Peace on earth and goodwill to all menus with this week's new products, ranging from ethical organic coffee to royal sandwiches - and don't forget, it's Chinese New Year soon
Giant leap for Ravioli
Handmade giant ravioli has been a favourite dish for chefs in this country for some years now, but Italian food supplier Bri-Tal believes it has a first with its mass-produced version from Italy.The company has developed a new range of filled ravioli products including salmon and prawn, Tuscan bean (with whole bean chilli), and spinach and ricotta. Each piece measures 15cm x 8cm and weighs 90g when cooked. With sauce, the company suggests that one piece is enough as a starter and two as a main course. Price: from 40p per piece, depending on filling. Available from: Bri-Tal 01732 763221, www.bri-tal.co.uk
tea for A season
Winterdream is a new seasonal tea infusion from German company Ronnefeldt, for those curl-up-in-front-of-the-log-fire festive moments. The tea is a blend of rooibos, blackberry leaves, orange peel, cinnamon leaves and cloves, and is available as part of the company's Teavelope range - teabags individually wrapped in foil.PRICE: £28.50 per case of 250 bags. Available from: Ronnefeldt 0118 934 9424, www.ronnefeldt.com
Supplies of Kattegat codlings have been excellent quality lately, as have inshore North Sea codlings from Scarborough. Plaice supplies from Iceland are expensive but are the best quality, as fish from northern waters have less roe at this time. Danish plaice, however, from more southerly waters, are too expensive and full of roe. Supplies of tuna are scarce. Prices have, therefore, gone up. Swordfish and marlin supplies are steady. Farmed halibut, farmed tilapia, coley, Cornish scallops and farmed striped bass should all keep steady prices. Monkfish, Dover sole and redfish, however, are all expensive. Salmon prices should have settled and are not expected to rise.
Source: M&J Seafood 01296 588230 www.mjseafoods.com
Sandwich board
Royal Warrant holder Daily Bread supplies upmarket sandwiches to the BBC, the Royal Opera House and Buckingham Palace as well as to several airlines. Its new menu includes several varieties of pretzels, such as salami, cream cheese and tomato, and pastrami, mustard mayonnaise and salad.It has also brought back the Yuletide Sensation, with turkey, bacon, sausage, sage-and-onion stuffing and cranberry sauce, all on cranberry bread. Other newcomers include mozzarella, pesto and tomato panini and goats' cheese with asparagus and pine nuts. Prices: from 65p to £1.40 per sandwich. Available from: Daily Bread 020 7498 0494, www.dailybread.ltd.uk
Soup's up
Heinz has added two new soups to its Soupe … la Carte range: Scotch broth, and broccoli and Stilton. Both soups come in frozen pellets, which are turned into soup by adding boiling water, and are ready to serve in five or six minutes. Each pack yields 15 portions. Branded Heinz soup kettles are also available. Price: £11.52 (4 x 15-portion bags). Available from: Heinz Foodservice 0800 575755
World of coffee
The Natural Coffee Company has a new range of certified organic ground coffees, including new medium and dark roast coffees, a Fairtrade Swiss Water decaffeinated coffee (a special process that decaffeinates coffee without chemicals), as well as coffees from Ethiopia, Colombia, Sumatra and Papua New Guinea.There are also two coffees approved by the Rainforest Alliance (whose mission is to protect ecosystems in the areas where coffee is grown), from Guatemala and El Salvador. Prices: ground, from £40 for the medium and dark roast coffees to £60 for the Swiss Water decaffeinated (case of 20 x 250g). Available from: The Natural Coffee Company, 01442 256625
Italian baby violet long-stem artichokes are excellent quality now, along with some stunning smooth, bulbous fennel. Trevise and radicchio are both great quality, too, and are reasonably priced. Early purple sprouting broccoli is still arriving in lovely condition. New-crop Chantenay carrots are gaining some interest, while red chard and mizuna salad leaves have been slightly up in price. New-crop pink forced rhubarb is always very popular at this time of year. The early Dutch crops will be superseded by a British crop shortly. Cape peach and nectarine quality is improving but the prices remain high.Source: Chefs' Connection, 020 7627 4809, www.chefs-connection.com
New year bird
By this time you'll already have sorted your Christmas turkey, so it's time to look ahead to the next festive bird: duck for Chinese New Year. This falls on Thursday 22 January, with 15 days of celebration to follow, and duck specialist Cherry Valley has two new products to help with the party.The first is shredded duckling meat (available in plain and Peking flavours, or with hoisin sauce), which can be used as an exotic topping for potatoes or pizza, or as a filling for more traditional pancakes.The second is honey-roast half-duckling, which weighs between 340g and 400g, is infused with honey, and can be reheated in an oven or under the grill.The company also supplies traditional whole crispy ducks. Prices: shredded duckling meat £12 per kg; honey-roast half-duckling from £3.40 each. Available from: Cherry Valley, 01472 371271, www.cherryvalley.co.uk