Retailers also report jump in purchases of wind-up radios and torches to deal with extreme weather and cyber-attacks
Sales of tinned foods, bottled water, wind-up radios and torches have surged after the UK government advised households to prepare for emergencies.
Retailers have reported a jump in sales of items linked to preparation for emergencies such as extreme weather or cyber-attacks. The Be Ready campaign was launched last week with the aim of persuading households to lay in supplies to last 72 hours.
When it comes to ginger, personal taste often trumps strict precision, say our experts as they get to the root of the issue
Why do so many recipes state the amount of fresh ginger in “thumbs” or centimetres. With it being so variable in shape, why don’t you use weight? Nick, by email
Let’s gather some of the Guardian food troops and ask them to explain themselves. First up in front of the class is our own perfectionist, Felicity Cloake: “That’s a very good question, and I don’t think there is a very good answer,” she says. “Maybe it’s just convention, because sometimes it feels a bit fussy to give a precise weight for the likes of ginger, onions and other staples if you’re not, say, Heston Blumenthal.” Often, it doesn’t really matter that much, either: “If you give a precise weight, people will perhaps think it’s very important and worry if they’re a few grams out,” she adds. In other words, if Nick were to use a smidge more (or less) ginger than Cloake in, say, her dal, it’s unlikely to make or break it.
Cloake’s fellow columnist Georgina Hayden agrees: “Unlike measuring a ratio of risotto rice to stock, or making a cake, the typical recipes I use ginger in, such as curries, don’t have to be precise,” she says. “After all, cooking should be as instinctive as possible, rather than relying on digital scales.” However, Nick is right in that ginger does vary hugely in shape, Cloake says: “If it was a very thick piece, or it wasn’t thumb-shaped, I’d cut it so the cumulative flesh of the ginger was roughly the same as the cumulative flesh of a thumb. You’re just trying to give a rough amount, without being too prescriptive. But he’s right, we should probably move to grams.”
A new report has found many crops are far less nutritious than they once were, so we need to eat more of them. Here is how to get your five portions of fruit and veg a day, easily and affordably – and potentially increase that to ten
When Eva Humphries first started working as a nutritionist, she met a client who had just found out he had high blood pressure and high cholesterol, and was on the verge of type 2 diabetes. He had no idea how to change his diet or lifestyle.
The man broke down and cried for 45 minutes, leaving Humphries with “no idea of what to do”, she says. In the final 15 minutes of the session, scrambling for a quick but helpful message, she finally said: “When you look at a plate of food, can you just make half of it veg for me?”
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