Fine Foodies July/August 2011

Issue.3 Vol.1 July/August 2011

Fine Foodies Passionate about good food Picrkfurp ee you ie fooadzine mag

INTERVIEW

Life of a MasterChef DHRUV BAKER ON HIS JOURNEY SINCE WINNING MASTERCHEF

Plus:

July/August 2011

] FRANCE IN FOCUS ] BARBECUE IDEAS ] SUMPTUOUS DESSERTS

Inside the world’s best restaurant SARAH WILLINGHAM REPORTS FROM NOMA

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 Contributing Editor: Sarah Willingham Contributors: Jennifer Britt, JJ Goodman, Jane Baxter, Mary Cadogan Sub Editor: Jeff Munn-Giddings

W

hen we launched Fine

Foodies magazine earlier this year, our ethos was simple; that of celebrating

good food, whether that’s eating out or cooking from scratch at home.

As we bring you this, our third edition, we’ve taken things up a notch with a view

Group Sales Manager: Ruth Gilmour

inside Noma, the Danish restaurant that in both 2010 and 2011 was

e: ruth.gilmour@targetpublishing.com t: 01279 810067

crowned World’s Best Restaurant. Quite an accolade to live up to, but

Sales Executives: Ben Brooks e: ben.brooks@targetpublishing.com t: 01279 810068 Production Leann Lau e: leann.lau@targetpublishing.com t: 01279 810075 Design Clare Holland e: clare.holland@targetpublishing.com Administration/Distribution/Marketing James Rix e: james.rix@targetpublishing.com t: 01279 816300 Accounts Lorraine Evans e: lorraine.evans@targetpublishing.com t: 01279 816300 Managing Director David Cann e: info@targetpublishing.com

it seems the creatives at Noma are truly deserving of this title. Our Contributing Editor, Sarah Willingham, was lucky enough to secure a table at this impressive eatery, and she brings you details of her amazing experience on page 24 of this issue.

And if this gets you thinking about cooking up a storm, why not try out some of our many recipes in this issue. You could try out some of the excellent dishes from Andy Appleton, Head Chef at Fifteen Cornwall, or if you have more of a sweet tooth, turn to page 26 for some dessert dishes that cannot fail to whet the appetite.

A passion for cooking is at the heart of Dhruv Baker’s inspiration.

Many of you will remember Dhruv as being the winner of the 2010

MasterChef series, and in this issue (page 16), Fine Foodies catches up with Dhruv to find out what the last year has brought for him, and how it really feels to be crowned a MasterChef.

Finally, as always, I’d be delighted to hear your thoughts, comments and ideas. Whether you have something to say about

Fine Foodies, or want to share a tip with fellow readers, why not email 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.

me at 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.

JULY/AUGUST 2011 FINE FOODIES

Fine Foodies

Contents Passionate about good food

iSSUe 3 voL.1 JULY/AUGUST 2011

34 16 COvEr StOry

16

Dhruv Baker – A year in the life of a MasterChef

FEaturES

20

Food focus – Jennifer Britt examines how we can barbecue with a conscience this summer

20 24

Special feature – Sarah Willingham journeys to Denmark to give Fine Foodies readers an insight into Noma, the world’s best restaurant

26

Recipes – Mouth-watering desserts to tempt the tastebuds

30

Recipes – Take inspiration from Gilli Davies for cooking the finest Welsh-inspired food around

34

Global foodie – Food writer Mary Cadogan gives an insight into a cook’s life living in France

rEgularS

12

FINE FOODIES JULY/AUGUST 2011

6 8

Foodie bites – What’s going on in the world of fine food Shelf life – Explore the latest products in store

26

10

Sarah’s view – Fine Foodies Contributing Editor, Sarah Willingham on experiencing the world’s finest restaurant, Noma

12

UK fare – Fine Foodies takes a closer look at all that Cornwall has to offer

22

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 – Duncan Farrington

Product news

News update

Foodie bites Pie Pride

LArGe-ScALe fArminG in SPoTLiGhT AT Wi A controversial motion put to the Women’s Institute to oppose large-scale farms failed to pass.

It had been hoped that the organisation, with more than 200,000 members, would have passed a motion at its recent AGM, which said that ‘this meeting abhors the practice of factory farming particularly large animals such as pigs and cows, and urges HM government to ensure planning permission is not granted for such projects’.

However, members voted not to vote on the resolution because they felt the wording prevented reasoned debate.

Speaking at the AGM, Helen Browning, Director of the Soil Association, said: “I am

FINE FOODIES JULY/AUGUST 2011

aware that the resolution has already been controversial, and people have interpreted it in different ways. But the way I am asking you to interpret it is whether we should give the green light to extremely large-scale animal production units, in which our livestock are confined throughout their productive lives, or whether we should instead support a diverse, human-scale farming economy which enhances the beauty of our countryside and sustains rural communities, cares for the health and welfare of our farm animals, provides meaningful work for people, and a flexible, resilient food supply that we can depend on into the future.”

A chicken, ham and leek pie has been crowned the nation’s best at this year’s British Pie Awards.

The Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Association received 619 entries for pies produced from butchers and bakers around the country.

The Supreme Champion award of the chicken, ham and leek pie went to chef Graham Aimson, from Morecambe Football Club.

“The association organises these awards to celebrate the heritage of the British pie and it makes us very proud seeing the variety and quality of the pies presented,” said Chairman, Matthew O’Callaghan.

A decade in Yorkshire

To mark the 10th anniversary of the forthcoming Great Yorkshire Cheese and Dairy Show, a new award for outstanding quality has been announced.

The show, which runs from July 12 to 14 in Harrogate and is part of the larger Great Yorkshire Show, features everything from a food hall with the region’s best food and drink to cookery theatres, an equestrian display and sheep-shearing competitions.

• Find out more at www.greatyorkshire show.co.uk

A cookerY eDUcATion Youngsters are

being encouraged into the kitchen with a new range of cookery classes from Leiths School of Food and Wine.

From feeding toddlers and babies, to baking classes for children aged eight and over, the new classes complement Leiths’ existing teenage workshops.

The baby and toddler classes are presented by midwife Vicki Scott, from the New Baby Company, and aim to answer parents’ questions about feeding their child. For the older children there are Rainy Day Baking Classes, which are designed to be hands-on and for one child and adult to cook together.

Deli delight The UK has an impressive talent when it comes to delis.

That’s according to Olives Et Al, the organisers of the annual Deli of the Year Competition, which says it has been inundated with entries. In fact, more than 400 delis up and down the country have been nominated, with an impressive 7,000 votes sent in from people wanting to shout about their local store.

Now that all the entries have been received, a panel will decide on the eventual winner.

“Despite the incredibly difficult trading conditions at the moment, the response to Deli of the Year sends out a clear message – people

love delis and they are prepared to stand up, sign up and be counted,” said Giles Henschel, organiser of the competition.

“We know how hard the last year has been for some delis and by running Deli of the Year we aim to give a bit of a morale boost to dedicated deli and farm shop owners.”

Look out for the next issue of Fine Foodies, in which we will bring you news of the winner.

Prestigious opportunity for young foodies Foodies of the future could secure themselves a scholarship at the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu culinary school.

For the first time in its 115-year history, the renowned school is offering one passionate teenager aged between 16 and 19 the chance to win the life-changing Le Grand Diplome UK Scholarship Award, worth more than £30,000.

The nine-month scholarship is made up of six courses, including basic, intermediate, and superior cuisine, and basic, intermediate and superior patisserie.

To be considered, applicants must post a short video clip on its website at www.cordonbleu.edu/ ukscholarship showing what they know about the school and what inspires them.

DiArY DATe

Foodies Festival arrives in London’s Battersea Park at the end of July.

Showcasing the finest food, drink and culinary talent from the region, the three-day festival kicks off on July 29, and joins a number of other Foodie Festivals being held around the country this summer.

Highlights include Michelin star chefs cooking their favourite signature dishes, the new Great Taste Market, and Restaurant Village.

Visit www.foodiesfestival.co.uk for more information.

JULY/AUGUST 2011 FINE FOODIES

Product news

Shelf Life What’s neW in the World of great-tasting food

Curry With style

A new range of chilled healthy cook-in-curry sauces has been created.

Mamajaan’s sauces offer curry lovers a fresh alternative to the uninspiring ready sauces currently available, and are made with fresh, low-fat ingredients, Featuring some of London’s most famous postcodes in their name, Mamajaan’s cook-in fresh curry sauces were the brainchild of working Hampstead mum Anjam Jabeen and includes Belsize Bhuna and Hampstead Harooni, marrying her Punjabi heritage with her current home in North London.

the honey man

A honey trader and chef has turned his passion into a business venture by launching a new range of fine and rare honeys from around the world.

Shamus Ogilvy has cultivated relationships with artisan beekeepers in remote parts of the globe to create Ogilvy’s Honey, a collection of seven fine, rare and ambrosial honeys.

The varieties include three from New Zealand, black locust flower and linden blossom from the Balkans, forest honey from the Himalayas, and wild crafted tropical blossom honey from the Zambezi River. Three are certified organic by the Soil Association.

Fine Foodies recommends...

Naomi Darbishire has turned to the surroundings of her native Lake District to create the Agnes Rose Oils and Vinegars range.

Naomi, who has always had a great passion for home cooking, decided to make it into a career and now embraces her home county to make the oils and vinegars. The fruits and herbs are infused in small, considered batches for four days without

FINE FOODIES July/august 2011

anything artificial, creating true flavour.

There are 13 varieties, and the vinegars can be used for everything from dressings for salads, drizzled over pancakes, mixed with a fruit salad, or marinaded with fish and meat. You can also have them as drinks, hot or cold. With the oils, they can be used for a dressing, marinading and cooking meat, roasting vegetables or again, as a dip with bread.

Pesto passion Burts Chips has added to its family of crisps with the launch of Pesto Chips.

The new crisps are part of Burts’ seasonal limited edition range, following in the footsteps of its successful Aberdeen Angus flavour, which was launched in spring.

Win

The people at luxurious chocolate brand House of Dorchester are offering Fine Foodies readers the chance to win one of five 400g Luxury Chocolate Assortment, valued at £17.75 each. Log onto www.finefoodiesmag.com to enter.

Regular bite

Nomadic experience

I

Each issue, Fine Foodies Contributing Editor, Sarah Willingham, gives her view. This issue, she gets thinking about sustainable eating following her experience at Noma, which she writes about on page 24.

can t write and not

relationship with Nature. He is

Noma during the winter

even contemplated a

reflect on my trip to

a step further back in the

months when the ground

vegetarian diet; there would

Noma, voted the St

supply chain than other chefs

and many of the lakes have

be times when they ate

Pellegrino World s Best

‒ he finds the food first, then

frozen over in Scandinavia and

reindeer and times when they

Restaurant for the

creates the magic ‒ so

see what Rene finds. He will

ate fish, depending on the

inspiring.

no doubt succeed where

hunting season.

second year running.

Rene Redzepi has taken

So, I m thinking maybe I

others fail.

should get some chickens,

farming to a whole new level.

take a course in mushroom

sustainability (or lack of it) in

be doing right by our

picking, understand more

our farming and the true cost

environment but also eating

woodland, 10 of which I

about edible plants and

of having such a carnivorous

food that tastes so much

shamefully never even set foot

flowers. I should not be

race, it was interesting that at

better.

ignorant in the art of foraging.

constrained by the norm , I

Noma there were only two

If Rene were trapped on an

should juice grass, herbs,

pieces of meat served

my surroundings flourish, my

island for the rest of his life,

beetroot and berries rather

throughout the entire meal;

local pick your own opens

he d not only survive past 100

than out-of-season

veal sweetbreads in one

and the farm around the

years old but he d have fun

transported citrus fruit, apples

course and a small piece of

corner opens his Saturday

doing it. I d probably lose the

and carrots. So this morning,

beef tartare in another. Isn t

morning shop where I can

battle after a couple of weeks.

feeling all righteous, I made a

that amazing out of all of

smell the tomatoes as I open

He is so in tune with Nature

mixed herb juice for us all for

those dishes?

my car door and the kids

We live in 12 acres of

With so much talk of

If we can live in this level of

local produce and sustainable

harmony then not only will we

in. This woodland must be full of the most wonderful resources as we have ponds, streams, marshland and woodland.

Until my trip to Noma I was quite proud of my vegetable patches and my flourishing herb garden, but this morning I looked out of my bedroom window and asked myself what Rene would do if he lived here, what would he find out there?

I have realised that I am so

that he doesn t need to

breakfast. Ha ha, I won t be

I felt fantastic at the end of

discuss seasonality or

doing that again, it was

the meal and sprang out of

provenance, it can t be

dreadful, absolutely dreadful.

bed the following morning

I love this time of year as

scrape dirt off everything before they can see what it is.

There s no doubt that the

The art of knowing what

(no wine helped). Everything

majority of our living can be

the natural way to live. He has

works and what doesn t is a

was so fresh. Isn t it really like

sustainable during these

taken the art of cooking to a

skill not to be underestimated

everything in life, isn t it just

summer months. So, while

whole new level. Yes, he s pure

and the time that it must take

about balance? I know I would

Nature is making it easy for me

genius in what he does to

and the dedication is

miss meat too much if I

I ll grab the chance to eat as

food, but so are others. What

unimaginable.

stopped eating it and I m sure

sustainably and as healthily as

our cavemen wouldn t have

possible. FF

anything else to him ‒ this is

sets him apart is this

10

FINE FOODIES JULY/AUGUST 2011

I would love to go back to

DISCOVER THESE PRODUCTS IN STORE NOW

In your store

SIMPLICITY AND CREATIVITY RE-DISCOVERED

DELICIOUSLY DECADENT!

A COMMITMENT TO QUALITY

SUSTAINABLE CORNISH LOBSTERS

Karimix s award-winning recipes offer a range from the sublime and tantalising taste of the Far East to eclectic fusion flavours.

This year Karimix launched an exciting range with a brand new image and taste. Try their new chilli jams and sauces ‒ from a delightfully piquant take on Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce, a fresh Ginger and Jalapeño Jam, all the way through to the explosive heat and bursting flavours of the Naga Chilli Sauce. The Guild of Fine foods has awarded Karimix more than 12 commendations for its creative flavours and innovative cooking solutions. Karimix ‒ dedicated to bringing back the simplicity and creativity to cooking.

Call Karmix on 01233 813126.

Delicious soups, mouth watering sauces, pestos and rice puddings.

Organic food of the best quality, with no additives or preservatives, low in salt and gluten-free. Tideford s commitment to quality has won them over 40 major awards from around the country, including Organic Product of the Year, numerous Gold Awards from the Guild of Fine Foods and Soil Association Pudding of the Year to name but a few.

Their latest innovation, a unique single serve microwaveable soup. Ready to eat in 2 minutes and available in six mouthwatering flavours. Call Lynette Sinclair on 01803 840555 or visit www.tidefordorganics.com

CELEBRATING 25 YEARS

Village Dairy has just celebrated 25 years of making the finest yogurt.A family concern using only the finest quality ingredients.

Over 20 different lines and at moment innovating a different concept to the yogurt market.

For more information visit www.villagedairy.co.uk

For over 40 years, House of Dorchester has been making award-winning British chocolates in the Heart of Dorset ‒ handcrafted chocolates created using perfectly balanced, ethically-sourced ingredients and time-honoured skills and techniques, each of its chocolates is made with thought, love and care. Inspired by its love of all things chocolatey, House of Dorchester has recently launched The Chocolate Larder ‒ a range of deliciously moreish biscuits, rich and smooth hot chocolate drink and chocolate stir-in spoons.

House of Dorchester s new Chocolate Larder recipes all have one thing in common....lots of chocolate!

For more information visit www.hodchoc.com

The Cornish Fishmonger sells the very freshest lobsters online from the crystal-clear waters of Cornwall. Delivered live or cooked these delicious lobsters are landed daily by local fishermen using ethical fishing practices. With the launch of their new buy one stock one scheme The Cornish Fishmonger will be donating 50p for every lobster bought online to the National Lobster Hatchery in Padstow Cornwall. Their work with lobster conservation has helped see an increase in lobster numbers around Cornish shores. Eating and buying sustainable fresh seafood not only tastes better, but makes a considerable difference to the future of our fish.

Find out more at www.thecornishfishmonger.co.uk

GOING AGAINST THE GRAIN

What really sets Against the Grain biscuits apart is that they manage to bake deliciously more-ish biscuits, without the use of butter or wheat flour. Added to that, they insist on only using organic ingredients ‒ the result is a delectable range of treats that are store-cupboard essentials for the nation s wheat-, dairy- or glutenintolerant. The range has recently been re-vamped with some colourful new packaging and the addition of a new flavour, Chocolate and Orange. It joins the Ginger Crunches, Almond Cookies, Chocolate and Hazelnut Cookies and Berry Delicious Cookies on the shelves of independent delis, farm shops and food halls across the land. Look out for them!

FInd out more at www.islandbakery.co.uk

JULY/AUGUST 2011 FINE FOODIES

11

UK fare

Cornish delight

With Cornwall Food and Drink Festival just around the corner, Fine Foodies looks at what’s so special about the region’s fare.

W

ith Rick Stein

and the quality that makes Cornish food

Ruth also points out that due to the

having made it

so special. Compared to pretty much any

mild climate, Cornwall produces plenty of

his culinary home,

other region in the UK, our variety is so

high quality fruit and vegetables and, with

and Jamie Oliver

great because we have produce from

its hilly landscapes is also ideal for pasture

investing in the

land and sea – we are bordered by sea on

for dairy.

county with another Fifteen restaurant,

three sides, and we have some of the

Cornwall clearly has much to offer.

most productive agriculture.”

In fact, Cornish food and drink is doing

“There is not a lot that we can’t do here,” Ruth added.

so well that the sector is now ranked as

Cornish food heritage

the biggest economic sector in Cornwall,

When you think of Cornish food, pasties

valued at £2bn a year.

or clotted cream are what comes to mind,

But what’s so special about it?

and historically these foods have been the

Ruth Huxley is Managing Director at

county’s most famous exports.

Cornwall Food and Drink, an organisation

So much so that they are both now

dedicated to helping businesses in the

subject to EU-protected status, which

country develop their offerings.

means that to be able to be called a

She says: “It’s the variety, the freshness

Cornish pasty, it must have been made in Cornwall and to the traditional recipe, and the same goes for clotted cream.

“If you asked anyone, pasties and clotted cream stand out as iconic products – they are distinctly Cornish and you can tell if they have not come from Cornwall,” Ruth said.

Cornish clotted cream is especially distinctive thanks to its rich golden colour.

“That’s because the cows that produce the milk that produces the cream will spend a longer part of the year out on grass and it is that which creates the golden colour,” Ruth explained.

However, there’s so much more to Cornwall than just pasties and clotted cream, especially as in the last few years

12

FINE FOODIES JULY/AUGUST 2011

Recipes Andy Appleton, head chef at Fifteen Cornwall, is spoilt for choice when it comes to local producers, which is why a minimum of 80 per cent of all the ingredients the restaurant uses come from Cornwall.

Festival spirit If you like the sound of what Cornwall has to offer, why not head to the eighth annual event dedicated to all things food and drink? The Cornwall Food & Drink Festival takes place from September 23 to 25 at Lemon Quay, in Truro, and epitomises everything that people love about Cornwall and its people – friendly, fun and genuine.

Everything on sale inside the food and drink pavilion will have been either produced or processed within the county, reflecting the range of quality products that Cornwall boasts.

Visitors can take advantage of the 40 exhibitors, as well as learn from the best during a number of chef demonstrations. There will also be fun for kids in the Funky Food Zone.

• Find out more by visiting www.cornwallfoodanddrink.co.uk

food production has exploded.

The county boasts exceptional shellfood – especially crab – while Cornish sardines are also the subject of EUprotected status.

“The freshness of Cornish fish is second to none,” Ruth added.

Drinks wise, cider is an area that is

Seabass with roasted potatoes, purple sprouting broccoli, rosemary and anchovies Serves 2 Ingredients: • 2 fillets seabass • 2 large potatoes • 250g purple sprouting broccoli (if not in season use English asparagus) • Cornish rapeseed oil, splash • 3 sprigs rosemary, removed from stalks • 3 fillets of anchovies in oil • Pinch dried chilli flakes • Extra virgin olive oil • Good white wine vinegar • Salt and pepper • Lemon juice

developing, while Cornish brewer St

and the dried chilli. Lie flat

the anchovies and repeat

in a roasting tin and cook

until you have a paste.

in the oven until golden

Add the vinegar and extra

brown.

virgin olive oil to loosen.

• While the potatoes are

• Go back to the seabass

cooking, blanch off the

and check it’s not burning.

broccoli for two minutes in

If it’s browning too quickly

salted boiling water.

turn down the heat. When

Remove from the water

almost cooked through,

and leave to one side. Heat

flip the fish over and add

a pan to a medium/hot

the broccoli to the same

heat and add a splash of

pan and heat through.

rapeseed oil. Carefully

• Remove the roasted

place in the seabass fillets,

potatoes from the oven

Austell has proved the county can

Method:

skin side down.

and divide between two

produce exceptional beer by winning the

• First scrub the potatoes if

• Next, pound up the

plates. Place the seabass

Speciality Beer prize at this year’s Quality

dirty, then slice into discs

rosemary in a pestle and

on top, followed by the

Drinks Awards for its Smugglers Superior

about 1cm thick and

mortar with a pinch of salt

broccoli and dressing with

Cornish Fine Ale. FF

season with salt, pepper

until finely ground. Add

a squeeze of lemon.

JULY/AUGUST 2011 FINE FOODIES

13

UK fare

Lobster fregola with aioli Serves 4 Ingredients: • 4 small or 2 large tails of cooked lobster • 2 free range eggs • 250g Fregola Sarda (if you can t get hold of this then use cous cous instead) • 100g flat leaf parsley, chopped • 300g cherry tomatoes • 1 lemon, zest and juice • 300ml extra virgin olive oil • 3 cloves garlic, ground down • 50g tarragon, chopped • 1tbsp Dijon mustard • 300ml-400ml Cornish rapeseed oil • Salt and pepper Method:

• Bring a pan of salted water to the boil and add the fregola. Cook this in the same way as pasta, until it is soft but with a slight bite to it.

• When cooked, drain and tip on a large plate or dish and season with salt and pepper. Add a dash of extra virgin olive oil and leave to cool.

• Slice the cherry tomatoes in half, add to the fregola

14

FINE FOODIES JULY/AUGUST 2011

and toss in the flat leaf parsley, the remaining juice and zest of the lemon and the rest of the extra virgin olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

• Divide the fregola between four plates, slice the lobster and place on top with a dollop of the aioli (see below).

For the aioli:

• Crack the eggs and separate the whites from the yolks. Whisk the yolks with the mustard until a pale golden colour.

• Slowly add in the rapeseed oil very slowly (or the mixture will split) until it resembles a thick mayonnaise. Add a quarter of the juice of the lemon to loosen the mixture, then very slowly add enough of the extra virgin olive oil to thicken it again.

• Finally, add in the chopped tarragon and garlic and season with salt and pepper to taste and set aside.

Squash, sage and goat’s cheese risotto Serves four as a starter or two as a main Ingredients: • 1 squash • Pinch dried chilli • Extra virgin olive oil • 1 small onion, finely diced • 250g risotto rice • 2 glasses white wine • Vegetable stock • 25g sage, chopped • 150g goat s cheese • 2 amaretti biscuits, crushed • 50g parmesan • 50g butter Method:

• Firstly, preheat the oven to 200ºC. Peel and chop the squash and place in a roasting tray with some olive oil and dried chilli.

Roast until golden, around 15-20 minutes.

• In a frying pan, add a small

amount of oil and sweat off the onion (do not brown) for about five to eight minutes, before adding the rice. Fry off for a few minutes and then add the wine and stir continually for two to three minutes.

• Gradually add in the vegetable stock, a ladle at a time whilst stirring, and add in the roasted squash. This will break up as you stir and cook the rice.

• After 15-18 minutes, when the rice is almost done (still with a bite), remove from the heat and stir in the chopped sage, Parmesan and butter. Leave to stand for a minute before serving.

• To finish, crumble over the goat s cheese, crushed biscuits and a little drizzle of the olive oil.

Interview

Britain’s

MasterChef

It’s been a rollercoaster year for Dhruv Baker after winning TV’s MasterChef in 2010. So, as the latest series comes to a close, Dhruv lets Fine Foodies in on life as a MasterChef winner.

W

hen no-nonsense

MasterChef judge Gregg Wallace told contestant Dhruv Baker that the hugely popular TV series could change his life, little did he know quite how true that was.

In fact, fresh from his appearance in the kitchen at the BBC Good Food Show, Dhruv now calls that the “understatement of the year”.

“I have gone from a job which I had done and enjoyed for over 10 years to taking what was effectively my hobby and what I was most passionate about and turning that into a career,” he says.

“The past year has been one pretty much made up entirely of highlights but some of the more memorable ones have to be the birth of our second son two weeks ago, having lunch at number 10 Downing Street with the Prime Minister as part of Comic Relief, cooking live at the various food shows and festivals and finally being able to take what I love doing and making it my day job!”

Joining the stellar list of previous MasterChef winners, many of whom have gone onto great things, surely placed great pressure on Dhruv, so how has the last year truly been for him? And, more importantly, is he making cooking his career, as well as his passion?

“I think MasterChef was a really good taste of what was to come later in the world of professional cooking – sure, the hours are long and the work hard but

16

FINE FOODIES JULY/AUGUST 2011

John and Gregg tell us that from the

learning more about ingredients or

outset. I don’t think any contestant on

produce than possibly they had been.

MasterChef is under the illusion that things are going to be easy if they get to the finals or win!”

Discovering food Dhruv was born in Mexico, then lived in

“As people get busier and have less and less time it’s easy to fall into a habit of not cooking but even if they are cooking on weekends or from time to time, then that’s definitely better than nothing!”

Getting people back to tasting and

India, and this came across very

enjoying good food is at the root of

prominently in the show as these cultural

reigniting interest in home cooking.

influences translated into his culinary work.

“Being born in Mexico and raised in

“Try an in-season tomato, a Heritage strawberry at the right time of year, a

India, then living in Spain and the UK has

simply roasted free-range chicken, some

meant that I was exposed to a wider

properly reared and aged beef,” he

range of culinary influences from a young

advised, adding: “These are some of the

age, which has definitely influenced the

most delicious things around but people

way I cook and think about food and

have got used to having the same

cooking,” he admits.

produce and ingredients available all year

Dhruv’s love of food started from an early age.

“Even as a child I loved food and was

round, which I’m not saying for a second is necessarily a bad thing in some cases.

“Get excited about the seasons and the

very curious about it and how it was

new ingredients that come with it instead

transformed from raw ingredients into

of maybe eating the same foods all year

delicious finished dishes,” he explains.

round. I’m currently making the most of

“This initial curiosity was what later

asparagus as it’s such a short season but

became my passion for food and cooking

such a magically wonderful ingredient to

that has now become my career.”

enjoy.”

Today’s lifestyles and range of

He went on: “Also get people learning

convenience foods have meant that

the basics in the kitchen. I think people

cooking can become less important in

can be intimidated when they see chefs

many households. But Dhruv believes

cooking incredibly complex dishes on TV

people’s priorities are changing.

and in restaurants but that shouldn’t put

“ I don’t think we are a nation who are

people off. Find a simple recipe you like

getting lazier about cooking. If anything, I

the look of, get the best quality

think that there is an increased interest and

ingredients you can and then get stuck in

desire to learn how to cook and about

in the kitchen. And don’t be scared of

food in general,” he said. “More and more

making mistakes – it’s one of the best

people are interested in provenance, and

ways to learn! FF

The road ahead With the many dishes he conjured up on the show, not to mention working with some top chefs, what would Dhruv s top recipe be?

I find it nearly impossible to choose a favourite dish as there are so, so many to choose from but if I had to pick a last supper it would probably be a perfectly aged and cooked steak with triple-cooked chips and Bearnaise sauce ‒ the combination is one of my all-time favourites and, whilst not being the most complex dish in the world, for me, it is one of the most delicious!

Having established a name for himself on the show, and working pretty solidly since taking the crown, what can we expect from Dhruv, and how will he stand out as different?

My ultimate ambition is to be able to wake up in the morning satisfied with my working life and not feeling that there is something I missed out on doing, or didn t do as well as I could have done.

We would say that winning MasterChef is a pretty good start!

JULY/AUGUST 2011 FINE FOODIES

17

Food focus

Better

barbecues

Jennifer Britt examines how we can barbecue with a conscience this summer by choosing quality over quantity.

H

ere’s some food for thought as you light up

than 172,000 other people.

Another charity promoting better

up there with taste as a priority for most people, says Helen.

the barbecue – two out

welfare for farm animals, the RSPCA

of three animals on the

estimates that since Hugh’s campaign the

when first converting to organic methods

“One of the major observations I made

planet are factory farmed,

proportion of chickens sold in British

was the elimination of disease build-up

says campaigning charity Compassion in

shops from non-intensive farming systems

due to the healthy lifestyle of the

World Farming (CIWF).

has increased from 10 per cent to 20 per

livestock,” she says.

But there is another, more ethical, way

cent. Its own Freedom Foods assurance

of producing meat, and growing numbers

scheme has also nearly doubled its share

of allowing animals to range free and

of British shoppers are scrutinising what

to account for about seven per cent of

graze is that grass-fed meat is higher in

they buy to ensure they are buying from

chickens served up on British plates.

beneficial omega-3 fatty acids than grain-

producers who are committed to giving

Helen Browning, Director of the organic

farm animals a better life – they want to

organisation the Soil Association and an

know where it came from and how it was

experienced farmer, is herself passionate

produced.

about the welfare of her free-range British

Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall’s

Saddleback pigs on her Wiltshire farm and

Another advantage for human health

fed...11 times higher in grass-fed beef, according to a recent review.

Farmers also vow that treating animals well improves the flavour.

Anna Mogford is the former meat

ChickenOut campaign against battery

argues that treating farm animals well

inspector behind the Bringing Home the

hens was launched last year in partnership

makes them more resistant to disease,

Bacon brand of sausages and bacon.

with CIWF and has attracted support

which in turn is better for humans, too.

from the likes of Jamie Oliver...and more

18

FINE FOODIES JULY/AUGUST 2011

Confidence that food is healthy ranks

“It’s because they are non-stressed and in a happy environment,” she says. Anna

“I certainly think that in general people could eat less meat – but I’d like them to eat better meat.”

runs a farm and on-site butchery in

buys in cereal to supplement grazing for

Somerset, where her free-range pigs spend

the worst weeks of the winter when the

their lives jumping around, digging and

animals can t break through the ice to graze

rooting in the ground and doing just what

but this traditional way of farming is coming

they wanna do .

close to sustainable nirvana.

Confirmation that a stress-free life equals

The point is often made that farmland is

superior flavour was delivered in the shape

better used growing cereals for people to

of a Gold medal for Bringing Home the

eat to sustain the world s growing

Bacon in the national Great Taste Awards

population ‒ the prediction is 9.2bn of us by

last year.

2050 ‒ rather than by keeping animals or

The sustainability issue

growing grains for animal feed. But here you couldn t grow crops anyway, because

Another big issue for meat producers is

these rugged acres will support nothing but

finding ways of farming more sustainably

hardy cattle, sheep and wild grouse.

and reducing their reliance on feeding their animals with expensive cereal grains.

Beef cattle and sheep can, in the right

Sheepdrove Farm, in Berkshire, is an example of complete self-sufficiency, with Hereford-Angus cattle and sturdy little

circumstances, rely entirely on grass. Pigs

Shetland-cross sheep eating only grass and

and chickens will need some cereals but

fodder grown on the farm. Traditional native

less if they are able to range free and forage.

breeds are key, says Sheepdrove s Mary

The Blackface Meat Company produces lamb, mutton and beef from animals which

Dancey.

They are hardy, so they can live outdoors

have spent an outdoors life on a small

and get all their protein from grazing and

Scottish hill farm, grazing on heather and

what we produce here, she said.

grass, and blueberries in season. The farm

Jon Burrough is a Devon farmer whose

JULY/AUGUST 2011 FINE FOODIES

19

Food focus

Explore in store

whole livelihood is producing and selling meat but he echoes many meat producers when he says that he believes sustainability means choosing and paying for quality over quantity.

“I certainly think that in general people could eat less meat – but I’d like them to eat better meat,” he says. FF

Come rain or shine, we just can’t resist the savoury, smoky aromas of grilling over charcoal.

And there is a choice selection of producers in your farm shop, deli or food hall who care as much as their customers about how their meat is produced.

The organic Aberdeen Angus beef cattle and Welsh Lamb from the Rhug Estate in Denbighshire make magnificent burgers.

So do the resident wild bison, which produce a nutritious, lean meat lower in fat and higher in protein than beef.

Anna’s Happy Trotters pork meat is from a family farm in East Yorkshire. Anna Longthorp-Oates keeps pigs who are not only born free-range but are reared and grown outdoors as well. It’s all Freedom Foods-certified too.

Helen Browning’s new organic Hot Dogs are produced from free-range pigs, and with a 97 per cent pork content make an exceptionally tasty bite.

Denhay Farm’s Spoilt Pig bacon is made from English and Scottish outdoor-reared pork, living half their lives outdoors and then moving into straw-filled barns, which carries the Freedom Food mark.

Laverstoke Park, the Hampshire estate owned by former Formula One World Champion Jody Scheckter, produces a special barbecue-cut jointed whole chicken, so every piece is ready for the grill.

The farm uses ‘beyond organic’ biodynamic methods and its free-range organic chickens take 100 days to reach the table, unlike the 39 days for many birds.

Peradon Farm lamb leg steaks from

Devon are produced from a flock of organic Lleyn-Hampshire Down crosses fed only on the green, green grass of Devon, while welfare-friendly rosy veal from the Real Veal Company will cook as well as mature beef. Cornish producers Jon and Vicky Brown were motivated to start their business because of the pitifully short lives of bull calves born in dairy herds.

Newmarket sausages are made by not one but two rival family butchers in the shape of Musk’s and Powters, while 30 miles away Aspall’s has been producing Suffolk cider for years. This makes the Musk’s & Aspall’s Cider Sausage an historic partnership.

Chorizo from The Bath Pig made with British Freedom Foods pork, is semi-cured leaving sufficient moisture in the sausage to cook it with. Perfect for kebabs with monkfish and peppers.

Graig Farm Spicy Chicken Wings and Thighs are produced by a specialist organic and additive-free meat supplier, which sources all its products direct from farmers and runs its own butchery at its base in mid-Wales. They tell you where everything comes from on the label because they can trace every last chop or sausage back to the field.

For something a little different, Gressingham Mini Duck Fillets and Duck Breasts, produced to Freedom Foods standards on farms in Suffolk and Norfolk, are ideal barbecue fare, grilling in just minutes. Gressingham is also trialling duck meat sausages this summer.

And for accompaniments…

With an abundance of delicious relishes, sauces and condiments, you will be spoiled for choice for your barbecues this summer.

Here’s a taster of what’s on offer. = Traditional Creole flavours were the inspiration for Steenbergs Yorkshire-made American Organic Barbecue Seasoning, blending spices with parsley, fennel and thyme.

To this traditional blend, tastemaster Axel Steenberg added smoked and sea salt.

There is something to go with just about anything in this range of barbecue seasonings and rubs. = Uncle Roy, aka Roy AndertonTyers, has won many awards for his ‘comestible concoctions’ but he didn’t wait for the judges to give out the stars

20

FINE FOODIES JULY/AUGUST 2011

when he named his Five Star Relish. With its chilli and lime kick, it’s highly rated to join a burger in a bun. = Hot Vampire Relish Tomato Salsa is a garlicky, blood red alternative to tomato sauce from the growers and makers of everything garlic, The Garlic Farm on the Isle of Wight. Try it if you dare! The farm grows sweetcorn as well as garlic, so for a juicy combination, barbecue whole corns still in their leaves to keep in the moisture and then smother with Garlic Farm oak-smoked garlic butter. = Karimix’s Honey and Chilli Marinade can be poured straight over meat to give it an Indonesian kick. Great with pork, and for chicken, the Satay blend with coconut adds a

Malaysian twist. = Cottage Delight Gourmet Squeezes give the concept of the squeezy sauce bottle a complete makeover in style and substance, with flavours including Lemon, Coriander and Pink Peppercorn, Feta and Mint, and Wasabi. = The Pickled Village Rapscallian is a red onion marmalade with chillies and redcurrants to give it extra zip and fruitiness, and it’s a great mate for spicy bangers. Camille Ortega McLean, who has been keeping the real life Northamptonshire village of Bulwick well-preserved for many years, has plenty of other creations for pepping up barbecues, including Green Fire, a green chilli relish with coriander and mint that

doubles as a marinade for chicken, fish and lamb. = Michelle McKenna, better known as Clippy, is a woman on a mission to revive British orchards, so she would like us to eat her Clippy’s Apple preserves with everything.

Apple, Garlic and Thyme jelly is particularly recommended for the barbecue, as a marinade for chicken, and to complement sausages and burgers. = The Tracklements Company makes a whole range of chutneys, ketchups, jellies and pickles but they started because they wanted to make really superb mustards and that they certainly do. English mustard seed is combined with ingredients including, lemon, honey, beer and tarragon and simply on its own.

In season

summer days Take inspiration from the garden for some summer cooking.

W

ith long days,

Summer beets, carrots and turnips

The English apple season starts with

warm nights and

are at their best ‒ wonderfully tender

the beautifully perfumed Discovery; you

an active soil

and bursting with flavour. French beans,

need to catch it just right, as this variety

producing

fennel, globe artichokes, celery and more

goes from excessively tart through

luxuriant growth,

are in season, to join the abundance of

perfection to woolly in just a few days.

July is the busiest month in the fields for

salads and leaves. With raspberries and

vegetable growers.

currants cropping, it s also an excellent

get fed up with courgettes, which

time for puddings.

produce their first fruits in late June

It is also an exciting month for cooks, with new crops coming into season every week.

August sees the vegetable season at its

August. Don t be tempted to stockpile

Organic s are full of flavour and variety as

courgettes; when truly fresh, they have a

summer meets early autumn and

wonderful flavour, but their reputation

growing is easy.

suffers from their deceptive ability to look tunnel-grown

fresh even when they have been kept in a high-humidity cold room for weeks. This

tomatoes, peppers,

is what tends to happen as the glut

aubergines,

comes on; growers and wholesalers

cucumbers, chillies and basil are all at their

FINE FOODIES JULY/AUGUST 2011

and flourish right through July and

peak, and veg boxes such as Riverford

With light levels still good,

22

But by now, you might be starting to

manage or rotate their stock, hoping for an upturn in sales that seldom comes.

best. Outside there is an abundance of

They may look OK but they have lost all

summer salads and roots and the arrival of

trace of flavour and most of their

early crops of sweetcorn, broccoli and a

nutritional value. Use them at their

few leeks.

freshest best! FF

Grilled courgette, tomato and bean salad with basil dressing

By Jane Baxter, Riverford Field Kitchen, taken from the Riverford Farm Cook Book Serves 4 Ingredients: • 200g dried cannellini or haricot beans, soaked in cold water overnight and then drained • 3tbsp extra virgin olive oil • 4 courgettes, cut into ribbons 5mm thick • A small punnet of cherry tomatoes, cut in half • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper For the dressing: • A bunch of basil • ½ garlic clove, crushed • 100ml olive oil • A pinch of salt Method: • Put the drained beans in a large

hot grill) until tender and lightly

pan, cover with fresh water and

charred.

bring to the boil. Reduce the heat

• For the dressing, put all the

and simmer for an hour or so, until

ingredients in a food processor or

tender. Drain, season to taste and

blender and whiz until smooth.

dress with two tablespoons of the

• Gently mix the beans, tomatoes

olive oil.

and courgettes together in a large

• Toss the courgettes with the

bowl and add enough basil

remaining olive oil and grill on

dressing to coat. Taste and adjust

a ridged griddle pan (or under a

the seasoning.

Blackcurrant mess

By Jane Baxter, from Everyday and Sunday ‒ Recipes from Riverford Farm Serves 4

• Cook the other half of the

Ingredients:

blackcurrants with the

• 300g blackcurrants

remaining sugar and 100ml

• 3tbsp caster sugar

water until syrupy. Cool.

• 1tbsp crème de cassis or

• Whip the cream until soft

brandy

peaks form. In a large bowl,

• 400ml whipping cream

break the meringue nests

• 4 ready-made meringue

and fold through the

nests

cream. Drizzle the custard

• 200ml cold custard

over (if using).

(optional)

• Combine the two blackcurrant mixes

Method:

together and pour over

• Mix half the blackcurrants

the meringues and cream.

with half the sugar and all

Fold together roughly,

the cassis or brandy and

leaving a ripple effect.

leave to macerate.

Transfer to a serving bowl.

JULY/AUGUST 2011 FINE FOODIES

23

Foodie feature

magic

Where food meets Fine Foodies Contributing Editor, Sarah Willingham, journeys to Denmark for an unforgettable experience at Noma, ranked as number one restaurant in the world two years in a row.

Y

ou don’t get a table at Noma

the building where the fish from the

easily. They don’t care who

Faroe Islands used to be delivered years

you are, where you come

ago, and the old rustic feel still exists but

from or just how important

with a modern twist.

you might think you are.

Actually, there is only one word to

Just as society in Denmark dictates,

describe the atmosphere in Noma –

hyggelig. It’s a wonderful Danish word that means cosy, but not in that English, almost condescending kind of way – it’s the epitome of a lovely night for the Danes, it means relaxed, easy-going, candle-lit, unpretentious and at Noma they do all of this so well.

there is no class in Noma, no special treatment for one table and not the next.

It is exceptional throughout; this is a restaurant that exudes confidence in that wonderful relaxed way that only people and places who have really made it can.

My best friend is an air steward and amongst his many hilarious stories he has

The magic happens

some insightful reflections on the human race; he often says those in first class are

Now, I could go through each dish in

down to earth, easy going and interested in

know, is a small group of 18 islands about

detail as they are all worthy of a page

others, but in business class they often walk

halfway between Norway and Iceland

each, but I’ll skip through them as I’m

in with the big ‘I am’ airs and graces that

‘owned’ by Denmark.

watching my word count!

make others feel uncomfortable.

The MD of Noma, Pontus, is married to

We sat at our table and from then on

Confidence is replaced with arrogance and

an ex-girlfriend of The Dane’s cousin and

what happened was extraordinary, almost

suddenly everyone’s on edge.

his uncle Birgir is godfather to their baby

magical. The food started coming thick

daughter. So, there you go, we are almost

and fast. We start with a massive piece of

family and The Dane came good!

bullrush to chew on. Just as we’re

Well, Noma is first class. They have made it, they are not trying to be something that they are not, they are comfortable in their

finishing the end of what looks like a giant

own skin and know that they are

Experiencing Noma

exceptional at what they do with a

Table booked, we arrived full of

another chef (from Yorkshire) tells us to

humility that immediately relaxes you.

excitement. The Dane is in jeans (and not

eat the ‘flower’ arrangement in the middle

leek but tastes sweeter than sugar cane,

The challenge was to organise a trip to

the only one) and I’m carrying a nine-week

of the table. As I’m frantically taking

Noma during a four-day visit to see the in-

old baby (the only one). Yet no one bats an

pictures, writing down my every emotion

laws. Impossible with a minimum six-

eyelid. Even my local ‘posh’ restaurant

I can feel my heart rate rising with the

month waiting list! And so I’m sat one

wouldn’t let us in. Welcome, welcome they

excitement. Then, what looks like a

evening, chatting to my Danish husband

all say with big smiles and dutifully coo

Christmas centrepiece arrives and we’re

(you can see a link coming, I know) about

over little Marly (Rene Redzepi, the Head

told to eat the moss. The moss? Utterly

how much I want to go and he turns to

Chef and co-owner, had had his second

divine, it’s 90 per cent protein, fuels

me and says, ‘yes but surely we can get in,

baby the night before).

reindeer throughout the winter.

we’re almost family’.

‘WHAT, stop everything, what do you mean we are almost family?!’ was my reply.

We are eating with Birgir Enni, a sailor

And so it carries on; we have leathered

and fisherman from the Faroe Islands who

sea buckthorn berries with rose petals

took Rene sailing for a week before he

that were picked and pickled last year,

opened Noma, which Rene gives a

then pickled and smoked quail’s eggs

Dane, his mum is from the Faroe Islands.

detailed account of in his book. Birgir

arrived inside a large egg on a bed of

The Faroe Islands, for those who don’t

explains that the restaurant is situated in

smoking hay, before we eat a chicken skin

So, here’s the link. I am married to a

24

FINE FOODIES JULY/AUGUST 2011

sandwich, and duck stock made into

altogether – and I love my wine!

crisps. Amongst all of this, a flowerpot is

From then on we’re in the main part of

put in front of each of us looking

the dinner with 12 dishes to come. We

remarkably like the seedling that my dad

start with cucumber rolled in cucumber

brings me for my vegetable patches. In

ash, a tradition of the Vikings, no less. The

the soil, are freshly-grown radishes. The

beef tartare (one of only two meat dishes)

chef explains the dish and just as he’s

is so fresh, eaten with your fingers, no

leaving he turns to us all and says ‘if you’re

machine cooking.

not dirty by the end of this dish then

Each dish is sourced from Scandinavia,

you’ve not eaten it properly’. The entire

it’s healthy, it’s light, it’s so fresh and in

thing is edible, soil included and it is

season you can literally smell the ocean,

absolutely amazing, all washed down with

the fields, the lakes and the mountains.

their own birch juice beer.

Food is served on hot rocks, with seaweed,

All this time I’ve not seen one single

on beds of hay. I even eat delicious fresh

piece of cutlery – we are so in touch with

baby pine needles. One dish even comes

Nature.

with all of the ingredients and you have to

Now, don’t be fooled into thinking that

cook it yourself.

the ‘idea’ is cool, that this is gimmicky. This

I found myself licking a large stone to

food is the best I’ve ever tasted anywhere,

get the last bit of Sol (an Icelandic

and I’m lucky to have eaten in many of the

seaweed with 30 times more minerals

world’s best restaurants. It is exceptional,

than any other type of seaweed), and as I

not just in concept, not just in execution

do this Birgir laughs and tells the story of

and presentation but in taste – it blows

the fisherman from the Faroe Islands who

everywhere else out of the water. These

ate only seaweed and shellfish because it

guys are pure genius, and without a slice

was a natural Viagra!

of foie gras in sight.

The desserts are so light made with

Rene Redzepi is a step further back in

carrots, beetroot, sea buckthorn, rhubarb,

the food chain than other chefs I’ve

juniper, tarragon, and a carrot parfait

known. He doesn’t just know how to

actually miraculously disappears in your

create magic from food, he actually

mouth it’s so light.

creates magical food from Nature, a

With coffee the ‘chocolates’ are

different skill altogether.

amazing. Bone marrow caramel made

By the end of this I’m almost in tears. All

with bone marrow and served in the

my senses have been bombarded from all

bone, sea salt crisps in chocolate and the

directions and it happens so fast that you

traditional Floedebolle made with yoghurt

are forced to forget anything outside of

instead of cream.

Noma – sit back and let them take you on

At the end you feel refreshed, not

this magical journey.

bloated, like you’ve done your body a real

The Maitre d’ brings us back to reality

favour, like it’s gone in for a service. If we all

with the only other question of the

ate like this every day we’d have a far

evening. Would we like the seven-course

healthier existence. It is not for people who

menu or the 12-course menu, paired with

live off fast, over-processed food – it would

wine or not? It turns out we haven’t even

simply be like putting jet fuel in a scooter.

started yet!

By far the biggest compliment to this

I’m a little delirious at this stage. We go

wonderful place and the one that I take

for the 12 course – the Danes pair with

away with me was still to come. As we

wine and the breastfeeding mum

(Christmas in a glass), sea buckthorn (I had

walk out of the door my husband says,

reluctantly turns down the oh-so

four glasses, say no more), pear and

‘this place has reinforced everything, it is

tempting offer and goes for water. I’m

verbena, and elderflower. I sit back and

the first time in the eight years since I left

offered a juice pairing instead. As he walks

gloat as my glass is passed around the

home that I have missed Denmark’.

away I realise where I am, call him back

table time and time again.

and take up his offer of the juice...I have a feeling I might be in for a treat.

My first juice arrives – sorrel juice, which is followed by pine needle and apple

Don’t get me wrong, the wine is divine

The fact is that no matter what I say or how I describe the experience I am not

but these juices are special – the food is so

doing it justice. It is simply incomprehensibly

fresh, so natural, so pure that in my

magical and in order to know where I’m

opinion they could get rid of the wine list

coming from you just have to go. FF

JULY/AUGUST 2011 FINE FOODIES

25

Recipes

Mouth-watering

in minutes

Looking to whip up some tasty desserts in minutes? With Nigella Lawson professing ‘the title truly says it all’, why not take inspiration from the new Yummy cookbook.

Tipsy ten-minute tiramisu

Got 10 minutes? This egg-free version of tiramisú is made more decadent with the addition of creamy Irish liqueur.

Ingredients: • 2tsp instant coffee granules • 2tbsp Marsala wine • 50g/2oz/1/4 cup dark chocolate chips • 225g/8oz/scant 1 cup mascarpone cheese • 4tbsp Irish cream whiskey, such as Baileys

• 2tbsp icing sugar • 250ml/9fl oz/1 cup double cream • 1/2tsp vanilla extract • 8 sponge finger biscuits, each broken into 3 pieces • 1tsp cocoa powder, to serve

Method: • Put the coffee and 100ml/31/2fl oz/scant 1/2 cup water in a shallow bowl and mix until dissolved, then stir in the Marsala wine and set aside. Put the chocolate chips in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped.

• Put the mascarpone, Irish cream and icing sugar in a large bowl and beat, using an electric mixer, for one minute until combined. Put the cream and vanilla extract in another bowl and whip until soft peaks form (no need to clean the beaters first), then fold it into the mascarpone mixture.

• Dip half of the biscuit pieces in the coffee mixture and transfer them to the base of four glasses or bowls.

Spoon half of the chocolate, then half of the mascarpone mixture, over the biscuits. Dip the remaining biscuit pieces in the coffee and layer again with the remaining chocolate and mascarpone. Serve dusted with the cocoa powder.

26

FINE FOODIES JULY/AUGUST 2011

Strawberry samosas Got 15 minutes? Samosas are normally savoury, so filling them with juicy strawberries makes a lovely, sweet change.

Ingredients: • 4 sheets of filo pastry • 115g/4oz strawberries, hulled and cut into small cubes • 500ml/17fl oz/2 cups rapeseed oil, for deep-frying and sealing • 4tbsp dulce de leche or caramel sauce • Icing sugar, for dusting • 250ml/9fl oz/1 cup vanilla ice cream, slightly softened, to serve Method: • Put one sheet of filo pastry on a work surface and keep the rest covered with a clean, damp tea towel while you work.

Fold the filo sheet in half lengthways and then in half again and position it vertically in front of you. Put one quarter of the strawberries at the bottom end of the pastry, leaving a little space between the edges of the pastry and the filling.

• Fold the bottom-right corner of the pastry diagonally up over the filling to form a triangle, then fold the lower left-hand corner up the left edge, keeping the triangular shape. Continue folding to the

end to enclose the filling. Seal with oil, if needed, then repeat with the remaining pastry and filling. Keep the samosas covered with the damp tea towel.

• Heat the oil in a large heavy-based saucepan or a deep-fat fryer until it reaches 180° C/350° F. Working in batches, if necessary, to avoid overcrowding the pan, fry the samosas for two minutes, or until golden brown and crisp, turning once halfway through. Remove from the oil, using a slotted spoon, and drain on kitchen paper.

Dust with icing sugar while hot.

• Warm the dulce de leche in a saucepan over a medium heat until runny, then drizzle it over the samosas. Serve warm with ice cream.

JULY/AUGUST 2011 FINE FOODIES

27

Recipes

Cherry jalousies Got 20 minutes? The classic ‘shutter’ puff-pastry pie is made here in miniature version, with juicy tinned cherries.

Ingredients: • 2 sheets of ready-rolled puff pastry, about 375g/13oz in total • 1 egg, beaten • 400g/1lb tinned cherries in syrup, drained and syrup reserved • Whipped cream, to serve • Plain flour, for rolling

Method: • Preheat the oven to 220° C/450° F/ Gas 7 and line two baking sheets with baking parchment. Lightly flour a work surface and roll out the pastry to about half of its original thickness. Cut out eight rectangles, each about 10 x 8cm/4 x 3in.

• Put four pieces of pastry on the baking sheets, brush the edges with some of the egg and arrange six

cherries on top of each rectangle.

Make three or four vertical cuts in the centre of each remaining piece of pastry, leaving the border of each piece intact, and position these over the cherries. Press the edges of the top and bottom pastries together to seal and brush the tops with the egg. Bake for 15 minutes, or until risen, golden and crisp.

• Meanwhile, put the reserved cherry syrup in a saucepan and bring to the boil over a high heat.

Boil for five to six minutes until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Remove from the heat and stir in any remaining cherries. Serve the jalousies hot with whipped cream and the cherry syrup spooned alongside.

Extracted from Yummy by Caroline Brewester text © (2011), published by Duncan Baird Publishers, London.

To receive your copy of Yummy at the special price of £12.99 (including postage and packing) call Duncan Baird Publishers on 0207 454 8513 or send a cheque payable to Duncan Baird Publishers to Sixth Floor, Castle House, 75-76 Wells St, London, W1T 3QH, quoting Yummy, Fine Foodies special offer. Normal price of £16.99. Offer applies to UK residents only.

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FINE FOODIES JULY/AUGUST 2011

Recipes

A taste of

Wales

Gilli Davies offers recipe inspiration the Welsh way.

Salmon bread and butter pudding Serves 5-6

Ingredients: • 6 slices thinly-sliced bread, spread with garlic butter • 1 small glass dry white wine • 450g (1lb) fresh fillet of salmon, sliced thinly • 6 eggs • Salt and pepper • Dill and chives • 150ml (¼ pint) milk • 150ml (¼ pint) single cream

30

FINE FOODIES JULY/AUGUST 2011

Method: • Arrange half the bread in the bottom of a baking dish. Pour over the wine.

• Scatter over the salmon and arrange the remaining bread on top.

• Whisk the eggs, seasoning, herbs, milk and cream together and pour over the pudding.

Rabbit with wholegrain mustard, leeks and thyme Ingredients: • 750g (1.5lb) jointed rabbit • 1 tablespoon sunflower oil • 25g (1oz) butter • 4 good leeks, washed and sliced • 2 cloves garlic, crushed • 1-2 tablespoons plain flour • 2 tablespoons wholegrain mustard • 300-450ml (½-¾ pint) chicken stock • A good sprig of fresh thyme

• Salt and pepper • 150ml (¼ pint) thick cream or crème fraîche • Fresh lemon juice to taste Method: • In a large, heavy-based casserole dish, heat the oil and butter and fry the rabbit until golden brown on all sides.

• Remove the rabbit and toss in the leeks and garlic.

• Stir until they begin to soften and then add enough flour to absorb the oil.

• Stir in the mustard, pour over the stock and replace the rabbit.

• Add the thyme, salt and pepper. Cover the pan and cook very gently for one and a half hours, until tender, stirring occasionally.

• Add the cream and stir until well blended.

• Taste for seasoning, and add some fresh lemon juice, if necessary.

JULY/AUGUST 2011 FINE FOODIES

31

Recipes

Teisennau Berffro (Anglesey Shortbread) Ingredients: • 175g (6oz) butter • 225g (8oz) flour • 100g (4oz) caster sugar, plus extra for dredging Method: • Rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

• Stir in the sugar. Using your fingertips, press the mixture together and knead to a smooth,

32

FINE FOODIES JULY/AUGUST 2011

pliable paste.

• Roll out fairly thinly on a well-floured board and cut into 5cm (2 inch) circles.

• Using the tip of a sharp-bladed knife mark each with a scallop-shell pattern.

• Bake in a moderately hot oven (375ºF, 190ºC, Gas 5) for about 10 minutes, until the biscuits turn a pale, golden colour.

• Cool on the baking tray and when cold, sprinkle lavishly with caster sugar.

• Store in an airtight tin for up to a week.

Flavours of Wales is written by Gilli Davies and is published by Graffeg, priced £16.99.

Global foodie

A cook’s life in

France British food writer and expat Mary Cadogan gives us a flavour of a true foodie’s life in France.

T

hink of France and for most

its own specialities for the table, from the

of us eating and drinking is

thick yellow butter and creamy cheeses of

our first thought. Dishes

Normandy to the nutty mountain cheeses

such as coq au vin, moules

and cured hams of the Pyrenees.

frites, steak and crème

The wine produced in each region

village in the heart of the Charente to see what our daily market has to offer.

brûlée conjure up memories of leisurely

tends to go well with traditional local

bistro meals taken in a picturesque village

dishes – light fruity reds of Provence, for

square with a glass in hand, while lively

example, go beautifully with tomato,

their stall each morning throughout the

conversation buzzes around you.

garlic and olive oil-based Mediterranean

year, including Christmas Day, to offer a

dishes and Choucroute is perfectly

startling array of fruit and vegetables,

matched by a glass of spicy local Riesling.

flowers, plants, pulses, wine, cheese, and

The interesting truth is that each region of France is like a separate country, each proud of its culinary heritage and offering

Each morning, I stroll into our small

Thierry and his wife Jocelyne set up

oysters at the weekend.

There is always something new on offer, maybe the first cherries of the season, trays of apricots at knock-down prices for making jam or preserves, or misshapen tomatoes from Thierry’s own garden.

Market culture Markets are at the heart of French culinary life, not just for those who have the time and energy to shop there, but for everyone from the poorest to the most affluent.

French market culture is not ‘pile it high and sell it cheap’ but a showcase for the best that the region has to offer. Our biggest local market in nearby Angouleme is at its busiest on Sunday mornings, when it seems the whole world comes out to discuss what’s new that week, chatter (a national pastime) and contrast and compare prices before buying.

The French shopper abhors waste and will patiently queue to buy a couple of perfectly ripe tomatoes and one orange for breakfast, but it must be the best tomato and the juiciest orange. I was recently next in line to a frail old woman who was carefully picking out one leek, a

34

FINE FOODIES JULY/AUGUST 2011

couple of carrots and an onion for her soup and the stallholder patiently made sure she got exactly what she wanted and went away satisfied. One rare time I had cause to complain about woolly peaches, the whole case was chucked in the bin.

French fare The edible riches of the Charente include duck, goats’ cheese, walnuts (made into delicious oil and flour) Pineau de Charente

the snails are like the people – slow and

the world when you can enjoy the real

and cognac, and fish and seafood from

hidden. I haven’t found this to be true but

deal during the summer months? Much

the Atlantic coast; Bouchot mussels

snails are free food for those who care to

better to gorge on roots and winter leaves,

farmed off the coast are small and very

forage the hedgerows after a rainfall.

then welcome the first asparagus to your

sweet and worthy of their AOC status.

And, of course, there are the snails. This is the emblem of the Charente as they say

The seasons have real meaning here – after all, why buy flabby courgettes in winter, tired from their long journey across

table when spring arrives.

I thought I understood the seasons when I arrived here six years ago but I

JULY/AUGUST 2011 FINE FOODIES

35

Global foodie clearly didn t; there is a rhythm to culinary life here and long may it last.

Of course, change is happening. The sons and daughters of small food producers who devote their lives to working the land to grow

Recipes Here, Mary offers some inspiration for a threecourse, French-inspired menu

asparagus or strawberries, herd goats to make their excellent cheeses, tend grapes for Pineau and Cognac, may not find the hard life so enticing. And small family-run brasseries close because there s no one to take them on.

Quality v quantity Times are hard, so difficult choices must be made. I see just as much rubbish going into supermarket trolleys here as I do in England.

But maybe the main difference here is that even the poorest French cook will know how to make a chicken stretch to a couple of meals, so it s worth buying a decent one and to buy in season for the best bargains.

A new supermarket opened here recently specialising in fresh food. It s a big, airy space offering a huge array of fruit and vegetables, top quality meat and a small but stunning choice of cheeses. I bought a small piece of summer beaufort that tasted of sweet summer flowers and herbs with a nutty bite.

The flavour went on and on, it was the best thing I d tasted in ages, but when I went back for more a few days later it was sold out.

That s the problem and also the delight.

When one thing is finished there s no more, so you move onto the next thing.

One of the highlights of the summer months are Les Marches des Producteurs de Pays. These are held two evenings a week at various beautiful locations around the Charente and in many other regions of France. Dozens of local producers set up their stalls to offer everything from oysters to rillettes, rotisserie chickens to pigeon brochettes, cheeses and of course Charentais melons. The local community provides the bread, frites and a huge barbecue fuelled by vine wood and the way it works is that you choose what you want to eat and drink, have it cooked for you and then sit at long trestle tables enjoying the food, wine and company as the sun goes down with music and dancing adding to the atmosphere.

This is the best kind of farmers market and maybe something that would work well across the channel as a brilliant and enjoyable chance for food lovers to discover new tastes and share food and company. After all, that s what it s all about isn t it? FF

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FINE FOODIES JULY/AUGUST 2011

Duck rillettes with cherry confit

Serves 8

We have an annual cherry and pea festival in a nearby village in early June, where there are tastings of dozens of different varieties of cherries and a meal centred around ‒ you guessed it, cherries and peas.

Ingredients: • 3 duck legs, about 350g each • 400g sliced belly pork • 2 cloves garlic • 1 tsp quatre epices or chinese five spice powder • Few sprigs thyme • 2 bay leaves Plum confit Ingredients: • 400g cherries, stoned • 2tbsp light muscovado sugar • 2tbsp red wine vinegar • 1 star anise Salad ingredients: • A couple of handfuls small salad leaves • Selection of herb sprigs such as chives, chervil, coriander, mint • 1tbsp walnut oil Method: • Heat the oven to 160ºC/140ºC (fan)/Gas 3.

Put all the ingredients for the rillettes into a large heavy flameproof casserole and add 300ml water, 2tsp salt and a good grinding

of black pepper. Bring to the boil, then cover tightly and bake for two and a half hours.

• Leave until cool enough to handle, then remove the meat to a large plate and strain the cooking juices. Remove the skin from the duck and rind and any small bones from the pork. Using two forks shred the meat from the duck bones and shred the pork.

• Mix the meats together, then pack into a one-litre pot and press down lightly.

Put a few thyme sprigs on top and pour over the cooking juices to cover the meat well. Chill for up to three days.

• For the confit, put the cherries in a pan with the sugar, vinegar and star anise. Bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar, then simmer for five minutes. Remove the cherries with a slotted spoon, then boil the cooking juices hard to make a syrup. Fish out the star anise, pour the syrup over the cherries and leave to cool. This will keep in the fridge for up to three days.

• Serve the rillettes in slices with a little cherry confit and herb salad dressed with walnut oil and baguette toasts.

Seafood en papillote Serves 4 The bass caught around the islands of Re and Oleron are prized for their soft texture and fine flavour. To make your own rouille, crush a peeled garlic clove in a pestle and mortar with a little cayenne, a good pinch of saffron and a little salt, then add to a bowlful of good mayo.

Ingredients: • 2 large carrots • 3 celery sticks or 1 head fennel • 1tbsp olive oil • ½tsp sugar • 6tbsp white wine or Pernod • 4 x 175g bass or bream fillets • Handful mussels or 4 scallops • Basil leaves • Juice of 1 lemon • Mayo or rouille to serve Method: • Heat the oven to 190ºC/170ºC (fan)/Gas 5.

Cut the carrots and celery into batons. Put in a pan with the oil, sugar, wine, salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, then cover tightly and cook for 10 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Cool.

• Cut four large sheets of baking parchment about 35cm square. Divide the vegetables between them and top each with a fish fillet and the mussels or scallops. Scatter a few basil leaves and a little lemon juice over each and season the fish with a little salt and pepper.

Fold the paper in half and double-fold all round to seal in the fish, a bit like a pasty.

• Put the parcels on two baking sheets and bake for 15-20 minutes (depending on the thickness of the fish). Serve in their paper with some steamed new potatoes and a bowl of good quality mayo or rouille.

Peach frangipane tart Serves 8 In season, our village market offers a choice of white or yellow-fleshed peaches, nectarines and brugnon, a small wild nectarine prized for its intense flavour and juicy flesh.

Ingredients: • 50g softened butter • 100g caster sugar • 100g ground almonds • 1 egg, beaten • Few drops almond extract • 300g ready made puff pastry • 6 ripe peaches • 1tbsp vanilla sugar • 2tbsp apricot jam • 3tbsp toasted flaked almonds Method: • Heat the oven to 200ºC/180ºC (fan)/ Gas 6. Line a baking sheet with baking paper. Beat together the butter and sugar until it is light and fluffy, about one minute. Stir in the almonds, egg and extract to make a paste.

• Roll out the pastry and trim to a 30cm round. Transfer to the baking sheet.

Using the point of a sharp knife, score the pastry 2cm in from the edge. Prick the pastry all over with a fork within the marked line.

• Spread the almond paste evenly over the pastry up to the marked line. Halve the peaches and remove the stones.

Cut the peaches into thin slices and arrange over the almond paste in circles radiating from the centre.

Sprinkle with vanilla sugar and bake for 20-25 minutes until the pastry is crisp and golden and the peaches are softened.

• Warm the jam with a splash of water, then brush over the tart. Scatter over the flaked almonds and serve warm or at room temperature.

Mary Cadogan is an experienced food writer and stylist, who lives in Charente, in south west France. She now runs Tasting France cookery holidays in Les Noisetiers, a peaceful village beside the River Charente.

JULY/AUGUST 2011 FINE FOODIES

37

Drinks update

Drink up HERBAL TEAS REACH HIGHER

Tea experts Higher Living have unveiled a brand new range of herbal infusions.

The eight new blends are organic, with a rich colour and bold taste that offer something for all tastes.

New flavours include Very Berry, bursting with a zingy flavour, Cool Mint with a refreshing, clean and crisp taste, and the sweet Licorice infusion.

Or you can choose from Evening, perfect for night time, or Vitality, designed to be revitalising.

MINERAL MAGIC

Hailing from the Spanish region known as the land of the thousand rivers comes a new mineral water.

Magma de Cabreiroa comes from Galicia, in north west Spain and is, say its creators, natural in taste. It is not a still mineral water, as it has tiny bubbles of natural carbon dioxide from the earth s magma, so is described as a semi-sparkling.

38

FINE FOODIES JULY/AUGUST 2011

Refreshing summer flavours for British vodka Godminster has launched flavoured vodkas for 2011 which include elderflower, rhubarb and cucumber.

Following weeks of picking, preparing and infusing, they are made using English vodka from a distillery in London and are then infused at the Godminster farm in Somerset.

We are rather proud of our deliciously unusual vodkas and the great cocktails they can make ‒ after all, sometimes the best cocktails are the most simple, said Godminster owner, Richard Hollingbury.

All our vodkas are made from 100 per cent English vodka, and unlike other flavoured vodkas, we allow ours to be infused over time with real roots and fruits from our organic farm.

Drinks update POWER OF POMEGRANATE

Give yourself a health kick while enjoying a refreshing drink with the creation of Rimon.

A 100 per cent pure pomegranate juice that is not made from concentrate, it is sourced from the Galilee mountains in Israel and is packed full of antioxidants.

Rimon, which is the Hebrew name for pomegranate, is made from the fruit that is handpicked, and taken straight to the pressing and bottling facility.

WINE ATTRACTION

A brand new centre focused on everything wine-related is to open in Bordeaux.

The International Wine Cultural Centre will be a major tourist attraction, designed to offer visitors a voyage of discovery when it comes to wine.

Due to open in 2014, the centre will be environmentally sound.

Fine Foodies recommends...

JUICE CRUSH

The people at Belvoir Fruit Farms have added to its range of natural juice drinks.

Orange and Grapefruit Fruit Crush is a tangy and refreshing blend of real pressed ruby orange and pink grapefruit with Belvoir spring water, which is free from colours, flavours, preservatives and artificial sweeteners.

Perfect as a refreshing drink in the warm summer sunshine.

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FINE FOODIES JULY/AUGUST 2011

The cocktail master JJ Goodman was one half of a duo who won the 2008 series of The Restaurant. He went on to open The London Cocktail Club, and joins Fine Foodies as our resident mixologist.

FIT FOR THE QUEEN

Sometimes it takes a Royal wedding to rediscover the best of British, and we all need to take a step back sometimes to appreciate the world we live in, especially me!

So off we went, on a quest for our own best of British bevvie, fit for the Queen!

During my early morning walk to work through the yawning back streets of London I was hit smack bang in the face. Fortunately for me, it wasn t by one of the capital s underworld (it s well known they don t get out of bed till noon). It was in fact the waft of hot smoked streaky bacon, streaming from the back door of Steve s snack van that had struck me, while weary-eyed cabbies grouped together, peeling through the pages of their still hot-off-the-press copy of The Metro.

Though their polyester thrones aren t necessarily as elegant as that of her majesty, they are surely just as important.

Like the cabbies, when it comes to breakfast one wouldn t bat one s eyelids to see Mrs Windsor herself masticating through a bacon and egg buttie, warm egg yolk squirting from the seams and tomato ketchup dripping to the feet of her eagerly awaiting corgis! Pure bliss, I m sure you agree, but how JJ, does one get one s bacon and egg sandwich into one s glass I hear you ask? Watch and learn.

BACON & EGG MARTINI METHOD: • Fry six slices of smoked bacon in a pan until crisp. Remove from the heat and pour in half a bottle of Jack Daniels.

• Leave the pan to cool on the side and then transfer to a plastic tub before freezing overnight.

• The next day skim the frozen fat off the top to reveal the infused bourbon below. This is what us bar geeks call a fat wash. Then, into a cocktail shaker put the following; • 50ml bacon-infused whisky, one egg white, 20ml maple syrup, 25ml lemon juice, dash of angostura bitters.

• Shake vigorously and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with a bacon crisp ‒ I m sure Her Majesty would approve!

IT'S ALWAYS GREAT TO HEAR WHAT YOU THINK. HE BRANTD MA AZNEW IN FOR G LOVERES OF GOO FOOD D

Whether you want to comment on a specific article or feature, perhaps you love a particular product or maybe you just want to shout about your local fine food store - we would love to hear from you.

Telephone 01279 810080 or e-mail rachel.symonds@finefoodiesmag.com.

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8

Fine Foodie hero

B

eing a fourth

have given us the money.”

generation

After that, he had to source

farmer, Duncan

the right machinery for the

Farrington saw

pressing.

at first hand the

“There are things you don’t

difficulties faced by the

think about – you need a label,

agriculture industry.

then you need a cap, you need

So, after 10 years working on

a machine to put the cap on,

his family’s Northamptonshire

and you need a barcode – I

farm, he began to consider

realised very quickly there was

what other opportunities were

an awful lot to learn.”

out there.

Coming from a long line of

And thanks to an earlier

farmers, was it a surprise to his

education about rapeseed oil

family?

gained during his degree, Farrington Oils was born.

Duncan explained: “In the 1990s farming was going through a bit of a depression

“My family were very

Duncan Farrington

supportive but obviously it was a risk because although they are separate companies, the

Fine Foodies celebrates those making great food. Here, we talk to Duncan Farrington, of Farrington Oils

farm was the guarantee for the

more conscious about where

very healthy oil,” Duncan

the first to own the crops,

there is now a range of

their food was coming from

explained. “But people in this

grow, press and bottle

products, including dressings

and also about the health of

country knew nothing about it,

everything on the farm. We

and a mayonnaise.

the foods they were eating.”

it was just thought of as a

could have outsourced it to

cheap commodity oil but the

Europe but that wasn’t what

pressed 100 bottles of oil and I

reality is far different.”

and, like many farmers, I started to look to other things. At that time, people were looking at food culture, they were getting

Given he had some

loan from the bank.”

The first product was Mellow Yellow (mellow in taste, yellow in colour), and

“In the early days we

we were about – we wanted

would put them in the back of

Of course, it’s not as

that provenance, so that we

my car and drive to farm shops,

grown on the family farm,

straightforward as simply

could say it was grown and

delis and butchers and ask if

Duncan came up with a

coming up with a good idea.

pressed on the farm.

they would like to stock them,”

business idea to sell

Perhaps if the pressing and

rapeseed oil.

bottling had been outsourced

important to us – everything is

from humble beginnings with

it would have been much

done here in Britain.”

strong ethics, and although we

background knowledge of rapeseed already, and it was

“I studied agriculture at university and as part of my

easier, but for Duncan, it was

degree I did some research into rapeseed and I discovered that it is a

“Provenance is very

To put his vision into action,

have grown we are still a small

important everything was

he first needed a business plan,

business with the same ethics.”

done by them in Britain.

then a loan from the bank, and

“We were

such an attraction in the first

could think about

place?

“People love the taste of

and going into

rapeseed oil because it is not

production.

overpowering, unlike olive oil,

“I spent 18 months

which can be. And you can use

doing a business plan

it in cooking, as a dressing, for

because no one else in

roast potatoes, for baking cakes

Britain had done this

– it is so versatile,” he said.

before,” he recalled. “To do it all ourselves was a

FINE FOODIES JULY/AUGUST 2011

But why was rapeseed oil

that was all before he purchasing machinery

42

Duncan recalled. “We came

“And it has great health benefits; it has half the

big risk so I had to convince

saturated fat of olive oil and 10

the bank to give us a loan – I

times the omega 3 and it is in

managed to get a grant from

balance with omega 6. It also

the Government and without

has vitamin E, which is good

that the bank would never

for the skin.” FF