.

This week I’d like to spend some time writing about the importance of high standards in food hygiene. It is obviously an essential issue to me as a food maker & seller, since, if my customer were to get food poisoning/ or find foreign objects in the product, I would get prosecuted (!), let alone get a bad reputation, I’d have to quit the stall & put an end to my passion!
.

The reason why I decided to write about this rather difficult subject here is so that I can revisit what I have learnt (I did a short course on Food Hygiene & obtained a certificate prior to doing my stall), & also to share this information with you, as pretty much all of it is of a beneficial piece of advice that can be used in anyone’s home.
It’s an ultra lengthy subject, covering topics such as correct food storage, cleaning, etc, so I’m aiming to write up about these in bit by bit series!
.

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

.

So first off, lets wash our hands before we handle our food.

Sounds like a piece of cake? Not worth covering as a subject? Well please persevere & read on, you’d be surprised to know how it is worth covering as a first subject, aswell as to fully master the art of hand washing! When I did my hygiene course, I myself was surprised about how little I knew about how to effectively & correctly wash my hands!
.

Some key facts to persuade you to wash correctly:

• Hands are the main route for transferring food poisoning bacteria to your food
• Effective & frequent hand washing prevents the spread of cold & flu
• Even though hands may appear to be clean, they may carry germs or microorganisms that are capable of causing disease
• It is important to know how to wash properly because as you can see from the diagram below, there are parts that are often missed:

.

Wash hands when:

• entering the kitchen
• before preparing food
• after touching raw food such as meat, eggs
• after touching waste or the bin
• after cleaning
• after blowing the nose, even if you’ve used layers of tissue to do so
• after touching an animal
• after changing a nappie
• after using the telephone
• after smoking
• often when someone in your home is sick

.

Step-by-step:

• 1. Remove rings & watches.
• 2. Wet hands & wrists thoroughly with warm running water.
• 3. Use soap & lather thoroughly.
• 4. Rub hands together – Right over left, left over right.
• 5. Palm to palm, interlace your fingers & continue scrubbing by sliding your fingers back and forth. Clean under your nails as well. Steps 4 & 5 should take atleast 20 seconds. For a visual guide to this, see my pictures below.
• 6. Rinse the hands with clean running water thoroughly.
• 7. Use disposable paper towel for drying (Don’t use a common hand towel – remember that germs thrive on moist surfaces). Make sure you dry your hands thoroughly too, as damp hands also spread bacteria.
• 8. Turn off tap using the paper towel, to protect your hands from recontamination.
• 9. If you were washing in the rest room, use a clean paper towel to open the door.

.

I found a quicktime movie of hand washing on a medical site, so click here to view their page.

.

On Thursdays & Fridays (my weekly baking days), I probably wash my hands atleast 50 times… Which, despite it being undeniably total neccesity for hygiene sakes, the down-side of it is it strips moisture and the natural oil from my skin, & it’s always dry n’ itchy… I feel as though my hands alone have aged dramatically since I started the stall… I use hand cream if I remember to do so – but I refuse to wear gloves to bed like my mom does – that’s like admitting that I’m turning in to real mumsy character…!

.

On Wednesday last week, a Japanese Newspaper called UK JACK (a weekly publication circulating mainly in London) had published a small article about me! Click this link to see the jpeg in full size.
;-)

Many thanks to Naoko-san, Kunichika-san, & Chie-san for making this happen.

;-)

So for this week’s blog entry, I’ve translated the article in to English:

.

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
.

THIS WEEK’S PERSONALITY

.

What prompted you to come to the UK?

I came to this country when I was 6 due to my father’s work. At first it was only meant to be for 3 years. But have now approached the 25th year!

.

What is your activity here?

After graduating with a Graphic Design degree from St. Martins, I worked as a Designer for 6 years. Upon becoming pregnant, I had a lot of time to spend at home, which was when I realized my passion for making desserts. This passion saw me through a hobby to now regularly selling them!

.

What is your motto?

“To live each & everyday to the full”. Even when I’m feeling tired, or feeling down, I try to turn thoughts in to action.
.

What do you love & hate about yourself?

I like the part of me which obsessingly pursues what ever it is I’m ‘in’ to. But hate the part of me that is easily flustered & is stubborn/ obstinate.

.

What do you love & hate about the UK?

It’s very easy going here. I like that. But I dislike that there is a big gap when it comes to the quality of state schools available, & well-to-do families with more money to spend (ie: to afford to live in a good school catchment area) get better education for their children.
.

What surprised you in UK?

Rice pudding.

.

What three words describe London?

Relaxed, bad-transport & dirty…
.

Which tourist destination did you like?

A small town called Padstow in Cornwall, & it’s surrounding areas. It’s quiet & peacefully still as if time had stopped.

.

When you want something delicious in UK…

I buy fresh & yummy ingredients at Broadway Market & cook at home!

.

What did you think was ‘good/ inspirational’ recently?

Louis Hamilton of F1. His eyes remind me that of my son’s. I wish for my son to be able to have a big dream, have the strength to pursue it & ‘get it’, just like Hamilton did.

.

Anything made you angry recently?

I don’t get angry much.
.

Who do you respect?

The Head Pastry Chef at the Waldorf. He gave me the astonishing opportunity to work in a five-star hotel kitchen – despite the fact I had no professional patiserrie experience what-so-ever! People like him who give chances to others selflessly is inspiring.

.

What do you treasure?

A little embarassing to say, but it’s the love of my family…!

.

What do you miss from Japan?

Every Japanese people I know says MOS BURGER is really good, so I’d LOVE to eat it one day!!

.

What would you like to take back to Japan?

I’d like to introduce my friends in Japan to Porridge. It’s delicious with honey…

.

What would you like to do next?

I’d love to turn my recipes & stories I write in my blog in to a book. I might even want to write a fictional novel… And when I have more time, develop the Coco&Me brand!

.

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

(Left column: smooth, & crocodile pattern egg moulds. Middle column: the lustrously sheen egg halves prior to packaging. Right column: the final packaged product with label & more chocolate goodies inside!)

.

For this Easter I have managed to make 18 large eggs, & about a 100 solid chocolate bunnies. These are all two-toned – a swirl in one colour, & then another colour to complete the shape. Inside, I have put in a bag of assorted El Rey couverture chocolate buttons, & a chocolate bunny.

.

One day I’d like to write a (lengthy) post about how to make these eggs, as it’s actually not so difficult to make & the satisfaction level goes mile high when the eggs come out of the mould super-shiny, just like how every good quality chocolates should do. You just know that the taste of these chocolate eggs would meets your high anticipation…
.

But for now, I’ll just quickly explain the making process:

.

How to make Easter Eggs:

• 1. temper chocolate
• 2. make a swirly pattern in to your (half) egg moulds
• 3. temper chocolate which is another colour from your swirl
• 4. pour it in the mould
• 5. pour back the chocolate from the egg in to your bowl, so that you are essentially left with a coating/ film of chocolate on the mould surface
• 6. Wait slightly, & then pour again for another coating so that the egg shell becomes thicker
• 7. When the preferred thickness of the egg shell is achieved, thoroughly let it solidify
• 8. De-mould. It should come out easily if your chocolate was tempered correctly!
• 9. Place a bag of sweets, etc in the egg
• 10. Prepare a flat tray with tempered chocolate, & dip the edge of one side of the egg. Stick the two egg sides together
• 11. Let it dry completely & then package!

(The paper discs make the display colourful despite it being only two types of Macarons!)

.

Macarons. Macarons. The Heavenly Macarons.

.

They are what dessert foodie’s Heaven is made out of. Delectable morsels that have a smooth domed surface, which encases a texture that can only be described as soft, gooey, slightly chewy… Mmmm… Which you’d be munching slowly… savoring every bite… with the ganache chocolate centre combining in your mouth… Mmmm… But then… will be finished before you know it! Ahh… Just imagine Homer Simpson’s drooling passion for his Donuts – that same passion applies to me about Macarons…

.

I sell pink Macarons (with raspberry jam + ganache centre) & chocolate Macarons (with dark ganache centre) at my stall. I would love to sell many different coloured ones, as one of the attractions of these morsels is the array of colours it could come in, irresistably displayed like cute buttons. But work-time-wise, I am at my limit. I already make more than ten types of cakes every week, & chocolate truffles, etc, on top of that… Pink & chocolate colours are by far the most popular at the market it seems, so I’ll stick to those colours for now!
.
So without further ado, here is the recipe(s) for Macarons.
I’d be explaining the base recipe which you’d use to create any colour Macaron you’d like. And then I’ll also list the ingredients list for Chocolate Macarons, which requires you to swap some of your almond powder with cocoa powder.
.
Warning:
… … This dessert is very difficult to master. A perfect Macaron MUST have ‘THE FOOT’ which is the raggedness around the edges. It mustn’t come out cracked. It must be round. Each Macaron must be of same size.
… … So I’m afraid it’s all about trials & tribulations! I’m yet to meet anyone who’d made it perfectly from their first go. It took me numerous attempts with recipes from many sources to get it looking alright enough for me to sell. To have to try again & again til perfection is a test of endurance for your love of Macarons. Just remember, every single step in the recipe is important, otherwise, sorry to say, you’re doomed for failure.
… … Also, please remember that everyone’s oven is different. Is it fan or convection, is it pretty old & not precise with temperature, does it have heat spots… (I have a heat spot on the right for example). Every oven has it’s own knack. So I recommend the use of an oven thermometer! This little biscuit requires preciseness.
.
Although despite these warnings, please don’t be intimidated by its complexities. Try! & besides, you’d always be able to eat them test batches for yourself, right!? (Like I do). Surely no harm done… ;-)
.
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

.
Macarons Recipe:
Makes approximately 16 sides (but all dependent on how big you pipe it)
.
Ingredients:

• 50g Almond powder
• 90g Icing sugar
• Liquid food colouring (optional)
• (and for the meringue the following:)
• 60g Egg whites (about 2-3 eggs worth), at room temperature
• 30g Icing sugar
• For the centre: jam, buttercream, or ganache (5:4 ratio of cream & chocolate. Read below for the recipe)

.
Prepare:
a. Sift almond powder & the icing sugar TWICE. It’s your chance to get rid of the not-so-fine almond powders.
b. Line baking tray with cut-to-size baking paper (or prefably a silpat if you’ve got one). Place this tray on top of another tray (Doubling up the tray delays the heat cooking the Macaron from the bottom. This insures that the outer surface is dried up first before the inside starts to lift it up. This is what makes that all important ‘foot’ & the smooth surface that is not cracked).
c. Have a piping bag ready.
.
Method:

• 1. Whisk the egg whites with the icing sugar. Whisk until stiff peaks.
• 2. (Optional) Add food colouring (Literally droplet at a time, as these droplets paint the whites unapetizingly vivid if you’re too generous. But also remember that the colour intensity will be slightly less once you incorporate the dry ingredints later!). Mix it in to the whites.
• 3. Deposit the pre-sifted dry ingredients (almond powder & icing sugar) in to the white in one go.
• 4. Use the spatula to fold it in. Once all the dry ingredients has been incorporated & dissapeared, you must check wether you’ve reached perfect consistency. Test by lifting up the dough with your spatula – HOW DOES THE DOUGH FALL? If it is not falling down in ‘GENTLE’ continuous ribbons, try mixing it a tiny bit more. The technique for mixing at this point is to “fold & press” your spatula against the side of the bowl to deflate the air out of the whites. Do this til you’ve passed this vital ‘dough fall’ test. But just remember, don’t over mix it either… (This folding process is called ‘macaronage’. This is the most tricky bit of Macaron making. I find that you can only know how much one should fold by practising again & again…)
• 5. Spatula the mixture in to a piping bag. (tip: having the bag over something like a juice decanter like the picture below is much easier than the professional way!)
• 6. (skip this if you’re using silpat) Scrape the left over mixture from the now empty mixing bowl & smear it under all four corners of the baking paper. It’ll act as a glue to stick the paper to the tray.
• 7. Pipe 3-4cm rounds on to the baking paper. Make sure to leave atleast 2cm around it as it will spread later.
• 8. Once all piped, drop the tray horizontally on to your work surface to knock some air bubbles out & to spread the dough out a bit. (If you’re doing this at night, & you’re worried you’d wake your kid upstairs (for example), layer some kitchen towels on the work surface to dumb the sound!)
• 9. Leave it aside for 20-30 minutes. This is to dry the surface of your macarons. After the time is up, check how dry it is by gently touching the surface. Does the dough stick back? Leave it aside for another 10 minutes. Once it’s not sticky, proceed to the next step.
• 10. Prepare your oven shelves – you’d want to place your trays on middle shelf. I’d like to cover the shelf above it with foil so that there’s no direct heat hitting my Macarons & discolouring it brown.
• 11. Pre-heat oven to 190 degrees.
• 12. Pop your trays in. (Make sure they are doubled up!!) Sit by your oven with your oven gloves.
• 13. Once ‘the foot’ graciously appears (it’s usually after 4 – 5 minutes), & has reached it’s maximum height, open the oven & quickly but safely take the bottom tray away (meaning don’t double it up anymore). Place the macarons tray back in the oven.
• 14. Change the temperature dial to 170 degrees.
• 15. Bake it for another 5 – 7 minutes. If the colour of the surface is starting to brown, turn the oven off, keep the door shut, & bake it with the remaining confined temperature.
• 16. Leave aside to cool together with the hot baking tray.
• 17. Once cooled, you’d have to remove it off the baking paper. To do this, you dab water on the baking paper under each Macaron & wait a few seconds. The paper should peel off easily without giving. Just do this process slowly & patiently – these Macarons are delicate stuff (if you’re using silpat, just use a knife & slide them off). Now, you can either go to the next step, or decide to store these discs in a consealed tupperware – it’ll keep for several days.
• 18. Pair up the Macarons.
• 19. Pipe the ganache centre mixture (Please read the ganache recipe below) or any other mixture of your choice & sandwich the Macarons together.
• 20. Place in a tupperware & store it in a refrigerator.
• 21. Best eaten the next day!

.
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
.
1:1 Ganache centre recipe:
.
Ingredients:
50g of fresh double cream
40g of dark chocolate
1. Have the chocolate ready in a mixing bowl.
2. Heat cream in a smallest saucepan you have. Bring it to simmering point
3. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate.4. Leave to stand for 10 seconds. Then use your spatula to mix it in – SLOWLY – from the centre, incorporating more cream from the sides as you do it.
.
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
.
Chocolate Macaron Recipe:..Ingredients:
45g Almond powder
90g Icing sugar
5g Cocoa powder
Red liquid food colouring
(and for the meringue the following:)
60g Egg whites (about 2-3 eggs worth), at room temperature
30g Icing sugar.Method:
Please follow the basic recipe above. The red food colour will add that extra richness to the chocolate colour. To make green tea Macarons, you can user the same measurements as this – just swap cocoa to green tea powder, and omit the red colour.
.x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x.
“AHHH. Donuts Macarons… What can’t they do.” – adaptation quote from Homer Simpson…!
.Update 20.06.07

ps: Which is the correct way to spell – macaron or macaroon? The original french version is ‘macaron’. But the english version seems to be ‘macaroon’… Pronounced with the ‘oo’ too. But doesn’t that point toward the American Coconut Macaroons…, not the French kind? If anybody knows, please advise me!!

.

This week, I decided to take a break from my hectic schedule. I really needed a break from everyday life, which I do love & enjoy, but also grinds me in to a heap of tired state.

.

So I took this Saturday off. There were no pre-orders for big cakes, & the Easter chocolate fever is yet to come. – We planned to do a day trip to a county town called Lewes (East Sussex. It’s near Brighton), where friends of ours live who had left London last Autumn for a better life there (good thinking!).

.

Leaving the house 10am, & thinking that our car journey would be around 2 hours, we left high spirited. It’s so unusual to have a day off on a Saturday, it felt good to make a proper day out of it. We had our car-nav device which would guide us there no problem.

.

BUT… somehow, we managed to spend almost 3 hours on just getting to Streatham! Still, we drove despite being hit by bad traffic everywhere, I mean in a seriously bad way (which was a test of composure indurance). THEN…, our bad luck got nailed down, as we hit a road closure on our exit on a roundabout. We follow the diversion signs – which brings us back to the same roundabout! Jeez, it did not make sense. The diversion signs were just not good enough – pointing this way, that way. D kept his cool throughout & try another route, but again we were at the same roundabout… We program the car-nav to come up with alternate route. but try as it might, it would try to take us back to this god-damn roundabout a number of times…

.

At this point, we were already driving 4 hours. The thought of another 1 hour drive to get to their house, spend a measly 2 hours with our friends & then face another long long time getting home (with an active toddler strapped in to his car seat), in time for his bedtime…, it would be just plain madness. We U-turned home…

.