Missing in the Amazon: the disappearance
Three years ago, British journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian indigenous defender Bruno Pereira vanished while on a reporting trip near Brazil's remote Javari valley. The Guardian's Latin America correspondent, Tom Phillips, investigates what happened in the first episode of a new six-part investigative podcast series. Find episode 2 – and all future episodes – by searching for 'Missing in the Amazon'
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The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
‘The closest I tried to homemade': the best supermarket mayonnaise, tasted and rated
I've spent my whole adult life making mayonnaise from scratch, turning my nose up at store-bought versions with chef-like snobbery, but after this tasting, I'm ready to accept that jarred mayonnaise is a valid addition to the store-cupboard. The Guardian's journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more. I wanted to consider in more depth what it is we want from a mayonnaise. According to Harold McGee in On Food and Cooking, mayonnaise is an emulsion of two liquids that don't normally combine – oil and water – stabilised by egg yolk's lecithin, which allows the oil to form tiny droplets dispersed in the water and creates that wonderful, unctuous, fatty texture we so love. I think texture is the No 1 priority but, of course, flavour and the quality of the ingredients are also important factors. Mayonnaise lubricates and adds umami savouriness to our food, making otherwise bland ingredients desirable. I prefer a gently flavoured mayonnaise with a subtle tang of lemon juice or white-wine vinegar, but most shop-bought options, including 'premium products', use spirit vinegar, which gives them the aroma of a chip-shop pickled egg. Mayonnaise isn't meant to be eaten straight from the jar, but tasting these that way was invaluable, because it let me see how each brand might have a more distinctive or pronounced sweetness or sourness or salt content. I also sampled each mayo with salad leaves and chips to see how it behaved in real-life conditions. For me, the best vehicle for mayo is a crunchy lettuce leaf or a chicken sandwich; for my wife, it's tuna. Either way, a good mayo should enhance our food. I'm normally firmly of the opinion that you get what you pay for, but surprisingly, while I'm sure the more expensive mayonnaises use higher-quality, ethically sourced ingredients, my taste buds couldn't always tell the difference; some of the humble, lower-priced options delivered just as much satisfaction as their premium counterparts. While I've discovered that there are some worthy shop-bought options that deserve a place in my pantry for convenience, there's still a special magic to homemade mayonnaise that can't be replicated in a factory. £4.50 for 500g at Waitrose (90p/100g)£4.55 for 500g at Ocado (91p/100g)★★★☆☆ This really packs a punch, but it's one of the more processed options. Naturally sweet from sake lees (the grain mash left over from making sake), which brings a unique depth, this is sweet, sour, salty and has an umami-rich profile that's enhanced by MSG and vegetable oils (soya and rapeseed), while mustard adds complexity. With a high egg yolk content of 17%, this is rich and satisfying, making it a good choice if you want full-on flavour. It's also well priced compared with its main competitor, Kewpie (see below). £3.25 for 250g at Ocado (£1.30/100g)£3.30 for 250g at Waitrose (£1.32/100g)★★★★★ A pale mustard yellow colour with a distinct scent of white-wine vinegar, egg and dijon mustard. Well emulsified but loose, this has a natural sweetness with no added sugar – a refreshing change. The vinegar acidity is clear but not overpowering, while the dijon really stands out, landing a satisfying punch. The closest I tried to homemade, with classic ingredients, and lemon juice instead of concentrate. It also uses sunflower oil rather than rapeseed oil, which I prefer for environmental reasons due to the lower pesticide levels and the natural weed-suppressing benefits of sunflowers. 99p for 500ml at Tesco (20p/100ml)★★☆☆☆ Pale ivory in colour and glossy. The aroma is eggy and acidic, probably due to the spirit vinegar, and it's thick, with a slight jelly-like consistency from the corn starch. On tasting, it's quite sweet but still enjoyable, with a clear vinegar acidity that's not overpowering. There's also a hint of lemon. Worryingly cheap (how do supermarkets make such cheap food and at what cost?), but pretty good for the bottom of the price range. £6.50 for 175g at Ocado (£3.71/100g)★★★☆☆ Dairy cream in colour, with a gentle egg aroma. This was the only mayonnaise tested that didn't have a strong acidic smell. It has a light texture, partially thickened with xanthan gum, which is perhaps used to play it safe and avoid separation. Sweet but enjoyable, with a balanced acidity and a pleasing complexity from the mustard and olive oil. It's a nice choice, but a bit disappointing given the extremely high price, especially because I usually find organic mayonnaise to be leagues ahead of conventional options. £2.50 for 170g at Ocado (£1.47/100g)★★★☆☆ Nice, golden-yolk colour with specks of mustard seed. The aroma is sour, with complex notes of egg and mustard, and it's thick-textured, with a slight jelly-like consistency. A subtle, natural sweet taste with a sour kick, though sadly the apple vinegar doesn't come through clearly, possibly due to the addition of concentrated lemon juice and white vinegar. Overall, a good all-rounder, with balanced flavours and a loose texture that maintains good emulsification. A nice option, though not a heavy hitter. B-Corp certified, meaning it meets high social and environmental performance standards. Sign up to The Filter Get the best shopping advice from the Filter team straight to your inbox. The Guardian's journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. after newsletter promotion £4.95 for 470g (500ml) at Sainsbury's (99p/100ml) £5.90 for 355ml at Amazon (£1.66/100ml)★★★☆☆ Creamy in colour, with a faint pink hue from the red-wine vinegar. The aroma is dominated by egg, with a sharp acidity. Firm and thick, with a well-emulsified consistency, and sweet with a noticeable sour tang. Mustard and a blend of vinegars (spirit, apple and red wine) add depth and complexity. The high 14% egg yolk content gives it a rich, satisfying texture and its umami-rich flavour is boosted by MSG and the preservative calcium disodium EDTA. Despite its industrial production using caged hens' eggs, Kewpie's popularity could stem as much from its brand recognition as its distinctive flavour. £2.28 for 400g at Asda (57p/100g)£2.80 for 400g at Tesco (70p/100g)★★☆☆☆ Pale cream-white, with an acidic aroma and subtle eggy notes. It has a thick texture and a jelly-like wobble. It's quite sweet but otherwise bland, with a balanced sourness and a hint of mustard in the background. Although it contains calcium disodium EDTA, there's nothing especially alarming about the ingredients list. Overall, a classic and inoffensive option. £2.90 for 540g at Tesco (54p/100g)£3.40 for 540g at Sainsbury's (63p/100g)★★☆☆☆ Snow-white in colour (an indication that little yolk is used in the recipe), with a pungent aroma of vinegar and egg. Light texture, yet stiff from the added starches. Mildly sweet, with a balanced acidity and subtle egginess, it's less salty than others. While it's neutral and inoffensive, the overall flavour is fairly bland and uninspiring. Like Hellmann's and Kewpie, it contains calcium disodium EDTA. If you're looking for a mayo without strong character, this one will fit the bill, but it falls short if you want depth and richness. £3.25 for 165g at Ocado (£1.97/100g)★★☆☆☆ A lovely pale-mustard yellow with a strong vinegar aroma. The texture is loose but well emulsified, and there's a subtle sweetness, but the acidity dominates, with a little complexity from mustard and olive oil. Disappointingly, the olive oil didn't add the depth I was hoping for, and the dominant flavour was vinegar. A nice enough mayo, but it falls way short of expectations for the price. £4 for 345g at Waitrose (£1.16/100g)£15.95 for 3 x 345g at Amazon (£1.54/100g)★★☆☆☆ A pale ivory colour and a glossy sheen. The aroma is pungent with acetic acid, and the texture is thick and slightly jelly-like. Very sweet and a touch too sour, though the mustard and olive oil bring some complexity. Made with British free-range whole eggs, it has a slightly looser texture than the others, but is still well emulsified, although there was some oil separation – a big faux-pas. £2.75 for 500ml at Waitrose (55p/100ml)★☆☆☆☆ Pale custard-yellow (coloured with paprika), with an aroma that's quite acidic from the spirit vinegar. The texture is thick and slightly jellified, and it's fairly sweet, though with a touch of sourness. The mustard flavour adds a subtle complexity. The addition of 5% olive oil adds nothing and doesn't justify the price, making it underwhelming overall.
Daily Mirror
5 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Britain 'is at war with Russia' and 'in big trouble' thanks to Donald Trump
The UK needs to adapt to the new world of warfare and prepare for its once steadfast ally in Washington to no longer come to its defence, a top defence analyst has warned The UK is "at war with Russia" and "in big trouble" as the US pivots away from blanket defence of Europe, according to the author of a strategic defence review. Fiona Hill from County Durham was the White House's chief Russia adviser, and claimed the UK was in a challenging geopolitical position - caught between "the rock" of Vladimir Putin and "the hard place" of Donald Trump 's unpredictable White House. The dual US-UK citizen has built up a major profile and was appointed as a defence reviewer appointed by Lord Robertson, a former NATO secretary general. She claimed Russia has "hardened" as an adversary in ways that have not been "fully appreciated". Speaking to The Guardian, she said Russia has been "menacing the UK in various different ways". She cited "the poisonings, assassinations, sabotage operations, all kinds of cyber attacks and influence operations". In a harrowing conclusion, Hill said "Russia is at war with us". She made a similar warning in 2015 in a revised version of a book she wrote about Putin, which reflected on the invasion and annexation of Crimea. Hill said: "We said Putin had declared war on the west." She argued Putin viewed Ukraine as part of a proxy war with the US and that he persuaded China, North Korea and Iran "to join in". She claimed Ukraine had been decoupled from wider US support as "Trump really wants to have a separate relationship with Putin to do arms control agreements and also business that will probably enrich their entourages further, though Putin doesn't need any more enrichment". In a damning assessment of the current White House, she said the UK could not rely on Washington DC for military support and that Downing Street is having to "manage its number one ally". The defence review, published earlier this week, stated the UK's longstanding assumptions about global power balances and structures were no longer certain. Hill would not be drawn on whether she has advised Downing Street on how to approach US President Donald Trump, instead stating: "The advice I would give is the same I would give in a public setting." She added the Trump White House "is not an administration, it is a court" where transactional arrangements are made. In another bleak assessment of world affairs, she said: "We can't rely exclusively on anyone any more." She argued Britain would need to have a "different mindset" based on traditional defence. She went on: "People keep saying the British army has the smallest number of troops since the Napoleonic era. Why is the Napoleonic era relevant? Or that we have fewer ships than the time of Charles II. The metrics are all off here. "The Ukrainians are fighting with drones. Even though they have no navy, they sank a third of the Russian Black Sea fleet."
Daily Mirror
6 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Desperate last moments of Rose West's victims confirmed by horror cellar finds
WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT Sadistic killers Fred and Rose West deliberately transformed their foul-smelling basement into a sordid sex dungeon, where they would carry out depraved acts against their victims Before killing their victims, Fred and Rose West would subject them to unthinkable abuse in the dark, dingy cellar that the depraved couple had transformed into their sex dungeon. Between the years 1967 and 1987, the Wests brutally tortured and slayed at least 12 vulnerable young women and girls at their Gloucestershire 'House of Horrors', 25 Cromwell Street. As detailed in the recent Netflix documentary, Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story, after unearthing human remains from beneath the Wests' patio, the search expanded to inside the property, and in particular, the couple's foul-smelling basement. Janet Leach, who acted as an appropriate adult to Fred, accompanied the killer to the cellar where he marked out the burial sites to investigating officers. Speaking in the doc, she recalled: "When I went to sleep at night, I could smell it." It was here that, beneath the floor, further bodies were recovered. A disturbing picture of the victims' final moments began to emerge, with the remains showing signs that extreme sexual abuse had taken place prior to death. As was later noted in court, the scarf used to gag Thérèse Siegenthaler, one of the deceased, had been tied into a bow, in what was viewed to be a "feminine" touch. READ MORE: Fred and Rose West's hidden secrets - 'sex cult, paedo brother and more bodies' Investigators also discovered tools Fred and Rose had used to torture their victims, forensic psychologist Dr Julian Boon previously told The Guardian: "The thing that haunted me the most was a mask that had nothing but two nose holes, so the person could breathe but couldn't see or hear. As a consequence, they could have anything done to them, and that is very frightening." Although mere minutes away from a busy shopping centre, the side entrance of 25 Cronwell Street and the lack of street lighting meant victims could be lured in without attracting notice. Criminal profiler, Dr Paul Britton, said: "These aren't people who looked like predatory psychopaths, they looked ordinary. Their activities were out of plain sight. They were able to take their victims, bind them, gag them, break their teeth. "They were able to put tubes into them to keep them alive for days and suspend them from hooks because of the nature of the building. They were shielded, and no one knew what was happening." Fred died by suicide on New Year's Day, 1995, taking with him to his grave many of the dark secrets of what happened in that cellar. The following autumn, Rose stood trial alone at Winchester Crown Court, where prosecutor Brian Leveson asserted: "[The victims'] last moments on earth were as objects of the sexual depravity of this woman and her husband". Rose, now 71, pleaded not guilty to the harrowing charges and attempted to paint herself as a wife who'd been tricked by her husband's duplicity, having had no clue that her home had become a graveyard. Her version of events ultimately did not convince the jury, and she was sentenced to life imprisonment. Meanwhile, in life, diabolical Fred had a warped view of what had unfolded, making the following comment during his police interview: "Yeah, see, you've got the killing all wrong, no, nobody went through hell, enjoyment turned to disaster, well, most of it anyway." Sadly, many of those who fell victim to the Wests' sadism lie dead and buried, unable to tell their stories, but there are those whose shocking accounts shed light on what these vulnerable girls and women were subjected to in their final hours. Giving evidence during the trial of Rose, Caroline Owens wept as she recalled how she had been seized by the Wests, who gagged her with tape, bound her and took her to Cromwell Street. It was here where was raped and sexually assaulted. Caroline had initially been offered a job as nanny to the Wests' children, but quit after just five or six weeks, going back to live with family in Cinderford, Gloucestershire. However, in the winter of 1972, she ended up back in their clutches after they lured her back into their car, beginning a vicious 12-hour ordeal that left her fearing for her life. Speaking from the dock during the trial, Caroline recalled: "I think that is when Fred said 'what are her t*** like?'. She started to grab hold of me grinning and laughing, not a nice laugh. Then she started to grab me between the legs. He pulled up and turned round in his seat and we were struggling with each other and I was trying to get her off and he turned round and started punching me and calling me names like 'b****'." It was then that she was knocked unconscious. She continued: "When I came round, my arms had been tied behind my back with a scarf and they had tape around my head all the way round my mouth and the back of my head. It was a gag. Rose was holding me, and Fred was putting the tape around." Thankfully, the then 16-year-old managed to flee the House of Horrors, and went on to make a police report. The pair were charged with indecent assault. Caroline's testimony ultimately proved crucial in putting Rose West behind bars. She later went on to detail her ordeal in the books The Lost Girl and The One That Got Away.
