Issue.1 Vol.1 March/April 2011
Fine Foodies Passionate about good food Brand new foodiiene magaz
INTERVIEW
Raymond Blanc Best bar none THE MAN BENEATH THE CHEF S WHITES OPENS UP
Plus:
March/April 2011
] SUMPTUOUS RECIPES ] IN SEASON ] FOODIE HERO
IDEAS FOR A CHOCOLATE FEAST...JUST IN TIME FOR EASTER
Food around the globe NEW ZEALAND UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT
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
W
Editor: Rachel Symonds e: editor@finefoodiesmag.com t: 01279 810088
elcome to the launch issue of
Fine Foodies, a brand new bimonthly magazine that is all about good food and drink.
We have been planning Fine Foodies since
Contributing Editor: Sarah Willingham
September, and are very excited to bring you
Contributors: Jennifer Britt, JJ Goodman, Jane Baxter
our first issue, which can be found in delis, food halls and farm shops across the country. But what can you expect from us?
Sub Editor: Jeff Munn-Giddings Group Sales Manager: Kathryn Howe
British people like to eat, yet many of us – whether through lack of
e: kathryn.howe@targetpublishing.com t: 01279 810067
hours in the day or inspiration – don’t actually spend much time
Sales Executives: Ben Brooks e: ben.brooks@targetpublishing.com t: 01279 810068
convenience. Here at Fine Foodies, the ethos is very different. We like to
cooking at home anymore. Instead, we have become a nation of shout about fine food, and we are passionate about giving our readers the help and advice they need to cook at home and enjoy their food.
Production Leann Lau e: leann.lau@targetpublishing.com t: 01279 810075
hugely popular Michelin-starred chef and star of the TV shows The
Design Clare Holland e: clare.holland@targetpublishing.com
Contributing Editor – Sarah Willingham, about how his early years
Administration/Distribution/Marketing James Rix e: james.rix@targetpublishing.com t: 01279 816300
Our first issue is extra special because we talk to Raymond Blanc, the
Restaurant and Kitchen Secrets. Raymond talks to his friend – and our defined his passion for food, and urges us to get back to respecting food. Find out what he has to say on page 12. We also bring you a selection of mouth-watering recipes; whether it’s chocolate-themed dishes in time for Easter, or sumptuous recipes
Accounts Lorraine Evans e: lorraine.evans@targetpublishing.com t: 01279 816300
from the Masterchef experts, there is something to whet the appetite
Managing Director David Cann e: info@targetpublishing.com
other countries and how their cuisine has been shaped over the years.
of every palate. Food is such a big part of our culture, and so we look further afield at This issue, we turn our attention to New Zealand. Turn to page 34. Finally, we hope you enjoy this issue of Fine Foodies, and we look forward to bringing you many more. We’d love to know what you think of the magazine, so why not drop me an email at
ISSN 2046-438X
Published by Target Publishing Limited. Printed in the UK by The Magazine Printing Company plc www.magprint.co.uk ©2011 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.
editor@finefoodiesmag.com?
Rachel RaCHEL SyMONDS
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Sarah Willingham is one of the most successful people in the food industry, best known for appearing alongside top chef Raymond Blanc as an inspector on the popular BBC show, The Restaurant. With two business degrees, the self-confessed foodie most recently was acknowledged as one of the 35 most successful women under 35 in the UK, featured in the Courvoisier Top 500 and in Business Weekly’s young Entrepreneur of the year awards. For over a decade, Sarah has managed some of the biggest brands in the restaurant industry, including Pizza Express International. In 2004, she was part of a consortium which acquired The Bombay Bicycle Club in London, growing it from six restaurants to 17.
March/april 2011 FINE FOODIES
Fine Foodies
Contents Passionate about good food
12 COvEr StOry
12
an evening with raymond Blanc – The Michelin-starred chef opens up to Fine Foodies contributing Editor, Sarah Willingham
FEaturES
18
Food focus – chocolate: from its history to recipe ideas for Easter, this feature cannot fail to whet the appetite
28 Recipes – chocolate indulgence from Terre à Terre
30 34
Recipes – dishes from the Masterchef experts
Global foodie – Fine Foodies explores traditional New Zealand cuisine
24
rEgularS
6 8 10
Foodie bites – what’s going on in the world of fine food
Sarah’s view – Fine Foodies contributing Editor, Sarah Willingham, this month talks local, fresh and eating as a family
16 FINE FOODIES March/april 2011
18
24
Shelf life – Explore the latest products in store
iSSuE 1 March/april 2011
UK fare – the great-tasting foods native to Wales
28
In season – what’s ideal for eating and cooking with at this time of year? riverford Organic tells all
38
Drink up – from wines and cocktail ideas to the newest hot drinks
42
Fine Foodie hero – rupert parsons
Product news
News update
Foodie bites cheese choice tom parker bowles
FOOD FEStIval SEcurES Star lINE-up Tom Parker Bowles and Brian Turner have joined as patrons for this year’s Malton Food Lovers Festival. Held over the weekend of May 21 and 22, the Yorkshire event has added the popular food personalities to their board. Parker Bowles, a popular food writer and presenter of the Good Food Channel’s Market Kitchen and Turner, a long-time TV chef, are joined by Yorkshire culinary ambassador Andrew Pern, along with TV cook Rosemary Shrager. Added to that, there will be 90 stallholders offering regional and local produce along with live cookery demonstrations – perfect for some andrew kitchen inspiration. As if that pern wasn’t enough, there will also be the Beer, Wine and Drinks Festival to include tastings, flamboyant cocktail mixing, and an all-day beer garden. • Find out more about what’s on offer by visiting www.welovemalton.co.uk
FINE FOODIES March/april 2011
There’s no denying that blue cheeses have a rather unique smell to them, and now researchers are aiming to find out why. Scientists are putting blue cheeses from the East Midlands under the microscope in an attempt to explain what gives them their distinctive taste, texture and smell. The team, from the universities of Northampton and Nottingham, and supported by Food and Drink iNet, will be looking at how micro-organisms in blue cheese work. They will be specifically studying the secondary flora, which can have a significant impact on the properties of the final product.
Deli expanDs with cooks’ club Deli and café Country Harvest has diversified by creating a new cooks’ club. Wensleydale cheese was its first ‘ingredient of the month’, complete with in-store tastings and a feast of recipe ideas for customers signing up for the club. Members pay a one-off £15 joining fee and in return receive a goodie bag worth more than £50 including a specially-commissioned Country Harvest apron and a copy of the book Great British Cheeses and a free family visitor pass to Wensleydale Creamery. Looking ahead, Country Harvest is putting the finishing touches to a series of Cooks’ Club demo and dine evenings to be held next year. • Find out more at www.country-harvest.co.uk
LEARN TO COOK
If you struggle for inspiration in the kitchen, a new series of workshops could be just for you. Mobile cookery company Cookery Coach has joined forces with School of Wok for a series of classes taking place during 2011. Over three months, professional tutors will take turns to lead classes based on three different international cuisine themes; School of Wok, Flavours of India, and Gastro Pub Classics. Using fresh, quality ingredients and avoiding the use of additives and preservatives, they will reveal how to cook international cuisine including home-made dumplings, tandoori chicken and panroasted venison.
FISH FOR THOUGHT
Jamie Oliver has been doing his bit to encourage the nation to opt for British-farmed fish. A new series of 10 bite-sized programmes on Channel 4, called Jamie s Fish Supper, have been airing to highlight why we should buy and cook with some of the less widely used, yet plentiful, species of fish and seafood such as trout, mackerel, coley and mussels. The series has been welcomed by the British Trout Association, with Chief Executive, David Bassett, commenting: It s great to see such a high profile British chef championing trout in this way. The endorsement of a high quality farmed product is very encouraging and shows the increasing trend in preference for farmed fish.
SUFFOLK FARE
Everything from food and drink producers to farmers markets are being celebrated in a new campaign to highlight the fare of Suffolk. Suffolk Food & Drink ‒ Experiences to Savour aims to promote the county for its rich choice of real food and drink and encourage visitors. It will coincide with Suffolk s Big Taste event. Suffolk s local food and drink brings together everything that s great about the county, on one plate ‒ from its beautiful landscape and open seas, to its glorious sunshine and fresh air. The new Choose Suffolk campaign is a celebration of Suffolk s position as a UK culinary county, explained Oliver Paul, of the Suffolk Food Hall. • Find out more at www.choosesuffolk.com
• Check out the details at www.cookerycoach.co.uk
Foodie fact
Did you know that olives are given a quality based on what, in wine terms, is known as Terroir. Terroir relates to the soil and geography surrounding the olive tree, and plays a crucial role in the characteristic of olive oils that you buy. This comes from online fine food store, www.getoily.com, which recommends using a peppery virgin olive oil for enhancing salad, or a more modest oil for cooking.
DIARY DATE
If you want to celebrate the wealth of good food and drinks in regions around the UK, then Foodies Festivals could be for you. Kicking off in May in Brighton, the threeday show then moves to Hampton Court Palace in May, before heading off to Bristol, Edinburgh and Oxford later in the summer. Demos will take place while local restaurants can showcase their signature dishes from around the world in the Restaurant Village. Alternatively, mixologists from top bars can show off their skills accompanied by a line-up of live music entertainment. • Check out the dates at www.foodiesfestival.com
MARCH/APRIL 2011 FINE FOODIES
7
Product news
Shelf Life WHAT S NEW IN THE WORLD OF GREAT-TASTING FOOD
OILED UP Terre di San Vito is a new premium olive oil hitting the UK shelves. A natural extra virgin olive oil that hails from the small town of San Vito in the heart of the Puglia region of Southern Italy, the oil is blended from six different types of olive, each handpicked, handpressed, filtered only once, and then bottled, all within 24 hours from start to finish.
Berry good
ICE SCREAM
We may not be into summer yet, but that doesn t stop the people at Beckleberry s Ice Cream tempting our tastebuds. Hand-crafted using fresh milk and cream collected from local farms, the Beckleberry s range includes Great Taste award-winning ice creams as well as blackcurrant and kirsch sorbet or the rather imaginative mango, chilli and ginger variety. If you fancy an extra treat, you should sample their sumptuous desserts, especially the Tart aux Pommes.
DAIRY DELIGHT
Liz and Roger Sutton bought their first three goats in Delamere Forest, Cheshire, late in 1985. Today, Delamere Dairy is an awardwinning producer of goats products, and to mark 25 years in business Liz and Roger have created a special celebratory goat s milk carton. Look out for the commemorative carton in store now.
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FINE FOODIES MARCH/APRIL 2011
If you ve never tried spelt, then what better introduction than with Sharpham Park s new Organic Spelt Berry Puffs. Spelt is a healthy grain that offers a good source of protein and fibre. While not being gluten- or wheat-free, it can often be eaten by those with wheat intolerance. Using organically-milled spelt, the Berry Puffs are coated with natural blueberry and blackcurrant juice with a touch of organic honey. Enjoy with lashings of chilled full cream milk or for a sweeter dessert option, sprinkle on top of rich chocolate ice cream.
Fine Foodies recommends
Aspall has unveiled a new range of premium vinegars. Following six months in development, the 11-strong range is perfect for using in dressings, sauces and marinades and include Aspall Cyder, available as organic and standard, and Apple Balsamic. Or you could opt for one of the two single wine vinegars, Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc.
Regular bite
Sarah’s view
T
Each issue, Fine Foodies Contributing Editor, Sarah Willingham, gives her view. In our launch issue, she reflects on the importance of truly loving – and respecting – the food we eat.
he last couple of weeks,
my four-year-old daughter. I handed her a
following my interview with
tomato and asked her ‘what does this smell
Raymond Blanc and a large
like?’ ‘Nothing,’ she replied. I did this with
press conference on food
four different ‘packets’ of tomatoes until she
nutrition, have forced me to
said – ‘ooooooo Mummy that smells like
reflect on the food I’m eating in restaurants
Grandad’s tomatoes’. Jackpot!
and the food I am putting into the mouths
But we live in England where the sun
of my children.
shines for a few weeks of the year and my
Earlier this week, I was asked to join a
vegetable patches bloom over summer.
press conference with John Torode from
The rest of the year they sit looking bare.
Masterchef, for Unilever Food Services. Most of the UK’s trade press were there to discuss the findings of a new report and a recent hot topic in Government; with obesity in this country hitting crisis point and one in six meals today eaten out of the home, the Government and press are asking if the eating-out market needs to start taking more responsibility. The report showed that the majority of people would like to know more about the nutritional value – or otherwise – of the food that they are eating. The suggestion is to put a full nutritional breakdown, as you’d see on a supermarket ready meal, on menu items. Whilst I think that we all need to take responsibility for our nation of unhealthy eaters, I wonder if it’s realistic. Our chefs are not trained to cook by numbers, they are trained to cook by taste. In addition, my biggest concern is that the majority of people buying these products wouldn’t actually understand the breakdown as you just about need a degree in nutrition to understand those charts. Can you all tell me that if a dish has 4g of salt in it, is that good? Bad? Average? What per cent of RDA is that? And we’re all foodies! A full calorific and nutritional breakdown would not only confuse us but make it impossible for chefs to provide seasonal, ever-changing menus that react to the catch of the day, or the best vegetables from the market. Let’s not take the love out of our kitchens and become too prescriptive. My suggestion instead is to be more
Our local ‘pick your own’ opens its doors for
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FINE FOODIES March/april 2011
10 to 12 weeks and the rest of the year works hard to get ready for ‘peak season’. Faced with this, let’s be sensible – we’re never going to be wholly sustainable! But after my discussion with Raymond, I think
“It strikes me that it’s less about local food, and organic, for example, and more about respect”
I’ve been missing the point. It strikes me
transparent on menus. Mark a few dishes as
we are raising our children to actually
‘lighter options’, ‘low fat’, or ‘low salt’.
respect the food we serve, and to give it
As a mum of three – and very soon to be four – I was moved by the romanticism of
that it’s less about local food, and organic, for example, and more about respect. I adore food, it’s the centre of our family and our life – the levels of excitement that I can reach over a good dhal isn’t normal and, of course, my children feed off this. This is all well and good but I wonder if
such value? I’m not so sure. Yes, we’re ‘foodies’ but that’s all about
Raymond’s upbringing, how his parents and
flavour and quality. I have never considered
surroundings were responsible for instilling a
looking at a pig in the way that Raymond
love of and, more importantly a respect for,
does and I find the experience humbling.
food that runs so deep that each growing
Last week, a friend left a brace of
vegetable, swimming fish, and roaming
pheasants swinging over my gate. After I
animal holds such value for him – this is a
was over the initial shock of putting my
man who can gush about the taste of soil!
hand on a dead pheasant in the pitch black
Of course, times have changed. This was
(they came with no warning!) I skinned them
post war, food was not in abundance and if
– rather reluctantly I’m ashamed to say – but
you wanted to eat well, you had to grow it,
then very happily put in a pot full of seasonal
pick it or kill it. He’s right that we have been
meats to make my very own ‘Oxfordshire
spoilt, become gluttonous and take for
Cassoulet’. What I think is important is that
granted the shelves and shelves of cheap
the children actually saw the entire food
food in our supermarkets. Does the life of
chain – how often does that happen?
the pig really matter to us? Do we care that
So, my task to myself this month is to
our vegetables have been sprayed with
respect the food that we eat, rather than
chemicals to look that ‘good’?
simply focusing on the flavour and skill of
Last week I stood in a supermarket with
cooking it. FF
Interview
An evening with
Raymond Blanc World-renowned chef Raymond Blanc opens up about respecting our food, family values, and the romance of food to his friend and Fine Foodies Contributing Editor, Sarah Willingham.
K
nowing Raymond, I call ahead to be sure that he’s running to schedule. All is well, I am reassured – 6.30pm at his house. At 6pm I say night to the kids, am putting my coat on and the
phone rings...RB is running late, he’s still at Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons. I offer to come to Le Manoir instead – offer accepted. I set off. Phone rings – it’s Raymond. “I’m exhausted – meet me at home.” He’s been so busy recently, finishing filming of the second series of Kitchen Secrets (where we see Raymond at his best, in my opinion), opening The London Cocktail Club in Goodge Street, finishing his book, working with Orient Express Hotels in his new role as Vice-President, not to mention Le Manoir, Brasserie Blanc, Maison Blanc. I’m glad he’s changed his mind – at least he can put his feet up, put his slippers on and sit on his own sofa. We both arrive at his house at the same time. He has his suitcase with him, having spent the last couple
12
FINE FOODIES March/april 2011
“In Maman Blanc’s house I was shown every day the true beauty of the world around us. Local produce and seasonality were all second nature.”
of nights in London and seems so pleased to be home. We stand chatting in the kitchen with his gorgeous fiancé, Natalia,
Raymond...it s a pig! He laughs, full of mischief. Oh my lovely Sarah (I now wish I could
and I can visibly see him relax in her
write with a French accent), this is not just
company with a glass of champagne,
any old pig all right, she is a symbol of
some smoked trout, feta cheese and
fertility, of beauty, she represents all that is
olives.
British, all that we need in our food chain,
We talk everything from business to kids to new restaurants, sexism and holidays. They are such good company! Finally, we adjourn, sit on the sofa and
she is magnifique! he says. It s amazing but I sit back and listen as he continues to gush about this black and white pedigree pig and realise that he s
I start to tell him a bit about Fine Foodies.
not even trying to dig himself out of a
I brought with me a couple of other
hole ‒ he really and truly thinks this pig is
magazines to give him an example of
one of the most beautiful things in the
similar publications from the publishers,
world. Only Raymond can get away with
Target Publishing, and he is naturally
likening me to a pig!
drawn towards Organic & Natural Business, I assume because Helen Browning, the
Discovering good food
Director of The Soil Association, is on the
So, where did his love and passion for
front cover...how wrong I was!
food and all things natural come from?
Raymond looks at my big, bulging
It took him until the age of 19 to know
tummy ‒ heavily pregnant with my fourth
that he had to be a chef. His parents took
baby ‒ and strokes the front of the
him to a local restaurant in Besançon, and
magazine. In his strong French accent he
as he walked out onto the terrace he
turns to me and says she is just like you ‒
recalls it was like falling in love .
look at her! In the prime of her life ‒ glowing . I m still thinking he s talking about
He sat on his chair and watched what he describes as the most extraordinary scene ever; leaves shimmering, poetry in
Helen Browning as he continues she is a
motion, waiters in black ties dancing from
pedigree ‒ the finest example of her kind .
customer to customer like a ballet ‒
What on earth is he talking about?
lovers, romance, forever, encore. As he sat
I look down at the front cover, look back up at him and ask if he s serious.
and watched this scene he had his epiphany ‒ he knew he would become a
MARCH/APRIL 2011 FINE FOODIES
13
Interview
involve food or the garden. He was a postwar boy and food was scarce and precious. He earned his food by chopping wood and helping his Papa outside. “I was never allowed to serve the bread at home, only ever my father. Papa would put a cross on the bread as a sign of respect for the food – you had to earn it.” He says he was Maman’s helper whenever she gave him the chance (at this time the girls cooked and the boys laboured outside). He chopped, killed, and plucked anything he was allowed to and eventually she let him inside her kitchen. He talks of Maman’s values and the chef and make his customers’ experience as perfect as this every time. He should have known before then, he says.
“You create a caring family, you create a
values of his home; generosity, detail, love,
caring society,” he explains. I couldn’t
sharing, training team, ethics, seasonality
agree more.
and I realise just how much Le Manoir
Most of Raymond’s earliest memories
reflects him. FF
“In Maman Blanc’s house I was shown every day the true beauty of the world around us. Local produce and seasonality
The food crisis
our food as I did growing up, we will
were all second nature.”
I ask him what he thinks is the future of
have no choice, the cost of food will go
the food on our table? Will it be organic
up and up,” he says.
Their garden was the size of the magnificent garden at Le Manoir – not
or genetically modified?
because they were rich but because that
“Globally,” he says, “we have no clue.”
was how they survived in those post-war
We are in crisis – prices are rocketing
years.
But will the food chain become organic? He laughs: “I doubt it!”
because there is simply not enough food.
He explains to me that there are 70
The UK still imports over 70 per cent of its
different types of organic, and the Soil
him taste the soil that their food grew in.
food, we are not competitive, and it’s
Association’s is the purest form of
He smelt it, felt it, tasted it.
cheaper to import it than to make it. As
definition. He starts to get very passionate.
At the age of seven his father made
“It’s a living soul,” he gushes,
we become more and more dependent
“We are being misled, everyone is
“thousands, millions of nutrients, of living
on other countries for our food chain we
doing their own things, and the
things are in that soil. I learnt what grows
have less and less understanding of the
Government needs to take some steps
in soil according to its taste and smell.”
true cost to the environment of
and put together a legal criteria. There
His Maman is a typical French mum.
transporting it across the world.
are 75 assurance schemes – no wonder
“Cooking is an act of love from my mum, she is a giver,” he says. Raymond’s Grandmere was an exceptional cook and Papa, the gardener. His mum never asked him to go and
“Sarah, each time you choose an apple you are making a choice – not just a
the consumers are confused. “Nowadays you have to know so
culinary choice but a political choice, an
much about food to be a responsible
environmental choice.”
customer – you need a magnifying glass.”
Ten per cent of the population of
At this point, Natalia calls downstairs to
get the potatoes from the garden. She
Great Britain are leading the way and
tell him that Arsenal is playing. His
would only ever ask for the variety – if she
trying to create a better place and chefs
attention is instantly switched to another
said Maris Piper he knew it was purée day,
are now reconnecting with these values.
huge passion in his life. We sit watching
whereas Charlotte was salad day.
Raymond believes that during our
Arsenal thrash Leeds and he’s very happy.
lifetime we will undoubtedly see more
I decide it’s time to wrap up as I can’t
and more food produced in the UK.
bring myself to interrupt the game now
It’s this culture that he has introduced into his restaurants over the years. Food is not about stuffing your face, he says, it’s about family, friends, an event.
14
FINE FOODIES March/april 2011
“We are going to learn how to revalue
as he’s relaxing for the first time in days.
UK fare
Welsh flavours
Traditional Welsh cakes
Explore the wealth of distinct flavours for which Wales has become known.
W
elsh food has a
building awareness of the food brand
long-established
Wales the True Taste.
reputation for its
Winners for 2010-2011 included Y
distinctiveness
Bwtri, which took gold in the Deli/
and quality, but
Speciality Store category. Three brothers,
what’s so special about it?
Geraint, Dafydd and Eilir Hughes, took
Well, to start with its very landscape
over the running of Y Bwtri in north-west
reflects freshness, quality and variety, and
Wales, nearly four years after it was first
the country prides itself on supplying
established.
some of the finest produce in the world.
Y Bwtri is dedicated to bringing the best
From unique cheeses and wines, famous
choice of good food to its customers and
Welsh beef and lamb, to fresh fish and
has a special emphasis on local produce. In
seafood, Wales has it all.
addition, they offer a complete food Welsh cawl
And research has confirmed just how many of us are turning to Welsh food and drink. A poll carried out for the Welsh
service including outside catering, hampers, buffets and an online shop.
made with lamb and leeks. Another popular dish is laverbread,
Also scooping an award was Vaughan’s Family Butchers, the gold winner in the
Assembly Government has revealed that
which is made with seaweed and often
Butcher category. This independent retail
nine out of 10 people could name at least
fried into patties with egg, bacon, and
family butcher offers a range of quality
one native food, revealing that awareness
cockles to be eaten at breakfast, or Bara
fresh traditional meat cuts and associated
is now at its highest since 2005.
Brith, a lovely fruit bread often served with
products including sausages, bacon,
afternoon tea. Or you could try Welsh
burgers and pies, all made with local
cakes, which are a bit like scones.
ingredients.
Meanwhile the survey revealed that three quarters of those questioned found Welsh menus appealing.
Signature foods
And then of course, there’s Welsh rarebit, an upmarket cheese on toast. You will often find many regional
Lamb is the meat that is most commonly
specialities across Wales, which will often
used in dishes, and Welsh lamb is famed
revolve around the foods that are
across the world, although beef is also
available to the area.
very commonly eaten. The cuisine will often also include seafood, particularly in
Welsh winners
areas close to the coast.
Wales is leading the way when it comes
Cheese, too, is a big export product, with the most famous perhaps being Caerphilly, which is exported all around the world. Leeks are very commonly used in Welsh recipes. In fact, cawl is a Welsh stew
16
FINE FOODIES March/april 2011
to good food if Wales The True Taste Food & Drink Awards are anything to go by. Launched in 2002, these awards are managed by the Welsh Assembly Government as part of its commitment to developing the food and drink sector and
Diary date If you like the sound of Welsh fare, then a weekend-long event could be for you. The Welsh Food Festival takes place on September 3 and 4 in Powys. Visitors can learn all kinds of things, from the world of bees to how you can give a hen a home. There will be cookery demonstrations taking place throughout the weekend, while Welsh producers will be on hand to showcase their produce. Find out more about the Welsh Food Festival by logging onto www. welshfoodfestival.co.uk
Take inspiration with this selection of mouth-watering recipes from winners of the Wales True Taste Food & Drink Awards.
Usk Valley rib-eye steak with Perl Las oyster
Griddled Springfield’s asparagus and goat’s cheese tart
A speedy and tasty alternative to the traditional surf and turf.
This tart is ideal for a summer picnic. Make individual tarts by cutting the pastry into four equal squares.
Serves: 4 Preparation: 10 minutes Cooking: 10 minutes Ingredients: • 4 rib-eye steaks • 1tbsp sunflower oil • 25g Bethesda butter • Halen Môn • 4 oysters, shucked, reserving four halves of the shells • 100g Perl Las Method: • Take the steak out of the fridge at least 20 minutes before cooking and leave to reach room temperature. Rub with the sunflower oil, black pepper and Halen Môn. • Heat a frying pan until smoking hot. Cook the steaks for two minutes on each side (depending on the thickness). Remove from the pan and allow to rest for about five minutes. • Top each oyster in its shell with a slice of Perl Las and place under a hot grill until the cheese has melted and is bubbling. • Serve the steak with the oyster gratin and chips.
Serves: 4 Preparation: 10 minutes Cooking: 25 minutes Ingredients: • 1 bunch asparagus, trimmed • 1tbsp olive oil • Halen Môn and black pepper • 1 pack ready rolled puff pastry or filo pastry sheets • 100g Blaenafon soft goats cheese • 1tbsp fresh thyme or parsley, finely chopped To serve: • Balsamic glaze (optional) Method: • Preheat oven 200ºC/400ºF/Gas 6. • Drizzle the asparagus with olive oil and season. Heat a griddle pan until smoking and griddle the asparagus until nicely charred. • Place the pastry on a baking sheet and score a 1cm border around the edge of the pastry. Prick inside the border with a fork. Bake for five minutes until beginning to brown. • Meanwhile mix the herbs into the goat’s cheese. When the pastry is ready remove from the oven, spread the herbed cheese evenly over the pastry base and top with the griddled asparagus. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until golden.
Llandudno smoked duck noodle soup Ingredients: • 1tbsp groundnut oil • 3 garlic cloves, crushed • 2.5cm piece of ginger, peeled and sliced thinly • 125g Maesyffin shiitake mushrooms, sliced • 2 red chillies, de-seeded and sliced thinly • 2 litres chicken stock • 1 star anise • 1tbsp rice wine or dry sherry • 2tbsp soy sauce • 200g noodles • 2 large heads bok choi (or greens of choice such as spinach or cabbage) • 4 spring onions sliced diagonally • 1 x 250g Llandudno or Black Mountain smoked duck breast, sliced thinly Method • Heat the oil in a deep saucepan or wok. Add the garlic, ginger and chilli and cook over a gentle heat for a minute. • Add the mushrooms and stir fry for two minutes before adding the wine and soy. • Pour over the stock, add the star anise and bring to the boil. Simmer for a few minutes. • Add the bok choi and leave to cook for two minutes. • Add the noodles, spring onions and duck slices. • Divide the noodles between four serving bowls. Ladle over the hot stock and serve.
MArch/April 2011 FINE FOODIES
17
Food focus
In love with
chocolate
How do you love yours? Food expert Jennifer Britt explores the world of chocolate.
T
he small cacoa tree grows
chocolate, with cocoa powder in water
abundantly in the steamy
mixed with flavourings such as chillies,
Central American and
vanilla, herbs and honey. In Europe, too,
Southern American
chocolate was a drink for a couple of
rainforests. And even
centuries before someone discovered
before humans started their love affair
how to make it into a bar.
with chocolate, monkeys knew a thing
In the England of King Charles 11, the
about the sweet pulp concealed inside
diarist Samuel Pepys tells us that he was a
the thick, melon-shape pods hanging
frequenter of the chocolate houses that
from the trees, which turn a vibrant
became the in-vogue meeting places
golden or scarlet colour.
extensive pantheon of deities, inspiring
from the mid 1600s onwards. The most
the 18th century Swedish botanist, Carl
famous, White’s of St James, still lives on
by spitting out the bitter beans. At some
Linnaeus to name it in Latin, as
today as the crème de la crème of
point deep in the mists of history, the
Theobrama cacoa, translated as ‘food or drink of the Gods’. Whereas today we see chocolate as a bit of indulgence, cacao was considered a health-restoring source of energy, wisdom and sexual prowess, but the beans were also guarded in the vaults of the counting houses as a currency. And when, in the 16th century, European explorers and adventurers first set foot on the American continent and encountered the Aztec people, it was as a commercial proposition that cacoa, which they pronounced as cocoa, held its greatest appeal. Nevertheless, when the conquistadors took this new thing called chocolate back to Spain, the taste for it soon started to spread across Europe among the well-to-do. Ancient hieroglyphics show that the Mayans and Aztecs drank, rather than ate
gentleman’s clubs.
However, the monkeys missed a trick
indigenous South American people realised that roasting or fermenting beans creates something truly enticing and mood-enhancing – what we now know and love as chocolate!
Chocolate’s origins The Olmecs – living in what is now Mexico and Guatamala – are believed to have planted the first cacoa plantations in around 400BC. But it was with the later Mayan and Aztec civilisations of course that chocolate became most famously associated. Cacoa was a valuable commodity, only affordable for consumption by the wealthy, rather like the finest wines or delicacies such as caviare or truffles today. It also had a revered place in religious ritual and ceremonies centred around an
18
FINE FOODIES March/april 2011
Modern chocolate Chocolate became more affordable but it remained a health drink, a vitamin pill of its day; indeed some of the most famous names in the story of British chocolate, Fry’s of Bristol and Terry’s of York – remember them? – were originally apothecaries. Chocolate for eating didn’t really take off until Victorian times, prompted by the invention of a machine that extracted the cocoa butter from the beans. Chocolate makers discovered in their experiments that the cocoa butter mixed with powder and sugar made something rather delicious to eat... and chocolate was born. Today, we’re more than spoilt for choice, but what’s your poison, as it were?
“The indigenous South American people realised that roasting or fermenting beans creates something truly enticing – what we now know and love as chocolate!” March/april 2011 FINE FOODIES
19
Food focus
With a splash of coffee
Higher, higher, higher
With milk
The percentages you see on chocolate
It was an English medical doctor, Sir Hans
refer to the total proportion of
Sloan, who back in the 17th century
ingredients, which come from the
decided he preferred the bitter taste of
fermented and roasted cocoa beans, so
chocolate – in those days still a drink –
the cocoa liquor and the cocoa butter, as
that was mellowed with milk.
opposed to the sugar. The higher the
It was two centuries later that the Swiss
cocoa content, the lower the amount of
produced the first milk chocolate bars for
sugar in a chocolate, bringing out the
which they are still famed today. Look for
earthy, fruity taste of the cocoa.
at least 30 per cent cocoa solids to give a
Seventy per cent cocoa solids have
good balance of cocoa and sweetness.
become a benchmark of quality for dark
Try a little bit of... Green & Black’s
chocolate but increasingly, you can find
original milk with 34 per cent cocoa solids
85 per cent, and even 90 per cent. The
for added depth of chocolate flavour.
Academy of Chocolate, a group of
Coffee with chocolate is a bit like Marmite – you either love it or you hate it. If you’ve never tried it, you’d better decide which side of the mocha fence you’re on. Go*Do is a new Italian brand of organic chocolate, named for pleasure... yes, that sort of pleasure! Whether or not you’d describe it as orgasmic, Go*Do Dark Chocolate Espresso with its double dose of caffeine is definitely for grown ups and crunchy coffee nibs give it even more bite. Or try Plamil’s new Coffee Bar for a real wake-up call, which amazingly has no added sugar and is vegan, not that you’d know it unless you read the label (we loved their Rum & Raisin too!)
April this year, Charlotte Flower Chocolates
leading chocolatiers and chefs, places the
White delight
minimum for a fine chocolate at 60 per
Should you still be eating white chocolate
bitter almond sloe blossom ganache as
cent but says quality is not only about the
after the age of about 10?
well as its Hot Cross Bun special; milk
machismo of high percentages. Varieties
Of course you should if you love its
of bean, how they are grown, processed
creamy taste, but make sure it’s made
and blended together, and of course the
with a high proportion of cocoa butter.
recipes used, are all just as important for a
Chocolate aficionados may say white
will be looking to make gorgeous, slightly
chocolate cream ganache flavoured with cinnamon, nutmeg and orange zest.
For the children
delicious end result.
varieties are not really chocolate at all
It may be stuff of Willy Wonka’s dreams,
Try a little bit of... Beyond Dark Drops of
because they don’t contain any of the
but for Clare Gardiner, of the Little
Pure Pleasure. These little chocolate drops
chocolate liquour. But with a good splash
Chocolate Shop, it became a reality.
with Madagascan vanilla come in a
of vanilla extract, it’s a treat.
perfect-sized 35g bag. The Beyond Dark
Try a little bit of... Divine’s White
factory in Yorkshire, and when she’s giving
chocolate makers say their smooth taste
Chocolate with Strawberries. A taste of
children – and grown-ups too – tours she
and rich antioxidant content is due to
English summer from this Fairtrade brand,
points out that the chocolate fountain
their careful selection of beans and the
which is co-owned by the Ghanaian
imagined by author Roald Dahl was not
gentle way they process them.
farmers who grow the cocoa.
so far-fetched after all as it was probably
Fruity and nutty
Raisins and hazelnuts are the classic combo in chocolate, although whatever fruit or nut you put with chocolate, it’s pretty irresistible. Try a little bit of... Booja Booja’s Raspberry Ecuadorian Truffles won a Gold Great Taste Award last year, and are the first chocolates to be made in Ecuador.
In the raw
Egg-shaped
FINE FOODIES March/april 2011
inspired by the machinery used to “temper” the chocolate, heating and
Brightly-painted real eggs, or even the gift
cooling it to prevent it crystallising.
of a simple bird’s egg, are the traditions
Try a little bit of... The Little Chocolate
that lie behind the modern tradition of
Shop handmade animal figures, including
chocolate eggs, which were a 20th
Happy Hippo and Silly Snail. You might find
century introduction – hard to imagine
them too cute to eat, though.
Easter without them now!
Try a little bit of... Charlotte Flower
It’s hot
Chocolates, with flavours inspired by what
With chilli is how the South American Mayans
is available in the wild. With Easter late
and Aztecs used to take their chocolate.
The health benefits of chocolate have been in the news with the latest study about chocolate, this one from the Hershey Centre for Health and Nutrition. This research institution was set up by Hershey – as in the classic American chocolate bar maker – so you would expect them to be looking for the best in chocolate. There is now a long line of studies pointing to cocoa’s nutritious qualities. This latest finding is that there are more healthy plant compounds and antioxidants gram for gram in cocoa powder than in powders from fruits such as açai berries, blueberries, cranberries and pomegranates. If you want to maximise the goodness of chocolate, then eat it “in the raw” – which means chocolate processed at low temperatures. Chocolate really is the food of romance, says Raw Chocolate Company, because among its rich cocktail of goodies is phenylethylamine, otherwise known as PEA or the “love molecule”.
20
Clare runs her own real-life chocolate
Try a little bit of... Montezuma’s Chilli & Lime. The namesake of this Sussex-based chocolate maker was the Aztec emperor famed for his love of chocolate. The people behind this adventurous brand have made a name for their daring flavours and helped revive the idea of chocolate with chilli. Funny to think how it made everyone so hot under the collar.
Your view What do you love about chocolate? And what’s your bar – or drink – of choice? We’d love to hear your stories, so why not email me at editor@finefoodiesmag.com
Cooking tips
Sarah recommends
E
Contributing Editor Sarah Willingham offers up her favourite recipe for all those chocolate lovers out there. very time I’m pregnant I retreat into my kitchen and just continue to produce...I think it must be part of my ‘nesting’. Baking is my thing – I absolutely love to bake
anything and everything. Because of this, I’ve tried so many recipes for brownies and I
can safely say that this one is by far the best! You need 200g of the best dark chocolate you can find – my choice is Lindt 90 per cent – it’s divine. The result is these brownies are rich and moist – just as brownies should be. Chef’s note: Make sure that the chocolate has cooled a bit before adding the eggs, otherwise you effectively get scrambled eggs and the recipe won’t work.
Ingredients: • 200g dark chocolate, roughly chopped • 175g unsalted butter • 325g caster sugar • 130g plain flour • 3 eggs • Icing sugar to decorate Method:
Sarah’s t ip
A great lit tle trick is to put a bit of chocol ate on your bottom lip – if you can feel it it’s still to then o hot!
• Preheat oven to 170ºC (325ºF) Gas mark 3 • Put the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, without letting the base of the bowl touch the water. Leave until melted and smooth • Remove from heat. Add the sugar and stir until well incorporated. Add the flour and stir. Finally, stir in the eggs and mix until thick and smooth. • Spoon the mixture into the prepared baking tray and bake in the preheated oven for about 30-35 minutes, or until flaky on top but still soft in the centre. Be careful not to overcook otherwise the edges will become hard and crunchy. Leave to cool completely before dusting with icing sugar to decorate.
Recipes
Chocolate indulgence With Easter around the corner, whet your appetite with these mouth-watering recipes from Terre a Terre.
ladies of Seville
Warm chocolate and hazelnut torte, with bitter chocolate sauce served with Seville orange candy and orange salad. The sour punch of the magnificent Seville orange, coupled with this fabulous tart, makes a great thing better. Delicious made with sweeter orange varieties, we guarantee it will drive any savoury-toothed soul into a foodie frenzy! Serves 6 Ingredients: Chocolate and hazelnut torte (gluten free): • 175g dark chocolate (70 per cent cocoa solids) • 175g unsalted butter • 4 eggs • 150g caster sugar • 75g hazelnut flour • 40g gluten free plain flour • a pinch of salt • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract Method: • Melt the chocolate and butter together in a bain-marie. Separate the eggs, yolks in one bowl and whites in another. • Mix the hazelnut flour, plain flour and salt together. Whisk the egg yolks with 75g of the sugar to the ribbon stage. Fold the chocolate and butter mix into the whisked egg yolks, then fold in the hazelnut flour mix. Whisk egg whites until they form firm peaks, then whisk in the remaining 75g sugar. • Fold this gently into the chocolate mix and pour into a lined 25cm cake tin. cook at
24
FINE FOODIES March/april 2011
180ºc/gas mark 4 for about 20 minutes, until an inserted skewer comes out largely clean. allow to cool before cutting into slices. Chocolate glaze: • 100g liquid glucose • 150ml water • 200g dark chocolate (70 per cent cocoa solids) • 15ml vegetable oil Method: • Bring the glucose and water to the boil in a pan and instantly pour on to the chocolate. Stir well and add the oil. allow to cool, then refrigerate. Sugared orange candy: • 3 thick-skinned oranges (preferably Seville, but navel or Valencia will do) • 375g caster sugar • 200ml water Method: • cut the tops and bottoms off the oranges and score the remaining fruit into quarters, cutting only into the skin, not the fruit. cut the peel thinly off the oranges in large pieces, remove and discard pith. liquidize the flesh of the oranges, strain and reserve the juice. cut the peel into strips about 6mm wide. • put the peel into a saucepan, cover with
water and bring to the boil. Once boiled, drain and refresh under cold water. repeat twice. put the sugar and water into a heavy based pan, bring to a simmer, making a syrup. • add the peel to the simmering syrup, cooking gently for about 45 minutes until it becomes translucent. Do not stir the peel when it is cooking as this may cause the syrup to crystallize; a little shake of the pan will do. • Drain the candied peel and save the syrup. add the reserved orange juice to the syrup, cool and refrigerate. roll the peel or ‘candy’ in a little extra caster sugar and dry on a cooling rack for four to five hours. Store in an airtight container. To assemble: • 1 sweet orange (navel or Valencia) • Good quality cocoa powder to dust (Optional) Method: • remove the peel and pith from the orange and, using a very sharp knife, cut into thin segments. Warm the slices of torte in the oven, about five minutes at 160ºc/gas mark 3. Meanwhile melt the chocolate glaze gently over a bain-marie. • put the torte slices on plates, then spoon over the chocolate glaze to coat. Garnish with fresh orange segments, candied orange peel and bitter orange syrup. if desired, dust the torte with a little cocoa powder.
Spaghetti sweetie Chocolate spaghetti served with dark chocolate sauce, sweet walnut pesto, Espresso granita and candied kumquats. Serves 6 The italians have been at the sweet pasta lark forever but it’s not caught on big time in the UK yet... and we think it should. Make these slippery chocolate strands the base of a mouth-watering combination, adding a rich chocolate sauce, a sprinkling of minty walnut pesto, an intense, slightly bitter coffee ice, and the sharp-sweet tang of barely cooked caramelised kumquats. Walnut pesto: • 75g walnuts, toasted and chopped • 50g mint leaves, chopped • Grated zest of 1 orange put all the ingredients in a pestle and mortar (or mixer) and pound together. You do not want a paste, just a nice crumbly mix of the ingredients to sprinkle over the pasta. Chocolate pasta: • 250g ‘00’ pasta flour • 30g good quality cocoa powder • 2 eggs, beaten • 3-4 tablespoons cold water • Sieve the flour and cocoa together (either on to a work surface or into a large bowl). Make a deep well in the centre of the dry mix, and pour in the beaten eggs and two tablespoons of the water. Using a circular motion draw the dry mix into the centre and add another tablespoon of water.
• Mix with a fork until the mixture binds together (adding more water if necessary). Bring all the mix together and start kneading with your hands to form a smooth ball of dough (this takes approximately 10 minutes). cover the dough with clingfilm and refrigerate for 30 minutes. • Using a pasta machine, roll out one quarter of the dough at a time, in the same way as you would roll out any pasta, stopping at setting number two to make spaghetti. leave the strands to hang over a broom handle or similar to dry for at least 10 minutes. • if you are not quite ready to cook them yet, layer the slightly dried-out pasta in loose bundles between greaseproof paper and refrigerate in a sealed container. Only cook the pasta just before you are ready to eat. • add a drop of olive oil to a large pan of water, bring to the boil and plunge in the pasta. cook for one minute only, then quickly drain. Candied kumquats: • 200ml water • 100g caster sugar, plus extra for dipping • ½ vanilla pod, split and scraped • 200g kumquats • Bring the water to the boil and add the sugar and vanilla pod and seeds. Gently simmer for five minutes until a syrupy consistency is reached. • halve the kumquats lengthways. Bring a dry non-stick frying pan to medium heat. Dip the kumquats cut side down into a little caster sugar and place them face down in the frying pan, cooking until they are nicely caramelised. • Now put them straight into the syrupy
mixture, bring it back to the boil and simmer for one minute. leave to one side until you are ready to assemble the dish. Chocolate sauce: • 300ml whipping cream • 175g dark chocolate (70 per cent cocoa solids) • Bring the cream to the boil in a small pan and remove it from the heat. add the chocolate and whisk well to make a smooth sauce. • Once cooled, refrigerate until you are ready to use it. Espresso granita: • 100ml strong espresso coffee • 400ml sugar syrup • ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract • Mix all the ingredients together in a container and freeze. Fork through the mix every 30 minutes to form icy coffee crystals, then freeze until you are ready to use it. To assemble: • The pasta is best cooked just before serving (see recipe). heat through the chocolate sauce in a pan. • Twist the freshly cooked and drained spaghetti into portions, using a long pronged fork, and spoon a generous amount of the chocolate sauce over the top. • Sprinkle with the walnut pesto and lay some kumquats to one side, drizzling the kumquat syrup over them. Serve the espresso granita in icy cups on the side of the plates.
March/april 2011 FINE FOODIES
25
Recipes
Vodka cherry chocolate churros
Sweet spice-dusted doughnut batons served with warm sticky dipping chocolate and vodka-sozzled cherries. Serves 4-6 We have Spanish shepherds to thank for this centuries-old dish. When their nomadic lifestyle high up in the mountains left them bereft of freshly-baked staples, they came up with this sweet stick that could be cooked easily in a pan over an open fire. Originally, churros were skinny, like breadsticks, but often curved and even coiled, and eaten plain or rolled in cinnamon sugar. They became a daily treat for the sweet-toothed shepherds, too good a secret to keep quiet, and word got around. Their popularity spread and these irresistible snacks became a Spanish tradition. Once they d found their way to Terre à Terre, and after numerous tasting and slurping sessions involving chocolate dip and cherry vodka, they became a firm favourite. Churros: • 500g strong flour • ¼ teaspoon salt • ½ teaspoon caster sugar • 50g soya margarine • 5g dried yeast • 280ml warm water sunflower oil for deep or shallow frying For the cinnamon sugar: • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon • 40g caster sugar • Sift the flour, salt and sugar. Rub in the soya margarine. • Stir the yeast into the warm water. Make a well in the flour and pour in the
yeast and water mix. Mix to a smooth dough either by hand or with a hook attachment on a mixer. • Once the dough has formed, knead for five to six minutes. Cut into quarters, cover with a damp cloth and leave for five minutes to allow the dough to puff up slightly. Now divide each quarter into three pieces and roll each one into a 10cm-long cigar shape. • Place the churros on a lined baking tray, cover loosely with clingfilm and allow proving for one hour. They do not need to double in size as they will expand when they are being fried. If you are not ready to cook them, freeze and remove from the freezer one hour before cooking. • Prepare the cinnamon sugar just by mixing the cinnamon into the sugar. Finally, either deep fry the churros for two to three minutes, or shallow fry (turning regularly) until golden all over. While they are still hot, roll them in the cinnamon sugar.
Chocolate dip: • 250g dark chocolate (70 per cent cocoa solids) • 300ml soya cream • 2 tablespoons hot water • Break the chocolate into pieces into a medium-sized bowl. • Bring the soya cream to the boil. As soon as it has boiled, pour on to the chocolate. Stir with a small balloon whisk until thoroughly combined, and then add the hot water. Vodka cherries: • 300g fresh cherries, stoned • About 200ml vodka • 1-2 teaspoons runny honey (optional) • Cover the cherries in vodka (add more if you dare), cover with clingfilm and leave to marinate overnight. • Add a small amount of honey if you prefer things a little sweeter. Chill the vodka cherries until needed. To assemble: • Set the bowl of chocolate dip over a pan of simmering water and warm through without letting it boil, then pour into small bowls ready for dipping. • Divide the chilled vodka cherries into cold glasses, adding cocktail sticks for spearing the fruit, and put these with the hot churros on to serving plates. • The best bit is supping on very cold cherry scented vodka while dunking your churros into the warm chocolate. Roll up your sleeves and dig in!
Recipes from Terre à Terre , The Vegetarian Cookbook 26
FINE FOODIES MARCH/APRIL 2011
Photos courtesy of Lisa Barber (www.lisabarber.co.uk)
In season
Sleek leek
What s in season right now? The people at box scheme specialists Riverford Organic offer some inspiration.
A
s spring approaches,
its tastiest and Riverford aims to get it
trial to clean. If you have ever cursed a
Riverford s field workers
from the field to your plate within 48
muddy leek at the sink, take this tip from a
are busy picking organic
hours.
Welshman who used to work at
purple sprouting broccoli for their vegboxes.
It s important to pick through a field
As with calabrese, it s good boiled, steamed or stir fried ‒ although don t let
Riverford s farm. Insert a knife just above the bottom of
the flower go mushy before the stem is
the leek and slice up to the top, splitting it
once a week to keep on top of the crop
tender. You could try bunching it loosely
in two with the halves still attached at the
and this will step up into April, when
with a rubber band and boiling in an inch
bottom. You can then easily wash out the
purple sprouting broccoli becomes
of water in a tall pan, asparagus-style.
mud under a running tap, shake off the
desperate to go to seed. Until 30 years ago, purple sprouting
The leaf is tasty to eat, too ‒ leave it on the spear for cooking or use it as an
was the standard, widely-available
alternative green, wilted into stews, soups
broccoli, before the meteoric rise of green
and curries.
excess water and put the halves back together for slicing. Leeks are incredibly versatile in the kitchen ‒ useful in soups, stews, stir fries
(calabrese) broccoli. It has a stronger
There are also plenty of leeks to be
flavour and grows well in the colder
harvested in the coming weeks. Rain
months of the year. Purple sprouting
splash in the field can wash mud down
preparing seasonal veg on Riverford s
broccoli needs to be really fresh to be at
between the leek s layers, making them a
website www.riverford.co.uk
28
FINE FOODIES MARCH/APRIL 2011
and pies. You can find recipes and tips on
Jane Baxter, from the Riverford Field Kitchen, offers some seasonal recipe ideas. Find out more in the Riverford Farm Cook Book.
Bacon, leek and potato gratin Serves 6 Ingredients: • 2 leeks, sliced • 1 knob of butter • 100g bacon, cooked and chopped • 300ml double cream • 100ml milk • 2 garlic cloves, crushed • 800g potatoes, peeled and cut into 23mm thick slices • 1-2 tbsp freshly grated parmesan • Sea salt + black pepper Method: • Sweat the leeks in butter for 10 minutes, then add the bacon and garlic. • Add the cream and milk and bring to the boil. • Season and mix in the potatoes. Transfer
• Juice of 1 lemon
to a gratin dish. Cover with foil and bake
• A pinch of cayenne pepper
at 180° C for about 50 minutes, until
• 2tsp wholegrain mustard
potatoes are tender.
• 1tsp chopped tarragon
• Remove the foil, sprinkle with parmesan
• 1tsp chopped chives
and bake for another 10 minutes, until
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
golden brown. Method:
Purple sprouting broccoli with mustard and tarragon hollandaise
• To make the sauce, melt the butter slowly in a pan, then remove from the heat. • Put the egg yolks, lemon juice and cayenne in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water, making sure the water doesn t touch the base of the bowl.
• Cook the purple sprouting broccoli in a
Serves 4
• Using a balloon whisk, whisk until slightly
large pan of boiling salted water until just
Ingredients:
thickened, then whisk in the melted
tender. Drain and refresh in cold water,
• 400g purple sprouting broccoli, trimmed
butter a little at a time until it has all been
then dry well.
incorporated. The sauce should be thick
• Heat a ridged grill pan (or a barbecue)
For the mustard and tarragon
and glossy.
until very hot, then place the broccoli on
hollandaise:
• Stir in the mustard and herbs and season
it. Cook, turning occasionally, until slightly
• 250g unsalted butter
with salt and pepper. The sauce will keep
charred. Arrange on a serving dish and
• 3 egg yolks
in a warm place for about an hour.
drizzle over the hollandaise sauce.
MARCH/APRIL 2011 FINE FOODIES
29
Recipes
Masterchef inspiration Create dishes to impress with tips from the Masterchef experts.
Saffron glazed scallops with apple and pistachio purée and pistachio oil By Dhruv Baker, 2010 champion Preparation time: 40 minutes Cooking time: 20 minutes Serves 4 Ingredients: For the purée: • 1tbsp light olive oil • 1 cinnamon stick • 6 whole cloves • 1 star anise • 2 Braeburn apples, peeled, cored, and chopped • 50g (13⁄4 oz) unsalted pistachios, shelled • Juice of 1 lemon • Salt and freshly ground black pepper For the oil: • 50g (13⁄4 oz) unsalted pistachios, shelled • 3tbsp extra virgin olive oil For the scallops: • 1tbsp sherry or red wine vinegar • 1tbsp clear honey • Small pinch of saffron strands • 12 scallops, cleaned and corals removed Method: • To make the purée, heat the olive oil in a saucepan with the cinnamon, cloves, and star
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FINE FOODIES MARCH/APRil 2011
“I would eat the whole lot.”
Gregg Wallace: anise, letting them fry gently for two to three minutes, or until they begin to release their aromas. Add the apples with 100ml (31⁄2 fl oz) of water and cook over low heat for five to 10 minutes, or until very soft. Remove the spices and add the pistachios. Cook for about five minutes, then transfer to a hand-held blender or food processor, and purée. Pass through a sieve into a bowl, add a little lemon juice and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and set aside. • To make the pistachio oil, put the pistachios into a clean blender or a food processor, and add the extra virgin olive oil. Blitz in brief bursts, so the nuts are chopped but not to a smooth purée as you want to retain some texture and bite. Spoon into a bowl and also set aside.
• For the scallops, heat the vinegar in a small saucepan until reduced to about 1tsp. Stir in the honey and saffron and keep warm over low heat. • Heat a large non-stick frying pan until searing hot. Season the scallops with salt and pepper and carefully place six of them around the edge of the pan, and cook for about one minute. Then turn over and cook for a further one to two minutes or until cooked through. Using tongs, dip each into the honey glaze on one side only and set aside to keep warm while cooking the remaining scallops in the same way. • Spoon three rounds of apple purée onto each serving plate and set a scallop on top, glazed side up. Spoon over a little pistachio oil, to serve.
Blanquette de volaille By Michel Roux Jr This is an especially rich and delicious chicken dish. The name translates as white meat in white sauce , so the finished dish should have no colour in it at all, except for the crisp, golden crouton. Preparation time: 30 minutes Cooking time: 55 minutes Serves 4 Ingredients: • 2 skinless chicken breasts, halved • 2 chicken legs, skinned • 2 chicken thighs, skinned • 1 large carrot, quartered • 2 onions, 1 cut into quarters and 1 studded with a whole clove • 1 bouquet garni (see Master tip) • 1 litre (13⁄4 pints) chicken stock • 125ml (4fl oz) double cream • 1 large egg yolk • Salt and freshly ground black pepper • Juice of 1⁄2 small lemon
To serve: • Knob of butter • 2 thick, crustless slices of bread, cut into large rounds • 12 baby onions, peeled • 125g (41⁄2 oz) small button mushrooms • Cooked pilau rice, to serve Method: • Place all the chicken pieces into a large saucepan with the carrot, onion, and bouquet garni. Add the chicken stock, making sure all the chicken is covered by the liquid, adding more stock if necessary. Cover with a piece of baking parchment cut to fit the pan; there s no need to add the pan lid as well. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. • Remove the pan from the heat, and set aside. Ladle 250ml (9fl oz) of the stock into a small pan. Bring up to a simmer and reduce by half. Then add 100ml (31⁄2 fl oz) of the
cream and reduce again. • Meanwhile, in a bowl, mix together the egg yolk and the remaining double cream. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the egg and cream mixture. Stir until incorporated and the sauce thickened slightly. Season to taste and flavour with lemon juice. • For the croutons, melt the butter in a separate pan and fry the round bread until golden and crisp. • Meanwhile, put 500ml (16fl oz) of the stock from the chicken pan into another pan along with the baby onions. Bring the liquid to the boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 10‒15 minutes or until the onions are tender. Add the mushrooms, cover, and simmer for a further 10 minutes. Drain the onions and mushrooms and keep warm until serving. Remove the chicken from the stock. • Divide the chicken between four plates. Pour over the sauce and add the onions, mushrooms, and croutons. Serve with pilau rice.
Master tip
A bouquet garni is a bundle of herbs that is usually tied together with a piece of string and then used to flavour stews, stocks, and soups. It is removed after cooking and before eating. For this recipe, use half celery stick, half small leek, and herbs such as a sprig of thyme, flat-leaf parsley stalks, and one bay leaf.
Recipes extracted from Masterchef At Home recipe book, out now from DK, priced £20. Masterchef returns to prime time BBC One this month.
MARCH/APRIL 2011 FINE FOODIES
31
Recipes
White chocolate mousse with raspberry and elderflower jelly By Claire Lara, lecturer and 2010 Professionals champion Preparation time: One hour, plus chilling Cooking time: 30 minutes Serves 4 Ingredients: • 5 leaves of gelatine • 200ml (7fl oz) double cream • 150g (51⁄2oz) Valrhona white chocolate • 400g (14oz) raspberries • 150g (51⁄2oz) caster sugar, plus extra for scattering over the filo sheets • 3tbsp elderflower cordial • 4 sheets of filo pastry • 50g (13⁄4oz) butter, melted • 2tsp chopped freeze-dried raspberries Method: • Soak two of the leaves of gelatine in cold water for at least 10 minutes to soften. Whip the cream until soft peaks form. • Melt the chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, making sure the bowl is clear of the water. remove the bowl from the pan. While the chocolate is
32
FINE FOODIES March/april 2011
still warm (not hot), squeeze the excess water from the gelatine and stir the gelatine into the chocolate. Whisk the chocolate into the whipped cream and transfer to a piping bag with a plain nozzle. place in the fridge for 20 minutes to set. • Meanwhile, place the remaining leaves of gelatine in cold water to soften. reserving 12 raspberries, whizz the rest of the raspberries to a purée with the sugar in a food processor, then pass through a sieve. • place the raspberry purée and elderflower cordial in a pan and heat gently, then stir in the gelatine. Warm over low heat until the gelatine is dissolved. pour into mini muffin tins, sit a raspberry on top of each and put in the fridge to set.
Master tip
Michel Roux Jr:
“It’s good because there are lots of textures. It’s damned good and I would definitely wipe the plate clean.” • preheat the oven to 200° c (400° F/Gas 6). cut each sheet of filo pastry into four rectangles. Brush with melted butter and sugar and bake in the oven for three minutes until crispy, then remove and cool. Scatter with freeze-dried raspberries. • To serve, on each plate pipe three to four lines of mousse on top of a filo rectangle and top with another piece of filo. repeat twice, finishing with a piece of filo pastry. Serve with the jellies alongside.
Elderflower – a common hedgerow and woodland tree, elder was once regarded as a complete medicine chest. Today, the flowers are commonly used to make refreshing cordials and “champagne”, and the berries can be added to jams and compotes. Wrapped in muslin, the flowers can also be used directly to flavour fruit compotes, jellies, and panna cotta. Look out for the blooms in early summer and the berries in early autumn.
Global foodie
New Zealand
bites
It may have a relatively small population, but New Zealand is packed full of history, culture and fantastic food. Rachel Symonds explores all that Kiwi cuisine has to offer.
N
ow attracting more than
resurgence in both restaurant and home
two million international
cuisine, such as toroi, which are marinated
visitors a year, New
mussels, whitebait patties, smoked fish
Zealand has much to
and eel, and shark liver paté.
offer.
So much so that the country has most
recently been named third in the top destinations to visit from travel bible
Every February, Kāwhia Kai Festival, takes place near Hamilton, Waikato, where visitors can experience traditional Māori
food. Food is cooked for the event in Wanderlust, followed an accolade traditional underground ovens using from CNN naming New Zealand as heated stones, a technique Foodie super the number two of the top nine known as hangi. Although fact: destinations for 2011, coming food is traditionally wrapped Accordin Maori le g to in just behind New York in leaves before being ge abundan nd, an But what about when it lowered into the hangi pits, t su of food is pply comes to New Zealand food? modern hangi is more likely a gift from Go d What would be its signature dishes, to feature aluminium foil and and where do they originate from? wire baskets instead. Kāwhia is the spiritual home of the Historical influence Māori Tainui tribe, who arrived on the Māori are the tangata whenua, or people great ocean-going canoe Tainui, after of the land, who arrived in New Zealand in traversing the Pacific Ocean. Their migration waves around 1,000 years ago. Māori cuisine was always based on the land, with indigenous people living off New Zealand birds and fish cooked with wild herbs. But lamb with the arrival of Europeans, other foods were introduced and adopted, such as potatoes, wheat and sugar. However, Māori cuisine is still an important part of New Zealand, but continues to develop with a more contemporary twist. Traditional Māori foods and delicacies are enjoying a
34
FINE FOODIES March/april 2011
The facts
• New Zealand can be found in the southern Pacific Ocean and is made up of two main islands; the North and South island, and smaller islands. • Around four million people live in New Zealand. • Around 15 per cent of New Zealand’s population are of Maori descent. • New Zealand was an official British colony from the 1850s and became fully independent in 1947. descendants went on to found the single largest grouping of Māori, which includes the Waikato, Maniapoto, Raukawa and Hauraki tribes.
Cuisine today Kiwi food today still retains these traditional influences but has become more contemporary. New Zealand food is now famed for its distinct fusion between ethnic influences coupled with quality produce. New Zealand’s most popular foods that are known the world over include the kiwi fruit, of course, but also green-lipped mussels, asparagus and apples. Lamb, cervena (venison), crayfish, fresh fish and shellfish are also among the most popular foods in New Zealand. If you fancy something a little more alternative, other interesting Kiwi foods range from sheep’s eyes and bug larvae to pesto ice cream. Possum pie is a West Coast speciality
Green-lipped mussels
March/april 2011 FINE FOODIES
35
Global foodie
while Kaikoura is considered the crayfish and lobster capital of New Zealand. And Marlborough is not only known for its wine region; the clean, clear waters of the Marlborough Sounds grow New Zealand’s best green-lipped mussels. New Zealand also boasts thousands of acres of olive groves, with olive oil being a big export product. And don’t forget manuka honey, a powerful health-giving honey that is full of goodness. But tradition is not just about the type of foods New Zealanders eat, but the way they eat it. For example, Kiwis like a
On the wine trail New Zealand’s wine industry may be relatively young, but in recent years it has grown hugely in popularity around the world, and there are now more than 300 wineries in the country, commonly located in the dry, sunny eastern regions. Leading wine regions include West Auckland, Gisborne, Martinborough and Hawke’s Bay in the North Island, and Marlborough, Central Otago and Canterbury in the South Island. There is even now the Marlborough Wine Research Centre in the heart of the region. It is currently running New Zealand’s first large-scale wine research project into the Sauvignon Blanc grape, which aims to help the industry understand the unique qualities of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc and ensure that it maintains its international reputation. Wineries in New Zealand are also increasingly environmentally conscious. In fact, Yealands Estate is New Zealand’s largest carbon-zero winery, and one of only a handful in the world.
relaxed approach to meals, eating outdoors in the summer for barbecues with the focus on fresh foods. Fresh is big in New Zealand and, as in
Debate has rumbled on for years as to whether it was New Zealand or Australia who created the pavlova. While it was
the UK, locally sourced and home-grown
created to honour Russian ballerina Anna
food are becoming increasingly popular.
Pavlova during a tour of Australasia in the
Piece of pavlova
1920s, New Zealand’s tourist board points out that the Oxford English Dictionary’s
Every country has one staple dish that is
online edition recognises the pavlova as a
considered its most famous, and New
New Zealand invention, first being recorded
Zealand is no different.
in a New Zealand recipe book in 1927.
For Kiwis, they have the meringue dessert, pavlova. For almost a century, the classic
Today, it remains a hugely popular dessert in New Zealand.
pavlova topped with cream, kiwifruit or
A New Zealand institution
summer berries has been eaten the
The UK has Nigella, Jamie and Gordon, but
length of the country.
in New Zealand the Edmonds Cookery
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FINE FOODIES March/april 2011
Book has been part of almost every home for years. In fact, at one time, a copy was sent to every couple who announced their engagement and it’s tradition to receive a copy when you leave home. The first edition was published in the early 1900s by Thomas Edmonds in thanks for the support given to his product, Edmonds Baking Powder. By 1955, the first Deluxe Edition had been created and more than three million copies have now been printed. Today, it features traditional New Zealand recipes, and has grown from its original 50 pages to 250. FF
Drinks update
Drink up sweetness in a glass
Sweeten your favourite tipple with a new elderflower liqueur. Elderflower is traditional western blossom that is often mixed with white spirits. Most recently, the Bitter Truth has created a liqueur, which is designed to sweeten a drink but also offers drier undertones. Infused with fruits, flowers and spices in either water or alcohol with a drop of sugar, the luminous golden colour fuses fresh elderflowers, grapefruit zing and a slight spice. You can enjoy this liqueur chilled on ice, with Champagne as an aperitif or in a long cocktail such as the Elderflower Collins.
Spice and all things nice At this time of year, we like something with a bit of warmth, so why not try Qi White & Spicy Tea, a gorgeous tasting – and smelling – organic blend of white tea, cinnamon, cloves and ginger. As an added benefit, you can do your bit to help people in disadvantaged countries as Qi sources its ingredients directly from a co-operative of Fairtrade farmers.
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FINE FOODIES March/april 2011
For wine lovers Sample wines and discover new varieties at the first Natural Wine Fair launching this year. Held at Borough Market on Sunday, May 15, this will be the UK’s first event dedicated to natural wine made without the use of chemicals, whether that be organic or biodynamic varieties. The event will bring together wine producers from across Europe. The event is being hosted by Isabelle Legeron, who was France’s first-ever female Master of Wine. She recently redesigned the wine list at Hibiscus, a two Michelin starred restaurant in Mayfair. “In France and Italy, there is a big natural wine movement so I am determined to get people to know about it over here and hopefully get people to think about what they drink in the same way they think about food,” commented Isabelle.
ExpErt tO gathEr FOr wINE FEStIval The third Cheese and Wine Festival kicks off in March. Held at London’s Southbank Centre from March 18 to 20, the event includes talks and demonstrations from renowned restaurateurs such as Cyrus Todiwala, of Café Spice Namaste, and Georgio Locatelli of Locanda Locatelli. Wine buff Jilly Goolden, along with other experts such as Patricia Michelson, Robert Joseph, and John Quilter will be in attendance, along with suppliers including Vintage Roots.
50p
OFF
To the customer: The coupon may be used as part of payment towards the purchase of 1 Litre of any variety of Grove Organic Fruit Co Juice. Only one coupon can be used against each item purchased. Please do not attempt to redeem this coupon against any other product as refusal to accept may cause embarrassment and delay at the checkout. To the Retailer: Grove Organic Fruit Co Ltd will redeem this coupon at its face value provided ONLY that it’s been taken in part payment for the purchase of 1 Litre of any variety of Grove Organic Fruit Co Juice. Grove Organic Fruit Co Ltd reserve the right to refuse payment against misredeemed coupons. The cash redemption value of this coupon is 0.001p. Please submit this coupon to: Valassis Ltd, 5 Alpha Court, Corby, Northants NN17 5DP. Coupon valid until 31st December 2011.
Drinks update
CuttINg COFFEE may NOt bE bESt hEalth ChOICE, StuDy FINDS
Brits drinking More wine
The UK has overtaken France in spending on wine, new research has revealed. Britain is now the world’s biggest wine-importing market, according to VINEXPO and IWSR. Moreover, British wine drinkers are trading up to more expensive wines. The data shows that 1.1 per cent more wine was drunk in the UK last year compared with 2009, equating to 147.12 million 9-litre cases – or 1.765 billion bottles! Consumption has been gradually increasing since 2005, rising 5.5 per cent between then and 2009. And we can expect further growth of 2.9 per cent between 2010 and 2014. White wine is the UK’s favourite colour, accounting for nearly 45 per cent of wine consumption, although rosé is growing fast.
Look out for... = Love tea, Løv organic
Launching in 2011 is a French organic tea brand. Løv Organic opened its first boutique outside of France in January, having created a range of 22 high quality organic packed whole leaf teas. Using muslin teabags, which are unbleached and free from staples and glue, this allows
40
the tea leaves to unfurl and release all of their natural aromas.
= get into the grove Quench your thirst with Grove Fresh’s brand new juice flavour. The organic juice brand has unveiled Apple, Pear and Blackcurrant flavour, with no preservatives or concentrates.
FINE FOODIES March/april 2011
In our quest to be healthy, we could be cutting out certain drinks that offer antioxidants. A recent study of over 2,000 people has revealed that up to three quarters of people who embark on healthy eating plans are drinking less red wine, tea and coffee. Yet Dietician, Dr Sarah Schenker, pointed out then when consumed in moderation, these are excellent sources of antioxidants, which protect the body’s cells from free radical damage, which may otherwise
damage our body’s cells. “Healthy eating plans should be about balance, making informed choices, and taking a sensible long-term approach,” Dr Schenker said. “For instance, whilst the vast majority of Britons believe giving up coffee will benefit their long-term health, the reality is coffee can be good for you when drunk in moderation and is in fact one of the richest sources of antioxidants there is.” The study was carried out by Nescafe.
a flavour of Brazil A key ingredient in Brazil’s national drink, the Caipirinha, cachaça is still relatively unknown in the UK. Now Abelha Cachaça is working to change those perceptions, explaining that it has been drunk in Brazil since the 1600s. In fact, the Brazilians now consume some one billion litres a year! The Caipirinha is a close relative of the Mojito but shorter and snappier. Whilst rum and cachaça are both made from sugarcane, most rum is made from molasses while with cachaça, the alcohol comes from the fermentation of sugar cane juice alone. Here, Abelha gives you the lowdown on how to make your own Caipirinha. • Take a whole lime and cut into 8ths. Add to a sturdy rocks glass and muddle with 2 barspoons/ teaspoons caster sugar. • Add some cracked ice and a 50ml measure of Abelha silver cachaca and stir. • Serve with a straw.
Fine Foodie hero
G
rowing up
the right thing to do.
surrounded
“I do time in one sense and
by fresh
thyme in another,” he joked. “I
produce
have grown up with it so it
grown in the
feels very natural and I just
family garden and home-
love what I do.”
cooked food, from a young
The aim now is to educate
age Rupert Parsons has had a
shoppers about the use of
passion for good food.
Womersley products.
It is this passion that goes
“What we are really trying
into the family brand,
to do is get people to
Womersely Fruit and Herb
understand more about what
Vinegars. Started by his
the products do. If you go out
parents, Martin and Aline, in
shopping, you wouldn’t
the early days the products
necessarily see our products
were hand-made in the family
and know what to do with
kitchen, using herbs and fruits
them.”
grown in their garden. Today, things are a little different in terms of the company’s size, but its ethos is very much the same; a passion for good food, locally-sourced and homemade. “All the products were made by my mother on the Aga in the kitchen so I had
So, what could you do
Rupert Parsons
Fine Foodies celebrates those making great food. Here, we talk to Rupert Parsons, the second generation owner of Womersley Fruit and Herb Vinegars.
years growing up with all virtually no food you can’t
from there. For many years,
that’s really stuck with me over
put with our vinegars and
the company had a vast range
the years,” Rupert said.
jellies.”
of jams, jellies and vinegars,
The fruits and herbs used in
until more recently, the
to really enhance a dish, to
the products in the early years
decision was made to cut
bring out the flavours. There is
were grown in the garden at
back on the range.
the family’s home, Womersley
line because there were far
been in the Parsons family for
too many. We went back to
generations. It was back in
the core products and we
1979 that Martin decided
now have eight, which are
there may be a business
jellies and vinegars,” he said.
“My father had always been
FINE FOODIES March/april 2011
the vinegars are perfect for spring and summer time for salads. “Our lemon, basil, bay and juniper vinegar is great for a salad as it really brings out the flavour in the foods,
Although Womersley Hall is no longer in the Parsons
“All the products were made by my mother on the Aga in the kitchen so I had years growing up with all these amazing fragrances”
interested in herbs and
family, the fruits are still
wanted to use the fruit and
bought locally, and the
with anything,” Rupert said.
herbs that we grew to sell,” he
products still hand-made,
“And you can put it over
said. “He was fantastic at the
albeit on a bigger scale.
some salmon, wrap it in foil
recipe production and had a
Rupert took over the
and boil in the oven. The
great palate for what to put
company in 2009, which was a
difference between just
together.”
slight departure from his day
cooking it normally and this
His parents opened a craft
42
“We reduced the product
Hall, in Yorkshire, which had
opportunity.
Martin Parsons
Well, Rupert points out that
and you don’t need to mix it
these amazing fragrances –
“The aim of the products is
with a Womersley product?
job as a clock repairer, but
way is amazing. It just really
shop in the village and sold
given that he has grown up
gives it more of an intense
various jams and vinegars
with the company, it seemed
flavour.” FF
WWW WOMERSLEYFOODS CO UK TWITTER COM WOMERSLEYFOODS
%NTHUSE YOUR EVERY DISH WITH THE FRUITY INFUSIONS OF 7OMERSLEY &OODS¨