As another year draws to a close and many of us begin to wind down for Christmas, we look back and recap some of our blog highlights - diverse and informative topics from 2022 …

Food Trends for 2022: Umami goes big

Asian cuisine has long demonstrated how ingredients high in umami (considered the fifth taste, and roughly translatable as savoury, pungent or meaty) help elevate other ingredients and round out flavours in a dish, but the umami trend is exploding across new products, multicultural cuisines, traditional cooking, and hybrid mash-ups. Think foods like soy sauce, shiitake mushrooms and bacon – don’t forget you can find bacon and all the best quality meat Cape Town has to offer, at N1.

Healthy Meats for a Healthy Year: Pork is a healthier non-Halaal option

For those considering ‘other white meats’, in a BBC list of the 100 most nutritious foods, pork ranked eighth! Pork is a good source of thiamine, vitamins B-6 and B-12, potassium, iron and magnesium. In a study comparing lamb, beef and pork fat, the latter was found to contain more unsaturated fats which means you’re getting in more omega-3 fatty acids. And if you plan to eat more pork, the leanest cut to opt for is the tenderloin.

The Kitchen of the Future: A robot that can pour wine

Probably the most futuristic kitchen tech at CES 2021 was Samsung's Bot Handy – a smart robot designed to do tasks like loading the dishwasher and pouring a glass of wine. While still a way off from being a reality in consumer kitchens, the bot can measure the weight, size and material of a household item in order to handle them without inflicting damage.

What’s in my Burger Patty: New guidelines gazetted

The new regulations defined four kinds of burger patties: ground, regular, value, and economy; with ground burger patties being the ‘meatiest’ class, requiring a minimum total meat content of 99.6%, with no other edible offal added ingredients allowed. Any labels of lean or extra lean, need to follow detailed fat content guidelines.

And finally, as we reflect on the last twelve months and our thoughts turn gratefully to all those who have stood by us and helped us navigate another year, we want to say thank you for choosing us, thank you for trusting our products and services - we are honoured to serve you!

From everyone at N1 - wishing you all a Happy, and most importantly, Healthy Festive Season!