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Daily Maverick
9 hours ago
- General
- Daily Maverick
AirFryday: Fish au gratin, my dad's way
Fish finished in the oven with a gratin of onions and cheese is a splendid thing, and one of my prized memories of the home food of my youth. It occurs to me often, these days, that my dad had a much bigger influence on me and my love for cooking than I had realised when I was younger. As well as his proper pork pies in the Melton Mowbray style, he loved to make his 'fish au gratin' which, in his broad Yorkshire accent, didn't sound remotely French. More like fisher gra'an, the vowels separated by a glottal stop in the London tradition. When I was living in England circa 2004 I trekked north to Yorkshire to see my cousins and stopped, en route, at Melton Mowbray, where I went into its legendary pork pie shop and emerged with a lovely, golden pie which I ate in the street. It was perfect, and it was exactly the same as my dad's, in my memory at least. In his world, fish au gratin was (and, always for me, still is) fish baked in the oven with a topping of golden fried onions and grated cheese, which meld together under the grill while the cheese melts and turns golden and, depending on the variety of cheese, either molten or crisp, or a bit of both. The Langbaken Williston cheese I used for it the other day melted and then crisped into a delicious crust, which was really good, although my dad's was always more molten. Either way, it's a treat. The technique of gratination in an oven (or today in an air fryer, optionally) is also applied to potato bakes such as Pommes Dauphinois, lasagne from Italy, Greek zucchini bakes, and everyone's favourite childhood supper, macaroni cheese. And what is a perfect mound of cauliflower cheese, finished under the grill of an oven or air fryer, if not a gratin… and better still if it has a few light breadcrumbs on top to turn perfection even better. I bought fresh hake while in Gqeberha last weekend and it's almost like a different fish, when used fresh, than a fillet of frozen hake is. Not that I have a problem with frozen hake, especially if you take it directly from the freezer to the air fryer. I cooked these fresh hake fillets in the air fryer, but you can pan-fry it first if you prefer, but not all the way through as it needs to continue cooking under an oven grill or in an air fryer. If you own the latter, it would be wiser to do the whole cook in the air fryer. (Serves 2) Ingredients 1 large onion, thinly sliced 2 Tbsp butter Black pepper and salt for the onions Picked thyme leaves Olive oil cooking spray 2 x 250 g fresh hake fillets, skin on 200 g grated mature Cheddar cheese or similar Salt and white pepper to taste Method Fry the sliced onion in butter, with some picked thyme leaves and seasoned with back pepper and a little salt, slowly until golden and caramelised. Set aside. Grate cheese and set aside. Preheat the air fryer at 200℃ for at least 5 minutes. Spray the basket and both sides of the fish. Season the fish lightly on both sides with salt and white pepper. Place skin-side up in the air fryer and cook it for 6 minutes at 200℃. Turn and spoon the onions on top, then sprinkle grated Cheddar on top, generously. good old chips, would be a perfect match. DM
BBC News
23-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Care home in Melton rated inadequate over safety and treatment
A care home in Melton Mowbray has been rated inadequate and placed in special from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) found stained mattresses, rusty showers and unpleasant smells when they visited The Amwell, in Asfordby a report published on Friday, the watchdog also said staff were unable to show residents were being kept hydrated and were not carrying out personal care often enough to ensure their good home has apologised for the standard of care offered to its 88 residents at the time of the inspection, in December, and said it was taking action to address the issues raised. The CQC said it had implemented special measures to protect residents and would closely monitor the home as it tries to improve. The CQC said the home was rated inadequate for its safety, effectiveness, and said they found a "closed culture" among senior leaders who did not understand the challenges the home and the family were uncomfortable about speaking out about problems, the CQC report said the lack of care led to family members complaining their relatives were left smelling "strongly unpleasant".It also said there was a case where a resident fell ill during a medical emergency but staff had not sought medical CQC added the home did not make sure that people's care and treatment was effective because they did not discuss their health, care, wellbeing and communication needs with them. Staff could not understand people's needs because their care plans had several contradictions, the CQC also spoke negatively about residents and families within their earshot. 'Left in distress' Craig Howarth, CQC's deputy director of operations in the Midlands, said: "Leaders didn't make sure they employed enough staff with the right knowledge and skills. "One relative told us staff leave residents in the lounge without supervision, leading to arguments and disagreements. "Another relative told us they heard people regularly cry out for help from their rooms. "This is unacceptable that people were being left in distress."The home managed medicines unsafely, putting people at risk of harm," Mr Howarth added."Some prescription items were out of date, and room and fridge temperatures exceeded the recommended range. "Staff didn't update medicine charts, making it unclear if people received their medication putting their health at serious risk."We have told leaders where they urgently need to make rapid and widespread improvements and hope to see these plans deliver better experiences for people." A spokesperson for the home said the health and wellbeing of residents was its "absolute priority" and that it took the CQC report extremely seriously."We would like to reassure our residents and their families that the findings of this inspection, which took place last year, are in no way reflective of the current quality of care being delivered at the home today," they home said a new leadership team was in place and there was an action plan to improve staff training."We sincerely apologise that at the time of the inspection we fell short of the high standards we set for ourselves," the spokesperson added."However, we look forward to welcoming the CQC back into our home and we are confident that they will reaffirm the positive steps that have been made."
Telegraph
22-05-2025
- Health
- Telegraph
The best and worst supermarket pork pies, from ‘claggy' to ‘beautifully crunchy'
Who ate all the pies? Me. At the World Pie Awards, which takes place every year in Melton Mowbray, I've judged vegetarian pies, football pies and steak pies. I've done novelty pies (the full English breakfast pie was a mistake, mostly because of the baked beans) and wedding pies which included multi-tier, pastry-rose-bedecked creations, as well as a glorious 'timpano', the pie at the centre of the classic Stanley Tucci film Big Night. Best of all, one year I was promoted to the top table to judge the king of picnic food, the Melton Mowbray pork pie. So when I set about collecting supermarket pork pies to test for this article, in honour of picnic season, I was delighted to find that all bar one of the single portion (around 140g) pies were in fact, Melton Mowbray pies – i.e., produced in a specific area around Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire, with a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status under the UK's Protected Food Names scheme. Skip to: How we tested The taste test What sets a Melton Mowbray pork pie apart from a regular pork pie is that it contains uncured pork meat, rather than meat that's been treated with curing salt, containing nitrites and/or nitrates. This means it will be a muted beige-pink when cut open, perhaps still a little rosy in the middle, but not the admittedly jolly Percy Pig colour of a cured pork pie. It also arguably means it is more healthy, as cured meat has been linked to bowel cancer. However, loaded with saturated fat, wrapped in pastry (yup, refined carbs) and with a generous helping of salt, no one could call a pork pie of any kind health food. Melton Mowbray pies are also always made by shaping the pastry on a wooden cylinder called a dolly. The dolly is removed and the pie is filled and topped, before being baked without any additional support. Other pork pies are generally baked in metal rings which keep the sides ramrod straight, while a Melton Mowbray's girth bulges voluptuously. Partnered with an expert judge at the World Pie Awards I learnt to look for a 'shoulder' of fat on top of the jelly that should fill the gap between the meat and the pastry. This thin layer of white pork fat is an indication that the pie has been filled with the liquid jelly while the pie is still hot. Probably more important is the pastry, so crisp and rich the knife rasps as it cuts in. Soft pastry has no place in a pork pie, except in the smooth pale inner lining before the layer of deeply savoury jelly around well-seasoned meat. Picnic nirvana, however you judge it. How we tested All the pies were brought to room temperature, unwrapped and assigned a letter to anonymise them. They were judged blind.
BBC News
14-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Plans for 900 homes as part of major Melton Mowbray extension
Plans have been put forward for hundreds of new homes as part of a massive extension of Melton Borough Council has earmarked land off Kirby Lane for 2,000 homes under the Melton South Sustainable Neighbourhood Bloor Homes has submitted an application for 900 homes, with a consultation open until 2 December, the authority's planning committee approved 1,200 homes for a similar project in the north of the town, which will see almost £30m paid towards local facilities and services in the area. The local plan for south of the town, which was approved in 2021, will include new schools and employment land, the Local Democracy Reporting Service the 900-home development, Bloor said there would be a large area of "semi-natural" woodland and "substantial" areas of green space including a park, hedgerow walks and a green approved, there would be about 130 affordable homes and the scheme would be built in seven Davidsons has also been contracted to build houses on other parts of the authority added 1,700 of the homes in the scheme would be built by 2036.
Daily Mirror
27-04-2025
- Business
- Daily Mirror
EXCLUSIVE: Scotch whisky producers see licensing costs slashed under change to tax rules
Scotch whisky makers can raise a toast as licensing costs are set to be slashed by up to 95% from this summer. Currently, producers of traditional spirits are required to pay the taxman up to £11,410 every two years in verification fees. But from July, all spirit makers will play a flat £250 fee every two years until June 30 2031. It means that products protected by geographic indicator (GI) status such as Scotch whisky or Somerset Cider Brandy won't be clobbered by sky-high tax bills. The status protects the reputation of products whose quality or recipe is specific to an area, such as Cornish pasties, Melton Mowbray pork pies and Yorkshire Wensleydale cheese. Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury James Murray said: 'Today's announcement rips up red tape to make exporting cheaper for our spirit makers, reducing costs and levelling the playing field between producers. 'This government's Plan for Change is delivering for British business and growing our economy, putting more money in working people's pockets.' New fees coming in from July 1 will provide a minimum 45% cut in fees to all businesses registered under the scheme and save the average Scotch Whisky producer £14,700 between now and 2031.
