Delicious new nuts-for-nutrition start-up Field Doctor delivers

FOOD & DRINK

TASTY TIDBITS FROM THE CITY’S RESTAURANTS, CHEFS AND PRODUCERS

Mimicking the traditional taste of tequila and the essence of mezcal, the first iteration of Mockingbird also includes ashwagandha to help combat anxiety

ALL THE MARGS, NONE OF THE MIGRAINES

During lockdown, tequila sales soared – as did concerns for the amount people were drinking at home, accelerating the launch of an alcohol-free, vegan ‘tequila’ just produced in Bristol.

Developed during the darkest depths of lockdown over the course of seven months of rigorous tasting and testing, Mockingbird Spirit is made with Blue Weber agave straight from Mexico, and is the brainchild of 30-year-old firsttime founder Fern McCoy. Having spent years working in the drinks industry on alcohol launches, Fern decided to align Mockingbird with the ‘alcoternative’ sector, focusing on the “vehemently necessary” wellness boom of 2020 in functional consumables.

Embodying the spirit of the mockingbird, by mimicking the traditional taste of tequila and the essence of mezcal, tasting notes include sweet vanilla and cinnamon with habanerothis. This first iteration also includes another hero ingredient, ashwagandha. This medicinal herb and adaptogen helps the body manage stress and anxiety by diminishing cortisol levels, and can boost energy levels – a welcome plus for a sober evening.

• mockingbirdspirit.com had room to display in the past.

RELOCATION, RELOCATION

After 11 years, seven of which have been spent on Kings Road, Clifton’s DBM Wines is set to move around the corner to a much larger premises on Princess Victoria Street.

Following extensive renovations, the new shop (previously occupied by Oddbins) has been transformed into a beautifully light and airy space that will soon be home to an extensive and interesting range of great value wines from this respected local wine merchant.

“We’ve been extremely excited about Richard Davis, partner at DBM Wines. “The extra space will enable us to show a much greater range of wines, as well as special collections that we have not

“We will also have our bin-end deals and old favourites, and the shop will allow us to react to customer demand and further expand our popular online and free local delivery service.”

Expect rare gems and some killer offers from this long-standing Clifton Village independent, and for a chance to win incredible prizes, including a Pol Roger Champagne Jeroboam, simply pop into the new shop for a browse and leave your email address with a member of the team.

• dbmwines.co.uk

TOO GOOD TO GO

With footfall unpredictable during the easing of lockdown, and bakery produce having a short shelf life, food waste app Too Good To Go is calling on Bristolians to help prevent bread, cakes and pastries from going to waste simply because they haven’t sold on the day they’ve

George Walton, head baker been baked. at East Bristol Bakery Bakeries are hopeful that the first-hand experience many picked this opportunity to expand,” says in a greater appreciation for the time and effort that goes into professionally made food. “A lot of what we sell is long-fermented sourdough so the process for each loaf takes two days,” says Rob Hagen, MD of East Bristol Bakery. “A lot of hard work and anti

up during lockdown, thanks to marathon baking sessions, resulted social hours go into making bread. Making our products requires passionate, caring people who are dedicated to making something with their hands over a pretty long period of time. When you put your heart and soul into something it's devastating to have to throw it away. It’s always a balancing act for fresh food businesses when being mindful of the risk of food not selling and going to waste. If there is a football match or bad weather, it affects our production and it’s so hard to predict these elements in advance. It’s such a relief to me now that I can still sell it the next day through Too Good To Go. We know it will end up in someone’s stomach and not the bin if we’ve accidentally over-produced.”

The fragrant veggie moussaka was a hit

The virtuous-looking field green risotto

Following the science

We’re fans of Field Doctor, the smart new food service offering dietician and chef-created meals delivered directly to your door. Words by Alysha Chase

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ristol and Bath’s new purveyor of ‘nutritionally supercharged’ ready meals, field doctor. ™ (Field Doctor) had this closet chemistry nerd at hello – with the cute little take on the periodic table on its planet-friendly packaging. It assured me my veggie moussaka would make for a working lunch packed with Fi (fibre) and leave me better off in the Pr (protein) and K (potassium) departments.

Not only upping my vitamin stores (A, B and C) via three of my five-a-day quota, it was bringing folic acid and its feel-good friend selenium to the party – the latter an immune-boosting antioxidant that, like vitamin D, we just don’t get enough of in this country as our soils aren’t too rich in it.

The Field Doc gang had smuggled the lesser known nutrient in via Brazil nuts which are a great source of the stuff – and actually, now’s a really good time to mention that this chef and dietician-led West Country team are nuts about nuts, so if you’re not (or worse, they’re your health kryptonite) then these are not the ready meals for you. But it was the beefy Brazils I was to partly to thank for the depth of flavour from the fragrant aubergine, courgette, British puy lentil, yellow pea, red pepper, white bean béchamel and pecorino cheese Greek-inspired creation – although the labour-intensive cooking methods employed make a real difference too. Cooking down the veg in extra virgin olive oil, soffritto-style, to concentrate the taste, and focusing on umami flavours, also help keep the salt levels down.

It’s the famously robust Mediterranean diet that food-loving entrepreneur Martin Dewey and dietician Sasha Watkins – cofounders – built their range around with the Michelin-star experience of head chef and food educator Matt Williamson. Wholegrains and pulses are added to all meals, which are largely plant based, cooked in small batches and flash frozen to lock in their freshness. When meat does feature, it’s organic.

We also tried the field green risotto comprising British naked barley with peas, broad beans, asparagus, courgette, kale, pecorino and another choice nut, chopped almond, and it was equally moreish, with none of the clagginess that risotto sometimes can have (at least, when made by my hand) and a red pepper and chickpea curry with green beans, broccoli, cashews with a very light and fluffy turmeric brown basmati and lentil rice mix.

While more importance is placed on substance, and we’re told the dishes are “not designed for Insta”, each looks noticeably high quality and pretty appealing even in its frozen state, and with the flavour profiles to back them up once out of the oven, you feel confident that you’ve genuinely given your body a boost, with zero effort. It’s a satisfying fix when you’re time-poor, up against the clock with a work deadline. Ordering on the website, you can whittle down what’s best for you using your dietary requirements or sorting by health claim –meals specifically designed to benefit the muscles, skin, bones, brain, eyes, heart or gut; meals that are better for energy or immunity.

We’re just witnessing the germination of Field Doctor, but the aim is to nurture a regenerative relationship with nature – hence the brand name – and support the move away from intensive farming practices and modern food manufacturing towards sustainable farming, biodiversity and soil restoration, to look after both human health and that of the planet. That’s something we can definitely get behind. ■

• Delivered direct to your door, single meals priced at £6.75 (£9.95 for two), minimum order £25. Use code fdtbm10 for £10 off your order; fielddoctor.co.uk