Tag Archives: takeaways

Takeaway hacks from top chefs

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food, food tips, takeaways, hacks, coronavirus, covid-19

We love takeaways at Frost so we thought we would share these top hacks on how to improve a takeaway using ingredients in your cupboard.

James Cochran – 12:51
Pizza: I always add soy sauce to a takeaway pizza, it brings out the sweetness in the tomato whilst intensifying the cheesey umami goodness.
Curry: Always order more naan than you need. With the leftovers, add cheese, lime pickle, plain yogurt, and chilli sauce and grill for a delicious new dish, perfect for a weekend brunch or hangover snack!
Kebab: Order a proper chicken shish kebab and when you’re waiting for it to arrive, make up a packet béarnaise sauce. Pour it all over the kebab when it’s all nice and hot. Game changer

Pip Lacey – Hicce
Pizza: Even the worst takeaway pizza can be improved with a hit of chilli. I keep lots of Thai green chillies in the freezer so I can add them to takeaway pizzas when needed. Also, if you ever see chilli oil in a sachet, grab a few extras for future pizzas and go to town with it.
Chicken Wings: Whatever cuisine you decide to order, if they do chicken wings – add them! Chicken wings are always a good idea.
Sushi: Always ask for extra wasabi with any Japanese takeaway. If the flavours are lacking then the wasabi will add a welcome hit of heat and always make sure you have soy sauce In the house.
Curry: Keep a jar of mango chutney in the house. They never send enough with the poppadoms and always get two poppadoms each so you’re not fighting over the crumbs.

Tom Booton – The Grill, The Dorchester
Burger: If I get a burger delivered, I have to make my dirty mayonnaise for the chips. It’s made up of two parts mayonnaise, one part tomato ketchup, one tablespoon chopped capers & gherkins and a dash of tabasco to taste. I always have a pot of it in the fridge! It’s banging with a steak.

Ben Tish – The Stafford Collection
Curry: If I’m ordering an indian, I’ll always get roti on the side. To refresh them, I get a frying pan very hot and then flash fry the roti on both sides for a minute or so. It gets them nice and fresh and crispy. Also chopped fresh coriander and a squeeze of lemon juice adds a zip to any curry if it needs livening up a bit.

Martin Sweeney – The Petersham
Fish and chips: Unless you’re eating them right away, ask for just salt and add your favourite vinegar when you get home, this will keep the chips from getting sweaty and soggy in the bag. Mix brown sauce and vinegar and get dipping, it sounds odd but it’s a staple in Edinburgh and it works surprisingly well!
Curry: The most consistently disappointing thing about curries is the condiments. Knock up a quick raita at home from natural yogurt, cucumber and mint and keep a jar of good quality mango chutney handy. Give soggy naans a flash in the oven to re-crisp.
Fried chicken: Fried chicken goes well with pickled gherkins – the salt and vinegar compliments the hot, crispy chicken wonderfully. Slice up some gherkins at home for a sour refresher between bites of chicken. I’d also mix a bit of pungent blue cheese with jarred mayonnaise for a great cheesy dip.

Sara Lewis – Vintry & Mercer
Curry: For the two of us, our usual failsafe order is one crunchy starter, one rice, a veggie side dish, a main and a naan bread. Follow that equation and you can’t go wrong! I always love to make a dipping yogurt when we’re waiting for the delivery with natural yogurt, add a little smoked paprika and some lemon zest, some dried mixed herbs and finely sliced cucumber. To jazz up the rice dish, we always saute some onions, peas and egg with turmeric and occasionally a pinch of saffron so we can turn our regular pilau into a yummy fried rice.
Pizza: If we are ordering a pizza, we love to add some fresh rocket and parma ham on the top and a drizzle of Spanish extra virgin olive oil. Delicious!

Coronavirus SARS-COV-2 Health Advice From GPDQ’s Dr Gero Baiarda

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NHS GP Dr Gero Baiarda is one of the hundreds of GPs currently on-call at GPDQ – the UK’s leading GP-on-demand service. Dr Baiarda has myth-busted 10 common beliefs associated with the SARS-COV-2:

The virus is a living organism that we can kill. It is not alive. It is a protein chain of RNA within a protective layer of fat. Since the virus is a protein super molecule rather than a living organism, you cannot kill it. It will, however, decay spontaneously given enough time. The time it takes to break down depends on the environmental temperature, humidity and type of material upon which it settles.

People are most contagious before they even know they have the virus. This is untrue. Infected cells are invaded and destroyed by the virus, allowing millions of new viruses to burst forth and be shed on surfaces or passed to other people. Spread is most effective, therefore, in coughed droplets. Patients who are asymptomatic can, however, pass on the virus as soon as they are infected.

SARS-COV-2 is a hardy virus. It isn’t. SARS-COV-2 is surprisingly fragile. The only protection it has is a thin outer layer of lipid or fat. That is why any soap or detergent (both of which break down fat) will destroy it – even washing up liquid works well. By dissolving the external lipid layer of the virus, the virus is rendered completely inert and unable to penetrate human cells. Hence why washing hands often with soap and water is so important.

If delivery drivers wear gloves, they won’t spread it. This is wrong. Every item that a gloved hand touches can then be contaminated. According to a recent study from the New England Journal of Medicine, the virus can live up to eight hours on cardboard. To stay safe, the best advice is not to touch the parcel until ideally the following day.

The virus can’t be passed on by food. It can be transferred easily. If someone who has the virus on their hands touches food, it is very likely to become contaminated for many hours. To denature and inactivate the virus, food should either be washed or cooked at 65 degrees celsius at least for 4 minutes or more.

Alcohol-based sanitizer with a 60 percent alcohol concentration is as effective as washing your hands in soap and water. Wrong. Squirting a little bit of alcohol gel on your palms and rubbing them together is not effective. You need to cover the entire surface of both hands including fingers and thumbs, but this should be done only after the hands are free of any residues – such as after sneezing. The small nozzle on bottles of sanitizer are part of the problem, as people assume a small amount is ample.

Drinking alcohol will prevent people getting the virus. This is not true. The only alcohol that will help to prevent the spread of the SARS-COV-2 is that in hand sanitizer. This is only for external use, and even then, it is only effective if it has a concentration of 60 percent or above, if you use enough, and in the right way.

Moisturising hands after washing reduces cleanliness. Incorrect. Moisturizing the skin is very important. The virus can lodge itself in damaged skin on your hands cracked by repeated washing, so it’s important to try to avoid this. Keeping fingernails short will reduce the risk of sheltering and passing on the virus too.

Washing hands isn’t as important when self-isolating, as you’re all virus-free. Wrong. If there are any external items (shopping / deliveries / post etc) entering your home, hand washing remains important. Every time you wash your hands you will break the chain of infection. If in doubt, give them a wash! Do this for at least 20 seconds with warm, soapy water and if you have paper towels that you can throw away, this is better than using a communal towel. If using towels, dedicate one to each person in the house, keep them separate, and wash them daily.

Vinegar is good for keeping bathrooms and kitchens free of the virus. Incorrect. Vinegar will not work against SARS-COV-2 and is not advised. The cleaning of bathrooms, kitchens and surfaces is still best carried out with hot water from the tap and a surface detergent as you have always done. If you have a case of SARS-COV-2 in your house and want to disinfect common areas, you can use a dilution of household bleach or hydrogen peroxide – this is a mild antiseptic.