Fine Foodies Summer 2012

Fine Foodies SUMMER 2012

Passionate about good food Picrkfurp ee you ie fooadzine mag

INTERVIEW

Recipe for success

THE 2012 WINNER OF MASTERCHEF ON MANGOES, MAURITIUS AND MAKING IT ALONE

Plus:

SUMMER 2012

 CHINESE CUISINE  THE PERFECT ACCOMPANIMENT  EVERYDAY FAMILY COOKING

Brazil uncovered

LETICIA SCHWARTZ EXPLORES BRAZILIAN FOOD CUISINE

Welcome

Fine Foodies Passionate about good food

Target Publishing Ltd, The Old Dairy, Hudsons Farm, Fieldgate Lane, Ugley Green, Essex CM22 6HJ Telephone: 01279 816300 www.finefoodiesmag.com Editor: Rachel Symonds e: editor@finefoodiesmag.com t: 01279 810088 Contributors: Jennifer Britt, Jane Baxter, Francesca Melman, Leticia Schwartz Sub Editor: Jeff Munn-Giddings Group Commercial Manager: Ruth Gilmour e: ruth.gilmour@targetpublishing.com t: 01279 810084 Senior Sales Executive: James Kirk e: james.kirk@targetpublishing.com t: 01279 810068 Production Daniella Randazzo e: daniella.randazzo@targetpublishing.com t: 01279 810097 Design Clare Holland e: clare.holland@targetpublishing.com Administration/Distribution Amy Robinson e: amy.robinson@targetpublishing.com t: 01279 810072 Accounts Lorraine Evans e: lorraine.evans@targetpublishing.com t: 01279 816300 Managing Director David Cann e: info@targetpublishing.com ISSN 2046-438X

T

here are some people who are just natural cooks, who are at ease in the kitchen. These are the people whose timing is impeccable, who remain cool and calm when things start to go wrong and who produce the most wonderful flavour in their dishes.

And then there are the rest of us who, while enjoying cooking can often find it difficult to pull a recipe together successfully, where the timing is a bit off and the end result not quite what we had hoped. Despite coming from a family of professional chefs, even I have been in this latter category.

But cooking really can be simple, and it can be an incredibly enjoyable experience for the whole family; after all, there s nothing better and healthier than some good home cooking. And so, in this issue of Fine Foodies, we aim to show you how.

A new cookbook, What s for Dinner? Second Helpings, has been created to help busy families deal with the challenge of getting a balanced, home-cooked meal on the table every day. It s not necessarily fancy food, but these dishes are designed to be simple to prepare, using plenty of fresh produce, and taste great.

What we really liked about this book, by Romilla Arber, is that it is formed of weekly menus, which help you plan what you are going to cook and the ingredients you need at the start of a week. And it is also seasonal, meaning the recipes featured in this issue of Fine Foodies are all made with ingredients that are available in the UK now. As an added bonus, all the proceeds from the book go to the Food Education Trust, which was set up to promote the benefits of a homecooked, balanced diet.

One person whose love of home-cooking has paid off is Shelina Permalloo. The recently-crowned winner of MasterChef 2012 took time out from her busy schedule to talk to Fine Foodies about how her passion for food ‒ which harks back to her Mauritian origins ‒ and her dreams for a future in the kitchen prompted her to enter the popular competition. Turn to page 12 to find out what she had to say.

Don t forget you can keep up to date with all the latest Fine Foodies news via our Twitter page @finefoodies. Why not log on and join the conversation, or alternatively, drop me an email at editor@finefoodiesmag.com

Rachel

RACHEL SYMONDS

Published by Target Publishing Limited. Printed in the UK by The Magazine Printing Company plc www.magprint.co.uk ©2012 Target Publishing Ltd. Produced on environmentally friendly chlorine free paper derived from sustained forests. The Publishers cannot accept any responsibility for the advertisements in this publication. To protect our environment papers used in this publication are produced by mills that promote sustainably managed forests and utilise Elementary Chlorine Free process to produce fully recyclable material in accordance with an Environmental Management System conforming with BS EN ISO 14001:2004.

SUMMER 2012 FINE FOODIES

3

Fine Foodies

Contents Passionate about good food

12 COvEr StOry

12

Shelina Permaloo The triumphant MasterChef champion tells all to Fine Foodies

FEaturES

20

Food Focus The perfect accompaniment – Jennifer Britt uncovers the producers making some wonderfully characterful accompaniments

24

SUMMER 2012

32

20 26

Recipe Simple cooking at home; Romilla Arber details some mouth-watering dishes from her new book – and in aid of charity

32

Recipe Fuchsia Dunlop offers some ideas on cooking Chinese food at home

36

Global foodie Leticia Schwartz whets the appetite with Brazil’s mixed flavours

rEgularS

6 8 16

Foodie bites Latest news from the world of fine food

36 32

24

In season What’s ideal for eating and cooking with at this time of year? Riverford Organic tells all

Shelf life Explore the latest products in store

40

UK fare Fine Foodies explores all that Wiltshire has to offer

42

Drink up From wines and cocktail ideas to the newest hot drinks

Fine Foodie hero Sybille Wilkinson Cover image courtesy of Shine TV

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FINE FOODIES SUMMER 2012

Letters

Your foodies AN OIL CHANGE

TWEET CORNER

Gordon’sat escape

Recipes

I m enjoying your magazine; I read with interest your piece with Gregg Wallace about rapeseed oil (Fine Foodies, January/February) and decided to try some. I bought a litre bottle of Goldenfields (sounds British enough) rapeseed oil (the only brand on the shelf) for a very reasonable £1.69, but was disappointed to find when I got home and read the small print that it was produced in Belgium. I ve since been on the lookout for British-produced rapeseed oil and have found it in a couple of stores near me, but at the outrageous price of around £4.50 for a 500ml. bottle, i.e. £9 per litre. I can only think that the British rapeseed oil producers are having a joke. At £9 per litre it will never catch on and will remain a niche product. How can oil produced from something which is growing in fields all around my house cost four times as much as top quality olive oil from the Mediterranean?

CHARLES MAPLESTON, LINCOLNSHIRE

gre

100 classic say offers don Ram India, Gor ure across s Great Escape. y advent his culinar k, Gordon Ramsay Following but the dish latest boo ul times, his in back to Mogh dish. Over time, recipes tic can be traced

Fine Foodies asked the twitterworld for some interesting breakfast recipes.

icken Butter ch

dish. this fantas Its origins the classic re of eating to India.

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C/Fan 160° for three d coriander to 180° crushed finely grated on a the oven • 1tsp groun , peeled and chicken pieces • Preheat masala bake • 2cm ginger marinated tray and • 1tsp garam 4. Put the sea salt d turmeric set on a baking Brush the • ½ tsp fine grill rack • 1tsp groun powder r, or to taste minutes. chilli 10 hot to powde oil and chilli • ½ tsp for eight • 1tsp hot with a little lemon juice o puree chicken pieces Bake for another • 1½ tbsp • 275ml tomat over. l yoghurt cooked juice turn them • 75ml natura until just • 1tbsp lemon minutes masala 10 to 12 butter • ½ tsp garam unsalted ric 40g • h. turme or d throug the ghee e cream • ½ tsp groun sauce, heat • 100ml doubl der, d cumin • For the add the garlic ed corian • 1tsp groun a pan and oil, so • 1tbsp chopp butter in vegetable minute or h • 1-2tbsp . Fry for a to garnis , ng and ginger om, cloves for brushi the cardam then add , turmeric garam masala fry for coriander, Stir well and r. powde give off a and chilli until they minutes one to two tomato puree the in . Stir another lovely aroma cook for juice and chicken and lemon Add the es. minut to couple of and stir well the sauce cream pieces to butter and , add the the butter coat. Finally uously until h. and stir contin the sauce is smoot and Transfer has melted seasoning. adjust the serve hot, Taste and bowl and ed to a warm with chopp garnished coriander.

Sta Letterr 7/3/12

2012 ES SPRING FINE FOODI

26

indd 26

gordon ramsay.

10:54:20

A FINE FOODIE FAN

I just picked up a copy of your latest mag and I was really impressed, especially with the variety of recipes you offer. I love challenging myself in the kitchen and these recipes really open my eyes to different dishes ‒ I particularly loved having a go at Gordon Ramsey s Indian recipes. Thanks for such an informative magazine.

LOUISE CHAPMAN, HEREFORDSHIRE

Star letter – could it be you?

Do you have something that you d like to share with other readers, something that will inspire them, encourage them to visit their local store or is just good news? We d love to hear from you. And, of course, we d also like your comments about the magazine.

The winner of the Star Letter will receive Fine Foo Fssinione Food ies Fine Foo d ies Pa Passionat e about d ies ate abou Passionat good foo t good foo e about d a year s subscription good foo d d Pick up Pick up your free Pick up your free foodie to Fine Foodies your free foodie magazine foodie magazine magazine magazine, direct to their door. This will The Rou Recipe Gregg’s legacy x for success mean you never the word have to miss an Plus: Plus: Gordon Plus: Plus: issue of Fine Brazi Ramsay’s uncoveredl Sustainable Indian adventure Foodies. catch SUMMER 2012

Spring 2012

Issue.6 January/February Vol.1 2012

INTERVIEW

INTERVIEW

INTERVIEW

THE 2012 WIN NER OF MASTERC ON MANGOE HEF S, MAKING IT ALO MAURITIUS AND NE

THE MASTERC HEF HIS MISSION TO STAR ON NATION TO RAP SWITCH THE ESEED OIL

S TOP RECIPES

cover.indd 1

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BE INSPIRED BY TV CHEF S INDITHE AN ADVENTURE

DELIGHTS ] ] INDIDELI AN FOO D CULTURE SEASONS IN GREE ] WARMING MARY BERR WINTCE ER ] Y S TOP RECI RECI ] MICH ELIN STARPES ] PES S EXPL AINED 2012

] DELI DELIGHT S ] SEASONS IN GREE CE ] MARY BERRY

LETICIA SCHW ARTZ EXPLORES BRAZILIAN FOO D CUISINE

January/February

SUMMER 2012

ILY COOKING

SPRING 2012

 CHINESE CUIS  THE PERFECT INE ACCOMPANIM  EVERYDAY FAM ENT

MICHEL ROUX JR ON LIFE IN THE FAM CULINARY DYN OUS ASTY

COVER.indd 07/06/2012

14:51

HOW TO SOU FISH ETHICALL RCE Y AND SUSTAINABLY

1

7/3/12 10:25:11 16/12/11 13:44:43

Write to: Rachel Symonds, Editor, Fine Foodies, The Old Dairy, Hudsons Farm, Fieldgate Lane, Ugley Green, Bishops Stortford CM22 6HJ or email editor@finefoodiesmag.com

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FINE FOODIES SUMMER 2012

@NEWJUSTINE

Breakfast? Pancakes with bacon and maple syrup ‒ made with wind-milled flour and free-range eggs, of course! @BOBBYSBANGERS

We ve developed a full breakfast sausage containing everything but the egg. @YUMMYYORKSHIRE

How about our Bacon & Egg ice cream? Plus 12 other patriotic flavours! @POLLYRR

Scrambled egg and smoked salmon ‒ a classic!

News update

Foodie bites Jamie reeled in

Discovering Yorkshire fare

With Yorkshire now boasting more Michelin-starred restaurants than any other county in England, a new experience is helping food lovers discover the best of its cuisine.

Yorkshire Food Finder offers lovers of fine dining and quality local produce the chance to discover where some of Yorkshire’s top chefs source their ingredients.

Yorkshire Food Finder initially brings together four well-known Yorkshire restaurants and their local artisan suppliers, most of which have previously offered no public access to their businesses.

Those taking part in the trails – which are half- or full-day accompanied tours – will be able to see first-hand how Yorkshire’s produce is grown, reared, churned, and can learn how to smoke their own fish or make cheese, before sitting down to eat it.

Award-winning Andrew Pern, chef and owner at The Star Inn, Harome, which is involved in the trail, commented: “Right from day one we’ve used the local produce on our doorstep and made the most of the abundant Yorkshire larder around us. Linking the best of that produce with the tables that serve them in a series of themed trails is a great way of celebrating what the county has to offer and we’re delighted to be part of the Yorkshire Food Finder venture.”

• Find out more at www.yorkshirefoodfinder.org

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FINE FOODIES SUMMER 2012

Jamie Oliver attempted the perfect catch during a recent visit to Somerset-based dairy company Yeo Valley.

The celebrity chef took part in a catch and cook event, the first of a series of unique events taking place during the summer in the valley, bringing along friend and well-known Italian chef, Gennaro Contaldo (pictured above).

The event was based around a fly-fishing contest, with competitors aiming to catch the first and then biggest catch of the day. The first trout was landed after 45 minutes by William Neville, a family friend of Yeo Valley boss, Tim Mead. Jamie’s boat netted six trout, with the biggest catch of the day going to Gennaro, who landed a 3lb 4oz fish.

Yeo Valley is also holding a series of Farm Tours in June, July and September.

• For more information visit www.yeovalley.co.uk

London’s food diversity celebrated The cultural diversity of London is being celebrated this summer.

St Martin’s Courtyard will be paying tribute to the capital’s food, drink and culture with the free Global Food Festival on Saturday, July 14.

Visitors can taste their way around the world through six restaurants taking part; Bill’s, Cantina Laredo, Dishoom, Dalla Terra, Jamie’s Italian and Suda, which will be hosting tastings, demonstrations and activities. Whether it’s a Mexican fiesta, traditional British fare, or a flavour of Bangkok’s famous street food, there’s something for every taste.

takE tiME tO taStE New research revealing that 79 per cent of us are unable to identify basic flavours has prompted the launch of a new campaign.

A national poll found that just 28 per cent of people savour their food, with 60 per cent admitting they never or rarely take time to taste.

Almost half of people described their lunch as a means to an end to refuel their body, with just 13 per cent leaving work for lunch and 59 per cent spending less than 15 minutes eating lunch.

Among those polled, just 35 per cent could identify ingredients, with a worrying 93 per cent unable to discern beef from Chinese pork, and 92 per cent being unable to tell the difference between ham and tuna.

In light of the research, commissioned by food brand Glorious! and led by Dr David Lewis, the company has launched the Flavour Map, a global, online resource to inspire as well as re-educate consumers about flavour and taste. It allows the public to pin flavours ‘from around the globe or around the corner’ such as meals, recipes, or natural produce.

“The abundance of great flavours food experiences have never been more diverse, yet our findings suggest consumers are lazy when it comes to tasting and appreciating their food,” Dr Lewis said. “I doubt there’s ever been such a rich tapestry of food and flavour combinations at our disposal, yet we’re not savouring what we eat, which is not just a shame but a genuine waste of taste.”

Simple tips on waking up the taste buds include eating mindfully, avoiding watching TV or reading, setting aside enough time to eat so you are not rushing, chewing food carefully and avoiding drinking too much while eating. Over salting can spoil the taste of food too.

FrOm FIElD tO FOrk Whether you fancy trying your hand at butchery, or heading out on a wild food foray, Food Safari may be the place to go.

This Suffolk-based business hosts a detailed programme of events, from butchery workshops and foraging to fishing trips, cookery courses and visits to artisan producers.

Visitors can choose from full- and half-day workshops, where they will learn new skills, enjoy fantastic food and drink and be inspired by the passion and knowledge of farmers, foragers, fishermen, butchers and bakers. Many of the days are quite literally field to fork or sea to plate; guests visit a farm, learn some butchery, cook – and then enjoy – the food.

They can visit farms, smokehouses, artisan bakeries and butcheries, where they will get hands-on and learn something new, whether it’s shucking oysters, boning partridge, identifying edible mushrooms or nurturing sourdough bread.

• Find out more at www.foodsafari.co.uk

nOMa REtainS ‘wORld’S bESt’ titlE

Noma has won the prestigious accolade of World’s Best Restaurant for the third year in a row.

The eatery in Denmark, which Fine Foodies featured last year, has retained the title in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants Awards, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna. René Redzepi’s meticulous attention to detail and innovative approach to foraging has enabled Noma to maintain its position at the coveted top spot of the list, which is widely considered the highlight of the global dining calendar.

However, British chefs were also featured in the list; Heston Blumenthal scooped the Highest New Entry award with Dinner by Heston Blumenthal entering the list at number nine. The Fat Duck remains at number 13, giving Heston two restaurants on the list for the first time.

And The Ledbury, in London’s Notting Hill, shot up 20 places to number 14 to take the Highest Climber title.

OniOn EntERtainMEnt

You can be in no doubt about the focus of attractions at the forthcoming Big Onion Festival.

Being held on August 25 in Elveden, it will be the second time the event has been held, and will see more than 40 of East Anglia’s finest food and drink producers take part, as well as a line-up of great chefs and musicians from the local region.

Visitors can expect to browse the stalls, sample delicious food, watch live cookery demonstrations and enjoy live music into the evening.

Named The Big Onion after the volume of onions grown on the farm at Elveden, visitors will be treated to tractor and trailer rides on the farm and can learn all sorts of facts and figures about onions.

SUMMER 2012 FINE FOODIES

9

Product news

Shelf Life What’s neW in the WOrld Of great-tasting fOOd

ButtEr aND mINt makES NEw crISP New to the award-winning Fairfields Farm Crisps range is the innovative Butter & Mint variety.

There are few things more delicious than a bowl of new potatoes smothered in butter with chopped fresh mint and this has now been harnessed in a bag of hand-cooked crisps by Fairfields Farm.

Using mint sourced from Stangroom Brothers, a Norfolk family farm, and potatoes grown in the fertile soils of the Colne Valley, Butter & Mint crisps are one of three new flavours from the Essex-based crisp producer, alongside Sea Salt & Black Pepper, and No Salt.

A trip down memory lAne

The Grown Up Chocolate Company has revived four childhood classic chocolate bars.

The company, which makes each bar by hand, using only fresh ingredients and a minimum of 38 per cent cocoa milk chocolate, has given the classics a modern twist.

The range comprises: Crunchy Praline Wonder Bar, a caramelised wafer, coated in sumptuous praline, encased in real milk chocolate; Fruit and Nut Hunky Dory, with a mix of nuts and real pieces of fruit, on a bed of milk chocolate Gianduja, in luxury milk chocolate; Glorious Coconut Hocus Pocus, a creamy coconut ganache topped with an indulgent fruit and nut jumble wrapped in milk chocolate; and Salted Peanut Caramel Cracker, an opulent salted caramel in a row of peanuts on a bed of peanut praline swathed in milk chocolate.

On the gO melt in the mOuth

Being on the go doesn’t have to mean foregoing your food enjoyment thanks to the latest addition to Atkins and Potts.

The company has developed the sumptuous Chocolate Dippers, melted chocolate that can be enjoyed on the go.

Made with real Belgian chocolate, they are perfect with fresh fruit, dried fruit, biscuits, mini doughnuts, marshmallows, drizzled over ice cream or whisked into hot milk. They come in Milk or Dark Chocolate, and Butter Toffee flavours.

ice additiOns

Marshfield Farm Ice Cream has created a new flavour in the shape of Strawberries in Clotted Ice Cream.

Marshfield’s award-winning clotted cream ice cream has been combined with a strawberry ripple, which contains chunks of real strawberries.

Every one of Marshfield’s 26 flavours of ice cream is made on the farm itself, which is owned and run by Will and Dawn Hawking.

Some 60 per cent of each tub of ice cream comes from organic milk produced daily by the 250-strong herd of Friesian cows and the rest is made up of double or clotted cream from nearby dairy Cricketer Farm in Somerset.

the perfect bAcon butty

Sixty years after Denhay Farms was established as a family business, the team is reminding of the essential ingredients for a bacon butty.

Over the years, Denhay Farms has produced award-winning West Country Farmhouse Cheddar and more recently their famous dry cure bacon, which it says is essential for the perfect bacon butty.

Denhay’s maximum taste comes from dry-curing the bacon with sea salt, never freezing the meat and never adding water.

savOury and sWeet

A new range of popcorn with a twist has been created.

Popcorn producers Savoury & Sweet have unveiled the Lord Poppington’s range, which comes in four flavours: Sweet and Salty, Chilli and Lime, Lightly Sea-Salted, and Four Cheeses.

Kurt Hilder, Director at Savoury & Sweet, explained: “Quality has been at the forefront for this range and that is why we only ever add flavours at the very end of the manufacturing process to ensure a clean, crisp and fuller-flavoured popcorn.”

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FINE FOODIES summer 2012

Interview

Shelina’s journey

As she settles into life as the reigning MasterChef champion, Shelina Permalloo talks to Fine Foodies Editor, Rachel Symonds, about the road ahead.

O

talked-about

the MasterChef journey.

“I was getting to a point where I

qualities during

was thinking a lot about my career

Shelina Permalloo’s time on MasterChef

and felt a bit like I was banging my

ne of the most

head against a brick wall – I felt there

2012 was her capacity to stay calm

was something burning in me and I

and composed, even in the most

didn’t know what it was,” she recalls.

stressful of kitchen situations.

Ask Shelina how she managed to stay so measured, and she laughs.

“Everyone said I would be a good

But she knew she had always coveted a career in food. And so Shelina, along with 25,000 others, decided to fill out the online

poker player because I seemed so

application form for the show, never

composed, but my heartbeat was

dreaming it could take her this far.

thumping through my chest!” she

“We had saved up the money so I

admits. “In my old job, I had to deal

could have a career break to go into

with a lot of senior management so I think that’s perhaps why I came

food, and I had handed in my notice in the same week MasterChef asked

across as so composed, but I was

me to come in for a test. The initial

nervous as hell.”

trial was just so nerve-wracking and

Whatever her secret, it worked, and

you worry that the food won’t be

Shelina is currently basking in the

good enough. Every step of the way I

glory of being crowned the champion of MasterChef 2012, the first woman

thought it could be my last time.”

to take the title in seven years.

Speaking ahead of her appearance

Mauritian roots Although she grew up in

at the BBC Good Food Show this

Southampton, Shelina’s family are

June, she says: “It has been a bit of a

Mauritian, with her parents moving

whirlwind but great fun.”

to the UK to give their children a

Go back 12 months and Shelina’s

better life. She had always wanted to

life was very different. The 29-year-old

be a chef, but says: “My mum said no,

decided it was time for a career

she wanted me to do something

change and, with the support of her

professional first. But I was always

husband, she made her first step on

interested in food.”

12

FINE FOODIES Summer 2012

Summer 2012 FINE FOODIES

13

Picture courtesy of Shine TV

Interview Shelina’s father sadly passed away when she was a teenager, and it became incredibly important to her to do Mauritius proud.

“I learnt the essence of Mauritian food through my mum and that stayed with me through the competition,” she says.

“Mum and dad came to this country for a better life for us and that resonated throughout MasterChef and I wanted to do my family proud by putting Mauritian food on the map.”

And do them proud she certainly did.

“My family were so supportive during the show, and I would call my mum regularly for advice. I don’t think the fact

well because you are only given a few

that I’m the only woman to win in seven

ingredients and you only have a certain

years makes a huge difference, the whole

amount of time to put something

point of food is it brings everyone

together.”

together, it is all about the food.”

When asked why she felt judges Gregg

It wasn’t just Shelina’s composure that

Wallace and John Torrode chose her as

she became known for. There was also

their winner, she says: “I suppose I stayed

her love of using mangoes in just about

true to what I wanted. I make sure my food

every dish.

tasted good, I worked and I kept learning.

That’s the whole point of MasterChef, to

“I looked a bit crazy on the show

learn from every experience.”

because I had mangoes with everything but it is very Mauritian and something I

Going it alone

really remember from my childhood.”

As the reigning champion, Shelina is in

Many of the dishes she created on the show had some kind of Mauritian

great demand at the moment, but she

influence, but where does she get her

says she is going to take her time with the

ideas from?

next step. Her long-term goal is to open her own restaurant with a Mauritian

“It is about trying to balance everything

flavour but she is under no illusions that

out, the flavour combinations, working out what things work well together,” she

something from everything we did,”

she needs to first hone her skills alongside

explained. “I always have a sketchbook

she says.

professional chefs.

with me and whenever I get ideas for recipes I sketch them down.”

The MasterChef experience

“It does teach you about the reality of

my time – I think going into an industry I

the kitchens is something that I really

don’t know without getting any

want to do next. It gives you a really

experience first would be silly,” she

important understanding about how

explained.

There’s no doubt that contestants on the

professional kitchens work, that it’s hard

show are put through their paces, finding

work and that it’s teamwork.”

themselves working in a professional

“I really want to learn properly and take

life in the kitchen and doing more work in

That’s not to say she didn’t find things

In the more immediate future, she would also like a recipe book focusing on Mauritian cuisine, and would also like to

kitchen – often alongside some of the

difficult. She did, especially getting the

UK’s most respected chefs – for the first

dishes to a high enough standard in

run some cooking classes.

“I’m so enjoying the MasterChef

time. This would be enough to daunt

terms of aesthetics.

experience but I want to take my time

anyone, and Shelina admits it was a pressurised time.

“The hardest thing for me was trying to

“I had difficulties in terms of food as it comes, but it has to look pretty

turn my home-cooked food into

in a professional kitchen – that was pretty

something that can be restaurant

tough so I used to sketch stuff out first

standard. I had no understanding of what

about how I would present my dishes,”

professional kitchens would be like.

she explains.

Everything amazed me, and I learnt

14

FINE FOODIES Summer 2012

with a restaurant and not rush it.” FF

presentation. At home, you just serve up

“The innovation tasks were tough as

You can see Shelina at the forthcoming BBC Good Food Show at the NEC in Birmingham from June 13-17. Log onto www. bbcgoodfoodshowsummer.com for more information and tickets

UK fare

Wonderful Wiltshire

Fine Foodies takes a closer look at the diverse food culture in the county of Wiltshire.

W

iltshire could be considered one of the most diverse counties in England, not just

for its landscape but also for its food offering.

In fact, this is actually where the saying ‘as different as chalk and cheese’ comes from, as the uplands of the county are very different from the dairy-producing lowlands.

Caron Cooper is one local who has been championing Wiltshire food for years. She moved to the county some 26 years ago, starting a food business at Fosse Farmhouse, where she runs a B&B

There is also an abundance of farmers’

bacon are still very popular.

It was bacon and ham production

and tearooms. She has done her bit to put

markets and, in fact, the county was very

Wiltshire on the map, in the 1990s writing and presenting the BBC series Caron

forward thinking in that it was the first in

that led to the creation of a famous

the UK to establish them.

Wiltshire dish, known as lardy cake.

Cooper’s Cooking with Confidence.

“I love living here as traditional food in Wiltshire is defined by the landscape,” Caron said. “The area around Swindon has chalk hills and further south, lush valleys.”

Its landscape has helped define what the area is used for in terms of produce.

She explained: “The poor chalk soil was particularly good for pig rearing and the lush valleys for milk production and cheese making. The county of Wiltshire is where the saying ‘like chalk and cheese’ comes from due to the opposing factors of the landscape.”

Famous landscapes

There’s no doubt that bacon and ham

Reportedly first made in Castle Combe,

are among the key Wiltshire exports, with

the cake consists of lard, bread dough,

Caron pinpointing the town of Calne as

sugar and currants.

being at the centre of production. She

“A delicious by-product of the bacon

commented: “The famous Harris factory

and ham production was lard (pork fat)

dominated the town during the 1890s

and the recipe for lardy cake was

and popularised The Wiltshire Cure.”

produced to utilise this delicious

North Wiltshire, particularly Swindon,

ingredient,” Caron explained. “It is one of

has been synonymous with pig farming

my most popular cakes that I serve in the

since Saxon times and Wiltshire ham and

tea garden – although it does take three hours to make so is not available every day!”

Cheese is also famed in Wiltshire, with the Wiltshire Loaf Cheese being created in the county. In fact, it was sought-after in the 18th century, even being worthy of a

Wiltshire has certain food types that are of

mention by Jane Austen in the novel Emma. It was particularly known for its

particular note, and in an effort to

intensity of flavour and density, and was

promote the local offering, tourist

also more expensive as it took longer to

organisation Visit Wiltshire has actually

mature.

established two food trail car tours, one

Today, there are some amazing food

covering the north of the county and the

producers operating in the country using

other the south. Both take in scenery and

traditional methods, such as Bradenham

historical sites, showing visitors the best

Ham, Sandridge Farmhouse Bacon and

food that the county has to offer.

Ceri’s Cheese. FF

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FINE FOODIES SUMMER 2012

The facts

According to Visit Wiltshire, the county has a population of nearly 430,000, with much of the county being designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

It, of course, boasts the World Heritage Sites of Stonehenge and Avebury, and also has the White Horse Trail, where visitors can see the eight white horses carved into the hillsides.

The county includes the cathedral city of Salisbury, as well as busy Swindon. Worthy of note is the expanse of Salisbury Plain, which is home to many rare and endangered species, including the Great Bustard and of course there is also the New Forest.

If you would like to find out more about Wiltshire food, log onto www.visitwiltshire.co.uk

SUMMER 2012 FINE FOODIES

17

Product news

In your store DISCOVER THESE PRODUCTS IN STORE NOW

When tea was first discovered, it was savoured as a rare commodity. With it s rise in popularity and mass production, tea has become a drink that is often consumed in a rush, with no sense of ceremony. Newby aims to bring tea back up to its elevated position and has created a range of flowering Chinese teas. When steeped in hot water, each blossom magically unfurls into a stunning floral display. As only the finest quality green teas are selected to create these hand-made flowering teas, they taste as good as they look. For more information, visit www.newbyteas.com or www.cheztoi.co.uk

A guilty pleasure

AWARD-WINNING MINTS

CORNISH SMOKED FISH

A preserve for everybody

Tilly Confectionery, or better known as Mrs Tilly s, is a family run business who pride themselves in the production of high quality confectionery, using traditional methods and only the finest of ingredients. With two Gold Star Great Taste Awards recently under their belt for their Tablet and Fudge, Mrs Tilly s have just launched their new 150g gift range, along with two new mouth-watering flavours. A delicious Rum & Raisin Fudge and also a luscious all natural Orange Fudge, using natural fruit pieces. A perfect treat for any Tilly s fan, or just a nice size to share, to spread the guilt!!!

For more information telephone 01259 751846.

Cured to their own secret recipe The Cornish Fishmonger s award-winning oak smoked salmon and hot smoked Cornish mackerel is available for delivery nationwide. Traditionally smoked in their own smokehouse, the fish has a deep fine flavour and is packaged in a stylish box ‒ perfect to send as a gift and to enjoy at home. Smoked Salmon is available as whole and sliced sides, or in handy sliced packs from just £9.50.

Their delicious smoked fish range can be found in Rick Steins deli s throughout Cornwall and you can order online at www. thecornishfishmonger. co.uk. They guarantee you will be back for more! For more information please call 01726 861666 or visit our website.

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Teas with a sense of ceremony

FINE FOODIES SUMMER 2012

Summerdown grows and harvests traditional Black Mitcham peppermint and distils its pure mint oil. They use it to manufacture their unique brand of peppermint products, including these stylish chocolate peppermint creams, chocolate mint thins and their exceptional peppermint tea ‒ between them they ve won six Great Taste Awards in three years! The single estate quality oil has a highly distinctive and smooth taste ‒ a taste that has been lost for generations. Bright, fresh and aromatic, it is very different from the harsher, blended, imported peppermint of the past 60 years. To find out more call 01256 780252 or visit www.summerdownmint.com

Thursday Cottage s Blood Orange Marmalade is made with fresh blood oranges grown on the slopes of Mount Etna.

Perhaps its the simplicity of the recipe ‒ just oranges, fruit pectin and pure cane sugar ‒ that makes the product such a success. Hand pouring also helps produce a fine mix of peel and fruit throughout the jar. With over 120 products to choose from, including the award-winning fruit coulis range, Thursday Cottage has a preserve for everybody. Recommended retail is an affordable £2.39.

Web: www.thursday-cottage.com.

Tel: 01621 815429 Email: jams@thursday-cottage.com

Food focus

The perfect

accompaniment Whether it’s relish for a burger, dips to go with nibbles or something sweet to complement ice cream, Fine Foodies loves accompaniments with personality.

Jennifer Britt discovers products bursting with quality, taste and the passion of the people who make them.

G

uy Tullberg is head of a

Currants’ in Sir Kenelm Digby’s 1600s cook

mould. They are people who are very

company that brings to

book, part of the Tullberg family’s

positive about what they do and they

mind a picture of a

extensive food history library, and fused it

come with bags of personality,” says Tim.

bustling Wiltshire country

with Michel Guerard’s more modern

kitchen of inventiveness,

recipe for ‘Marmelade d’Oignons’.

where adventures in the preserving pan

Thursday Cottage is the artisan end of the Wilkins business, everything is made in small batches and lots of preparation is

result in products that nudge the nation’s

Breaking food ground

tastebuds in new directions.

Onion marmalade may be ubiquitous

zesting of at least 30,000 fresh lemons this

now but 13 years ago, the concept of a

year alone to make the company’s best

Guy’s father, William, could fill your larder

marmalade of onions, rather than citrus

seller, Lemon Curd, lovely with ice cream

with dozens upon dozens of pickles and

fruit, was so novel that it was challenged

or pavlova as well as on toast.

condiments so it’s perhaps a little mean

by Trading Standards. They were

to ask the boss which product he

eventually persuaded that the product

and Sharpie, named after its founders,

wouldn’t be without at a barbecue.

had 300 years of heritage behind it.

Julie Fields and Frances Hopewell-Smith,

Tracklements, founded 42 years ago by

A line-up of ketchups is a good start,

The Tullbergs’ drive and their

done by hand, including the juicing and

There is also a sister company, Jules

aka Sharpie, making a range of savoury

suggests Guy, for marinading chicken to

determination to avoid short cuts or

and sweet relishes and preserves, all with

give a lovely sweet, sticky glaze or for a

second-best quality means that integrity

Scotch bonnet peppers.

dab on the side of the plate.

as well as character has seeped into all

Their friendship goes back 37 years;

their products from the roots up, from the

Jules was a television commercials

way, I would choose our Sweet Mustard. I

first mustard to the latest additions, a trio

producer, Sharpie a journalist and both

really, really like that,” says Guy.

of salsas, Red Pepper & Tomato, a Hot

their husbands worked in film. Their

Habanero, and a Smoked Chipotle.

business partnership started a decade

“If only allowed one, in the desert island

Mustard was how the business started with father William’s frustration at the

When Guy says that Tracklements is

ago following Sharpie’s move to the rural

limited choice of mustards in the late

not just a business, that it is his life, he

calm of Suffolk, which motivated her

1960s. When he came across a

means it literally. He was seven-years-old

friend to head out of London too, after

description of an English equivalent of the

when it all began.

she experienced idyllic weekends.

French ‘Moutarde à l’Ancienne’, in the diaries of 17th century gentleman John

“I have never known anything else,” he says.

Theirs was the proverbial kitchen table business, which outgrew the kitchen,

Over in Tiptree, Essex, the preserve

making a hot pepper chilli sauce based

version, grinding mustard seeds in a

capital of Great Britain, Tim Came is the

on a Jamaican friend’s recipe. They sold

coffee grinder.

custodian as Managing Director of

the company a year ago but are still 100

An enterprise was launched and it’s

Thursday Cottage, a company with half a

per cent involved in new product

hard to remember now how wholegrain

century behind it, during which it has had

development and quality control. And

mustard was such a rarity.

three careful owners, the latest being

yes, although it is a wonderful liberation

Wilkins & Sons.

to have experts take on some of the

Evelyn, he was inspired to make his own

Tracklements went on to break further new culinary ground when William

“Character brings a brand alive. Fine

practical nitty gritty of manufacturing and

alighted upon a ‘Marmulate of Red

food producers are often out of a similar

distribution, it does still feel like their brand.

20

FINE FOODIES SUMMER 2012

SUMMER 2012 FINE FOODIES

21

Food focus “It bears our names. It’s almost

seaweeds, salts and fruits such as Moffat

inseparable. We still take it personally if

Meadows and Flowers of Scotland.

something isn’t right or if there is something particularly good we are

Family heritage

bursting with pride,” says Sharpie.

There are officially two generations working in the business at Mrs Darlington’s,

Character cuisine

based at Crewe in Cheshire, but three if

Mr Organic, purveyor of ketchup and

you count the enduring contribution of

sauces and other things tomato, may only

Mrs D’s mother and her mother-in-law,

be a cheerful little character drawn on the

whose recipes have been the starting

tin but he is invested with the enthusiasm

point for so many of their curds, jams,

and vision of the three people behind the

chutneys and sauces over nearly 30 years.

brand.

It started with cracked eggs at Marion

There’s Valerio Simonetti in Italy, where

Darlington’s farm, which she couldn’t sell

his family have been processing tomatoes

so she made lemon curd. The farm and

at Pontinia, 70 kilometres south of Rome,

hens have long gone but the preserve

for more than 40 years, Anglo-Italian Carlo

making goes from strength to strength.

Buckley in London, and then the creative in the team, a Greek bearing a gift for wonderful design and ideas, Kostas Papakostas.

“Our philosophy is being positive about food and that goes right back to the growing of the tomato plants,” explains Carlo.

Fair deals for the growers are the starting point, with the business prefinancing the crop for its suppliers, all farmers within the vicinity of the factory.

The nearest farm is a neighbour and has a positive discrimination policy of providing a proportion of jobs for people with learning difficulties. The tomatoes are processed within five hours of harvest and a load of them are crammed into the finished product... two and a half kilos per 480g jar of tomato ketchup, which is five times the amount in standard ketchup, says Carlo.

Her daughters, Sarah and Wendy, were

Add more personality to... ✽ Potato salad with a swirl of

Tracklements wholegrain mustard. ✽ Aubergine dip with Mr Organic’s Genovese pesto (and chilli, garlic and crème fraiche). ✽ A scone cream tea or a gravy for game with Uncle Roy’s Blackcurrant and Licorice Sauce. ✽ Ice cream with Thursday Cottage’s 80 per cent fruit Damson Fruit Coulis, ✽ A three-course meal with Jules and Sharpie Hot Mint Jelly. Stir into yogurt with some ground cumin for a dip, use it as a marinade or an accompaniment to lamb or halloumi, stir into peas for the vegetable dish and for afters, chop a fresh pineapple, soak it in the jelly for a couple of hours and then you just need some spoons.

While Mr Organic has a youthful feel

teenagers in the early days, so they didn’t just have homework to get on with when they arrived home from school. There was always plenty of juicing to be done on the family Kenwood mixer.

Sarah had a job in a bank but wasn’t happy so when her father suggested he would pay her “to come and help your mother” she jumped at the offer as a stopgap. And you can guess the next bit – she’s still there. Her sister is also now working in the family business, so it is now very much Mrs Darlington and daughters.

Mr Darlington – Tom – is completely happy about the female slant because he prefers to stay in the background, where he is extremely busy looking after the warehouse and logistics and is still not contemplating retirement, even though he’s 85.

“He has just designed and built a pallet-wrapping machine and he’s now

about it, Uncle Roy’s is a company that

mustards, which is where he began. Pride

working on the design for a labelling

has deliberately cultivated a vintage style.

of place goes to the Original Mild but only

machine,” says Sarah.

But Roy Anderton-Tyers, a former deli

the incurious wouldn’t want to try a little

Her mother, now 74, takes the lead in

shop proprietor from Moffat,

taste of Earl Grey Mustard, Honey &

developing new products, the latest

Dumfriesshire, who started making his

Whiskey, or Chocolate Chip Mustard.

additions for summer 2012 being Sweet

own “comestible concoctions”, says there

Uncle Roy makes sauces, relishes,

Chilli Relish and Caramelised Onion

is no artifice to it. It is simply true to the

chutneys, preserves but only one salad

Chutney. And on the company website,

man behind the brand.

dressing, called the The One and Only

she shares some of her favourite family

because he always said he would never

dishes such as lemon and lime curd ice

and being a bit long in the tooth and a bit

make a dressing until he discovered some

cream and apple and garlic chicken.

old fashioned myself, I set out to create an

delicious mustard oils and then this

old-fashioned image,” he explains.

tireless kitchen experimenter just couldn’t

business tells people that we care. We put

resist.

on the label the words, ‘made with love’

“I’m an uncle, a father, a grandfather

He has also created what can only be described as a cornucopia of products.

Where to start? Perhaps with the

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FINE FOODIES SUMMER 2012

His prettiest products are the flower seasonings, petals with herbs, spices,

“Hopefully, the fact that we are a family

and that’s not just a slogan, our products really are made with love,” says Sarah. FF

In season

Home-grown

summer A

fter the hungry gap of late spring, summer is a wonderful time for vegetable growers and cooks. If you re not growing your own, consider a vegbox ‒ it s the next best thing.

The first home-grown strawberries, broad beans, gooseberries, courgettes, Charlotte potatoes and bunched carrots appear and with them, a sense of new life

in the kitchen. Keep your cooking simple and light; these new season vegetables need very little cooking or sauces.

Broad beans are an iconic summer vegetable, and certainly one that benefits from the keep it simple treatment. When they are very young, you can pod them and eat them raw, served with slivers of pecorino cheese and olive oil. They are also very good blanched (boil for two minutes then refresh in cold

water), then puréed or mashed with crushed garlic, shredded fresh mint, grated pecorino and extra virgin olive oil. Spread on bruschetta.

To make broad beans go further, add a few tablespoons of cooked Puy lentils to blanched broad beans with crushed garlic and shredded mint. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. Also try the wild rice, spinach and broad bean salad recipe from Riverford cook Francesca Melman.

Wild rice, spinach and broad bean salad Serves 4-6

By Francesca Melman, from Everyday and Sunday ‒ recipes from Riverford Farm What makes this recipe distinctive is using the oil that the onions have been cooked in for the dressing. The sweet onions are freshened by the sharpness of the pomegranate molasses. This is available from Middle Eastern and health food shops.

Ingredients: • 125g wild rice • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper • 2 onions, thinly sliced • 4tbsp olive oil • 200g broad beans, shelled weight • 2tbsp pomegranate molasses • 100g young spinach leaves Method: • Cook the wild rice in boiling salted water for 30-40 minutes, until tender. Drain and allow to cool.

• Cook the onions in the olive oil for 20-30 minutes, until soft and slightly caramelised. Drain and reserve the cooking oil.

Blanch the broad beans in boiling salted water for three minutes.

Drain. Peel any large beans with tough skins.

• Add the pomegranate molasses to the onion cooking oil and mix well.

Season with salt and pepper. Put all the ingredients in a large bowl, season and toss with the molasses dressing. Serve.

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FINE FOODIES SUMMER 2012

New potatoes with crab, chilli, parsley and lemon Serves 4

By Jane Baxter, from Everyday and Sunday ‒ recipes from Riverford Farm Ingredients: • 1kg new potatoes • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 1 red chilli, deseeded if preferred, chopped

needed • 1 garlic clove, crushed

• Allow to cool, then cut

• 2tbsp chopped parsley

them into halves or quarters.

• 3tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Mix the rest of the ingredients

• 150g picked white crab meat • Juice of 1 lemon, plus more if

then drain.

together and toss through the Method:

potatoes. Adjust the seasoning

• Cook the potatoes in boiling

and add extra lemon juice if

salted water for 15-20 minutes,

required.

SUMMER 2012 FINE FOODIES

25

Recipes

Simple and seasonal Be inspired to cook fresh and seasonal dishes for the whole family with the help of Romilla Arber s new book, What s For Dinner?

Puff pastry tartlets

Makes 8 individual tarts or 1 big tart

These tartlets are a doddle to make. If you don t have tartlet tins, you can make one large tart.

Ingredients:

• 4-5 cherry tomatoes, sliced

• 450g ready-rolled puff pastry

• Sea salt

• 100g frozen petit pois

• Freshly ground black pepper

• 100g asparagus spears • 70g pancetta, chopped • 4tbsp crème fraiche • 1 egg, beaten • 1tbsp chopped fresh basil • 1tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

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FINE FOODIES SUMMER 2012

Method: • Preheat the oven to 200° C/ Gas 6. Line the tartlet tins with puff pastry and set them aside in the fridge.

• Cook the peas in boiling water

and drain. Steam the asparagus spears until tender, then drain and cut them into 1cm pieces.

• Fry the pancetta until golden brown, put it in a bowl and add the peas, asparagus, crème fraiche, egg, basil and Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper and mix everything together gently.

• Spoon this mixture into the tart cases and garnish each one with the sliced tomatoes. Place the tart cases on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 15 minutes.

If making one big tart, cook it for 30 minutes.

• Let the tarts cool slightly before turning them out. Best served warm.

Crispy pork sandwiches with apple sauce

Serves 6

In most markets in Italy you’ll see pork-filled ciabatta rolls being sold from the hatches of white vans. They are utterly delicious and filling enough to be served up as a weekend dinner. If you don’t have time to make the bread rolls, buy ciabatta rolls from the supermarket.

Ingredients: • 1.2kg belly pork • Olive oil • Sea salt • Freshly ground black pepper Bread rolls: • 1 x 7g sachet dried yeast • 1tsp sugar • 350ml mix of warm water and warm milk • 500g strong bread flour, warmed briefly in a microwave • 1½ tsp salt Apple sauce:

To make the bread rolls: • Mix the yeast and sugar with a little of the warm milk and water and leave for five minutes.

• Measure the flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Add the yeasted milk and water and the rest of the liquid and mix to a dough. Turn out on to a work surface and knead for 10 minutes until smooth and pliable. Place back in the bowl, cover and leave in a draught-free place for one hour.

• Preheat the oven to 200° C/Gas 6. Cut the dough into six equal pieces and shape each piece into a roll. Place the rolls on a greased baking sheet and brush them with a little

milk, then cover with a tea towel and leave to rise for 30 minutes. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes, then remove and take them off the baking sheet as soon as they are cool enough to handle.

To make the apple sauce: • Place the apples, sugar and water in a small saucepan. Place on a medium heat on the stove and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for about 15 minutes, until the apples are beginning to fall apart.

Break them up with a fork.

• 3 eating apples, peeled, cut into quarters and cored • 1dsrtsp brown sugar • 2tbsp water Method: • Preheat the oven to 150° C/Gas 2. Dry the pork rind with a piece of kitchen paper, then massage the olive oil into the rind and sprinkle with salt.

• Place the joint in a roasting tin and roast for two hours. For the last 30 minutes, turn the heat up to 200° C/Gas 6 to ensure nice crispy crackling. Remove the meat from the oven and place it on a board to rest for about 15 minutes before carving and serving in the rolls with some apple sauce.

SUMMER 2012 FINE FOODIES

27

Recipes

Pork steaks with Tuscan beans

Serves 6

I’ve eaten this many times in Italy, but it tastes just as fine at home in England.

Ingredients:

• 1 onion, finely chopped

• 6 pork steaks

• 6 sage leaves, roughly chopped

• Olive oil

• 1 x 400g can of chopped tomatoes

• Juice of 1 or 2 lemons

• Sea salt

• Sea salt

• Freshly ground black pepper

• Freshly ground black pepper Tuscan beans: • 1tbsp olive oil • 2 x 400g cans of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

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FINE FOODIES SUMMER 2012

Method: • First prepare the beans. Heat the olive oil in a small saucepan and add the onion.

Cook over a low heat, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Add the beans, sage and

tomatoes. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook over a low heat for 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

• Preheat the grill. Season the pork steaks with pepper and brush them with a little olive oil. Place the steaks under the grill and cook for five minutes on each side. Sprinkle with lemon juice and salt and serve.

Recipes

Raspberry crème brûlées

Serves 6

I use shallow brûlée dishes for these, but you could use ramekins instead.

Ingredients:

Method:

• 200ml whipping cream

• Preheat the oven to 150° C/Gas 2.

Combine both creams in a saucepan and scrape the seeds from the vanilla pod into them.

Bring to the boil and then set the pan aside.

• Using an electric hand-whisk, beat the yolks and sugar together in a glass bowl until thick and mousse-like. Pour the warm cream and vanilla seeds on to the eggs and sugar, whisking as you do so.

Place the glass bowl over a

• 200ml double cream • 1 vanilla pod, split lengthways • 7 egg yolks • 75g caster sugar, plus 6tsp of caster sugar for the topping • 225g fresh raspberries • Mint leaves and extra raspberries for decoration (optional)

What s for Dinner? Second Helpings is a new cookery book that has a recipe for every day of the year, including two weekly teatime treats that the whole family will enjoy.

Written by mum of four, Romilla Arber, it s the only cookery book in the UK, where all sale proceeds go directly to charity, The Food Education Trust (www. foodeducationtrust.com).

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FINE FOODIES SUMMER 2012

saucepan of simmering water, taking care that the bottom of the bowl doesn t touch the water. Stir until the custard thickens slightly and coats the back of a wooden spoon, then set to one side.

• Divide the raspberries evenly between the dishes. Pour the custard into each ramekin over the raspberries. Place the ramekins in a deep ovenproof dish and pour in enough boiling water from a kettle to come halfway up the sides of the ramekin dishes. Place in the oven

and cook for 30 minutes. Leave the brûlées to cool, then put them in the fridge until you need them.

• Before serving, preheat your grill. Sprinkle a teaspoon of sugar over each ramekin and place under the grill until the sugar starts to go dark brown and caramelise.

Alternatively, use a kitchen blowtorch to produce the same result. Serve immediately, decorated with a few more raspberries and some mint leaves if you like.

Recipes

Chinese cuisine at home

Fuchsia Dunlop explores the beauty of home-cooked Chinese fare in her new book, Every Grain of Rice.

Bear’s paw tofu

(Xiong zhang dou fu) This exotic-sounding dish is actually just a version of the everyday Sichuanese dish ‘homestyle tofu’ (jia chang dou fu).

It takes its name from the fact that the fried slices of tofu have a puckered appearance like that of bear’s paw, a legendary (and now notorious) banquet delicacy. Most Sichuanese cooks would add a little pork to the dish, frying it off in the oil before they add the chilli bean sauce, but it’s equally delicious without. You can shallow-fry the tofu slices if you prefer; they’ll be equally tasty, but may disintegrate in the sauce.

With a dish of leafy greens and plenty of rice, bear’s paw tofu makes a very satisfying supper for two.

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FINE FOODIES SUMMER 2012

Ingredients: • 450g plain white tofu • 200ml cooking oil, for deep-frying • 2tbsp Sichuanese chilli bean paste • 3 garlic cloves, sliced • An equivalent amount of ginger, also sliced • 3 baby leeks or spring onions, sliced diagonally into ‘horse ears’, white and green parts separated • 200ml stock • ½ tsp caster sugar • ½-1tsp light soy sauce • ½ tsp potato flour mixed with 2tsp cold water

Method: • Cut the tofu into 4–5cm squares or rectangles, about 1cm thick. Heat the oil in a seasoned wok over a high flame to 180-190° C (350–375° F). Fry the tofu slices in a few batches for a few minutes until golden, then set aside.

• Pour all but 3tbsp of the oil into a heatproof container. Reduce the heat to medium, then return the wok to the stove with the chilli bean paste. Stir-fry until the oil is red and richly fragrant. Add the garlic, ginger and leek or spring onion whites and fry until

they, too, are fragrant. Then tip in the stock and the tofu and bring to a boil.

• Reduce the heat slightly, season with the sugar and soy sauce and simmer for three to four minutes until the liquid is reduced and the tofu has absorbed some of the flavours of the sauce.

• Add the leek or spring onion greens and stir briefly until just cooked. Finally, stir the potato flour mixture, scatter it into the centre of the wok, and stir until the sauce has thickened. Turn out on to a serving dish.

Variation

Mussels in black bean sauce ‒ You can cook and serve mussels in exactly the same way: the only difference is that they will take a little longer to open than the clams.

Clams in black bean sauce (Chi zhi chao xi an) This Cantonese dish is messy to eat and gorgeously flavoured; the home-made black bean sauce is in a different league from the dull bottled versions. Its robust flavours are an equally magnificent match for mussels. Do make sure you don t overcook the clams, or they will become what the Chinese call old (tired and leathery).

Ingredients:

• Salt (optional)

• 1kg clams, in their shells

• 1tsp potato flour mixed with 2tbsp cold water

• 3tbsp cooking oil • 2½ tbsp fermented black beans, rinsed and drained • 2tsp finely chopped ginger • 1tbsp finely chopped garlic • 1½ fresh red chillies, cut into thin diagonal slices • 3tbsp finely chopped green pepper • 2tbsp Shaoxing wine • 1tsp dark soy sauce • 1tsp light soy sauce

• 2tbsp finely sliced spring onion greens Method: • Rinse the clams thoroughly in cold water. Discard any with broken shells and those that are open and do not close when tapped. Pour 500ml water into a lidded saucepan large enough to hold all the clams and bring to a boil. Then add the clams, cover

and heat over a high flame for three to four minutes, until all the shells have opened, opening the lid briefly from time to time to stir them.

• Remove the clams with a slotted spoon and set aside, discarding any that have failed to open. Keep the cooking liquor in the pan. Heat a seasoned wok over a high flame.

Add the oil, followed by the black beans, ginger, garlic, chillies and green pepper, and stir-fry briefly until they all smell wonderful.

• Pour in 150ml of the clams cooking liquor. Bring to a boil, skim if necessary, then season with the Shaoxing wine and soy sauces and a little salt, if desired.

• Give the potato flour mixture a stir and add it to the wok in two or three stages, using just enough to thicken the liquid to the consistency of single cream.

Then, off the heat, stir in the clams and spring onion greens and mix everything together.

Tip into a dish and serve.

SUMMER 2012 FINE FOODIES

33

Recipes

Red-braised beef with tofu bamboo

(Fu zhu shao niu rou)

This gently spicy, slow-cooked stew is the perfect thing for a winter s evening. The tofu soaks up the flavours of the meat and has a delightful texture.

If you d rather, you can use chunks of winter vegetables instead; carrot, potato and turnip all work well. Dried bamboo shoots, soaked to soften then cooked with the beef from the beginning, make another wonderful variation.

Ingredients: • 450g stewing beef or beef shin • 2tbsp cooking oil • 2½ tbsp Sichuan chilli bean paste • 25g piece of ginger, unpeeled, crushed slightly • 2 spring onions, white parts only, crushed slightly • 1 star anise • 1½ tsp sweet fermented sauce • 750ml stock, plus a little more, if needed • 2tbsp Shaoxing wine

Method: • Cut the beef into 2-3cm chunks.

Bring a panful of water to the boil, add the beef and return to the boil. When a froth has risen to the surface, tip the beef into a colander, drain and rinse.

• Heat the oil in a seasoned wok over a medium flame. Add the chilli bean paste and stir-fry until the oil is red and richly fragrant. Tip in the ginger, spring onions and star anise

and continue to stir until you can smell them. Add the sweet fermented sauce and stir-fry for a few moments more before pouring in the stock.

• Place the beef and Shaoxing wine in a saucepan or a clay pot and pour over the contents of the wok. Bring to a boil, then partially cover the pan, reduce the heat and simmer for a couple of hours, until the meat is beautifully tender. When the

beef has started its slow cooking, set the tofu to soak in hot water from the kettle.

• Shortly before you wish to serve the dish, drain the tofu and cut on the diagonal into 2-3cm sections to complement the beef, discarding any pieces that remain hard. Add it to the stew and heat through (you may add a little more stock or hot water from the kettle if you need it), then serve.

• 2 sticks of tofu bamboo , or dried tofu knots

Every Grain of Rice by Fuchsia Dunlop is published by Bloomsbury, £25.

34

FINE FOODIES SUMMER 2012

Global foodie

Best of Brazil Brazilian food writer Letícia Schwartz takes us on a flavour-filled journey through Brazil.

T

hink of Brazil and you think

fritters are the egg whites mixed into the

of soccer, samba, bossa-

batter, which provides them with a

nova, beaches, and carnival.

delicate, airy texture.

As a native Brazilian, I am fascinated by my culture; we

When using salt cod, always allow a bit of planning since you need to soak the cod for

are a mixture of the African, Portuguese,

at least 24 hours, preferably for two to three

and native Indian cultures and we are

days, in cold water in the refrigerator,

proud of our origins.

changing the water at least three times per

This mixture can be seen in the music

day. Then the cod is gently poached in milk

we hear, in the faces of our people, and in

and cut into tender shreds before being

the foods we eat.

mixed with the mashed potatoes. The result

And talking about the foods that we eat,

is a tender and fluffy cod–potato mixture

Brazilian cuisine is finally having a place in

surrounded by a golden crunchy crust.

the sun. With mega sports events coming

Once the fritters are done, they reheat quite

to Brazil – the World Cup 2014 and

nicely in the oven.

Olympics 2016 – as well as pretty awesome

drink, and the disdain lingered for quite some time. But in Brazil, in the current wave

chefs putting our Brazilian restaurants on

The national drink

the map (Alex Atala’s D.O.M was rated

Of all things Brazilian, you’ve probably

culture has changed a lot, and today

seventh best in the world according to the

heard of the caipirinha, our heraldic

cachaça couldn’t be more in vogue and

San Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants),

emblem and one of Brazil’s greatest

caipirinhas have reached a global audience.

the world is finally turning to pay attention

contributions to the food and wine world.

to Brazilian cuisine.

Refreshing, cool, sweet, and relaxing,

Brazilian rum and the distillation process is

caipirinha is Brazil. And if caipirinha is Brazil,

quite similar. The difference, however, is that

then cachaça is our national shrine.

rum is distilled from molasses (which also

A flavour of Brazil Brazil has a vast arrary of traditional

The spirit was invented in the mid 1500s

of waking up to our own ingredients, the

Around the globe, cachaça is also called

comes from sugar cane) while cachaça is

dishes, and the list can go on and on.

in Brazil, when Portuguese colonisers

distilled from the fresh sugar cane juices.

Worthy of note is Moqueca de Peix, a fish

began to cultivate sugar cane. Back then,

Good cachaça has an intense aroma and

stew made with dendê oil, hearts of palm,

somewhere in a sugar mill around São

flavours of fresh sugar cane.

ginger, tomatoes, lemongrass, fish and

Paulo some stems of rough cane were

coconut milk.

forgotten, left to sit around and yielded a

you do), and would like to sniff deeper into

Also featuring heavily in Brazilian cuisine

If you have a chance to visit Brazil (I hope

foamy, non-alcoholic juice that naturally

hundreds of different cachacas, step out of

is Bobó de Camarão (shrimp and yucca

fermented. The drink had a strong effect

the beach for an afternoon and visit

stew), Vatapá (fish puree Bahian style)

on the body, was frequently used as a

Academia da Cachaça, in Rio de Janeiro, a

featuring dendê oil, coconut milk, onions,

painkiller, and was served to slaves at the

rickety bar devoted entirely to the spirit.

garlic, peanuts, cashews, bell peppers,

time.

You can taste cachaça until you end up

tomatoes, fish, and bread, and Feijoada

Eventually, the Portuguese decided to

under the table. Or, you can do what I do as

(black beans stew with lots of different

distil and age it, creating a new type of

a devoted Brazilian; I practice my devotion

meats cooked inside).

aguardente (spirits distilled from fruits or

eating some petiscos, with a caipirinha on

vegetables) and named it cachaça. There

the side. Bolinho de Bacalhau (cod fritters) is

bar foods served in Boutequins (a type of

are many different kinds of wood (oak,

the granddaddy of all bar foods and he

tapas restaurant) all over Brazil. An

cherry, and jequitiba rosa among them)

loves a good caipirinha!

exquisite deep-fried morsel that usually

used for ageing the spirit, each leaving

comes in a basket, cod fritters, or in

different traces of taste; some with a more

based on a mixture of mashed lime with

Portuguese bolinho de bacalhau, has

floral flavour, others with a hint of vanilla or

sugar, ice, and cachaça. As elementary as it

many versions. What makes this recipe so

cinnamon.

is, there are a few variables that could make

Cod fritters are the granddaddy of all

delicious and different from other cod

36

FINE FOODIES SUMMER 2012

Cachaça was considered a poor man’s

Essentially, caipirinha is a simple cocktail

all the difference in your drink.

The lime should be cut into medium-

lots of different kinds of desserts prepared

sized chunks. It is then mashed with sugar

with caipirinha. Dancing in my head were

by a wooden muddler until the lime

visions of tender caipirinha cake,

releases its oils. Transfer this mixture to a

exploding with Brazilian flavours.

I must include coconut, I thought.

shaker, add some ice, cachaça, shake it,

Lime, cachaça, butter, eggs and coconut

and pour. Done!

milk are a no-brainer. I made the recipe

Some recipes advise against mashing the lime too hard, as the oil can taste bitter.

and was rewarded with a nutty, light,

That’s a very legitimate argument, but with

gently flavoured caipirinha cake. When it

the guardian angel sugar there to protect

was all gone I immediately wanted to

it, the more you release those oils, the

make it again and invited some friends

better. Plus, remember that caipirinha calls

over for dinner as an excuse.

This time, when I went to the

for lime and not lemon. And there’s a big difference; the lemon skin is much thicker

supermarket, coconut milk was sold out,

and carries a heavier white layer, giving a

and only cream of coconut was available. I

bitter taste. Finally, we don’t have lemon in

hesitated but decided to give it a try. I

Brazil, only lime.

whipped up the cake, sneaking a spoonful for quality control purposes.

Other recipes will tell you to mash the

The flavour was markedly different from

lime with sugar in the glass, then add ice

the previous batch, more elusive, creamier,

and cachaça and stir. Any Brazilian will tell you that a cocktail shaker is of vital

immediately poured into a wide sturdy

perhaps because there is more fat in cream

importance to a good caipirinha, allowing

glass. Of course, this creates catering

of coconut than in coconut milk.

all the ingredients to samba together.

obstacles. Once I bought the biggest shaker

Then I decided my cake needed to be

I could find and when I needed to serve a

drunk, so I made a caipirinha syrup. To

although it’s very common to use a bit of a

large group of people, I could assemble

round off my creation I came up with a

stronger dose than suggested here.

two to three caipirinhas at a time. On the

caipirinha whipped cream. The cake was

other hand, making caipirinha doesn’t take

so much fun to make and so easy to eat

caipirinha is not the type of drink to serve

more than a minute per cocktail, and part of

we nearly devoured it all in one sitting.

out of a pitcher. It’s also not the type of

the fun is making them.

I like my caipirinha on the lighter side,

Another important point is that

drink you can prepare in advance. For the

Having a very sweet tooth, often when I

I nicknamed it Caipi Coco Cake, and it is now a typical Saturday night dinner fare in

sake of great taste, each must be prepared

make caipirinhas, I get inspired by its

my house, along with caipirinhas, of

individually, shaken individually, and

flavours. The other day I started to think of

course.

SUMMER 2012 FINE FOODIES

37

Global foodie

Caipirinha Makes 1 caipirinha Ingredients: • 2 limes • 1tbs sugar • 2 to 3tbs cachaça (adjust amount to taste) • Ice cubes Method: • Cut the two ends of the lime and cut lime into medium chunk wedges.

• Using a muddler, mash the lime with sugar, making sure to squeeze all the juices and to dissolve the sugar in the juice.

• Transfer the lime mixture to a shaker.

Add the cachaça and ice cubes. Shake well (about eight to 10 times) and pour into a large (but not tall) sturdy glass.

Caipirinha coconut cake Serves 8 to 10 people For the cake: Ingredients: • 190g cream of coconut • 3 (90g) large egg whites • 2tbsp (30ml) cachaça • 1tsp (5ml) lemon extract • 1/3 cup and 1tbsp (90g) sugar • ½ cup (35g) unsweetened grated coconut • Grated zest of 1 lime • 1½ cup and 1tbsp (200g) cake flour (I used Swans Down) • 2¼ tsp baking powder • ½ tsp salt • 10tbsp (150g) unsalted butter For the caipirinha syrup: • ½ cup (120g) sugar

38

FINE FOODIES SUMMER 2012

• ¼ cup (60ml) lime juice • 2tbsp (30ml) cachaça For the Caipi-Coco whipped cream: • 1½ cups (350g) heavy cream • 1-2tbsp confectioner’s sugar, sifted • 1tsp (5ml) cachaça • Grated zest of 1 lime • ½ cup unsweetened coconut chips (40g) Method: Prepare the cake: • Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Butter a 9 x 2-inch round cake pan, line the bottom with parchment paper, coat with butter again, and dust with flour, tapping out the excess.

• In a medium bowl, combine the cream of coconut, egg whites, cachaça, and lemon extract, and whisk until well combined. In a food processor, process the sugar with coconut and lime zest until the oils of both infuse the sugar, about one minute.

• In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter with the coconut, lime, sugar mixture at medium speed until light and creamy, about three minutes, scraping the sides occasionally.

• Reduce the speed to low, and add half of the coconut mixture – the batter will curdle, and that’s OK, it will come together as you add the remaining ingredients. Continue beating slowly.

• Add half the dry ingredients, alternating

with the remaining coconut mixture (begin with the liquid and end with the dry ingredients) and beat until just combined, scraping the sides of the bowl. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and flatten out with an offset spatula.

• Bake the cake until nicely golden brown and the sides start to pull from the mould, or a tester inserted in the centre comes out clean, about 30 to 40 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the caipirinha syrup: • Place the sugar and lime juice on a small saucepan and gently warm it over low heat, whisking constantly until the sugar is almost all dissolved, about four minutes. Don’t let it boil. Transfer to a bowl and add the cachaça.

• Remove the cake from the oven and transfer the pan to a wire rack. Immediately poke the cake several times with a thin skewer and brush the cake with the syrup (it’s important to soak the cake while still hot). Cool inside the pan for at least 30 minutes. Invert onto a serving plate.

Prepare the whipped cream: • Preheat the oven to 300ºF. Spread the coconut on a small sheet pan and toast until lightly golden brown, about four to six minutes.

• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the cream and sugar until it reaches soft peaks.

• Turn off the mixer, add the cachaça and lime zest, and whisk it by hand. Mound the cream on top of the cake and sprinkle evenly with the coconut chips. Serve immediately.

Cod fritters (Bolinho de Bacalhau) Makes about 25 fritters Ingredients: • 1½ lb salt cod (this makes 1½ cups of shredded cod) • 3 cups milk • 1 large Idaho potato (about 11oz) • 1tbsp finely chopped onion • 1tsp finely chopped garlic (about 2 cloves) • 2tbsp fresh chopped parsley • 4 eggs, separated • 1tbsp olive oil • ½ tsp ground cayenne pepper • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper • Pinch of ground nutmeg • 2 cups vegetable or canola oil for deep-frying and a deep fat thermometer Method: De-salt the cod • When buying the salt cod, try to find a piece that looks very meaty.

Trim away all the dark parts around the belly and tail. Rinse the fish in cold water and place it inside a large container. The volume of water should be 10 to 15 times the size of the cod, so use a very big container. Fill with cold water, and store it in the refrigerator to soak for two to three days. Change the water at least three times per day; it is very

important to de-salt the cod properly, otherwise the dish will taste too salty.

• Remove from the container and place the cod in a medium-sized saucepan. Cover with cold milk.

Bring to the boil over medium heat; reduce the heat to low, and cook the cod, uncovered until it becomes opaque, about 15 minutes.

• Using a slotted spoon, remove the cod and discard the milk. Flake the meat with your hands into big chunks, then shred the fish by either chopping with a chef’s knife or passing through a food processor on the pulse mode. The fish will have lost about half its weight after being desalted and cooked, so you should have about ½ lb (1½ cups) of shredded fish.

Place the cod in a plastic container covered with a tightly-fitting lid and refrigerate until ready to use (you can keep the cooked shredded cod for up to six hours before using).

• Prepare the mashed potatoes; peel the potato and cut it into similar-size pieces to ensure even cooking. Place the pieces in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and cover them with cold water, add a pinch of salt.

• Cover the pan, bring the water to

the boil then reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the potatoes are fork-tender, about eight to 10 minutes; drain them in a colander. While they are still hot, pass the potatoes through a ricer or food mill. Expect about 11/3 cup of mashed potatoes. You should assemble the cod fritters while the potatoes are still warm.

Assemble the fritters: • In a large bowl, mix the shredded cod, mashed potatoes, onions, garlic, parsley, egg yolks, olive oil, and cayenne. If this batter gets too hard to mix by hand you can use an electric mixer with the paddle attachment at low speed. Add the salt, pepper, and nutmeg to taste.

• In a separate bowl, use an electric mixer with the whisk attachment to beat egg whites until they form soft peaks. Be advised that egg whites without sugar can easily overbeat and go lumpy, so be careful.

• Carefully incorporate the egg whites into the cod/potato mixture by folding with a rubber spatula. At this point the batter should feel light, airy, and a bit runny. You won’t be able to shape the fritters with your hands since

the dough is so light, so you will need to spoon the batter directly into the hot oil.

Fry the fritters: • Pour the vegetable oil into a heavy-bottomed pot or casserole and heat the oil to 350ºF, as measured with a deep fat thermometer. If you don’t have a thermometer, pour a drip of batter into the oil; if you hear a sizzling sound and see the batter turning golden brown, then the oil is ready.

• Using a small ice-cream scoop or tablespoon, drop each spoonful into the oil. Only add as many as will fit without touching each other otherwise they won’t fry evenly. Turn them occasionally with a long slotted spoon, making sure both sides are browned evenly.

• When each fritter is lightly browned all over, remove it from the oil and place it onto a half sheet pan covered with a double thickness of paper towels.

Continue working in batches until all fritters are cooked; keep the finished batches in a warm oven until serving. Serve immediately with tartare sauce. These can be reheated in a 300ºF oven for five to 10 minutes.

Leticia Moreinos Schwartz is the author of The Brazilian Kitchen:100 Classic and Contemporary Recipes for the Home Cook.

Log onto www. chefleticia.com

SUMMER 2012 FINE FOODIES

39

Drinks update

Drink up refreSh your Summer Pomegranate juice has been combined with blueberries to offer a refreshing new drink.

POM Wonderful, renowned for its 100 per cent pomegranate juice, has created POM Wonderful Pomegranate and Blueberry 100 per cent juice.

Blueberries are blended with tangy pomegranates for a delicious fruity combination that has no added preservatives or colours.

British is best

It seems that British bottled water is going from strength to strength.

That’s according to the organisation British Bottled Water Producers, which has found that Britain is not only producing more packaged water but also enjoying consuming more of this healthy form of hydration.

Now valued at more than £1.5 billion, according to research experts Zenith International the market has grown to 2.1 billion litres, of which 1,692 million litres is sourced in the UK. This is up from 1,627 million litres in 2010. UK bottled water consumption per capita is now 34 litres p.a., up from 26.9 litres in 2001.

OlIvE FOr tEa?

A new tea brand has created a rather innovative new product made from olives.

Mirabilia has launched the first-ever certified organic tea, made in Italy from organic olive leaves.

Olive leaf tea was made locally for hundreds of years, and is prized for its health-enhancing properties.

The Mirabilia tea leaves are harvested to make the tea all year round, hand-picking the best leaves every morning once the dews have dried. They are then slow-dried in the oven within hours of being picked to retain maximum benefit and ensure that the antioxidants and oleuropein are maintained.

It is caffeine- and tannin-free, contains no bitterness and is equally refreshing when drunk cold.

Cool CoCktail

The people at Godminster are tempting the tastebuds with a selection of new cocktails.

This summer there is more to celebrate than ever before and so Godminster has created new summer cocktails to help celebrations go with a swing.

A key ingredient is Godminster’s Organic Elderflower Vodka Spirit, which is made using pure English vodka and gently infused for months on the Godminster Farm in Somerset. Here is one to try out:

GodminSter aromatiC Garden CoCktail Serves 1 Ingredients: • 1 rosemary sprig, leaves stripped • ½ lime, cut into wedges • 40ml Godminster Vintage Elderflower Spirit drink • 150ml cloudy apple juice • Ice

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FINE FOODIES Summer 2012

Method: Muddle together rosemary sprigs and lime, then shake together with Godminster Vintage Elderflower Spirit drink, apple juice and ice, strain into a martini glass and serve.

Meat not just for eating, says new bar Described as London’s most carnivorous cocktail bar, Shaka Zulu is set to shake things up.

That’s because this South African restaurant has launched The Meat Bar, serving a unique selection of meat-infused cocktails.

For example, there’s Bloody Bacon, made from a 24-hour mature Bloody Mary mix, bacon vodka, garnished with celery, crispy smoked bacon and a skewer of soft cheese and cherry tomatoes. Or there’s the equally unusual Meatequita, a blend of tequila reposado infused with chorizo, vegetable juice, balsamic vinegar, smoked sea salt, pepper and port, which is

served either straight up or, for the real meat lovers, with beef biltong strips and chorizo. And there’s even something to appeal to fish eaters – Wheeling Salmon is made with smoked salmon-infused vodka with lemon pepper and ice, served with a host of traditional martini accompaniments including smoked salmon, stuffed baby red peppers and olives.

A pAlAte cleAnser

There’s a time in every day that the people at Tio Pepe call the ‘hungry moment’, when, during the predinner hour, nibbles are consumed to curb appetites.

Whether it’s nuts and olives, breads or salted crisps, you need something to accompany this, and Tio Pepe says its dry fino sherry is the perfect choice to hold up against those strong flavours.

Helping to cleanse the palate, Tio Pepe’s nutty, almond character is a great accompaniment, especially with tapas.

crew brew

An independent Cornish brewery has created 3,000 bottles of commemorative beer to celebrate the 30th birthday of aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious.

Lusty 30 – No Uncertain Beer is a unique ale that is available only to the crew of the ship, which is affectionately known as Lusty. Her motto ‘Vox Non Incerta’ translates to ‘no uncertain sound’, hence the beer’s original name.

Sales of the celebratory beer will raise £600 for the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity (RNRMC).

SUMMER 2012 FINE FOODIES

41

Fine Foodie hero

T

he old adage

Northumberland, which was

‘if you want

closing down. Milling is a skill

something

not a lot of people have and

done right, do it

we had to find a miller.”

yourself’ would

From there, the couple

certainly fit with the ethos at

developed a range of flours

Gilchesters Organics.

and have been growing ever

In their quest to find the

since.

perfect wheat variety for

“We also now grow spelt on

bread making, they spent

the farm, which is really

some years researching and

growing in popularity at the

testing, including types dating

moment and is such a good

back many centuries. So,

flour.”

they first grew the crops at

As well as the flours, a few

their 600-acre farm in

years ago they decided to link

Northumberland and, when

up with a company called

they found they couldn’t get

Shropshire Fine Herbs, which

anyone to mill these varieties

suggested producing a range

for them, they decided to

of biscuits using Gilchesters’

do it themselves!

The result today is Gilchesters Organics, which

Sybille Wilkinson

spelt and wheat flour.

“That is a range of savoury

Fine Foodies celebrates those making great food and drinks. Here, we talk to Sybille Wilkinson of Gilchesters Organics.

biscuits and we have a fifth

themselves, and then a few

because in Bavaria and Austria,

sales and marketing.

years ago, also introduced

it is mainly organic, it’s always

some rather old varieties of

their own range of savoury

been quite far ahead in that

wheat.

biscuits, which use their milled

respect.”

has two elements to it. The main part of the business is flour of bread-making quality.

They farm and mill the flour

flours.

The pair later became

This included discovering

“Two varieties worthy of

variety coming soon – the biscuits are great with cheese and paté,” explained Sybille, whose own background is in Next up, Sybille would like to develop some children’s baking products to encourage

note are Emmer and Einkorn,

youngsters to learn how to

engaged and settled at the

which are very old. These

cook bread. Growing rye is also

founded the company with

farm, during which time they

varieties are so old that people

in the plans.

her farmer husband, Andrew,

went through the process of

with wheat sensitivities will be

who bought the farm in 1992.

converting the land to organic.

able to eat them and they bake

of the business, as Sybille

It was a conventional farm,

This is something that can take

lovely bread,” she said.

points out this is where their

rather than organic, which

a few years and means that

involved the use of pesticides.

you are restricted to the use of

came up best and the flavour

The pair met in 1999, at

the land. It was during this time

in these varieties was very

know how to grow, and to

which time Andrew was

their research on wheat really

good. They have a real earthy,

produce. Andrew is involved

contemplating moving from

began.

tremendous flavour so we

from when the seed goes into

started growing these

the ground to the milling,” she

varieties,” she recalled.

explained.

Sybille Wilkinson co-

conventional farming to an organic model.

“Andrew was always puzzled why he couldn’t grow

“And there were some that

Flours are still the main part

skills and hearts lie.

“Flour is what we know, we

“He thought that was the

bread-making quality here, it

But after their first harvest,

way forward, not just financially

was never good enough to

when they found they couldn’t

natural and quality products

but for the planet because he

make bread when he was

get anyone to mill the crops,

with a lot of integrity. We grow

felt it was not what he wanted

farming conventionally,” Sybille

they decided that wouldn’t

and mill on our farm and we

to do. He wanted to help leave

explained. “So we started by

stop them.

hope that people see that we

the planet in a better state,”

testing 35 different varieties of

“We thought if no one

really care about our product

explained Sybille, who

wheat from all across Europe.

would mill, we would do it

– Andrew is on the farm every

originally comes from Bavaria.

We did this over three years,

ourselves,” she said. “It was

day to make sure we maintain

“When we met, my first

during the period we were

the perfect timing as we

the quality and we very much

question to him was ‘why are

converting the farm from

managed to get a miller from

believe in what we are doing,”

you not organic already?’

conventional to organic.”

the last milling factory in

she said. FF

42

FINE FOODIES SUMMER 2012

“Our ethos is about organic,

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