The new way to discover food (bbc.co.uk/food)

Member Name: kelr101

Product:	bbc.co.uk/food
Date:	10/02/06 (4494 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Excellent large database of recipes and information

Disadvantages: Recipe binder is stored on local machines

According to the BBC's about me statement found on its BBC.co.uk website, "The BBC exists to enrich people's lives with great programmes and services, that inform, educate and entertain".

To my personal pleasure I have found that this statement has been enforced by the plentiful extension that is BBC.co.uk/food, and here is where I spend many a browsing hour searching for new and inspirational ideas related to food.


**Website**

The opening food website is very brightly coloured, often adorned with the latest seasonal meal, and a listing of what exactly you'll find inside BBC.co.uk/food. Information of the meal preparations that are occurring this week as part of BBC's cooking programs is also detailing, with links allowing you to go directly to these locations.

At the top of the webpage is the customary BBC header with links to Home, TV, Radio, Talk, Where I Live, and an A-Z Index. The search function here has been altered to only search within the food section of the complete website.


**What will I find**

Okay, inside the food section of the BBC are numerous sections that can help the budding chef, or health conscious individual. They include:

TV and Radio - Links to your favourite food TV shows, including Ready Steady Cook, Saturday Kitchen and Rachel's favourite food.

Back to Basics - Dedicated pages to individual products that you can prepare a meal around. This covers such areas as Chickens, Duck, White Fish and even a store cupboard section.

Veggie and Vegan - Unlike many food websites there is a section just for Vegetarians and Vegans, something many would find invaluable, as there is information on veggie menu's and an "Ask the Expert" section for any help.

Recipes - This is my favourite area of the site, and where a lot of my inspiration comes from. There is a recipe finder where you can search using up to 3 ingredients, by programme or by chef. There's a link to the Back to Basics with breakdowns showing the different sections you can access, and a weights and measures converter which can be extremely helpful.

Within the Recipe section there is also a recipe binder whereby when you find a recipe you like this can be stored by clicking "add to binder" (this will be noted beneath the recipe title) - this certainly saves time when you're looking for a particular recipe that you enjoyed before if you have already logged it. The binder is split into different sections and is initially set to store up to 100 recipes but there are instructions on how this space can be increased. The recipe binder is a flash application that stores links to recipes on your own computer. I'm not exactly sure where these are stored; although they don't appear to be cookies (I could be wrong).

Making the most off - An excellent in-depth section looking at Gluten-free recipes, Diabetic-friendly recipes, Indian essentials, Picnic recipes, Children's lunchboxes and many more ideas and inspirations to aid learning about a particular area.

Chefs - Here you can find information on your favourite chef such as Gordon Ramsey, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, and Jamie Oliver etc. A bio is listed for each of the popular chef's as well as a link to try some of their personal recipes. Follow Gordon Ramsey's link and you're taken to Ravioli of lobster and langoustine poached in shellfish bisque served on a bed of crushed peas, whilst going to Delia Smith will provide you with a selection of sauces, links to purchasing her books, and some more traditional meal ideas.

Other sections in the BBC.co.uk/food include:

An A-Z Glossary of food
News and Event details
Produce in Season
Consumer food matters
Competitions
Contact us section


**Personal experience**

Since I realised that the BBC had such a minefield of information of all these different foods, basic knowledge and recipe guides, I have used the site consistently. Whether entertaining, or searching for something to cook for tea that night, there is a wealth of information here that I have been able to use.

Each recipe is laid out in a clear, readable format detailing:

Number of people it serves
Preparation time
Cooking time

Ingredients
Method (broken down into sauces, meats etc where necessary)

As well as links to add the recipe to your personal binder or print the page to take into the kitchen with you, which I find very useful as I often have problems with webpage's printing correctly, but these have always been printed in the correct format. At the bottom of each recipe you will also find links taking you to other recipes that have also contained one of the main ingredients you are choosing.

Because my partner (and brother) are quite fussy eaters this website is ideal to search for the perfect food combination for them, far easy than searching through several recipe books trying to find the ideal meal.

For example, my partner loves Sausages, Cheese and most vegetables but it becomes boring after a while if I keep cooking Sausages in gravy, with cheesy mash and vegetables, so searching for these ingredients provide me with Penne rigate with sausage, Cheesy sausage cakes on roasted field mushrooms, and many other suggestions. Like I say this website has been an invaluable resource whilst at the same time improving my cooking skills and knowledge. Fair enough my meal doesn't always turn out exactly the same, but at least this way I am expanding my selection of meals to produce, without churning out the same 7 meals every week.

I on the other hand love experimenting with different foods, especially fish but I never know exactly how to cook them or to try different styles. The make the most of section has a small area on mussels, one of my favourite fish, and here I have found information on buying fresh mussels, cooking them in different ways, as well as information on farmed or wild mussels. Perfect for me, especially when the recipe I chose was Rick Stein's Poached Haddock with mussels and spinach - an extremely healthy meal and one I would never have considered before!

There isn't really anything else that can be said about BBC.co.uk/food but if you're looking for some new recipe ideas, or would like to try something that you have seen your favourite chef cooking on telly, then may I suggest you try the food section of the BBC website. I promise you won't be disappointed!

Summary: An excellent resource site for anything connected to food!