What is Teppanyaki?

Its a 200 year-old concept that takes the traditional barbecue we’re familiar with in the west, but utilises traditional Japanese iron plate cooking methods. The cooking surface is literally a flat iron plate, heated by propane gas or electricity.

Using this style of cooking, meats like steak, chicken, and seafood can be cooked, seasoned and specialist dishes can be made. Other foods can be created, like Yakisoba (fried noodles), Okonomiyaki and Monjayaki (savoury pancakes) and more.

As someone who’s had the opportunity to visit Japan and eat in various Tokyo restaurants, you’ll often see the chefs cooking in the center of the room, with the eating guests sitting around the outside – giving a theatrical look to the cooking process.

This style of eating has slowly made its way back across to Europe, the UK and North America, with Teppanyaki-style steakhouses and restaurants utilising these cooking techniques and dishes and even creating their own.

A key part of the experience is flexibility, and choice. Often you can specifically select the ingredients to create a dish right for you, even sometimes including delicacies like kobe or wagyu beef, but also things like lobster, shrimp and fried noodles.

What is Yakiniku?

The word Yakiniku refers to grilled meat itself, often cooked using the Teppanyaki methods, on the traditional iron plate. It’s loved so much by Japan that it has its own day of celebration every year, 29th August is the annual “Yakiniku Day”.

You’ll find various cuts of Beef, Pork, Chicken, Seafood and even Offal and Vegetables cooked using this special method.

These will be cooked in bite-size pieces on a teppanyaki griddle and is a very popular way to cook and eat in both Japan and Korea, especially.

Yakiniku is often cooked by the diners themselves – the cuts of meat are prepared by the restaurant and brought to the table.

The diners themselves cook the ingredients on a small Teppanyaki grill built into the table. The meats and/or vegetables can then be dipped into sauces such as soy sauce.

How can I get started?

Teppanyaki and Yakiniku restaurants exist in the UK, but are still a very exclusive dining experience. To get started creating your own delectable Japanese-style dining experience, you’ll need a Teppanyaki Griddle and high quality vegetables, sauces and cuts of meat.

The post Yakiniku and Teppanyaki Cooking – What’s it about? appeared first on CS Catering Equipment's Blog.

David Chang, “Ugly Delicious”, Netflix

A new breakout show from the American web-media mega company, Netflix’s Ugly Delicious popularity actually poses quite a few key questions of caterers across the globe.

The crux of the argument brought forward by the show is: ‘Is the original always the best?’

An eight-episode series, Ugly Delicious sees the Korean-American chef, David Chang tackles a major problem within the food industry. Food Snobbery.

It’s rife within the industry, and even more so with diners and customers.

Chang travels the globe to taste a range of ‘regional favourites’ revamped and reimagined by chefs and cooks.

The first episode concerns the sacred pizza, with Chang proclaiming that Tokyo does the dish like no other, a bold claim to be making about Italy’s almost sacred dish.

It’s a strange hybrid of food travel show, mixed with an appreciation for the unconventional approach to regional food that makes this such a compelling show.

Chang’s charm and willingness to question our own bias’ towards food such as in this initial episode reveal a lot of how we gain attachments to food and our own bias’ of what makes a ‘true’ version of a dish.

Pizza is a prime example of this – and probably why it was used as the first subject matter for this series.

It poses a major question of how we as caterers and suppliers of catering equipment define as the essence of a food.

We would have a very bad business model if we were to dictate who can make a specific dish or the ‘correct’ way to do so, instead we try our utmost to inform what we believe would be the ideal way to make signature dishes so that, you, as a customer can decide for yourself.

Now if you were to ask our sister site – Caffe Society – they might have a different opinion when it came to the ‘correct way’ to make certain coffees.

But as suppliers to thousands of professional bakers, chefs, butchers and more, we feel that breaking the mould and creating dishes that take cues from traditional recipes is an awesome way to differentiate yourself within a crowded marketplace.

If every Italian-themed restaurant made pasta and pizza the exact same way, then we probably wouldn’t have the wealth of choice that we have throughout the globe.

Traditional food should be lauded, but that doesn’t mean that fusion-dishes should be condemned.

“I view authenticity like a totalitarian state,” states Chang, early in the series’s very first episode, adding: “It’s not that I hate authenticity, it’s that I hate that people want this singular thing that is authentic.”

Authenticity doesn’t always breed creativity, and that is why we celebrate Netflix’s commissioning of ‘Ugly Delicious’ – let’s just hope that we get to see more food-fusion on the streaming network very soon!

The post How Netflix’s Ugly Delicious poses catering a huge question appeared first on CS Catering Equipment's Blog.

The way we access and produce food is going through a constant evolution in a bid to be more efficient and cost-effective.

One area that has developed significantly in our food manufacturing is the ability to integrate up to date technology with even traditional processes.

Food technology has the power to truly overhaul our food production systems and move us into an age of almost automated farming and sustainability.

What kinds of food technology are helping our farmers and food producers?

The Internet of Things

A term that has existed 1999, the Internet of Things refers to the network of physical devices connected via wireless connections to communicate, control, update and inform the user or network about the device and its operation.

Industrial application of the Internet of Things is growing exponentially as farmers, growers and even grocers can utilise connected technologies to monitor, manage and even control everything from crop rotation to watering and feeding cycles for livestock.

Real-time analysis allows for control to a level not seen before in the food production industry.

Micro adjustments can be made all from a remote location, ‘base station’ or in some cases a smartphone or smart device.

The application is almost limitless.

By allowing for this 24-hour electronically monitored method of food production, farmers and producers can completely overhaul their running costs after an initial investment.

Process Optimisation

Whilst not technically an example of ‘technology’ per se, new developments in both computing and machinery mean that we see a constant evolution in everything from the farming vehicles to the undersoil feeding systems used to improve our crop growth.

Oil saving tech is becomingly increasing adopted alongside renewable energy sources for large-scale food production operations looking to increase productivity and energy draw potential without exponentially raising their day-to-day operating costs.

Streamlining the actual growth, feeding, packaging and shipping processes is also made possible thanks to a whole host of innovations in these key areas.

Robotics

A key area that will determine the future for a whole host of industries, robotic innovation has the potential to merge our workforce with our machinery to create a never-ending cycle of productivity using advanced AI and system management for unrivalled productivity.

Already adopted widely in the manufacturing industry, rudimentary robotic automation can take care of basic tasks and are developing the ability to perform intricate operations with accurate, consistent results that is difficult for humans to replicate.

Robots and robotics could even become the standard for intricate farming tasks, including rearing animals.

Whilst the initial costs would be high, imagine an industry where there are no real-term staffing costs, a workforce could consist of tireless machinery that is managed by a small team of engineers and service staff.

That could mean 24-hour operation, 365 days a year. A near limitless workforce.

3D Printing

Conveyor belt food production is still more efficient at this point in time for almost all supermarket mass food production.

But within kitchens and especially the food production industry, we could create a range of food items that we will have never seen before.

3D printing opens up an infinite wealth of food creation opportunities that would be hard to emulate with the most traditional conveyor mass-produced food that fills our shelves, pantries and home kitchens.

The ability to literally print food means that we can make very intricate foodstuffs without the need of master chefs, bakers, confectioners and more.

We could even see the food printers find their way into the kitchen, taking the place of some staff, which although they would put certain people out of work, would save money and dramatically improve the output potential of many commercial kitchens, restaurants and more.

Enhanced usability

As we introduce more technology into the food production process, we decrease the skill threshold for some of the most intricate of tasks.

Training of a system is in most cases much easier than learning an entire process from start to finish.

Imagine turning the skilfull task of ploughing a field into a tablet-controlled remote vehicle managed automated process that only needs a few app configuration settings.

It’s actually already happening now!

We could see similar functionality and tech finding it’s way into all areas of our processes so that training goes from on-the-job to use-the-software.

Farming could become a remote process that takes place in an office rather than a field.

Higher productivity

So all of these improvements could mean that we see even higher crop outputs as longtime inefficiencies are eradicated from the system, we could potentially grow more with essentially less input.

Be that manpower, raw materials and even money.

Technology can help us do so much more than we are currently capable, and as we refine and introduce more tech into our day-to-day farming, we will most likely see gains in areas never thought possible over the past 100 years.

It’s clear that technology is going to be giving even traditional farmers some food for thought in the coming years.

As for kitchen tech, you can be sure that we will be championing some of the latest innovations so long as they benefit the professional caterer in the years to come!

The post How technology is helping innovate our food manufacturing appeared first on CS Catering Equipment's Blog.

Remember a time when, to get information about an eatery or restaurant you either had to ask someone who had been, read a review in the paper or simply bite the bullet and go try for yourself?

It’s easy to forget that today, the internet has made finding out about almost any business an effortless task, and particularly in the food industry one social media platform has quickly become the ‘go to’ place to check out what to expect.

Instagram is literally changing the way many food businesses are operating, jumping on the photogenic food bandwagon can be a sure-fire way to instantly get people gagging to get through your doors; all to get their own snaps of your good-looking dishes.

Being completely honest, we’re as guilty as the next person for taking the odd picture of our meals, be that a lunch or even a quick snack from a vending machine…

The thing is that many restaurants and businesses are reaping the rewards of appealing to the budding (or even big-time) Instagram foodie.

In fact, many are using the platform solely for self-promotion.

In fact, many are using the platform solely for self-promotion.

And the funny thing is; it actually works.

Dishes are genuinely being created for the platform in the hope that it will a) attract customer attention and b) potentially go viral in the hope that business will explode.

Instagram success = big food + bright colours

Bright colours and unusual dishes are all the craze, as are larger than life serving portions.

Take for example the Pizza Barn based in Yonkers, New York.

The pizzeria has capitalised on the platforms ability to capture the interest of even people from way beyond the ‘traditional’ borders of New York and therefore increase their potential clientele.

Larger than life slices of pizza are instantly appealing when in pictures, and with diners tagging themselves tackling the beastly slices, their reach grows further still.

A post shared by PizzaBarn (@pizzabarnyonkers) on Jul 31, 2017 at 6:16pm PDT

Whilst you might not feel the need to shape up, if you hadn’t already noticed an influx of diners taking pictures of your dishes, maybe take another look.

It seems crazy to judge a restaurant or dish solely after seeing a photo.

But the superficial web-based world we are all now living in can dictate success in a crowded marketplace.

It seems crazy to judge a restaurant or dish solely after seeing a photo.

Some caterers and restaurant owners have even decided to provide their customers with the means to take better quality images to help boost business.

Whilst some, such as Michel Roux, have a no phone policy altogether – and was even slammed by none other than Gordon Ramsay himself – Go on Gordon!

The crux of it is that diners are now more likely than ever to pre-research your business before ever setting foot in the door or reserving a table.

With the right lighting and right filter, your food does all the talking for you. Gain a loyal following and you could be set for a long time.

Instagram could provide that ‘first glimpse’ inside your business and how you operate without you ever knowing.

Some food though is ‘beautiful on the inside’, with an appearance that only someone with the most hardcore of hangovers could find appealing.

For these dishes, there is another side to Instagram.

That side of #notfoodporn is the world of cookingforbae – a collection of some of the sites ugly attempts at attractive dishes or cooking fails that are definitely food for thought!

A post shared by Cooking for Bae (@cookingforbae) on Feb 6, 2014 at 4:16pm PST

At least they tried…?

The post How Instagram is changing the way the catering industry operates appeared first on CS Catering Equipment's Blog.

Synonymous with Europe and a Belgian culinary speciality, the waffle is an extremely popular menu item across all of continental Europe and has transcended oceans to become something of a cultural institution in North America.

Here, however, it’s more of a foreign delight; one that becomes increasingly more prominent during the winter months when festive markets roll into town.

The Waffle’s recipe is relatively simple and straightforward.

All that’s needed is some milk, eggs, flour and a pinch of salt – yes, that simple.

However its composition is much more complex than that: In Belgium, the heartland of the waffle, each region and city has its own unique take on the waffle, with The Nibble stating that prominent ‘points of departure include yeast, caramelised sugar, leavenings and fillings or toppings.’

We’ve not even mentioned the ice cream cone yet, which is a direct descendent of the waffle that has its very own complicated origin story.

Like all the best things in life, waffles can be unique, with their evolution shrouded in mystery, intrigue and passed down the generations like a priceless family heirloom.

Humble Beginnings

At least for the waffle, it all began as a basic version of a flat cake.

This simple mixture of pulped cereal was heated on rudimentary cooking devices for varying times.

But as technology advanced, so too did cooking techniques, although for years this basic recipe remained.

But by the time of the Ancient Greek Empire the mixture had altered somewhat, but by no means substantially. Referred to as obleios, these early waffles were often savoury and served, and flavoured, with cheese and herbs.

However, during the Middle Ages, there was a true waffle revolution.

Nobody knows exactly when, but at one point in history somebody* had the truly inspired idea of forging together a couple of cooking plates. Fitted with ornate etchings, these irons gave the waffle its name – for you see waffle is derived from gaufre and in turn wafla, a term referring to “a piece of a honeybee hive.”

Eaten by all sections of society, from the Royalty to the peasantry, the waffle became a popular food of choice for much of continental Europe.

Such was its prominence, King Charles IX of France had to introduce a code of practice to waffle sellers.

This occurred as an attempt to quell some fracases that surrounded waffle sellers jostling for prime positions in Paris and other major cities during the 1600s.

Ever-changing recipe

But during this period we saw a major waffle schism.

The upper classes could rely on their waffles being made from the finest ingredients such as egg, milk and honey.

Whilst those who were less privileged had to make do with ingredients of a sub-standard quality.

Recipes began to become malleable and the foodstuff transformed from a standardised entity to one that was dictated by class, location and wealth.

No wonder then that in Belgium alone there are a myriad of geographically influenced versions of the waffle.

And then, America happened.

A staple of breakfast diners all across the United States, the waffle has, actually, enjoyed two debuts on the other side of the Atlantic.

The first foray being in the 1600s and the second, perhaps the more famous instance, occurring in 1964.

The World Fair

Though they’d been enjoyed in North America for centuries prior to 1964, the New York World’s Fair really helped reinvent waffles and turn them into something of a culinary institution.

There was something special about this batch that captured the attention of The Big Apple; the Maurice Vermersch utilised a family recipe and mixed that, quite literally, with a bit of marketing genius.

The recipe and cooking method came from Brussels, as did the way they were to be consumed: without the use of cutlery.

Marie Paule Vermersch, the daughter of Maurice, claims that her mother shunned customers away from picking up knives and forks.

Instead, actively forcing people to tuck into their waffles with their hands.

But, as Maurice knew, the trick was to produce a commodity.

Aware that many Americans were unfamiliar with Brussels, he sold his waffles as being ‘Belgian’.

This fast and loose christening worked wonders and the waffle became instantly recognised as the ‘Belgian Waffle’.

It is believed that the Pilgrims brought the waffle over from the Low Countries when they emigrated to The New World and met their perfect match in maple syrup.

Food fit for the President

Much like their history in Europe they were loved and devoured by people from all walks of society.

The Oxford Encyclopaedia of Food and Drink in America recounts that waffles were ‘common fare’ in the mining camps and tent towns that popped up during the American Gold Rush.

And if rumours are to be believed, none other than Thomas Jefferson, the 3^rd President of the United States, was said to be a huge fan.

It’s even rumoured that he was the first person to bring a traditional long-handled waffle iron to America in 1789.

Between the late-1800s and the mid-1900s waffles were immensely popular in the States.

The first electric waffle iron was patented on August 24th 1869, and as the years went by numerous different recipes and products sprung up to take residence in cookbooks and on the shelves.

But with all this expansion the traditional roots of the waffle got lost.

And having allowed Maurice Vermersch to reinvent the wheel and muscle in with his European-influenced waffle we’re now at the apex of the batter-based treat.

Waffle types

• Brussels waffle: It is claimed the Brussels waffle is the original. This light and crispy waffle has deep honeycomb pockets and is traditionally served with a light dusting of sugar.
• Liege waffle: Rumoured to be invented by the prince-bishop of Liege in the 1400s, the Liege waffle is smaller and denser than the Brussels waffle and contains pearl sugar. Has a sweet flavour.
• American waffle: Where the Belgian waffles use yeast, the American waffles use baking powder. Perfectly multifunctional, these varieties can be used in both sweet and savoury dishes.

The post A Brief History of Waffles appeared first on CS Catering Equipment's Blog.

If you didn’t already know, the reverse sear is often hailed as the ultimate way to cook the perfect medium or medium-rare steak every single time.

But you might not have heard of the reverse sear before, and it’s not quite the same as simply cooking steak on a high heat.

The best thing is that this technique is not only simple, it’s almost foolproof.

Traditionally the most common way a steak is cooked, is by searing over a high heat, and then transferring to your pre-heated oven and finished on a more gentle heat until done.

A reverse sear essentially flips the order around, having you gently heat until ready for searing before serving.

We won’t disagree with @seriouseats – here’s proof that: “The Reverse Sear Is the Best Way to Cook a Steak, Period” https://t.co/4hT8EpuOb5 pic.twitter.com/soMUgCgYHi

— Lake Geneva Meats (@lgmeats) March 15, 2017

The basic idea is that with the reverse sear, you have greater control over the Maillard Reaction (that magical process that turns the cooked edges of meats amazingly brown) because you’re making sure the high heat only comes into play right at the end and that the steak inside will be perfect.

So, instead of an internal ring of different “doneness” your steak will be perfectly medium all the way through, save for the very outside.

We can’t honestly recommend making rare steaks in this way, as just pan searing is about enough to get perfect rare steaks, but a reverse sear is probably the best and most consistent way to achieve a perfect medium/medium-rare throughout.

To get this spot-on you’ll need a meat thermometer probe, and removing your steaks around 5ºF before reaching serving temperature will allow it to cook slightly as a result of residual heat during resting.

Here’s a handy little guide on internal temperatures:

• Rare – 125ºF
• Medium-rare – 130ºF
• Medium – 140ºF
• Well done – 160ºF

You need a thermometer as the bog standard (and frankly inconsistent) palm pinch test is just not going to cut it here, plus if you’re serving up steak using this method, then how are you shifting for inconsistencies where they might arise?

The reverse sear does take longer than other methods, but it does mean you can eat the steak nice and hot, as the resting period has been taken care of just before the actual searing of the meat.

Not only is this a completely foolproof method, it ensures that your quality cuts of meat are not tarnished or ruined if you are not quite confident enough to take on the skillet or pan without any prior knowledge.

With a little experimentation and some work on a rub, you can grill steaks to godly proportions. But if you’re completely unsure from the advice given, follow the instructions below.

How to reverse sear a steak

1. Preheat your oven to 135ºC/275ºF.
2. Place well-seasoned steaks on a rack over a baking tray (cover the tray with foil to save yourself a clean up)
3. Put steaks into your oven and cook until an internal temperature of 125-135ºF has been reached (using internal thermometer) depending on your preference of “doneness”. Usually this takes around 45-60 minutes.
4. Remove when at the correct temperature and allow your steak to rest for 10-15 minutes under a foil wrapping to prevent contamination.
5. Preheat a skillet or heavy based pan to screamingly hot temperatures, if using a barbecue or grill preheat accordingly.
6. Sear steaks for one minute on each side.
7. Remove from grill or pan and serve immediately.

The post Never mess up a medium steak again! How to reverse sear your meat appeared first on CS Catering Equipment's Blog.

A total of 652 hotels, guesthouses and B&Bs in the United Kingdom have failed their latest food safety inspections, including even four and five-star rated venues.

In the survey conducted by Which? Travel, many failed for basic hygiene errors with inspectors discovering seafood past expiry date, raw meat stored next to sauces and high-risk food stored in areas without proper temperature control.

Some 19 hotels were even given a zero rating — the lowest possible score attainable.

But we’ve decided to offer an olive branch, we understand that the hotel industry and hospitality industry can be a) very demanding and b) incredibly disorganised at times. That doesn’t mean we are condoning the actions and accept that hygiene standards should fall, instead we have some awesome products and services to help ensure that your business maintains exceptional hygiene standards.

Cleaning products

The basics, essentials and of course integral for any task where food is prepared, stored and served.

Each worktop unit needs to be spotless, every utensil has to be 100% germ-free, grease eliminated.

Standard soap and water aren’t quite going to cut through the dirt and grime that accumulates in a commercial kitchen. Therefore you need professional supplies that are specifically designed for usage in professional kitchen and food preparation environments.

From bleach to handwash, mops to steamers, almost all of our professional cleaning products are designed to be used in high-usage, high-volume working environments.

Professional kitchen equipment

Within your kitchen or food preparation areas, you’ll need quite a lot of commercial grade kit, from refrigerators to grills and much more; professional-grade kitchen equipment is specifically designed for high-usage working environments and are not just bog-standard pieces of consumer kit.

Most hotels have to cater for large numbers of guests, providing breakfast, lunch and dinner options every single day. Of course you could purchase equipment from the high-street, but unfortunately, these units won’t be built to last or designed to be easy to manage, clean and withstand extra-strength cleaning product application.

Regular hygiene checks and cleaning process

Cleanliness is integral to both your business food safety and reputation.

Customers are incredibly likely to be put-off your business if you are unable to maintain a solid food hygiene rating, there is no excuse when high-risk food is being prepared, cooking and served.

Ensuring a solid and consistent check process in your working areas is an incredibly easy way to instantly improve your entire hygiene process, whilst also helping target troublesome areas that might be prone to dirt, grime and germ build-up.

If you need advice on what equipment and accessories that your company may need to attain high hygiene scores, then please call our sales team on 01977 687 665 to learn more and get started improving your kitchen hygiene processes.

The post 652 UK hotels fail food hygiene inspections: Don’t become a statistic appeared first on CS Catering Equipment's Blog.

It has been a common theme over the past couple of years, but Britain’s food waste has reached tipping point.

So much so, that after noticing their food waste increasing to an eye-watering 600kg per week, one Dundee-based Indian buffet has decided to impose fines on wasteful customers.

Could this be a great way to help reduce the waste in buffets up and down the British Isles?

Diners at Taza Indian Buffet – in Dundee’s city centre – will be expected to pay £2 if they fail to finish their meal.

But how do they decide who has ‘finished their meal’ you ask? Well, by using a small cardboard template, with a cutout roughly the size of a person’s face, and placing over your dish. If this exceeds the boundaries of the template, then they consider this as an unfinished meal.

Speaking to Scotland’s Evening Telegraph, restaurant general manager Vaseem Salimi said: “We realised that we were wasting 600kg of food per week and that was a real eye-opener for us.

“We wanted to do something to reduce that.

“We will always have some food waste because everything we have left at the end of the day needs to go in the bin, but it is about cutting down on needless waste.

“Some people have the mindset that they come to a buffet and pay a set price and that means they can do whatever they want, such as heaping piles of food on to their plate then deciding they don’t like it.”

Some might argue that this is exactly how all buffets should work, as a paying customer you have already paid to eat, the rules can’t suddenly be changed.

But Mr Salimi insists that this policy has not been introduced to make money:  “This isn’t about us making money — it is to get the message across.

“This is about trying to change the way people view a buffet,” he explained. “Maybe they should take a smaller portion, try it first and then decide if they want more.

“We let customers know about our policy as soon as they come in and there is a notice on the table to reinforce the point.”

Whilst we applaud this move, we can’t help but wonder if this could penalise certain customers, such as families with young children. Most parents will attest to their children being fussy eaters, and so if left unsupervised for a few moments, they could be piling their plates high with food they have no intention of eating.

But, despite this minor grievance, we do agree with this move, especially as this is such a big global issue.

“We don’t want people to be charged,” added Mr Salimi. “We would rather that they tried to waste as little food as possible.

“Food waste is a big issue globally and some people do not realise how big an impact things like meat production have on the planet.

“We’re not saying ‘don’t eat meat’, but if you can keep waste to a minimum then that will benefit everyone.”

Has this given you food for thought?…

The post How one Indian buffet is tackling their food waste appeared first on CS Catering Equipment's Blog.

An American study has found that men will overeat to the extreme as they feel it makes them appear more masculine.

Whilst we cannot speak for all males, we think the research carried out by Cornell University, New York, is pretty much spot on based upon our own experiences…

The investigation was taken to see how eating with others affects a person’s behaviour, the University researchers challenged 20 men and women of similar body types to competitively eat chicken wings in a 30-minute contest format.

A group of cheering and non-cheering spectators were added, with a medal given to the winner. Contestants were told that this medal had no monetary value.

Not content with just rating these competitive eaters, a secondary portion of the study involved a survey of 93 students who rated the male and female competitors in order of how intelligent, attractive, healthy, strong and romantic they seemed.

It comes as no surprise that those participants in the study ate up to four times more chicken wings compared to the control group when eating competitively, but even more so when given encouragement and cheered on. Eating even more wings.

Their averages increased from 23 wings to 30.5 for men, in a competitive setting. But this average dipped from 17 without onlookers to 12 for women as a result of crowd interest.

These findings support a number of previous studies that show indications that men eat more or overeat in social scenarios to ‘show off’.

Surveyed after the competition the women participants were said to feel “self-conscious” or “embarrassed”, whereas the male participants felt “cool” and “exhilarated”.

Brian Wansink, Cornell University Food and Brand Lab director, told Broadly: “The more competition or the more guys feel people are watching, the more extreme behavior they end up exhibiting.

“The typical guy, if you give them any attention when they’re eating, they’d eat up to four times more.”

Well there is some pretty conclusive evidence that the men of our species are all gluttons for glory.

All we know is that we now have a hankering for some chicken wings…whoever eats the least pays!…

The post US Study finds that men eat more food to show off appeared first on CS Catering Equipment's Blog.

2017 is upon us, and despite not remembering how to write (or type) the date correctly on more than a few occasions already, we have remembered to get our diets completely under control – No more breakfast chocolate for us!

The coming year means the start of a new diet for millions of people around the world, and it also means that 2017 food trends are emerging all the time.

Using our nous and, of course, research we have a few predictions of what to expect from this new wave of 2017 food trends – and how to use them in your kitchen.

Fresh turmeric root

Popular already in the world of coffee, where the health conscious are forgoing flat whites in favour of turmeric lattes, the root vegetable is the perfect addition to your kitchen as a general substitute for a lot of spices and more.

Commonly used as a substitute for mustard or saffron, this is an incredibly versatile veg. Adding a ginger or orange flavour with an eye-catching yellow colour.

Get it into your kitchen arsenal and add a little extra to your dishes!

Poké

A photo posted by Poké Me Restaurants (@pokemelife) on Jan 2, 2017 at 1:53pm PST

This Hawaiian dish is very similar to Japanese sushi, and is already available at upmarket cafe chain Pret a Manger, even Waitrose’s executive chef, Jonathan Moore has coined it “the must-eat snack of 2017.”

If that isn’t enough of a rubber stamp of approval, then we are not sure what else you might need to convince you that Poké could be the health conscious crowd pleaser that your cafe needs.

Essentially a bowl of cubed raw fish, that is marinated on rice, this would work exceptionally well as a salad starter or even a nice healthy takeaway option for those looking for a quick, healthy and ultimately tasty alternative to a simple salad.

Tacos

Mexican food is back, and tacos are set to light up menus around the country in 2017, with a host of London-based restaurants championing the dish on their menus.

Of course, where London leads, the rest of the nation does tend to follow.

Tacos are an excellent main addition, and can contain any number of meat, fish and vegetable combinations. Flavoursome and incredibly easy to make, this Mexican staple could replace any number of under-performing dishes on your menu in an instant.

Sea vegetables

Vegetarian and vegan cooking has increased at an incredible rate over the past few years, more and more diners are choosing to forgo meats, fish and dairy products in favour of healthier food options that still hit the mark with flavour.

No longer a side or playing second fiddle to meat within a dish for many, we are expecting that sea vegetables, such as seaweed, will be used as an excellent substitute for some green vegetables in salads and rice dishes.

Nori is available at supermarkets all over the country, with it being used in various sushi dishes, simply crush up an sprinkle on rice dishes and more to add a salty, briny taste.

Cooking over fire

Barbecues have become an almost British obsession over the past decade, an that trend we think is set to continue.

The theatrics of cooking over a fire pit or fire not only looks good, but produces some fantastic cooking results.

Wood-fired grills make exceptional steak, and some aficionados would have you believe that this is the only way quality cuts of meat should be prepared.

Less dairy products

With the rise of flexitarianism, many people around the United Kingdom are choosing to cut out many aspects of their diet in favour of what some would consider vegan or vegetarian options.

That also includes cutting out dairy products almost entirely.

Expect more and more of your diners to look for dairy-free alternatives to common menu items, including dairy-free cakes and desserts; where eggs can be easily substituted without a negative effect on taste or texture.

Nut-based milks are also proving more and more popular each year, with soya, almond and hazelnut milk becoming top of some shopping lists. Not only do they offer a perfect and flavoursome alternative to cows milk, they actually have a longer shelf life, and in some cases sweetened versions still contain less calories than semi-skimmed milk per litre.

Cold brew coffee

We’re a little bit ashamed to add this to a list of 2017 food trends, strictly speaking this isn’t even a food, and cold brew coffee was one of the slow-burning but incredibly popular coffee drinks of 2016.

Still, we think it will continue to increase in popularity, and reign supreme in coffee shops, cafes and supermarkets alike. With more companies looking to get in on the action, many coffee chains are or have replaced iced coffee with cold brew entirely!

If the coffee industry is pushing the product, then it is sure to see restaurants around the country follow suit in the coming months. You can never be too prepared in the catering business, so come summer time, make sure you are fully versed in all things cold brew.

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