LEAGUE tables in the past, by and large, referred to the position of football teams in their particular leagues. Nowadays, league tables are used as yardsticks to measure the success or failure of individuals and organisations.
No one really wants to be bottom of the league but sometimes, depending on the measurement used, it is better to be there than top of the league. The two league tables in the column this week are at different ends of the spectrum with one measuring o
besity and the other placing the UK's top 40 restaurants in order of merit.
Obesity at one time was thought of as being largely an American problem due to their obsession with the consumption of huge quantities of fatty, fast foods and sweet, fizzy drinks.
It came as quite a shock to many in this country recently when Scotland came second in the world league table of obese nations, just behind the league leaders, America. According to the Scottish Executive report on obesity, Scotland has the second highest percentage of overweight adults after America.
Scotland is also high up the league table of obese children. To make matters worse, the areas with the worst obesity figures in Scotland are the island areas, Shetland, Orkney and the Western Isles.
At the same time as the obesity figures were announced, the Scottish government Ministers predictably launched a new healthy eating programme for school children. Healthy eating initiatives have been on school menus for many years now and it must be very disappointing for those involved, despite the vast sums of money spent on these schemes, that things seem to be getting worse rather than better.
The success or failure of restaurants depends on attracting and retaining customers by ensuring that quality standards are maintained right across the board from food to service, year in year out.
As an ex-Rangers footballer well used to the pressures of league positions, Gordon Ramsay must have been very disappointed recently to discover that he had been knocked off the top of the UK's Top 40 Best Restaurants league. The Good Food Guide to UK restaurants was recently published and for the first time in it's 56 edition history, the restaurants were ranked in order after being rated by a combination of expert visits and reader feedback.
Gordon's flagship restaurant, The Royal Hospital Road, London, was knocked off the top spot by celebrity TV chef Heston Blumenthal of the Fat Duck restaurant in Bray. The top Scottish restaurant, Restaurant Martin Wishart Edinburgh, came in at number 15. The top island restaurant was The Creel in Orkney which came 27th out of 40.
The recipe this week is a wholesome Chinese soup which will taste even better with chicken stock made from chicken bones but failing that chicken stock cubes will do.
PORK and PRAWN NOODLE SOUP
Ingrediants
20g dried squid (optional)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 garlic cloves crushed
10 black peppercorns
1 carrot, peeled and sliced
200g pork fillet in one piece
2 litres chicken stock, either real stock from a chicken carcase or stock cubes
250g dried noodles
24 raw prawns with tails left on or cooked tiger prawns
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon Soya sauce
To serve/garnish
1 handful trimmed bean sprouts
2 spring onions sliced
1 handful chopped coriander
4 birds eye chillies finely sliced
3 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons fish sauce
If using dried squid, soak in lukewarm water for 20 minutes and then drain
Heat oil in a saucepan and fry the garlic till soft. Add the carrot, peppercorns and pork and then add chicken stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for about an hour skimming off any scum that might rise to the surface.
Remove the pork and set aside. When cool slice thinly.
Soak the dried noodles in luke warm water for 15 minutes, drain and set aside.
Strain the stock reserving the liquid but discarding the rest of the solids
Return the stock to a clean pan, bring to the boil and add Soya sauce and fish sauce. Simmer for three minutes. If raw prawns are being used add them at this stage. If using cooked prawns add for just a minute. Add the squid at this stage too.
In another pan pour some boiling water over the noodles and cook for about three or four minutes till soft. Drain the noodles.
Add a portion of noodles to each soup bowl and then top with pork slices and bean sprouts.
Ladle over some stock with prawns and sprinkle with sliced spring onions and chopped coriander.
Combine chillies, lime juice and fish stock and serve alongside in small bowls.
