Rachel de Thample is an urban gardener and passionate food lover and is someone I have admired for a very long time, since her days at Waitrose Food Illustrated ! (RIP) So when she called me to ask me to help her out with PR it was an absolute no-brainer. Rachel is queen of the urban gardening scene and believes that everyone can have access to fresh fruit and vegetables no matter where they live. A recent project to develop an allotment space for the whole community to help themselves to demonstrates this.

Rachel is also a bit of an alchemist and is very happy playing with new flavours and working with old recipes to get the very best out of the fat or our land. She has a cookbook out – Less Meat More Veg – and she has got lots of exciting news in the pipeline for 2013. Follow her on Twitter @dethample and do let me know if you ever need comment from a forward-thinking, fresh-faced food personality who is not afraid of talking about the things we don’t want to talk about – meat, husbandry, animal welfare, wastage, food shortage etc.

Tea? Made from olive leaves? You must be mad! Mirabilia organic olive leaf tea is caffeine and tannin‐free, leaving absolutely no residue in the cup or on the teeth. The tea is free from bitterness and full of smooth fresh flavour, it is equally refreshing when drunk cold. The taste on the palate is a woody, leafy flavour – almost unperfumed, and wonderfully natural. Top chefs Stevie Parle and Rowley Leigh are already serving it in their restaurants.

There are many wonderful and compelling reasons why everyone should be drinking organic olive leaf tea:

• The taste is fabulously refreshing and works brilliantly drunk either warm or iced
• It contains no tannins which means teeth and cups stay white, and it’s caffeine free too
• It’s a great alternative to green, white, puerh and rooibos teas – and contains many more antioxidants too
• It keeps an Italian community – and its tradition of tending its olive groves – in business and in employment
• The leaves, if not picked and slow-dried in order to drink, would otherwise traditionally be burned and wasted

http://www.oleaft.com/olive-leaf-tea

Nourish is delighted to be working with its first client out of London – the beautiful Vale House Kitchen, near Bath. This is going to be an exquisite cookery and country skills school where guests are invited to learn how to fish or shoot and then prepare and cook their catches. Jam and bread baking will commonplace and there will be plenty of courses for kids too. Bod and Annie Griffiths, who own Vale House, are a delightful couple who are transforming the house which will also contain beehives and a smokehouse alongside an orchard. If you are keen to know more please email Hannah@nourishpr.com and I’ll keep you posted when I have more news! Vale House Kitchen is set to open in Summer 2013.

You know Street Food must be doing something right when one of its originals – meatball addict The Bowler – comes out with his first cookbook! Jez Felwick, aka The Bowler, has been creating meatball classics with the ballsiest flavours imaginable from his grass-covered street food van for over a year at various London food markets – and now his fans and meatball lovers from all over the UK can enjoy his balls at home with friends or family from his new book The Bowler’s Meatball Cookbook, out on February 3rd 2013. Classic recipes include Pork & Fennel Meatballs, Sweaty Balls and The Popeye – packed with Spinach and Beef Chuck. Jez has also had great fun with creating unusual and pun-laden recipes – such as Bjorn Balls (a Scandinavian take on classic Meatballs). For a copy of the book or for a chat to Jez please contact Hannah@nourishpr.com

charging into 2013 are the rare Mexican chillis. Nourish is proud to be working with Fergus Chamberlain and his stunning Gran Luchito Pasilla Oaxaca salsita. This is a warm, smokey hot taste which makes for a great dip or as a ‘heater ingredient’ in many dishes. It’s a truly authentic salsita and most chefs in Oaxaca are using it in their kitchens. Look out for our Luchito afternoon at The Cookery School on Monday Feb 4th. www.luchito.co.uk

Watch out for my big star prediction of 2013: Ms Amber Rose, author of Love, Bake, Nourish which is out in March. It’s a beautiful collection of cakes, puddings and sweet treats made using both natural sugars – such as dried fruit, honey and syrups – and ancient flours – such as Buckwheat and Spelt – which are easier to digest and which don’t come laden with the gluten you find in standard white flour. Amber cooked for Sadie Frost for many years and Sadie herself says of Amber’s cakes: “Amber’s recipes unite luxury with nature. Her cakes are truly delicious and original with tastes that awaken the senses.” Amber also makes cakes for Kate Moss, amongst many others.

Think you’ve seen it all with gourmet popcorn? Think again, with the launch of the stunning range of kettle-popped Bloom’s popcorn, available in four recipes and made by hand in small batches in the heart of the Essex countryside. Bloom’s is the only kettle-popped popcorn on the market and thanks to its fabulous ingredients such as Chipotle Chilli, Maldon Sea Salt and proper cane sugar is flying off the shelves of Planet Organic and Selfridges. Www.bloomspopcorn.co.uk

Noodles are set to stay cooler than ever with the announcement of a second Tonkotsu site planned for the City some time in the first half of the year. Look out for the Tonkotsu pop-up at Disco Bistro on January 18th, too! For more information please go to www.discobistroec4.co.uk

Vibrant market food restaurant Tuk Cho is this month launching its fabulous new Cambodian and Laos food menu – and you’re all welcome to join them at their launch party on Monday 24th September! Please email hannah@nourishpr.com for an invitation.

Love baking? The new paperback version of Biscuiteers Book of Iced Biscuits is out at the end of September priced £12.99 and is publihsed by Kyle Books. It’s a beautiful collection of biscuit inspiration – and includes 13 new spreads. Gorgeous! Kids will love it too.