19 minute read
Food & Drink
by Simon Vernon
The wait is over for the producers who entered the ‘Oscars’ of the food industry, the Great Taste Awards; they finally know if they have been awarded one or more of the coveted stars.
Back in April the judging process started with over 12,000 products blind tested, judged to be one, two, or three star or no stars. The three * products were then judged at a later session to find the overall Champion. The Great Taste Awards were set up by Bob Farrand of The Guild of Fine Food, based in Gillingham, Dorset, in 1994 along with The World Cheese Awards. The baton has now passed to his son, John Farrand, with Bob still assisting, and are now the largest food awards in the world with all categories of food and drink assessed.
No, one, two or three stars?
The judging process is simple but rigorous and fair. The products are blind-tasted (to reduce recognition) by members of the food industry, for instance, producers, buyers, and journalists, initially each item is assessed by a table of three or four with positive comments to feedback to the producer, a grading is then applied of no, one, two or three stars. The products awarded stars will be passed around other tables of judges to get a balanced view from a greater number of palettes, this
increases the fairness of the system.
The golden fork
The three-star products are assessed again to select the regional winners, “The Golden Forks” and the Supreme Champion. This entire process takes four months with the results announced during the latter half of September each year. The awards have become the premier indicator of quality - a product having one of the GTA star labels on the packaging is a sure sign that it will be worth trying.
The Great Taste Awards judging in 2021 Writer and baker Martha Collison was a Greeat Taste Awards judge in 2021
by Simon Vernon, Food Consultant & Great Taste Awards Judge
Three local companies won a coveted Three Star award:
Capreolus Fine Foods in Rampisham have won TWO 3 star awards (and three two stars too): Venison and Pork Chorizo ‘Medium heat fermented Dorset chorizo handmade with wild venison and free range pork and authentic Spanish purple garlic, smoked Pimenton de la Vera flake and powder, sweet ancho chilli. Filled into a natural hog casing’
Dorset Soft Salami ‘A handmade Dorset fermented salami but soft & spreadable ambient pate style. Scoop out of casing spread on hot toast. Rounded flavour sweet hint of orange zest and paprika with notes of rosemary and juniper.
The Wasabi Company in Owermoigne have won for their Organic White Sesame Oil :
The Hollis Mead Organic Dairy in Corscombe won the cherished three stars for their Hollis Mead Organic Salted Butter (find it in a vending machine near you) ‘Pure and naturally sweet organic butter made from cows milked just once a day. Fed 100% on grass grown on our farm, using zero herbicides, pesticides, insecticides or artificial fertilisers. Churned on-site and hand-rolled, lightly salted.
‘A supreme delicately textured, bright, clear colour and wonderfully enticing flavour this is the epitome of fine organic sesame oil. Roasted and pressed by 4th generation experts.
The judges are made up of top chefs and restaurateurs who know their onions. People who run delis and farm shops, top food hall and retail buyers, acclaimed cooks, food writers and journalists, jam and cake experts from the WI, cheese makers and farmers. This diverse mix of judges ensures that every product is judged fairly and that nothing can slip through the net.
Local Two Star Awards:
• Wan Ling Tea House for Mei
Zhan Oolong Tea (plus a one star award) • Solkiki Chocolatemaker for
Sakura Cherryleaf 65% Dark
Milk Chocolate with Gran
Palo cacao (plus four ‘one star’ awards) • Semley Honey for Semley honey • Ajar Of for Spicy Tomato
Kasundi Chutney (plus a ‘one star’ award) • The Dorset Dairy Co. - no less than FOUR two star awards: Dorset Strained
Yoghurt - Whole Milk,
Dorset Dairy Cultured
Cream, Dorset Cultured
Butter - 2% salt and Dorset
Cultured Butter – Chilli
Edition (plus two one star awards) • The Real Cure Ltd won two stars for both Dorset Nduja and Fennel and White
Pepper Salami • Woodlands Dairy Ltd for
Woodlands Dairy Melbury
Cheese (plus a ‘one star’ award) • Madjeston milk station for their Double Cream (plus a ‘one star’ award) • Lyons Hill Farm for Prime
Aurox Beef Mince (plus two ‘one star’ awards)
Raspberry Crumble Bars
Ingredients (makes 12)
For the Base:
• 230g butter (or dairy free margarine) • 100g caster sugar (or granulated) • 1tsp vanilla essence/extract • 250g plain flour (can use gluten free plain flour) A Jar of raspberry jam (or any jam) for the middle layer.
For the topping:
• 100g oats (regular or gluten free) • 140g soft brown sugar • 80g plain flour (can use gluten free flour) • 120g butter (or dairy free margarine) • fresh raspberries (or any fruit) • Plus a little icing sugar and water to finish.
Method
1. Preheat the oven to gas 6 or fan 180º. 2. Line a 9″ x 13″ baking tin (approx 1″ deep) with baking parchment. 3. For the base – Melt the butter and then stir in the rest of the base ingredients until well combined. 4. Spread this sticky dough/paste on the bottom of the tin and bake in the oven for 15 minutes until the top is a little golden. 5. Whilst the base is baking, melt the butter for the topping and then mix in the rest of the ingredients (except the jam and the fresh raspberries). This will make a fairly crumbly mixture. 6. When the base is baked, carefully spread a good layer of raspberry jam across the base.
The base will be soft (and hot!) so you’ll need to be gentle so as not to crush the base too much (Tip: if you sort of blob the jam onto the base and wait for a few seconds, the heat will melt the jam slightly and that will make it easier for you to spread). 7. Sprinkle over the crumble topping to loosely cover the layer of jam. Add in a few fresh raspberries onto the crumble layer. 8. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until the top is golden brown. Leave to cool in the tin. 9. Once cool, gently take out of the tin and cut into pieces (I usually cut the edges off, but you don’t need to). 10. Make up a little water icing by mixing the icing sugar with a little water (you can add some extra vanilla here if you want to) and then drizzle across the top to finish.
“I have been so impressed with how the Hospitality industry has coped with the hugely busy summer - whilst they perhaps have a moment this month to catch their breath, many in the industry might be feeling the strain, physically and mentally. wThis is a great time of year to reach out to your favourite businesses and restaurants to say thank you; write them a great review, share their social media or book a table for a future date are all great ways of showing your support. If you work in the hospitality industry and you feel like you need some mental health support, then The Burnt Chef Project offer a number of ways that you can receive some free help. Visit their website at www.theburntchefproject.com or you can access their free, 24/7 support service by texting BURNTCHEF to 85258.
This month’s recipe is made using fresh raspberries and raspberry jam, but these can be easily substituted for more seasonal fruit like blackberries and plums. You can also switch out the flour for gluten free flour or butter for vegan friendly butter, making this bake very versatile.”
Heather Brown is a member of the Guild of Food Writers and a home economist with a passion for Dorset’s brilliant foodie scene. Heather runs Dorset Foodie Feed, championing Dorset’s food and drink businesses, as well as working with food industry clients.
Raspberry Crumble Bars image: Heather Brown
Meet Your Local: The Thimble Inn, Piddlehinton
Our regular column in which you discover the faces and stories behind the pub sign. This month we’ve been chatting to Emma-Jayne and Michal who run the Thimble Inn. How did you end up at The Thimble Inn?
Michal and I met working together at a large wedding venue & hotel in Somerset. After working long hard hours for someone else we decided to venture out on our own; Michal had been a cook for 28 years and had plenty of experience running busy kitchens, and I love to talk (!) so starting our own business seemed liked the obvious next step. We decided to approach Palmers - I grew up in a Palmers pub in Bridport and my mum spoke very highly of them. After our initial meeting with them, we narrowed our list of requirements down; we were looking for a busy pub with a thatched roof in a pretty village, with a large garden and one that already had a good reputation. The Thimble ticked all of those boxes!
Emma-Jayne Sweeting and Michel Trawicki took over The Thimble Inn two years ago.
Tell us about the last 18 months?
Luckily as owner operators we stayed open for takeaways at weekends - it was a strange but we quickly adapted to a new routine. The support we received was amazing! Friday night was our “pub classics” menu, dishes such as our Fish & chips, our Thimble Pie, Burger etc. Saturday night was our theme night, which we changed each week, the Mexican & American night were definitely the favourites! And then Sundays were all about the traditional Sunday lunch. Mothers Day and Valentines Day were incredibly busy, we fed way more people than we would ever have been able to fit inside the pub. Now that we are back to normal hours, business is busier than ever! We have more staff working for us than we have ever had before.
What’s your favourite local place to visit on an afternoon off?
We love to eat out, but sadly, like us most good establishments are closed on a Monday, so any spare time we do have is spent walking the dog... we love Puddletown Forest, it’s so pretty any time of year and we also love Thornecombe Woods. We also have great walks here in the Piddle Valley countryside which we discovered during our lockdown.
What part of the pub is your absolute favourite?
Our well is our favourite feature - when the pub’s extension was built the owners of the building at the time decided to make a feature and put a glass top on the well. Our guests love it!
What’s been your biggest challenge since taking over? What are you proud of?
Apart from covid, probably our biggest challenge is juggling family life with our working life. But that’s part of normal working life for anyone! The best thing to come out of our time at The Thimble so far is being featured in the Financial Times Magazine. Tim Hayward the FT food critic had a meal here in the summer and gave us a glowing review which we are extremely proud of.
So what’s next - do you have big plans on the horizon?
Which dish is your most popular?
We have just launched our brand new Autumn menu - it’s early days but people are loving our Hake dish. Its a Catalan stew with squid, mussels & prawns mixed with potatoes & chorizo. The feedback so far has been pretty good. At the moment we are taking each day as it comes, just making sure that we deliver good food, good drinks and good service to all our guests. Although Christmas will be fast approaching!
To book a table at The Thimble call 01300 348 270 or do it online here: www.thimbleinn.co.uk/
Blanchards Bailey are a Dorset based law firm specialising in commercial and private law. Recognised by the Legal 500 as one of the top firms in the south west.
A new way to help local food businesses
After a tricky couple of years, the team at Love Local Trust Local are so proud to be one of a reduced pool of business-orientated awards fortunate enough to be running in Dorset 2021, particularly when it comes to the food and drink sector.
It means so much to the team that we have been able to continue to shine a light on the smaller local food and drink producers who have worked relentlessly and somehow survived - and in some cases thrived - in what has been a difficult time for businesses and the public alike. And of course, this is the time that these small businesses need the support the most. No-one appreciates this challenge better than our fantastic sponsors, including the digital Blackmore Vale, who truly make these awards happen. Although the Love Local Trust Local Food and Drink Awards are free to enter, they are of course not free to run; which is where our sponsors have truly enabled these awards to continue. The Award partners hail from a variety of industries, and each have a unique connection to the Love Local Trust Local concern. One thing our fantastic sponsors all have in common, however, is their dedication and commitment to supporting local food and drink producers, pioneering local shopping and eating, and championing smaller businesses for their ultimate success. So who are they and why should we care?
Fellow Foodies
The food and drink producers who support our awards are, in some cases, winners or entrants of last years’ awards who really felt they benefitted from taking part. They wanted to be associated with the awards again, to not only raise the profile of their own business, but to help guide and support other local producers. Tracey at Dorset’s well-loved ‘A Jar Of’ and Shroton’s very own ‘Meggy Moo’s Dairy’ are both great examples of food producers who took part in our inaugural 2020 awards and wanted to continue helping the
local food and drink community to thrive. Add to that highly esteemed vinter, Langham Wine Estate, independent supermarket Dike & Son, Roberts Food Service and Caffe Delizia; a bevvy of successful Dorset food and drink businesses who know exactly what it takes to diversify and evolve to succeed in a competitive industry.
Professional Services
We really appreciate that the awards are also supported by a plethora of local and national professional services from insurance and trade body NFU Mutual Wessex, Damory Veterinary Clinic, Saffery Champness Chartered Accountants, Symonds & Sampson Estate Agents, Blanchards Bailey LLP, and Harbarn Developments. Each of these organisations are absolute champions of local produce, be it for business or personal reasons. This group of organisations are an absolute credit, not only when it comes to promoting the label and supporting the food and drink producers who come through our doors, but also in terms of the expertise they bring to the table – each organisation has worked with the farming and producing industry.
Farming Friends & Producers
Engaging fellow farmers in our plight is also critical to the success of both the awards and the Love Local Trust Local food label. Love Local Trust Local was in fact established in order to help better support the local farmers and producers, as well as educating the public on what they are really eating. Previously the industry has relied upon a limited small group of organisations who the team at Love Local Trust Local had learned were not all they were cracked up to be. Tarhinton Farms, home of the Great British Steam Fair, Chase Farming, Peggs Farm, Crib House Farm, Hemsworth Farm, Baskets & Blooms, and our very own Rawston Farm have been working with Love Local Trust Local to get behind the farmer in a genuine and authentic way. We’ve even started to roll out the Love Local Trust Local plaques, which our farming community have proudly chosen to display at their farm gates in a bid to pass the message on. Giving farmers and food producers a sense of support and belonging is a worthy task. Farmers are too busy (quite literally putting food on your table) to get out there and do it themselves – there are more critical tasks at hand!
The Best of the Rest
To round up our remaining sponsors yet unmentioned, Minster Furniture and Conyers Home & Country are a credit to the organisation when it comes to advocating shopping local, sourcing local and eating local. Our support from Kingston Maurward College allows us to help educate the up-andcoming farming and producing community, to help them fully understand the challenge that lies ahead when it comes to British farming and producing.
Love Local Trust Local welcomes sponsors and supporters from all industries, as well as fans and friends.
How to support us
To support the Love Local Trust Local Food and Drink Awards 2021, you can follow along on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, for all the latest news and updates. You can also pop on over to the Rawston Farm Butchery & Shop to purchase your ‘support LLTL’ tea towel or car sticker!
Gin there, done that
Gin is having a moment, with several craft producers here in the Blackmore Vale producing award-winning gins. But is the ‘gin thing’ all hype - or are there deeper reasons for wanting to produce the spirit?
Hannah Wilkins from Vineyards in Sherborne explained why she and her partner and co-owner Sadie created their own gin: “When I was young, my parents had a restaurant and you could smell when someone had a gin and tonic. When a mainstream producer cut the juniper content of their gin, I wanted to do something. Our ‘G’ Sherborne Gin contains double the amount of juniper as well as the 12 botanicals. It’s a proper gin.” Immediately, I’ve twigged why my mother took to serving an incredibly strong knockout G&T
Viper Gin is created in Cerne Abbas by Carl Hankey Sadie Wilkins (pictured) created ‘G’ Sherborne Gin with her wife and co-owner Hannah Wilkins
The Tack Room Distillery is based at Milton on Stour in an Equestrian yard
in recent years - she was clearly trying to recreate that distinctive smell but ended up with alcohol and not juniper – that was her excuse anyway. Known for making Sherborne smell of gin a couple of years ago, Hannah and Sadie also collaborate with local businesses to create their range of gins and liqueurs. The baked-apple sipping gin for example, is a partnership between Vineyards and Dorset-based Liberty Fields, and they also work together with the distilling process. Batches of 60 -100 bottles are produced at a time. ‘G’ also won a Great Taste Award in its first year of production.
Dorset-grown botanicals
Local provenance is a feature of Cerne Abbas based Viper Gin. Founder, Carl Hankey, was about to clear some long grass to grow his botanicals when he spotted a viper snake – and named the product in its honour. Carl produces gin from a copper still in small batches and grows many of his own botanicals including Szechuan pepper. The Viper Venom gin contains Dorset Naga chillis and the Viper Cherry Gin is made with local cherries for example. His award-winning Viper London Dry Gin contains 10 botanicals and the company plans to create more varieties of artisan gins.
Downton Gin just over the Wiltshire border has one of the most inspiring bottle designs I have seen (see right) - but like most people I’m more interested in the contents (for research purposes naturally). Appropriately, Explorer’s Gin is a nod to the past with inspiration taken from the Golden Age of Exploration and Sir Walter Raleigh; the gin is distilled in a shed that once belonged to Sir Walter himself. Western red cedar provides the principal undertone to Downton’s first gin. There is juniper too and Szechuan pepper among the botanicals, but it’s definitely got something. What’s really innovative is that you can buy recyclable refill packs from wine merchants and local shops.
James May’s gin
Downton Gin has also been helping James May create his first gin - using parsnip of all things. The gin is called Asian Parsnip Gin, and yes includes parsnips, but also lemon peel, lime, and several flavors of Asian influence along with the necessary juniper. It’s definitely both an unusual and an acquired taste. Two other gins have recently started production in the Blackmore Vale. Marnhullbased Mounter’s Gin uses 13
James May’s Asian Parsnip Gin is also distilled by the Downton Distillery. Downton Distillery, creaters of Explorer’s Gin, was born in the old barn at Downton Manor - once owned by Sir Walter Raleigh, who was gifted Downton Manor House by Queen Elizabeth I.
botanicals with former British Airways pilot Chris Sharp developing a floral taste to his product. Mounters 13 is already being recognised with a Guild of Fine Foods Great Taste Award. The Tack Room Distillery is based at Milton on Stour in an Equestrian yard and has recently started producing a small batch London gin with 14 botanicals. With its citrus taste, this is another local gin to watch - and has 100% recyclable packaging. Discovering gins in the Blackmore Vale has been a joy, but it also reflects a lot about the culture of working in this region. Local provenance, sustainability, protecting the environment and collaboration all shine through. And for those planning to stock up on drinks for the festive season - you can shop local and definitely still get a ‘proper’ gin.
Mounters Gin is a micro-distillery based in Marnhull. ‘Mounters’ were the Roman settlers in the area where Mounters Gin is produced
