Oranges are citrus fruits that belong to the same family as pomelo, clementine, mandarins, yuzu, lemons and grapefruit. They grow on small evergreen trees that are between 5-8m tall. The sweet, juicy flesh of oranges is refreshing and gives a wide variety of nutrients. The zest of the orange contains volatile oils that give off a refreshing, citrusy aroma as well as useful phyto-compounds that are beneficial to health.
Orange peel contains more than 60 types of flavonoids and over 170 different types of phytonutrients as well as being a rich source of pectin. There is also Vitamin C present in the peel. These all contribute in helping to lower the risk of human cancers such as breast, skin and colon cancer.
Oranges are low in calories, contain no cholesterol or saturated fats and are rich in dietary fibre. This dietary fibre in the form of pectin acts as a bulk laxative that protects the colon by decreasing the exposure time of toxic substances binding to cancer-causing chemicals that might be present in the colon.
Vitamins A and C are found in good quantities in oranges as well as B-complex vitamins such as thiamine, pyroxidine and folates. The minerals potassium and calcium are also present. These can help control heart rate and blood pressure.
This fruity recipe is taken from,”The Hairy Bikers' Mediterranean Adventure,” by Si king & Dave Myers. Published by Seven Dials. ISBN: 978 1 409 17191 1
Orange and Almond Cake
Serves 8-10
Ingredients:
2 small oranges
butter, for greasing
6 eggs
225g caster sugar
250g ground almonds
1 tsp baking powder
250ml crème fraiche or whipped cream, to serve
To decorate:
75g flaked almonds, lightly toasted
2 tbsp icing sugar
2tsp very finely grated orange zest
Method:
Put the whole oranges in a saucepan and cover them with water. Bring them to the boil, cover the pan with a lid and simmer for up to 2 hours, or until you can pierce the skin of the orange with the handle of a wooden spoon. Drain the oranges and cool them under running water. Break them open, remove any pips and blitz the oranges in a food processor or blender until smooth. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 180C/ Fan 160C/ Gas 4. Grease a 23cm cake tin, preferably one with a loose bottom, and line the base with baking paper.
Put the eggs in a large bowl and whisk until very well aerated and frothy – the texture should be almost mousse-like. Gradually add the sugar, whisking constantly as you do so. Mix the ground almonds and baking powder together, then fold them into the mixture. Finally add the orange purée.
Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin. Bake in the oven for 50 minutes to an hour, until the cake has shrunk away from the sides slightly and is firm but springy to the touch. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 15 minutes, then turn it out on to a cooling rack. It might dip in the middle slightly as it cools, but don't worry.
Mix the flaked almonds with the icing sugar and orange zest, making sure the orange zest is evenly distributed. Sprinkle this over the cake. Serve with dollops of crème fraiche or whipped cream.
Jay's grandma’s popcorn from Gujarat is now selling out everywhere.
Ditched the influencer route and began posting hilarious videos online.
Available in Sweet Chai and Spicy Masala, all vegan and gluten-free
Jayspent 18 months on a list. Thousands of names. Influencers with follower counts that looked like phone numbers. He was going to launch his grandmother's popcorn the right way: send free bags, wait for posts, pray for traction. That's the playbook, right? That's what you do when you're a nobody selling something nobody asked for.
Then one interaction made him snap. The entitlement. The self-importance. The way some food blogger treated his family's recipe like a favour they were doing him. He looked at his spreadsheet. Closed it. Picked up his phone and decided to burn it all down.
Now he makes videos mocking the same people he was going to beg for help. Influencers weeping over the wrong luxury car. Creators demanding payment for chewing food on camera. Someone having a breakdown about ice cubes. And guess what? The internet ate it up. His popcorn keeps selling out. And from Gujarat, his grandmother's 60-year-old recipe is now moving units because her grandson got mad enough to be funny about it.
Jay’s grandma’s popcorn from Gujarat is now selling out everywhere Instagram/daadisnacks
The kitchen story
Daadi means grandmother in Hindi. Jay's daadi came to America from Gujarat decades ago. Every weekend, she made popcorn with the spices she grew up with, including cardamom, cinnamon, and chilli mixes. It was her way of keeping home close while living somewhere that didn't taste like it.
Jay wanted that in stores. Wanted brown faces in the snack aisle. It didn’t happen overnight. It took a couple of years to get from a family recipe to something they could actually sell. Everyone pitched in, including his grandmom, uncle, mum. The spices come from small local farmers. There are just two flavours for now, Sweet Chai and Spicy Masala. It’s all vegan and gluten-free, packed in bright bags that instantly feel South Asian.
The videos don't look like marketing. They look like someone venting at 11 PM after scrolling too long. He nails the nasal influencer voice. The fake sympathy. “I can’t believe this,” he says in that exaggerated influencer tone, “they gave me the cheaper car, only eighty grand instead of one-twenty.” That clip alone blew up, pulling in close to nine million views.
Most people don't know they're watching a snack brand. They think it's social commentary. Jay never calls himself an influencer. He says he’s a creator, period. There’s a difference, and he makes sure people know it. His TikTok has around three hundred thousand followers, Instagram about half that. The comments read like a sigh of relief, people fed up with fake polish, finally hearing someone say what everyone else was thinking.
This fits into something called deinfluencing; people pushing back against the buy-everything-trust-nobody cycle. But Jay's version has teeth. He's naming names, calling out the economics. Big venture money flows to chains with good lighting. Family businesses with actual stories get ignored because their content isn't slick enough.
Jay watched his New York neighbourhood change. Chains moved in. Influencers posted about places that had funding and were aesthetic. The old spots, the family ones, got left behind. His videos are about that gap. The erosion of local culture by money and aesthetics.
"Big chains and VC-funded businesses are promoted at the expense of local ones," he said. His content doesn't just roast influencers. It promotes other small food makers who can't afford to play the game. He positions Daadi as a defender of something real against something plastic.
And it's working. Not just philosophically. Financially. The videos drive traffic. People click through, try the popcorn, come back. The company can't keep stock. That's the proof.
Daadi popcorn features authentic Gujarat flavours like Sweet Chai and Spicy Masala, all vegan and gluten-free Daadi Snacks
The blowback
People unfollow because they think he's too harsh. Jay's take: "I would argue I need to be meaner."
In May, he posted that he's not chasing content creation money like most people at his follower count. "I post to speak my mind and help my family's snack biz." That's a different model. Most brands pay influencers to make everything look perfect. They chase viral polish, and Jay does the opposite. In fact, he weaponises rawness and treats criticism like a product feature.
The internet mostly backs him. Reddit threads light up with support. One commenter was "toxic influencers choking on their matcha lattes searching their Balenciaga bags." Another: "Influencers are boring and unoriginal and can get bent." The anger is shared. Jay simply gave it a microphone and a snack to buy.
Jay's success says something about where things are going. People are done with curated perfection. They can smell the artificiality now. They respond to brands that feel like humans rather than committees. Daadi doesn't sell aspiration. Doesn't sell a lifestyle. Sells popcorn and a point of view.
The quality matters, including the spices, the sourcing, and the family behind it. But the edge matters too. He’s not afraid to say what most brands tiptoe around. “We just show who we are,” Jay says. “No pretending, no gloss. People can feel that and that’s when they reach for the popcorn.”
Most small businesses can't afford to play the traditional game. Can't pay influencers. Can't hire agencies. Can't fake their way into feeds. Maybe they don't need to. Maybe honesty and humour can cut through if they're sharp enough. If the product backs it up. If the story is real and the person telling it isn't trying to sound like a PR script.
This started with a list Jay didn't use. The business took off the moment he stopped trying to play by the usual rules and started speaking his mind. Turns out, honesty sells. And yes, the popcorn really does taste good.
Daadi Snacks merch dropInstagram/daadisnacks
The question is whether this scales. Whether other small businesses watch this and realise they don't need to beg for attention from people who don't care. Right now, Daadi keeps selling out. People keep watching. The grandmother's recipe that was supposed to need influencer approval is doing fine without it. Better than fine. Turns out the most effective marketing strategy might just be giving a damn and not being afraid to show it.
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