SUMMER 2021
ALLERGICO Pan-Asian Special Mr Singh's Crisps Kenilworth Cantonese Takeaway Jayshree-Mukherjee Jones
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8. 12. 5. Jayshree Mukherjee-Jones talks to us about being a chef in the pandemic.
Acknowledgements: Sophie and the Allergico team would like to thank: Jayshree Mukherjee-Jones, Mr Singh’s, Kenilworth Cantonese Restaurant & Anne & Richard Wallace.
8. We talk to Kenilworth Cantonese Restaurant about all things Chinese food. 12. We review the hottest brand of crisps on the market! 20. Try your hand at our bumper Summer puzzle collection! Page 2
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THE INFORMATION AND TIPS IN THIS MAGAZINE ARE NOT TO BE SUBSTITUTED FOR MEDICAL ADVICE.
CONTENTS
THE INFORMATION AND TIPS IN THIS MAGAZINE ARE NOT TO BE SUBSTITUTED FOR MEDICAL ADVICE.
SUMMER 2021
Editor's Note Hello Allergicos! Well we’re now officially half way through 2021 and already it is proving to be a year full of equal parts hope and fear. News of the vaccine rollouts have filled us with cautious optimism whilst news of increased tension around the world has filled us with fear. All of us here at Allergico Magazine were deeply affected by the tragic anti-Asian attacks in Atlanta and the continuing pressures the community still faces around the world. With that in mind this edition celebrates the best of the UK’s British Asian food businesses as our way of showing them support. Stop Asian Hate, stay safe and I hope you enjoy our summer magazine!
Best wishes, Sophie Editor/Founder Page 3
STOP ASIAN HATE To find out more about how to help the Asian community, visit: https://www.stopasianhate.info
Allergico talks to:
Jayshree Mukherjee-Jones It’s fair to say that the Coronavirus pandemic has shaken up life for so many people, but for those who’ve had to shield due to pre-existing conditions, things have been even tougher. Jayshree Mukherjee-Jones is one of those people as she’s had to juggle drastic business changes with her ME/CFS needs. As the owner of a small cookery business, she saw a lot of her trade dry up once restrictions hit last Spring, with her usual supper clubs, dinner parties and village hall events all cancelled. We caught up with her a year after the first lockdown to ask her how she’s adapting to the current times and what advice she has for people in her situation. Page 5
2. How has the pandemic affected your job? Yes, my cookery business was badly affected. I was booked to do supper clubs and dinner parties so all got cancelled. I could not use the local village hall to do my takea- vegetables and spices. It was difficult that way. I also took redundancy from my teach- I could not see the products and touch it ing job (part -time). to see if they were ripe or suitable to buy to eat. My husband was great he shopped 3. As someone with ME/CFS, how did from local shops and tried getting lots of you manage food shopping during things I like to eat.
the pandemic?
We used online shopping and got it delivered. Used some local shops. However, I missed going to Exeter to get all the Indian
4. Has your cooking style changed during the pandemic and how? My cooking style has not really changed but I started looking more closely at what I was eating and how it was affecting my pain levels. My have a good knowledge of nutrition and use Ayurvedic principles in my day-to-day life and made me look at giving up painkillers and other pain relief. I also started taking more time to research lots of heritage recipes handed down from my family. Using Ayurveda to heal and deal with pain.
5. What is your go-to lockdown meal? My favourite dal, rice for dinner and, we ate rotis and vegetable curries for lunch which was great. One of my absolute favourites Page 6
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It was not that difficult for me as I usually stay home due to my illness. It was only hard times when I could not see friends or family. I coped well as I kept busy with work (teaching and gardening). I cooked a lot too.
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1. What was it like having to shield during the pandemic?
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was Kolkata style Kathi rolls. Yum.
6. Do you have any advice for people in the culinary industry on how to deal with the pandemic? I think hospitality has suffered a lot. However, it was brilliant to see that how people reinvented themselves and used delivery services and cook at home packs. I do not think I can say anything that no one else has said before. Just wishing good luck and best wishes to all hospitality businesses as we are stepping slowly towards opening their businesses.
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7. What was your biggest lockdown surprise?
8. Is there anything you are looking forward to as the restrictions ease?
Saving money as we did not travel. I also enjoyed the fact that I worked from home and spending a lot of time with my husband in the house and the garden (which we are renovating).
To do more dinner parties, private functions, and cookery demonstration. I would like to go to Kolkata to see my family and eat lots of yummy food and travel around India.
9. Have you got any special projects coming up post-lockdown? Yes, I had to rethink my business and waiting on British food standards agency for results on some of my products that I wish to launch. Lot of waiting and preparing behind the scenes. Also changing my website and start blogs.
10. What message do you have for anyone else dealing with ME/CFS during the pandemic? Please, do not feel guilty about self-care and learning to say no to people. People will not like it, but they must understand you need to look after yourself. Page 7
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SUMMER 2021
Small Business Spotlight On:
Kenilworth Cantonese Takeaway The pandemic has changed the global culinary landscape, with many restaurants turning into takeaways to survive, but for Kenilworth Cantonese Takeaway, this approach is second nature as it’s been serving Warwickshire residents for nearly two decades. We caught up with Manager Yvonne Chan to ask her what makes Cantonese food so good.
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2 High St, Kenilworth, CV8 1LZ
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LOCATION:
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1. How long has the business been running in Kenilworth?
6. Why is being allergy-friendly important to your business?
We’ve been open since 2002 as a small family independent business.
Being allergy friendly is essential as we have seen a surge of food allergies over the last five years, we try to cater to everyone as much as possible.
2. Why did you choose to be a Cantonese takeaway? Being Cantonese! Therefore this was the most natural choice of food to make and share with our customers! 3. What makes Cantonese food the best?
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I’m sure every cuisine from around the world can make this statement. Each family have their own family r ecipes and we wanted to share our food because it is the best! 4. Name three dishes that you’d consider a great introduction to Cantonese food?
7. What was the biggest change for your business during the pandemic? The biggest challenge since the pandemic is changing our set up and ensuring we operate in a safe manner for both Customers and staff. 8. How has your business fared during Covid? We’ve been very fortunate to be able to open as a takeaway whilst the hospitality has taken a huge hit during COVID. 9. What are you most looking forward to now restrictions are lifting?
Cantonese sweet and sour dishes, our House special dish and Black bean When businesses can fully open up main. and visiting family and friends. A glimpse of normality. 5. What’s the spiciest dish you have? 10. If you could sum up Cantonese Most definitely the Szechuan dish, food in three words, what would they Szechuan dishes is also very popular be? in China. Simple, fast and tasty!
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SUMMER 2021
Allergico reviews:
Mr Singh's Crisps Question: what’s warmer than a Punjabi summer and louder than a Sikh wedding? The answer lies in what is, in every way the hottest crisps brand out there: Mr Singh’s. Born from Popa Singh’s (affectionately known as “Pops”) desire to make the best chilli sauce in the market to great success, they then diversified into crisps and hit the jackpot a second time. Not only are these some of the best-tasting crisps around, but they are also vegan and will fully satisfy any spice-lover’s needs. From the milder Spicy Tandoori Chicken flavour to the ultra-spicy Sweet Reaper varieties, Mr Singh’s showcases the best of traditional Indian and Kenyan flavours, paying homage to Pop’s childhood. We caught up with the company and asked them all about their mouth-watering produce and how they’ve been coping during the pandemic.
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We set up Mr Singh’s by accident in all honesty. My dad was known for his chilli sauce and people always asked for it. He had been out to try and sell it a few times without much luck. One day he came home soaking wet from the rain with a blue plastic bag in his hand containing some sauce bottles he had made. When we asked him what he was doing, he mentioned he was out trying to sell it. A few weeks later I saw a stand at the BBC Good Food Show and booked a stand for £900 on my credit card on a whim. I came home and told my family we had 9 days to make 1000 bottles of sauce and thankfully everyone said yes. We then proceeded to destroy my mum's kitchen learning how to make and bottle sauce, eventually selling out at the show. It was at the show Mr Singh’s was born - this wild family from East London with an eccentric dad making crazy hot chilli sauce.
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3. Where do you get the flavour ideas from? The Original Chilli, Lemon and Cracked Salt came from Pop's childhood in Kenya. The street food traders used to put the mix on BBQ's cobs of corn or cassava chips. We grew up with it at home and knew the same taste would be delicious on crisps
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1. Why was Mr Singh’s set up?
In 2018 we almost lost the business after handing over all of our sales to a huge distributor, including our listings with Tesco, Sainsbury's, Selfridges, Ocado, Harvey Nichols and more. In order to save the business, we "rolled the dice" on launching our crisps as we knew there was a gap in the market for super tasty and spicy crisps, especially in pubs which no one was servicing. Britain loves crisps, and we were newly Vegan at the time too so we decided to risk it all on 1 flavour. Thankfully it paid off with hundreds of pubs and bars stocking the product overnight.
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2. When did you decide to make crisps and why?
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5. What’s the spiciest crisp variety that you do? The Sweet Reaper - probably the hottest crisp in the world. It is made using the Carolina Reaper Chilli and my dad messed up the recipe by making it 25% hotter than it should have been. People loved it and so it stayed. We only made it as a dare after someone on Twitter ran a retweet competition and actually got the number of retweets we set!
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and we were right - everyone loved them. The Spicy Tandoori Crisps and the Chilli, Cheese and Onion came from missing the tastes being Vegan (almost all other crisps contain milk or whey), so we decided to create our own as we knew there were a lot of other people out there missing the flavours too. We took almost 2 years developing the taste of each flavour and again, thankfully people love how moreish and flavour packed they are, as well as tasting like cheese or tandoori chicken.
6. Has anyone made a crisp sandwich with your crisps yet and if so, how did it go? Loads of people do this. We do it. Everyone NEEDS to do this. It always ends with a big smile on your face.
4. Why did you decide to make your crisps so spicy? Our 3 main flavours are the Chilli, Lemon and Cracked Salt, Spicy Tandoori Chicken, and Chilli, Cheese and Onion - the reason they are so spicy is that we are known for spice and they are authentic. No one else is doing what we do, or as well as we do and this helps us stand out a lot.
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11. What advice would you give to similar small businesses during the pandemic? Stay calm, search for advice, think of what you CAN do and what solutions you can come up with.
7. What advice do you have to anyone about to eat really spicy food? Go for it, you will never look back. If it is ultra-hot, don't drink water because it makes it worse, eat plain rice and then some yoghurt.
8. Do you have any suggestions on how to use your company’s signature spicy sauce? Dash it on the side of your plate and dip away.
9. Why is it important to celebrate your company’s Kenyan roots as well as the Indian ones? It's what makes us, us. Without our ancestry, there is no Mr Singh’s. Without us being born and raised in the UK, being British, there is no Mr Singh’s. All of it together makes us who we are.
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12. You’re known for your hilarious newsletters and social media content, why is that such an important part of your company’s image? It's who we are, we are being ourselves. We love making people smile and telling funny stories is a part of it. We aim to do this across our social media too. Hopefully making people happy connects them to us more.
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At first, it crushed us, then we pivoted to online and had one of our best years ever!
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10. How has the pandemic treated your business?
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THE REVIEW: Tandoori Chicken Crisps Price: £1.05 per pack
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These are the mildest of Mr Singh’s crisps, but are packed full of punchy flavour. Bite after bite you get all the comforting richness of a proper Tandoori chicken, with all the warming spices coming together. If you want to try the Mr Singh’s range but you aren’t the biggest spice fan, this is for you!
Chilli, Cheese and Onion Crisps Price: £1.05 per pack What do you get when you take an iconic crisp flavour like cheese and onion and put an Indian twist on it? These beauties. What makes them stand out from the crowd is the chilli which lifts and adds a delicious kick to the familiar flavour combination. If you’re a fan of traditional crisps and want to switch up your game, go for these. Page 17
This flavour was inspired by Popa Singh’s childhood home of Kenya, where street vendors sell Mogo which are cassava chips covered in lemon, chilli and salt. The tang on these is sublime and it delivers a strong hit of both heat and flavour. Buy these if you’re looking for something a bit different.
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COMING SOON!
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Chilli, Lemon and Cracked Salt Price: £1.05 per pack
Sweet Reaper Price: £3.79 per pack As the name suggests these are made with the Carolina Reaper chilli which is the spiciest in the world with a Scoville Scale rating of between 1,569,300 and 2,200,000. Therefore, whilst these do deliver the delicious flavour expected by Mr Singh’s, approach with caution as these crisps do not mess around.
Mr Singh's have also just announced the re-launch of the product that started it all: their hot Punjabi chilli sauce! Keep an eye on their social media accounts for more updates about the launch! Page 18
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Multipack options:
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ALL VARIETIES ARE AVAILABLE AT: https://mrsinghsonline.com
Fab Four Chilli Crisp Bundle: All the flavours are included in this selection which ranges in price from £6.67 to £11.95. Three Bags: This selection includes the Tandoori, Chilli Lemon and Sea salt and Chilli Cheese and Onion varieties and is priced at £2.99 with a mix and match option available. Ten Bags: This selection includes the Tandoori, Chilli Lemon and Sea salt and Chilli Cheese and Onion varieties and is priced at £9.39 with a mix and match option available. Twenty-four Bags: This selection includes the Tandoori, Chilli Lemon and Sea salt and Chilli Cheese and Onion varieties and is priced at £21.49 with a mix and match option available.
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PUZZLES & GAMES Allergicos! Turn the page for our bumper set of Summer puzzles! As well as our traditional Pigpen Cypher, we've got a huge quiz celebrating the best of pan-Asian food. Enjoy!
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Vietnam: What is the main ingredient in popular Vietnamese sauce Nước Mắm? A) Pork broth B) Chicken stock C) Fish
Japan: What is pickled ginger used as in Japanese cuisine? A) Stock base B) Palate cleanser C) Sushi ingredient
Thailand: Which type of nut is used in traditional Satay sauce? A) Peanuts B) Hazlenuts C) Walnuts Page 22
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Take our whistle-stop trivia tour around some of the most prominent Asian foodie nations in our big Summer quiz! (answers on page 25)
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THE BIG QUIZ
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India: If you ordered a Mirchi Bhaji, what would you be eating? A) Deep-fried aubergines B) Deep-fried chillies C) Deep-fried courgettes
South Korea: Which style of cooking are Koreans famous for?
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A) Boiling B) Deep-frying C) Barbecuing
China: How is a Bao bun prepared? A) Boiling B) Grilling C) Steaming
Malaysia: Which leaf is often used to flavour both sweet and savoury dishes? A) Pandan plant leaf B) Palm tree leaf C) Hibiscus flower leaf Page 23
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Can you find all the Asian food-related words?
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WORDSEARCH
SUMMER 2021
Vietnam: C - it gives the dish a very savoury flavour! Japan: B - it's a refreshing palate cleanser! Thailand: A - it makes the satay sauce rich and nutty! India: B - they're very popular but very spicy too! South Korea: C - you can find Korean barbecue restaurants in most major cities! China: C - they're steamed then filled with delicious fillings! Malaysia: A - it's a staple in the Malay and wider Southeast Asian storecupboard!
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RIDDLE TIME! Which food items from Asia are being described here? 1. You don't need to cook me, I'm eaten super rare, but if you eat me when I am called Fugu, your Chef should take extra care! 2. I’m crispy and delicious, some say I come from Persia, but I think I was born from an Indo-Persian merger! 3. I am fermented cabbage so I do your gut a lot of good, in my homeland of Korea, I’m a staple much-loved food! 4. Small and round and sweet is how you’d describe this dessert, with so many flavours all over Japan, indulging in these can’t hurt! Answers: 1. Sashimi 2. Samosas 3. Kimchi 4. Mochi
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Big Quiz answers:
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Our Summer pigpen cipher is our most fiendish one yet! Good luck and you can find the answer at the bottom of the page!
Answer: Did you know there are forty eight countries in Asia?
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PIGPEN CIPHER
STOP ASIAN HATE To find out more about how to help the Asian community, visit: https://www.stopasianhate.info
Thank you for reading!
SEE YOU IN THE AUTUMN!