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Childcare and Labour; Brazilian food and drink; Kim Longinotto

Is childcare becoming a key issue for the next general election? Plus Brazilian food and drink, filmmaker Kim Longinotto, and Vanora Bennett on the history of the White Russians.

Brazilian food and drink. On the day of England's next World Cup match, Luciana Bianchi tells us How to Cook The Perfect Brazilian cuisine and caipirinhas, and cooks for us live in the studio.

Plus is childcare becoming a key issue for the next General election? A new IPPR report is out today with recommendations on childcare and parental leave that are expected to form a major part of the Labour manifesto. Shadow Children's Minister Lucy Powell, political journalist Isabel Hardman, and full-time father Thom Chesser join Jenni Murray to discuss.
Also filmmaker Kim Longinotto on love and courtship on film in the 20th century. Why so many of us have been guilty of buying shoes and clothes that simply just don't fit. And Vanora Bennett on the history of the White Russians in Paris.

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58 minutes

Clip

Chapters

  • Labour's Plans for Childcare

    Labour’s manifesto will be reviewing IPPR recommendations on childcare and parental leave

    Duration: 10:31

  • Cook the Perfect... Brazilian Snack

    Chef Luciana Bianchi cooks a Brazilian snack of fried cheese cubes with chilli sauce

    Duration: 05:39

  • Vanora Bennett

    Vanora's novel The White Russian is set in the Russian émigré community of Paris in 1937

    Duration: 06:54

  • The Psychology of Shoe Shopping

    What’s going on in shoppers’ minds and why do we buy shoes which don’t fit

    Duration: 07:34

  • Kim Longinotto

    ‘Love Is All’ examines the big screen's depiction of love over the past century

    Duration: 07:39

  • Ciapirinha Drink

    Brazilian chef Luciana Bianchi makes the perfect Caiparinha drink.

    Duration: 03:16

Labour's Plans for Childcare

Hot off the press – the left wing think tank the (IPPR) launches its Condition of Britain report.Ìý It’s expected to make recommendations on childcare and parental leave that Labour will be looking at closely for its manifesto.Ìý We’ll be putting the proposals under the Woman’s Hour microscope too.

Cook the Perfect... Brazillian Snack

Brazilian cuisine is a mystery to most people. But in the last ten years, as the ‘Sleeping Giant’ has attracted increasing international attention, its cuisine has also risen in stature.Ìý It’s a hugely diverse and exciting cuisine that reflects a wealth of ethnic culinary influences and is based on local Amazonian produce. As Woman’s Hour gets into the World Cup spirit,Ìý, chef and co-author of a new book 'Brazilian Food’, joins Jenni to cook the perfect Brazilian snack of fried cheese cubes with sweet chilli sauce, the perfect accompaniment to the classic Caipirinha cocktail.

Ìý

Brazilian Food by & Luciana Bianchi, is published by Mitchell Beazley

Vanora Bennett

Vanora Bennett is an author and journalist who is mad about all things Russian. She studied the language at university and spent much of the 1990s based in Russia covering post-Soviet conflicts as a foreign correspondent. Her latest novel, The White Russian, is set in the heart of the Russian émigré community of Paris in 1937. The novel intertwines fictional characters around real life events that reveal the plots and intrigue at the heart of Paris’ Russian diaspora in the 1930s.

The Psychology of Shoe Shopping

Almost 50% of women have bought shoes which don’t actually fit them, according to recent research from the College of Podiatry.ÌýReasons given include not having time to try them on or thinking they fit in the shop,Ìý liking shoes which the shop doesn’t have in your size, buying online or being swayed by an attractive pair which has been reduced in the sale.ÌýSo what’s going on in shoppers’ minds and why do we buy shoes and other fashion items which don’t fit or are otherwise unlikely actuallyÌýto be worn?Ìý We’ll be hearing from customers in a London shoe shop and Jenni is joined by the writer and psychotherapist, Lucy Beresford, to explore the psychology of shoe shopping.

Kim Longinotto

is a British documentary film maker, well known for making observational films that highlight the plight of female victims of oppression and discrimination. But when she was approached to make a film on love and courtship with only archive footage to make it, she jumped at the chance. Love Is All, examines the big screen's depiction of love in all its forms over the past century, plotting the first ever on screen kiss, the birth of youth culture, gay liberation and free love. The almost entirely silent film follows courting couples flirting at tea dances, kissing in the back of the movies, and fighting for the right to love, set to a soundtrack by Richard Hawley. Jenni talks to Kim about what inspired her to take on the challenge.

RECIPE: Fried cheese cubes with sweet chilli sauce

The golden, crispy-skinned cubes packed with melted cheese, combined with the sweet and sour flavour of the chilli sauce, are a perfect combination with a caipirinha cocktailÌý(see below).

Ìý

Ingredients:

Serves 8

* 500ml whole milk

* 250g queijo de coalho or halloumi cheese, grated

* 250g granulated tapioca flour

* pinch of salt & white pepper

* vegetable oil, for deep-frying

* Sweet Chilli Sauce, to serve

Ìý

Preparation Method

1. Gently heat the milk to scalding point in a small saucepan.

Ìý

2. Combine the grated cheese and tapioca in a bowl. Slowly add the hot milk, stirring constantly to prevent lumps forming.

Ìý

3. Add the salt (you may need more or less depending on the saltiness of the

cheese, Halloumi is already salty) and pepper and continue stirring until the mixture thickens.

Ìý

4. Line a baking tin with cling film and pour the cheese mixture into it. Cover

the surface with more cling film to prevent a skin forming. Leave to cool, then

refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

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5. Preheat the oil to 180°C in a deep-fat fryer or heavy-based saucepan. Take

the cheese mixture out of the tin and cut into cubes. Deep-fry in small batches

until golden brown. Alternatively bake the cubes in a preheated oven at 190°C

(375°F), gas mark 5.

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6. Serve hot with a sweet chilli dipping sauce.

Ìý

Tips and Techniques:

1. You can find Tapioca flour in any Brazilian grocey store as well as online.

2.ÌýYou can use any hard cheeseÌýlike halloumi or cheddar instead of queijo de coalho

Ìý

This recipe is by the chef Rodrigo Oliveira and is taken from the book 'Brazilian Food'.

RECIPE: Caipirinha Drink

This is the classic Brazilian cocktail and goes perfectly with the fried cheese snack. The key ingredient isÌýCachaça, an alcoholic beverage made in Brazil and distilled from local sugarcane.ÌýÌý

Ìý

Classic caipirinha

* 1 lime, sliced

* 2 tbsp caster sugar

* 4–8 ice cubes, crushed if you prefer

* 60ml cachaça

Put the lime and sugar in a big glass or cocktail shaker and crush with a pestle.

Add the ice and cachaça and mix well to combine. Serve in a small, clear glass tumbler.

Ìý

Ìý

Tips:

Be creative when preparing your caipirinhas and try using other fresh fruits. Tangerine, lime and lemon; orange and ginger; and passion fruit caipirinhas, for example, are all popular in Brazil.

Ìý

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Jenni Murray
Interviewed Guest Luciana Bianchi
Interviewed Guest Vanora Bennett
Interviewed Guest Kim Longinotto
Interviewed Guest Lucy Powell
Interviewed Guest Isabel Hardman
Interviewed Guest Thom Chesser
Interviewed Guest Lucy Beresford
Producer Emma Wallace

Broadcast

  • Thu 19 Jun 2014 10:00

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