Cool and refreshing natural cordials are perfect for hot summer days, and there are more than ever to choose from 

For decades the highly competitive UK drinks market has remained dominated by global giants, brands that have long since established themselves as household names. Yet in recent years, the likes of the Coca-Cola Co., Britvic and Red Bull have faced more market disruption than possibly any other sector of the food and drink industry (with the exception of the micro-brewery/craft beer trend that has challenged the major brewing company’s market share over a similar time period). 

With constantly changing consumer demands and preferences, more sophisticated purchase patterns and rapid changes in lifestyles, the global soft drink market is growing and mutating at ever-increasing speed. Three of the man drivers behind this evolution are a growing concern about consuming too much sugar (particularly refined), an increasing preference for ‘natural’ ingredients, and a broadening, more adventurous palette, which has created an appetite for more unusual flavours and flavour combinations. 

Our Top 10 of delicious and more unusual olive varieties 

As we’ve previously discussed, when it comes to olives, our culinary tastes in the UK have developed radically over the past decades, and today you don’t need to find a specialist delicatessen to discover exciting olive varieties - as even major supermarkets now compete to offer something new. 

However, beyond the jumbo Gordals, acid green Nocellaras and ubiquitous Spanish Manzanillas, importers and connoisseurs of this bitter fruit can offer some even more exciting and unusual olive options. 

So enjoy our Top 10 recommendations below, and drop us a line to discuss all your olive requirements and queries. 

Our summer guide to the small but mighty olive, and the wealth of types to choose from today

It’s hard to imagine that one-upon-a-time in the UK your choice of olives amounted to green or black, or that the only way for pioneers such as cookery writer Elizabeth David (who did so much to popularise Mediterranean cuisine in Britain during the latter half of the 20th century) to buy olive oil was from a pharmacy (where it was sold as a remedy for removing ear wax). 

There’s arguably no ingredient more important – or overlooked 

It’s fair to say there are few kitchen ingredients that humans actually need to consume to survive. Salt, however, is most definitely one of these, and the most ancient of seasonings remains the most crucial. 

Not only do our bodies require salt to transmit nerve impulses, contract and relax muscle fibre, and maintain a proper fluid balance. 

Salt is also one of the five main tastes (along with sweet, sour, bitter and umami) recognised by the gustatory cells (taste buds) spread across our tongue, soft palate and inner cheeks; the taste of salt is picked up by specific receptors located in a rim around the front and sides of our tongues. 

A great cheeseboard deserves to be adorned with something a little more imaginative than apple and grapes… 

We all know there are some fantastic artisanal cheeses out there these days, and although they all have enough flavour to stand alone on a cheese board, when cleverly paired with the right accompaniment they can take a cheese platter from simply satisfying to instantly sublime. 

Today, whatever’s found on a cheese board that isn’t cheese needs to be more than casual fruity decoration, but ingredients of equal quality that provide truly exciting compliment and contrast. Finding more unusual accompaniments to adorn your cheese board can also be especially gratifying, when unlikely cheese pairings such as speciality honey and guava paste deliver diners an end of meal revelation. 

Small plates of sunshine, we’ve got the ingredients and the recipes for amazing antipasti this summer. 

Italy’s less fussy answer to French hors d’oeuvres, antipasti are the original appetisers, and these simply delicious simple dishes arguably work even more effectively than Mediterranean counterparts such as Spanish tapas or Turkish mezze by relying on the vibrant complement one or two fresh and preserved ingredients. 

We’re delighted to stock mouthwatering meze toppings and pittas from Greek fine food specialists Odysea. 

In countries throughout the Levant, the Near and Middle East, in Greece and even as far as the Balkans, the sharing platters collectively known as meze are more than a culinary tradition, they’re a way of life. 

Is there anything better than a hot bowl of soup on a cold winter’s day? 

The answer for most of us is probably not, and that the way it’s been for centuries - for this simple dish in all its myriad variations is as old as the history of cooking. A staple of the poor when times where scarce, a dish that uses mainly scraps and water yet, nevertheless, often creates something so roundly satisfying its just as frequently enjoyed by the wealthiest in society. 

From cabbage broth to lobster bisque, from Russian borscht to Italian minestone, there’s a soup out there representing every class and culture, and according to a YouGov survey on (believe it or not) the habits of British soup eaters, the UK is one of the world’s most enthusiastic soup consumers.