Hand-picked and brought to you from their Greek groves by broadcaster NATALIE WHEEN and artist DEBORAH MACMILLAN 

2 – 5 June: Ideal Home Show, Glasgow
9 June: Meet the Producer, Glendoick


A taste sensation is about to reach the UK this spring: AVLAKI’s new season, unfiltered oils from single estates are the freshest and tastiest oils; aromatic, totally organic, handpicked and bottled on the Greek island of Lesvos. Made from olives particular to the island, you won’t find oil like it from anyone else. The olives are milled the moment they’re picked and the oil bottled speedily and unadulterated. AVLAKI oil means oil with the maximum benefit of the olives’ nutrients and tastes – rarely if ever found in large-scale commercial production.

Most oils reach the shops after months of storage, filtering and blending; as a result it’s difficult to tell how old it is.  Every bottle of AVLAKI oil has the date of picking and the date of bottling on the label, and ‘single estate’ guarantees that the olives and oil are never mixed with other farmers’ crops, and the production of each grove or ‘estate’ kept separate.

AVLAKI oils come from two groves with very different aspects and climates resulting in two distinctive characteristics and tastes. They are planted with a mix of two olive varieties ‘Kollovi’ and ‘Andramytianni’, which are particular to the island of Lesvos. These make a naturally golden oil, which is low in chlorophyll (unlike green oils) and will not go rancid – if kept properly in a cool dark place.

They are also light in consistency, with complex flavours:  these oils are top end, gourmet oils for ‘finishing’ dishes, perfect on salads, drizzled over hot vegetables and soups, or just dipped with freshly baked crusty bread.

AVLAKI is the unlikely venture of two enterprising British ladies, artist Deborah MacMillan and broadcaster and writer Natalie Wheen. They had no notion of making oil when buying a run-down shack in a corner of rural Greece in 1996, intended to be a place where Deborah could paint or Natalie write. The olive trees on the land were severely neglected but with hard work and the best of British gardening traditions, the land was restored, the trees flourished and the groves were soon teeming with wildlife and wild flowers. The olive crop burgeoned and so began their artisanal olive oil business.

A completely organic and hand-crafted process, the oil is carefully supervised from branch to bottle under the watchful eyes of Deborah and Natalie. Picked by hand, using long rakes, the olives fall onto soft netting and unlike many producers, every care is taken to remove all twigs and leaves before carefully packing the crop into vegetable crates to avoid bruising as it goes to the mill.

The land, methods of farming, trees, olives, and the processing are all guaranteed organic. 100% free from chemical herbicides and pesticides they are fully certified by BIO-HELLAS, the long established Greek accredited organic inspecting organisation.  AVLAKI oils are produced with strict attention to hygienic good practice.

The Agatherí Groves are ancient and very special, bordering on an old agricultural road which reputedly dates back to the 13th century. Steep mountain fields carpeted with wild flowers at around 600m above sea level, they are well watered by mists and cloud. It snows every winter, with temperatures dropping to -10º for several weeks, causing the trees to produce a light oil that is complex and sophisticated. The Avlaki Groves, on the south of the island, sit on gently sloping south facing and sheltered fields. Just above sea level, they produce oil that is grassy and fruity.

Now in its 17th year, the independent cultural Festival draws a strong crowd of around 100,000, to enjoy a mix of both free and ticketed events, from music, theatre and comedy to family days, guided walks and children’s events held in 80 venues throughout the west end. 

‘Strictly West End… And Beyond’ is a family friendly event for those who love dancing, cabaret, Big Band tunes of the ‘40s and want to help contribute to the economic future of the West End Festival. Organisers are hoping to raise £3000 for the Festival with raffles, prize for best ‘40s outfit and a cash prize for best swing dancer. 

‘Strictly West End… And Beyond’ 8pm – 12midnight.
Tickets available from Vintage Guru, 195 Byres Road or email lesley@spideronline.co.uk
Adults £15 / Students £10 / Children (Up to 16 years) £8
For more information on West End Festival http://www.westendfestival.co.uk/

With its array of massed laptops, miles of cabling, hi-tech headsets and glowing touch-sensitive globes, this was never going to be an ordinary evening – not even for the crack players of Scottish contemporary music Red Note.

The group joined forces with the Edinburgh-based Inventor Composer Coaction for seven new pieces combining instrumental sounds and live electronic manipulations of those sounds in some startlingly original ways.

The ever-changing textures of Jessica Aslan’s likeable Cache, for example, triggered sampled noises from Diemo Schwarz’s CataRT software to conjure a ghostly mirror ensemble, heard but never seen. The Red Note players donned sensors that looked worryingly like offenders’ tags for Shiori Usui’s aptly titled Into the Flesh, which they performed as much with their muscle movements as with their instruments.

Admittedly, the technology outshone the musical content in some pieces, and the raucous improvisations of Christos Michalakos’s concluding Death Ground (Approximately) seemed a little out of place.

But Stuart MacRae’s masterful Shadow Study showed that less can be so much more, its quiet unisons gradually gathering a halo of subtle electronic effects as the piece developed.

The high point of the evening, though, was Harry Whalley’s Clasp Together (beta), which required Red Note clarinettist Peter Furniss to don a headband in order to control the piece’s electronics with his brainwaves. The score includes thought commands for the performer, the programme notes informed us, and watching Furniss close his eyes and relax his mind to take the piece to its quiet conclusion was unforgettable.

Rating: ****

Since the commencement of pre-booking on the Flyer service, an express coach service linking Bristol City Centre, Clifton and connecting rail and bus networks with the airport, bosses were keen to deliver a seamless customer experience and stronger call-to-action to book in advance.

Renowned for their expertise in the public transport sector, Spider Online updated and improved the imagery, including graphics showing route & stopping points, as well as using up-to date photography showcasing the new vehicles. A simplification of the booking process reduced the number of booking steps from eight to five, and since re-launching last week, Bristol Airport has seen an improvement in online bookings.

www.spideronline.co.uk

Thai cuisine uses many wonderful and exotic herbs including lemongrass, galangal, turmeric, sweet basil and coriander. All of these herbs are available in supermarkets, however many consumers are unaware of their hidden health-giving properties.

Ru Herd, owner of Krua Thai, is committed to teaching the intricacies of high quality delicious Thai cuisine and develops recipes for food distributors and manufacturers for the top 5 UK supermarkets using only the finest imported ingredients to ensure the flavours and aromas replicate those found in Thailand. 

Low calorie recipes such as PLA OB SAMOON PRAI (steamed lemon sole, mixed Thai herbs with garlic sauce), YUM NEUA YAANG, (grilled beef salad with mixed herbs ) and TOM YUM KUNG (hot and sour soup king prawns with lemongrass mushrooms) use: Lemon Grass: “Ta-khrai” in Thai, which helps with water retention, menstrual issues and helps fight flu; Sweet Basil: “Ho-ra-pha” in Thai, an expectorant that also includes an enzyme to aid digestion; Garlic: “Kra-thiam” in Thai, which is used for excess sweating, to treat flatulence and lower cholesterol; and Galangal: “Kha” in Thai, used as an antimicrobial (inhibits the growth of bacteria and fungi) and to treat rheumatoid arthritis.

www.kruathai.co.uk

The video’s theme tune is being written by Emily Philips and Josh Wilkinson, who co-write for One Direction and Alexandra Burke, and Totseat founder Rachel Jones believes the baby show will have Scotland’s cutest kids all under one roof.    

Rachel says, “Following the success of our first online video to promote Oobicoo, our new soft toy tot, and having exhibited around the world, we decided this year’s Baby and Toddler Show in Glasgow would be the best place to look for our next wee star. We are on the hunt for chubby cheeks, toothy grins, cute dimples and of course that certain x-factor!”

Rachel created Totseat® highchair in 2004 after a frustrated visit to her local café, where the highchair proffered was filthy and came from the downstairs loo. The new star of Totseat’s online video will help to demonstrate to parents just how quick, easy and safe the highchair is to use.

The Scottish Baby and Toddler Show will also be the public’s first opportunity to meet Totseat’s new soft toy tots Oobicoo, who started out life as the mannequin to display the Totseat highchair. Huggably soft Ollie, Orla, Ed and Olywn are the same size as a six month old baby which makes them the perfect best friend, sister or brother.

Designed to be dressed in hand-me-down-baby clothes, Rachel added, “Oobicoo not only helps your child’s development, they are perfect for imaginative play, great for teaching dexterity and because of their realistic size, they give children someone to cuddle! Everyone knows the healing power of a hug, so it’s no surprise to learn that children who get a long hug everyday are smarter*.

“We are raising money for the Children’s Immunology Fund, with £1 from every sale of Oobicoo going to the charity, and are hoping the Scottish Baby and Toddler Show will enable us to raise as much money as we can for such a worthwhile cause.”

If your baby has the star quality to feature in the next Totseat video, head to stand 424A at the Scottish Baby and Toddler Show, SECC, Glasgow between 27th – 29th April. Everyone who enters will be given the chance to win a Totseat and all four Oobicoo soft toy tots.

Catch the Magic……www.magicfest.co.uk