Edge of Belgravia precision knife set (by @NLi10)

When I got a PR email from www.edgeofbelgravia.co.uk asking if I'd like to sample some posh knives I presumed I'd get one in a little box. We got this.

That is a giant box of knives and an interesting looking block to put them in! Amazing - if they are any good.

The box is a little odd in shape - but inside everything is very secure and professional looking.

And they fit nicely into the stylish block

Well - they do once you've figured out the fact that if you put the long ones on the high side the lovely sharp points hang out of the end! Not exactly safe, but fairly obvious and easy to rectify. 

I whipped out the other box of tofu we got sent and set about carving the thinnest slices possible. 

Any knife can cut something with firmness, finely slicing silken tofu without destroying it used to be hard. With the little knife it was effortless. These are razor sharp knives indeed.

Here is the slicing knife - this is a new design to me, the big serrated pockets are supposed to make the thinly sliced meat fall off the blade...

...and it works! The tofu peeled naturally off the blade and I cut a variety of sizes just to experiment and was done in no time.

All ready for the marinade!

The block is as professional as the knives, it's really iconic and eye catching. It made me want to clean the kitchen. The old wooden set will have to find a new home.

And if you don't fancy getting the block the knives themselves then the knives are pretty fab too, and we'll be using them in all our recipie reviews from this point on. And the box even has a handy storage suggestion ready for you.

New Skittles Tropical (Sainsburys) [By @SpectreUK]

It seems bizarre that these Skittles Tropical flavour are new. It seems like there should have been a Skittles Tropical flavour in the UK years ago, but we sometimes get a little forgotten where snacking flavours are concerned, either that or manufacturers sometimes don’t believe we’ll like a slightly adventurous flavour of something. Anyway there were quite a few flavours in the re-sealable bag, starting with a sweet pineapple flavour for the yellow Skittles. You’ve probably guessed that the orange coloured Skittles were indeed an orange flavour, however they did pack quite a sweet and zesty punch that suggested mandarin. I wasn’t absolutely sure what blue was, but it tasted a little like blueberry and cherry combined, which are two of my least favourite flavours to court one another, especially in a sweet packet. I really didn’t like the blues. The pinks were watermelon flavour, but tasted slightly chemically, but not enough to put me off them. Have I mentioned that I just didn’t like the blues at all? Finally the purples were a passion fruit flavour, with perhaps a hint of blackcurrant. These Skittles Tropical were very nice indeed, asides the blues, but I’m feeling a little less adventurous and preferred the oranges and yellows!

Information on the bag;

174g bag with 180 calories per 45g serving, having 1.9g of fat 0.01g of salt and 39.9g of sugar (well, they are sweets!). See photograph for ingredients.

By Spectre

McVities Digestives Caramel Flavour Teacakes (Morrisons) [By @Cinabar]

I was browsing Morrisons for any new and interesting snacks and I spotted these McVities Digestives Caramel Flavour Teacakes. I like chocolate teacakes as a treat, and often have the Tunnocks version, which are bigger than all the rest. I could tell this would be the case with these too, as the pack when it arrived held eight, spaced out with plastic. They are not individually wrapped, but were neatly decorated with caramel sprinkles.
The first thing I tried was one of the sprinkles, yes on its own… anyway it tasted sweet, was slightly soft and dissolved in the mouth. I thought it was supposed to be a caramel flavour chocolate, but it felt almost chewy at one point. I realised I was spending to much time focusing on the sprinkles and bit in to the whole thing instead.

The next thing that struck me was the base of the teacake. These are McVities Digestives Teacakes and as such I had assumed that there would be a Digestive biscuit for the base, but there wasn’t. It did have a wholemeal sort of flavour, but it was surprisingly soft and not the firm biscuit base I had assumed would be there. I thought that was the point?
Now I put that aside as the rich sweet caramel flavour hit me, and the missing biscuit didn’t seem to matter. The chocolate and sweet flavours were absolutely lovely, and I was pleasantly surprised by just how defined the caramel taste was, these were yummy. The chocolate cracks and the mallow is soft, the caramel flavours hit, and I have to admit to thoroughly enjoying the chocolatey treats. I’m just not sure how the tie in with Digestives works.

By Cinabar

Indian Burrito Co @WrapChic (Birmingham Bull Ring) [By @Cinabar]

There seems to be quite a bit of choice of places to eat in Birmingham, with so many different types of food represented it is a tricky choice deciding what to eat. I was trying to find somewhere to get a quick lunch, and was having trouble trying to choose. On my wander through Birmingham I walked passed WrapChic the Indian Burrito Company, and took a couple of steps back to check what I thought I'd read; Indian Burrito? As I was staring a man on a bike placed a cocktail stick with spicy lamb in my hand without saying a word... and I was sold. Ok the bike did belong to WrapChic not just somebody cycling past at random, but the flavour hooked me completely. This was good stuff.

I decided to choose a Burrito and as I love spicy fish chose the Fish Malabari. The man making the burrito was friendly and chatty and asked me to choose what extra fillings I wanted, I went for brown rice, lettuce, beans, medium chilli sauce and a some cheese. I know cheese sounds odd with spicy fish, but it felt right for a burrito, and this is fusion cuisine.

The burrito was neatly and firmly wrapped for me and I took a seat to dig in. The tables are fairly basic, but this is supposed to be quick food. It was a flavour sensation. The filling was very generous, and the flavour combination of Indian and Mexican just fell into place. The fish was soft and moist and fragrantly spiced, the other ingredients changed the flavour as you hit them, from cool and crisp salad, soft beans to creamy cheese, this was an awesome burrito. The mix of flavours and textures was an absolute pleasure and I was licking my fingers by the end of it, literally, as the sauce had escaped a little.

Mexican Indian Fusion cuisine works, the fragrant spices, and ingredients jumbled together to give me the tastiest burrito I've ever eaten. When I finished the hearty portion the only thought I had was that whoever had the idea was a genius and that I couldn't wait to go back.

By Cinabar

BoDhi - cacao, date and crickets... (By @NLi10)

It seems that Crickets really are the new 'it' food. They are cropping up in a lot of PR emails and so far I've been saying yes!

This latest idea is their inclusion as cricket flour for protein in a cereal bar - they make up 5% of the bar.

Bodhi is a noble concept - mix things we know and love into a bar and then add crickets for a bit more oomph.

The problem with this is the same as the pasta - there is a massive psychological barrier to eating insects. The most keen people to try the bar had missed the explanation part and gone straight to the munching. Indeed some people spat it out or changed their minds when they found out.

The bar has a very dry texture and is very much for those who love dates. The cacao isn't such a strong flavour. The main complaint from people was that it's a very dry bar. I think if you were up a mountain and had a bar and some water to keep you going then that may be ok. I couldn't eat more than a third of a bar even with a drink - but I think my final bite fell foul of the mix of the bar.

Usually I love it when each bite tastes different due to an uneven mix, here I got a bite that tasted far too crickety and really put me off. Usually I'd munch away while reviewing but I just couldn't bring myself to try more today.

It's a decently deluxe proposition, the packaging and portion are both premium but I'm not sure this combination works for me - you can't add a sauce and there is no hiding from the fact that without a drink this feels like a challenge not a snack.

I'd be interested in other versions of this kind of thing, but as it stands people were happy to have one bite to try it but not interested in a second.