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Whilst the country languishes in dark and cold winter evenings, the lack of twilight and endless rain and bad weather has depressed everyone with the exception of Danish entrepreneur, Klaus Nyegaard. He’s CEO of the takeaway service Just-Eat. For him, if the rain comes down, the punters don’t fancy getting soaked and the orders simply flood in.

The Just-Eat website allows users to browse and order from the menus of thousands of takeaway delivery outlets including pizza and Indian food, and has grown steadily since its original launch in 2001. Originally founded in Denmark, the company owners soon identified the UK as the prime market with our liking of the fast food culture. The British obsession for door-step takeaway food delivery makes us the biggest market outside of the USA for this service. The logical choice was to start an operation in the United Kingdom. It may seem that visits to restaurants are being scaled back, but the takeaway market appears to be recession-resistent so Just-Eat’s growth looks set to continue.

More than 50% of the six thousand takeaways listed on Just-Eat are UK based, with over 1 million orders passing through their ordering platform per month. The company certainly produced figures that impressed venture capitalists Index Ventures enough to earn a £10.Five million pound funding deal with Just-Eat, giving them the opportunity to enhance their position in the UK, giving them the chance of dominating European markets. Every year sees over one thousand new takeaways opening each year, and gives Just-Eat the confidence of taking a large share of the market.

Financially, Just-Eat is an attractive proposition for any investor as its business model is simple and very scalable. Just-Eat’s revenue model also allows for growth, as payments are made directly to the company via their online payment setup. That money paid up front is then paid to the featured restaurants twice a month, minus a respectable 10% commission. That structure helps with cash flow and typically Just-Eat have quite a lot of money in their account at any given point.

Origins of Marinara Sauce

Marinara is derived from the Italian word marinaro meaning of the sea?and marinara sauce loosely translates into the sauce of the sailors? It originated with sailors in Naples in the 16th century, after the introduction of tomato by the Spaniards. In those days of no refrigeration it was in great demand among the cooks on the ships for two reasons. Firstly, because the absence of meat and high acid content of the tomatoes would not spoil the sauce, and secondly, because it was easy to prepare.

Preparation of marinara sauce

Ingredients

6 pounds ripe Italian-type tomatoes
1 cup very finely minced onion
1/2 cup very finely minced celery
1 cup very finely minced carrots
1/2 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon sugar

Seasonings - Added according to taste

Ground white pepper
Ground coriander
Dried marjoram
Dried basil
Dried oregano
Salt

Drop tomatoes into boiling water, a few at a time. Let the water return to a boil, then remove the tomatoes and drain. Peel and chop.

Cook the onion, celery, and carrots in the olive oil, in a large covered saucepan, over medium-low heat for about 15 minutes, stirring a few times. Uncover and stir, over the heat, for 5 to 10 minutes more, or until the vegetables are very soft and lightly gold.

Add the tomatoes, sugar and pepper and simmer gently, covered, for 15 minutes.

Puree the sauce through the medium disc of food mill. Add the optional seasoning and cook at a bare simmer until a desirable consistency is reached, about 20 minutes, stirring often. Add salt to taste. You can add a little hot sauce to give it a kick as well.

If you prefer a smooth sauce, work the sauce through the fine disc of a food mill.

Cool the marinara and refrigerate it. It will keep, refrigerated, for about a week, or for several months if frozen.

About the author: Harry Donne is an athusiast of cooking and knows lots of nutrition knowledges about food. He works as a lawyer Auckland and serves for a roofing contractor and immigration.

Pizza has been around for many, many years and it can actually be traced back to the Ancient Greece as they covered their bread with oils, herbs and cheeses. The home of the pizza is of course in Italy as they modernised the way we saw the pizza with the Neapolitan pie with tomato. Cheese first came into play in 1889. Other than the more traditional Neapolitan, how many other pizzas are out there?

New York

The New York style pizza was started in the early 1900’s and it most likely the American style pizza closest to the original from ItalyThis is easily the closest to the original out in AmericaThis pizza is characterized by its wide, thin and foldable slices. Toppings are very traditional here and consist of tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese. If you want to have another topping it gets placed with the cheese. There is a big difference between this pizza and other American pizzas and that is that the crust is hand tossed.

The Island Pizza- Sicilian

This one was actually founded in Sicily but its true home is in New York due to the large anount of people living there that come from Sicily. The dough comes in at an inch thick and is in the shape of a square. This is always laid out on top of tin foil.

Do A Little Dance For The Hawaiian Pizza

Despite the name, this pizza was not actually created in Hawaii but in Germany and will usually have a cheese and tomato base along with ham, onion and pineapple. Amazingly this pizza is the most popular in Australia.

Another Entry From Italians- Pizza al Taglio

This is more of a snack than a meal and the name comes from the italian for “pizza by the slice”. This is a good idea for someone who is in the mood for a pizza and does not want a full pizza.

So why not get a takeaways and get your favourite pizza tonight, it wont hurt you every now and again.

If there was an equivalent to ‘Desert Island Discs’ for food with only one choice, then that choice would have to be the ubiquitous pizza.

I think that there would be nothing better, because of its ability to suit the everyone’s idea of how it should be done. The base of the pizza provides the necessary carbohydrates, the meats please the carnivores and vegetables please the vegetarians. You will have all the goodness required to survive if you then add some fresh mozzarella cheese and allow it to melt on top.

We all like our pizzas to be flexible and different in taste, which mirrors our differences as people. My choice of pizza is dependant on several different factors, for example, the mood that I am in, the time of the year and whether it is from a takeaway service. A particular choice in winter, for example, may see me add a good range of vegetables that are filling on a cold day, like for example, artichokes or peppers. If I am cooking a pizza in my own oven at home, I like to use a thin crusty base, as this tends to be a nicer taste and is easier to digest. It’s vital to use good quality tomato sauce, and as far as I am concerned it has to made at home. This is simple to achieve by placing the tomatoes into a pan of boiling water for a few seconds, and watching the skins blister and fall off. Chop a large onion and a garlic and gently fry them until clear, then add your skinned tomatoes. Use about 10 minutes to mix all the ingredients together gradually breaking the tomatoes down. Make sure that this cools properly before it is applied to the pizza base.

Add loads of tomato sauce carefully to the pizza base, and sprinkle plenty of sliced mozzarella cheese and freshly grated parmasan. Set the oven to a temperature of approximately 220 degrees and place the pizza in the middle. It is crucial to use the exact temperature in your oven to obtain the best results for your pizza. Get the temperature either too hot or too cold and you will be disappointed with the result. Get things right in the preparation, and you could well think like me that it is one of the best meals available!

The pizza is a truly ubiquitous object, which is quite a feat considering I had not even tasted one until I had left school some thirty years ago. From that point onwards, the pizza has be gradually absorbed into our culture, with very few restaurants or takeaways that omit it from their menu.

But what is the measure of a good pizza, and how do know when you have found the perfect product? I’ve been to Italy on a number of occasions, and ordered pizzas in Rome which were recommendations of friends who had been before. One place that I enjoyed visiting often was in Finbury Park, near to the station in North London. Here, amongst the launderettes and the newsagents, was a restaurant that ran a thriving business for customers to eat in or to takeaway. It was whilst becomming a regular in the restaurant and using the takeaway service on occasions, I saw how the product become special. You have got to witness the shear passion that exudes from these people, to deliver the best experience of taste and entertainment. If you expect the entertainment normally seen in the restaurant to arrive with the takeaway, then you will be disappointed!

Some of the points that I look for in a good pizza experience would be:

The quality of the dough

The dough is the foundation of the whole process, and if they get this wrong then you are guaranteed a disastrous experience. The most important consideration is the preparation of the dough, which needs to be moulded and neaded to gain the maximum flexiblity and softness. Often this is done in the front of the restaurant so that the customers can see the techniques that are needed to produce the sort of result that everyone is hoping for.

The temperature of the oven

The secret of a good finish to the pizza is the standard of the oven. The humble pizza oven is reverred to almost the same level as the Italian performance cars. Hit the right temperature, and the preparation will be worth it as the dough will transform in to the thin crust finish that is desired.

It was a lovely sunny day in the heart in Melbourne, Australia when a local fast food delivery man decided to take a young boy hostage over a pizza. The local driver seized the womans four year old nephew when she continuously refused to pay for a pizza that was over an hour late!
Once the lady informed the delivery man that he was not going to receive any money for the pizza he grabbed the nephew through the gate and refused to let him go. Local authorities were called on the scene when the delivery man would not give up possession of the child.
The company responsible for delivering the Pizza who are strangely a part time Chinese Takeaway place claim that the delivery man still has his job. "There was no chance of one of our employees harming that child" said the MD at the takeaway restaurant. The whole event actually turned into a ‘Mexican Stand Off’ type of event as both parties were trying to negotiate with each other. This goes to show that people can get extremely passionate about Pizza! In this current economic climate there is mass confusion and even some businesses will hold people ransom to make sure they get their money! It makes some sense as latest figures reveal that Food takeaway spending has decreased by 14.5% over the last year which is a massive deficit.
A very similar event occured for me when I refused to pay for a large pizza when the company delivered 45 minutes too late. The man who delivered the pizza was extremely apologetic but insisted that I pay for the pizza which I thought was abissmal behaviour! I got away with only paying him the petrol money for delivering it my house but that was all, there was no Mexican stand off!

If you have ever been in a kitchen with a cooking pizza you will know the answer – the smell of the thing! it is always worth making your own dough, and the preparation is crucial. if you cannot afford the time to make your own dough, there is lots available at most supermarkets.

Any food that you can enjoy from home should fill the room and whet the appetite, such as indian food which has a unique freshness.

I haven’t been into cooking pizzas at home for long, but like many, my inspiration comes from particular takeaway or restaurant experiences. There is a restaurant near to me on the seafront, which makes great pizzas, and loves to entertain. i think the Italians and Spanish are untouchable for entertainment value, as I love the combination of tasty meals and a bit of fun. In Asturia, northern Spain, they have strange method of pouring the ’sidre’ or cider from a bottle. The waiter pours the drink from above his head into a glass, whilst appearing to be in a trance state. I can’t see the point in the whole process – but it makes good entertainment!

The Italians love to show how good they are at preparing their dough, and how important it is to spend the time doing so. The are correct methods to consider for great pizza, according to Italians – proper preparation and oven temperature. Gradually the dough becomes more pliable and incredibly soft. I have first hand experience of this, because they bring it round to your table and let you try the technique for yourself! They have perfected their art which involves ’spinning’ the dough in the air, eventually producing something with a familiar shape.

it goes into the overn, when all the ingredients that were chosen are prepared and topped on the pizza. In about ten minutes your senses will be gripped by the delicious aroma, coming from the oven. You don’t have to enjoy your meal inside. If warm enough, you can eat on the beach having enjoyed the entertainment inside the restaurant! Sunset on the beach, great pizza, good company – heaven!

The first thing that comes into your mind when your think about ordering a takeaway is having to phone up, and then collect it once it’s ready. However, as the internet becomes a bigger part of your everyday life, the way you order takeaways is beginning to change.

A fairly new name has now started to become a bigger player within the food industry. The name of the company is Just-Eat and they give you the ability to order your takeaways via the internet. Only recently has the company made a £10.5 million investment deal for 30% of the company, making it the biggest deal within the food market since the start of the recession.

This money will help the company to create it’s first large TV marketing campaign towards the end of this year. It should also help them appear as more of a player within the food industry, making it easier for them to reach their target of 8,000 takeaways signed up to the service.

At the moment, business is going well for the company, turning over around £3 million every year within the UK, however, they are not stopping with that. A deal has already been struck with a couple of Canadian entrepreneurs who wanted to set up a Canadian version of the site. The deal was sorted with it being a 50/50 split between Just-Eat and the entrepreneurs, making the company global within the next few months.

Many people would stop expanding at this point, but at Just-Eat, they are continuing to look for further ways to increase business. They are currently hoping for a version in Norway and then if things go well, possibly an American version.

By the sounds of it, it won’t be too long before we all order our pizza online rather than phoning up, I just hope their website will handle the huge amounts of traffic.

When you speak about Indian takeaways and takeaways in general, they are always considered as being fattening and bad for your health, but people never really realise that some of the menu is more healthy than others. Obviously if you will choose something that is greasy and covered in batter, it’s not going to be as good as say a vegetable curry. It’s all about knowing what’s the best and what’s the worst, while still enjoying your treat.

Here are a few tips to make sure you find the healthiest items on the menu for the next time you go to your local takeaways.

Fish and Chips: Although they are slightly unavoidable, chips are one of the worst things to have, others include sausages, cheese and onion pie, steak and kidney pie. As for the best items, fish is your best bet, cod, haddock or plaice are the most healthiest of the lot.

Pizza: The worst choice you could have would be to have a deep pan base as these contain the most fat. As for the toppings of the pizza, try and stay away from having extra cheesy toppings or things like pepperoni. If you are looking for something healthier, your best bet would be a thin crust with either vegetable or fish toppings.

Chinese: Try and stay away from anything that’s greasy and crispy because this means they have been deep fried which is definately not good. The worst items you could get would be sweet and sour battered balls, specially fried rice and spring rolls. As for the best items, it has to be steamed all the way. Opting for things like crab and corn soup, beef, chicken, steamed veg and boiled rice are all healthier options.

Indian food: Similar to the rules behind Chinese, you should avoid foods that have been deep fried as these will store the most fat. For a healthier meal, your best items would be vegetable curry, chicken tikka, madras or bhuna. Try and have these with boiled rice as that’s the healthiest.

Hopefully you will reconsider your order next time you go to order your sweet and sour battered pork balls with chicken fried rice and spring rolls. As I was writing that, it made me realise that I order all of the bad items, but it’s the same with all foods you eat. The food that is the best tasting is, more often than not, the wort for us.

Healthy Yogi Chips from Wai Lana Yoga

Do you struggle deciding what is for dinner? Every night is the same. You get off from a long tiring day of work and arrive at home only to encounter another challenge. What will you eat? There aren’t enough leftovers in the refrigerator to feed everyone. It seems like you just had everything you can think of. To make things even more difficult you can’t seem to make the ingredients to make a complete dinner. It seems that all you have are odds and ends. Preparing vegetarian snacks can seem to be difficult to make because there is no meat main dish to start with. If you are not a vegetarian and you have chicken in the fridge, then you can start thinking of chicken main dishes. Vegetarian staples are much more versatile than meats, so what you have does not necessarily narrow your choices any. The good news is that when you are out of ideas and out of inspiration, pizzas will come to your rescue.  Still need ideas? Here is a big list of tasty vegetarian recipes from Wailana.

Pizza is one of the easiest vegetarian foods to make because it lends itself to so many kinds while still including all of the necessary nutrition for a balanced, nutritious diet. Any ingredients you happen to have will work to make a delicious pizza. You will surely discover some new types of pizza by using leftovers on your next dinner pizza. It truly does not matter what you have to make your vegetarian pizza, as long as you can include items to fit into the following categories.

Crust
You can make your own pizza crust. All it takes is some flour, salt, oil, and leavening. When time is short, improvise. Pre-made pizza crusts or slices of bread will do the trick. Wai Lana Yoga has a nice onion-herb bread recipe that is delicious as a pizza crust.

Seasoning Your Pizza
There are so many pizza sauce variations. While tomato based sauces are very popular and very easy make, they are not your only choice. If you do make a tomato based sauce, you will probably add a little bit of sugar, some vinegar and some of your favorite Italian seasonings to a can of tomato sauce. But even without tomato sauce, you can still make a pizza. White sauces are also very compatible with pizza. Use a traditional white sauce recipe that includes flour, fat and some yogurt for a low fat choice. Then, season your sauce however you prefer to do so. Use spices or add some vegetables or cheese right to the sauce. If a sauce is not going to work for you, you don’t need one. A third option is to brush your crust with olive oil. Season it with fresh garlic or any dried spices you have on hand.

Toppings
One thing most people put on pizza is cheese. It doesn’t matter what kind you have though. Mozzarella and cheddar are equally pleasing on a pizza. For something different, try feta. If you do not have cheese, that’s ok. The important thing is to include something with some fat and something with some protein. Olives, nuts, refried beans and tofu are all appropriate pizza toppings. In addition to your main topping, add plenty of fruits or vegetables. Peppers, pineapple, tomatoes and even broccoli can work with other pizza ingredients for a tasty variation. Be as creative as you want to be. Here are some other ideas and information on vegetarianism from Wai Lana.

By using your leftovers as pizza toppings, it will also be much easier on your budget. Be as versatile as you want . There’s no need to worry about what to prepare for dinner.