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Archive for the ‘Food’ Category

The Cornish Pasty – Fame at last

Wednesday, September 1st, 2010

We have all seen the Cornish pasty in it’s many forms, with it’s various ingredients. Well, this may all be coming to a head now as Cornwall is seeking EU recognition for it’s most famous culinary export, except for Rick Stein of course. On the 14th July 2010, an application was made to secure Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) from the Europeans. Basically, this means that if they are successful, only pasties produced within the geographical area of Cornwall can be called a Cornish Pasty.

It does not stop there, the ingredients and method of production would also be controlled. This may finally finish the timeless argument once and for all … There are no carrots in a real Cornish Pasty.

Tags: Cornish, EU Protection, Pasty, PGI
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Seasonal favourites | The Blackberry

Tuesday, August 24th, 2010

The blackberry is one of the real gems of the hedgerow, up there with the sloe. Like any fruit, too much water can produce a soft tasteless berry and too little, will prevent them reaching their potential. It has a great range of use and is easily available to anybody willing to forage.

There are three safety points that need to be in mind when you go blackberry picking; brambles are sharp, always wash what you pick, watch out for cars. The good news about brambles, if they are yours, is that they can be cut back drastically after the blackcurrant harvest and they will stay down for most of the year.

After the picking, you have plenty of choices of what to do with your fruit. Blackberry gin, crumble, jam or a rich sauce to go with game, goose or duck. Some of you will have spotted that last sentence and asking why goose and game are not game. My definition of game is wild but the majority of goose and duck are farmed.

If you want to go a stage further with the sauce, you could sieve it and spoon, warm, over ice cream.

Tags: august, blackberries, blackberry, In Season, seasonal food
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Does science have a place in the kitchen? … We think so

Monday, August 23rd, 2010

It is one of those subjects that can drive people mad. Do we need ice cream made with liquid nitrogen or an egg white that could whip up to a bath filling foam? One of the true heroes of the scientific approach to cooking is Heston Blumenthal. At the Fat Duck, the mad professor of hospitality taunts us with his experiments and crazy concoctions. The real question is does this improve the taste and / or the experience of the food? Luckily the folks who professionally rate restaurants do not get carried away with the razamatazz. It’s these same inspectors who have given the thumbs up to Heston other molecular gastronomists including Ferran Adria in Spain.

Is science a new thing in the kitchen? Yes and No. New science is always new and that is commonly the gastronomic greatness that we see with the kitchen boffins. The No part goes back to medieval times and the means by which food was preserved or fermented. Science requires research and control to produce consistent results. This would have meant experimentation and testing on many foodstuffs we still have today; beer, wine, cheese, cured meats and dried harvest goods. Burton has a good example of this from the 12th century where monks produced beer. The abbeys and monasteries were home to scholarly behaviour as well as food and drink production.

Two ingredients used then are still used today in various household products, yeast and saltpetre. Without these two ingredients the evening pint or two and a bacon butty the next morning would be impossible. Order a meat feast pizza, I know it’s not British, but it is a good example of science in action. The base uses yeast, the salami is created with saltpetre (it kills bugs, especially the ones responsible for botulism) and dried oregano. Real corned beef, salted beef, uses saltpetre as a curing agent and this is a British product.

Anyway time to dabble with the blackpudding and treacle sorbet …

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Great British Food – 5 of the best cheeses

Tuesday, March 16th, 2010

When we talk about cheese in the UK, people often quote the rubbery white, yellow or orange stuff that was probably destined for turning into riot rounds. Given the lack of civil disturbance these days, we have to suffer low velocity hits to the head instead, by eating the stuff. Let’s put the record straight here, Great Britain now offers more choice of cheese than France. The base of much of the low opinion of British food goes back to the last war. Dairy supply was rationed and the Ministry of Food insisted that cheese production was limited to a few options that could be mass manufactured.

After rationing ceased and attitudes started to change, a small handful of craftsfolk started to rebuild the supply of traditional British cheeses. Europe took note of what we could do and through the efforts of governments working together, there is now recognition. Great Britain holds the highest EU status of Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) for 11 of it’s cheeses. This means that the manufacture of the product and the sourcing of raw materials are maintained within a set geographical area. Also the traditional production methods are set by law for the cheese to receive it’s official stamp of approval.

Within our immediate region, we have 5 of the 11; Buxton Blue, Dovedale, Staffordshire, Blue Stilton and White Stilton. The last two are limited to production in Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire alone. This leaves Staffordshire with 3 of the 11, Great British Cheeses. This may not sound much. The main reasons are that most British cheese makers have missed the boat on EU protection (Lancashire, Cheshire, most Cheddar etc), cannot afford the certification or don’t want to upset our continental cousins.

The most famous output of Burton, is beer, or the other stuff that comes after all the beer goodness has been taken out … love it or hate it. Beer is basically, please forgive me brewers, stuff from the field, put into tanks and mixed with bugs, warmed and left for a while. Cheese is basically, stuff from the field, put into the tanks and mixed with bugs as well. That is by no means derogatory, it’s science through and through. Someone in the 12th century in Burton, discovered how to mix water, grain and spores with alchemical accuracy to produce consistently, the beer we are famous for. Cheese is not much different and often produced by the same passionate artisans as the beer. It’s on your doorstep folks, time to discover Great, British produce.

Tags: artisan, british beer, british cheese, burton on trent, local food
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Say Cheese – Blacksticks Blue

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

This is a hand crafted cheese, produced from a local milk herd in rural Lancashire. It’s a soft textured, yellow coloured creamy cheese with a mild blueing. For those who want to try a blue cheese without being hit bit that strong, almost chlorine, smell, this is great. It still has an assertive flavour without being pungent and over powering.

Blacksticks Blue

The lovely yellowish colour comes from the addition of a natural ingredient called anato. Like many blue cheeses, Blacksticks Blue could be temperamental during it’s maturation, but with tender care from the cheese makers, the final product comes out spot on.

Tags: blacksticks, blue, british, cheese, lancashire
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Take 5 – Ingredients in a Great Sausage

Thursday, March 4th, 2010

1 Meat.
Now this is the gory bit that gets people thinking about whether a sausage is a by product of butchery or the reason for it. What I mean by this is, is the sausage there to mop up the waste or not. By law, a pork sausage has to 42% meat, after allowable fat and connective tissue content, this leaves about 19% recognisable lean meat. A premium sausage will be at least 73% meat. Pure meat is not a good thing as you will have a burger in a skin which is not pleasant.

Home made sausage

2 Fat.
Now I didn’t promise a totally healthy option here, this is a treat, but using the fat contained within the meat rather than adding meat is a bonus.

3 Rusk.
This is the other main texture in the sausage. It holds moisture and prevents the meat from becoming the all in one solid lump. Meat and rusk are two different products and don’t gloop together. In some sausages this is achieved by using bread crumbs.

4 Fluid.
Water, beer, wine or even fruit juices can be used to hydrate the rusk and give that delicious moistness that is essential in a good sausage. This is not about creating a slurry, far from it, this is a clear component and should be a sensual detection seperate from the meat and the rusk. The South African boerworst is a great example of this with a hefty glug of wine. From time to time, we use local beers as a flavour in their own right, a real celebration of Burton.

5 Casing.
This is the skin that hold the Great, British sausage together. Whether it is beef (tough), sheep (delicate), pork (in between) or collagen (all rounder), the casing creates the internal cooking environment of the sausage.

There are other ingredients such as spices and herbs which complete the flavour and texture of the sausage, but the real credit goes to the 5 above. All of these can be fantastic natural parts of the sausage jigsaw. A great sausage is just that, pride in ingredients and above all, British.

Tags: British food, home made, sausage
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What’s the beef about aged beef?

Thursday, January 28th, 2010

You will have difficulty looking at any decent menu these days without seeing the mention of aged beef. Why is it important and does it make a real difference? My own opinion, and I am known to have a few of those, is that if you see a steak knife alongside your steak, you’re going to need it. With an aged steak, this should not be the case, it should be soft easy to cut and easy to chew without the surgery beforehand.

When an animal is alive is relies on fibres in the muscles and the plumping of the various cells to move. Immediately after slaughter, the carcass will still be very close to this condition. This is the bright red meat you will see in packets in some supermarket fridges. The fibres are quite taut and the cell walls are still firm. The red colour is the young blood before the iron effectively starts to look rusty through contact with oxygen. As meat gets older, enzymes start to break down the connective tissues and this naturally softens the cut.

Aging does just this, by either the wet method or the dry method. Wet aging occurs in a sealed bag and after a few weeks the meat is a lot softer. This is a very convenient and safe way to age meat but nevertheless produces great results. The dry method sees the carcass, or at least a whole section of it stored at a certain humidity and temperature in very clean surroundings. A dry crust develops on the outside as it dries out. The loss of water causes a slight drop in weight, which in turn leads to a concentration of the flavour.

Gallaghers

Combing both of these techniques leads to the optimum flavour but sadly something that is rarely seen. On a stay in the United States I visited a restaurant called Gallaghers and they had their own aging room. This probably contained the equivalent of 1500 dry aging steaks, so it gives you an idea of how many they sell.
So next time you offered an “aged steak”, that is bright red not purple and accompanied by a steak knife you need to ask the waiter a question, “How long was this aged?”. If you are told it was longer than 3 weeks, then ask them if that was the time between it going in the freezer and coming out again.

Tags: aged beef, beef, dry aged, dry aging, wet aged, wet aging
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Local food, what’s all that about?

Wednesday, December 9th, 2009

If you think the reason for local ingredients is to cut down on the carbon footprint or the food miles, then you are at risk of missing the real point. Buying local food is mainly about sourcing produce within a community and to ensure quality. I know where my butcher gets his products from; the farmers and the breeds. We know the people who supply the veg, the cheese, the wine, the beer and all manner of other great produce. The key is the passion. No one can produce great food without talent or enthusiasm. If you have consistent quality in your ingredients, which is what seasonality is all about, then you are off the starting blocks at a great pace.

This is nothing new and certainly not a trend. In my grandmother’s generation, food was within walking distance and was fresh or rationed, one or the other usually. My grandad grew his own fruit and veg which came out of the ground when needed. Fruit got turned into preserves or pies and veg often got pickled if there was too much. One of the things I hated as a child was gooseberries, I now have 3 bushes planted in my garden, happy memories are truly beautiful things.

Britain has some great food traditions and many of these are linked to the use of products when they are at their best or to extend their life. Pies, sausages, jams and pickles are examples of truly delicious British dishes and they are a complete wow when they have been crafted by passionate artisans. None of these should be created as a means of getting the best out of poor ingredients.

Look at local and seasonal for what it should be rather than for conscience. There are numerous products out there with badges linked to guilt induced purchasing, but do you get a good product and do you know it’s true source? A friend of mine imports some of the best coffee in the world, he knows the region, the bean and the grower. How does he ensure quality and welfare? Easy, he goes and visits them to see for himself. Great food cannot come from cruelty or misery, it just does not translate into the final product. Food needs nurture and care and that comes from the growers and the farmers.

Another simple truth about local food is that you have to deliver the promised quality consistently or make good on your mistakes, your community will not forgive you otherwise.

Tags: artisan food, community, In Season, local food
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Local food on the road Part 2

Thursday, November 26th, 2009

This week I have had the pleasure of being in Bristol, a city in the midst of some very proud and capable food producers. Apart from some amazing local ciders and beers, there are cheeses, sausages and great meat. One of the highlights was visiting a pub were there are photos on the wall of one of the owners foraging for mushrooms, shooting and fishing. It’s moments like this that make you realise that the understanding of food does not start with removing the packaging, a few steps back in fact. Chefs, restraurateurs and guests would benefit amazingly from seeing food at it’s harvest or in it’s creation.

Going to a small scale artisan cheesemaker (Staffordshire Cheese) and seeing the process, is an eye opener. This is a craft and not something that can be done well by machine, even though it’s a very accurate process, there is touch and taste involved too. One of my colleagues got to mentioning about aged beef and that is pretty much the start of one of my rants about the mistreatment and the false economy is mass managed young beef and the tasteless results that a premature life of poor feed and bulking has produced.

You need great raw ingredients, a lot of skill and the right technique to produce a great finished product. Aged beef is no different, nor is smoked fish, quality sausages or artisan cheese. It was a pleasure to see many fine eateries in the city use Great local food, but most importantly understanding it. Local and seasonal mean you get the best, but it’s a fad or a gimmick if you don’t know where you are doing in the first place.

Tags: bristol, local food
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Local food – on the road

Thursday, November 19th, 2009

This week I am in Prague at a conference. One of the benefits of this kind of travelling is that you can spend some time playing tourist and checking what is in the bars and restaurants. I was determined to try and walk into the city centre, rather than missing the sights by using the metro. The thirty minute or so walk, was more than worth it, interesting buildings and finally the eateries.

Local food

The menu outside one place looked very promising, so I headed down the stairs into an old brick cellar. I ordered a starter which was advertised as a pickled cheese and then pork with sauerkraut and potato dumplings. This came out with a couple of local beers and was truly a great meal, though very hearty, the walk back would certainly be needed after finishing this.

Unfortunately, one of my fellow countrymen did not follow my lead, but ordered spaghetti carbonara. Sometimes I wonder

Tags: local food, playing tourist, Prague
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