips but you can even put it on chicken, fish or pork as a little sauce. I'm off to watch a match and have a nice cold beer with mine right now!

Cheers

Ingredients
4 Avacados
2 cloves garlic
2 limes
1 red onion
1 bunch coriander
1 tomato
chili flakes

Barbecued beef salad

we had a big barbecue yesterday and as always there was loads of meet left over. This is a problem that we all have after a barbecue and rather than just put it in a dry sandwich the next day i've come up with a wonderful tasty salad here that you'd be happy to pay $15 in a restaurant for, except you are making it mostly out of leftovers here. Invite a few friends around or serve it in a big bowl for the family..

Ingredients

2 Sirloin steaks
1 packet washed rocket leaves
1 red onion
1 red pepper
1 bunch basil
20 small button mushrooms
1 cup good quality olive oil
third of a cup of good balsamic
2 teaspoons of wholegrain mustard

Swordfish wuth cherry tomatoes, mango and avocado

Well the weather is slowly getting better and summer is nearing for most of us. I thought it would be a good idea to have a quick little light fish dish that is both healthy and easy to prepare. There isn't any more than 20 minutes work here and you'll be surprised at how easy it actually is! I'm using a chargrill pan as i am on a boat but the perfect thing to do is throw the fish on the barbecue for a couple of minutes on each side and serve it outside with a nice cold glass of white!Enjoy

Ingredients
2 Swordfish steaks(change to your favourite fish if you want)
1 lemon
1 avocado
1 mango
15 cherry tomatoes
half an onion
1 small head of brocoli
Olive oil
3 sprigs thyme

Spiced beef skewers with goat's for the sports event

Let's face it about 70% of guys can't cook or have never tried! Shame on us! So i thought i'd try and tempt a few of you into the kitchen with a really really simple recipe that you can cook for your buddies during a sports event. The beauty is you can make it before hand and just bang it in the oven 5 minutes before you need it! Serve this with a store bought dip like sweet chili sauce and you really have no excuse for not making it. Just watch your mate's mouth's drop when you whisk these out at half time!!

P.s With risk of sounding sexist women could of course make these and a lot of women do watch sport!

Ingredients
Half pound ground beef
3 cloves garlic
2 sprigs rosemary chopped
1 onion chopped
pinch cumin
pinch paprika
pinch dry ginger
third of a cup of goat's cheese

Spring Roast Lamb Video Tutorial

Well a lot of people are talking about cooking with the seasons at the moment and i thought what better way to usher in Spring than cook a lovely whole leg of roasted lamb. I've show you how to make incisions into the meat and stuff it with a lovely pine nut, garlic and herb stuffing! As i write this i can still taste it in my mouth and i think lamb is my new favourite meat, it was just so juicy and tender!!

Now to cook it simply place it in the oven at 200/380
For medium rare(bloody in the centre pink on the edges) 45 minutes in the oven
For Medium(Pink all the way through) 55 minutes in the oven
Well Done (cooked all the way through) 70 mintues in the oven

I find the best bet is to leave it in for 55 minutes and there will be a nice well done piece on the outside and a rare piece in the middle, something for everyone. Now before you all start screaming at me that legs of lamb are different sizes and that this is not a correct techique let me explain myself. iFoods is about teaching people and giving them the confidence to try new things. This is the method i use and it never fails for me, i may be a chef and know a bit more than the regular joe but stick with this and you'll be on to a winner i promise!!

I have only shown you the meat here on purpose as i want you to have the confidence to cook meat properly. The side dishes are up to you but here are some options

Slice the meat into some beautiful sandwiches
Make a roast dinner with roast potatoes, veg and gravy
Cous cous and grilled veg
Sliced with some greek salad

The possibilites are endless

Ingredients
1 average leg of lamb
6 garlic cloves
3 sprigs thyme
3 sprigs rosemary
100ml/1 cup olive oil
1 cup Pine nuts
salt and pepper

Chili, garlic and herb oil (video of the perfect gift)

People love food and people love gifts, but people struggle with original gifts, so why not make this as a thoughtful, home made gift. I think it's perfect if you dress it up in a pretty bottle. The thing about this is that you can make 10 bottles at a time, literally store them forever and use as you need. What about arriving over for a dinner party with your own home made oil instead of the traditinal bottle of wine! Or even put little labels on the the bottles and sell your own brand! The options are limitless and change flavours as much as you want, instead of chili and garlic what about lemon and lime or pine nut and sundried tomato, the choices are endless. The one thing that i will say is a bottle of this on the table always goes down well!!

Enjoy

Ingredients

5/6 bottle of oil
3 sprigs thyme
3 sprigs rosemary
20 cloves garlic
1/3 cup red chili flakes

South Beach Sheppard's Pie

A lot of people these days are becoming more interest in diets and there are no bigger diets that the "South Beach Diet". It basically cuts out Carbs totally which means no rice, pasta, bread, potatoes etc and anybody who has tried it will tell you just how hard that is to achieve! Over the next few weeks i will be giving you all a few South Beach recipes that are a bit more exciting that the normal stuff you read in books! If you're not on a diet at all but want to make this, well go ahead as it really is very easy and delicious even without the potatoes!The beauty of this recipe is that you can whip up a delightful home cooked meal in less than half an hour! Do it!!!And let me know how you got on!

Ingredients
Makes enough for 4 generous portions

1 Pound Minced beef
1 white onion
3 large carrots
2 cloves garlic
3 sprigs thyme
2 table spoons tomato puree
2 table spoons of bisto or similar gravy mix
8oz chopped butternut squash or sweet potato
Dash of cream
salt and pepper
6oz frozen peas
table spoons worstechire suace

The perfect sandwich

Well after the last post i'm not sure if you guys are going to take this one seriousily! after such a poor effort last time i though i better show you something a little bit special and i think this sandwich is just that! I'd love it if you could make the bread yourself and the video recipe for it is here but if you don't have time buy a good quality bread from the bakery. Chances are the bread will be just as good from a good shop but the satisfaction that comes from making your own bread is incredible! Don't be scared either all that is involved is flour/water/yeast, believe me you can make it even if you've never even chopped an onion before! Let me know all your thoughts on what would be in your perfect sandwich and where I might have gone wrong! enjoy

Ingredients
Serves 8

Foccacia bread(made yourself or bought)
4 tomatoes
2 packets bacon
1 cup mayo
2 cloves garlic
bunch of fresh basil
1 lemon
cups mild cheddar cheese
4 chicken breasts
1 head of kos salad

Online Videos by Veoh.com

Video Demo for TV

Well a break from the norm today guys in that this really isn't a recipe that i would expect any of you to ever make. Since i started this site I've had a couple of requests to send sample videos to TV execs for commisioning a TV series. They gave me the brief that i could cook anything i wanted so instead of doing something very fancy i thought i'd be a real smart ass and make a cheese sandwich. The logic being that if I could make that sound interesting then i could make anything sound interesting! On the other hand they could see the video and think that I'm a nutcase who needs locking up, you decide for yourself!!

Ingredients
You must be joking right?

Video recipe(Perfect steak)

For a lot of people the thought of cooking a restaurant quality steak at home can be very scary. I really can't see the point of going out and spending 30/40 dollars on something that you can very easily replicate at home. The key here is spending the money in a good supermarket or butchers for a well aged 1 inch thick ribeye steak. Add the side dishes of your choice but with the steak cooked like this you are more than halfway to a fantasic meal already!

Ingredients
1 Large 1 inch thick ribeye steak
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Splash of good balsamic

Video recipe(Roast potatoes with lime, garlic, parsley)

This is a tasty little side dish than you can quickly make and serve with a whole host of things. I'd suugest serving it with some roast chicken or even though they are roasted potatoes the flavours are subtle enough to balance with fish. The lime adds a nice light undertone and if you make them correctly they are lovely and crispy.

Ingredients

8 Large potatoes
2 Limes
5 cloves garlic
Olive oil
salt and pepper
Bunch parsley chopped

Easy Flat breads

Ok it's time for people to get over the big fear about breads and actually give it a crack. I have purposely chosen the easiest type of bread to make and you really shouldn't have any problem with this at all. These are perfect with dips, as a little side to a salad or for mopping up sauces. see how theraputic it is to make bread and let me know how you get on!

Ingredients

1Kg Regular flour
2 pinches salt
450ml water
50ml Olive oil
100g Yoghurt
20g dried yeast


Preheat oven to 180/350

Chicken Tenders(or goujons)

Not so much a recipe today folks but more a cooking technique. eating breaded chicken in either a tender form or as a whole chicken in a chicken Kiev is sadly something that is only ever done in a restaurant or from prepackaged meals. It really is a huge shame as it's a wonderful way to enjoy chicken especially for kids. I think people are scared that it might be hard to do or just go for the more elaborate recipes, but i guarentee you if you make these tenders for friends or kids in a realxed atmosphere they'll forever be begging you for more!

Ingredients

6 chicken breasts
500g breadcrumbs
300g flour
6 eggs
100ml milk
Cajun seasoning
Paprika
Dried basil leaves

Fusseli with cherry tomatoes, pine nuts and watercress

Well sometimes even the best made plans fall to bits! Today i had some lovely fish arriving from the market but the guests had a change of mind about their late lunch and suddenly wanted lunch in 15 minutes. So starting from scratch i had to make a decent healthy quick snack for 4. This might take yu slightly longer as i was using all my skills and moving at about 100 miles an hour but it's simple, quick and tasty, exactly what a lunch should be!

Ingredients
500g pasta(i used fusseli but use whatever you have)
300g cherry tomatoes
3 cloves garlic chopped
2 small white onions
2 sprigs thyme
Handfull pine nuts
200g fresh grated parmesan
1 bunch fresh basil
30g Butter
200g fresh watercress(substitute with Rocket if need be)