Cardiff Urban Buzz

The charity Buglife launched ‘Cardiff Urban Buzz’ at the Chapter Arts Centre on 24 Nov 2015. Cardiff is one of eight cities across the UK that will receive funding over a total of three years (18 months each) within the Urban Buzz project, which aims to benefit both pollinators and people. Funded by a Biffa Award (from landfill tax), the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Garfield Weston Foundation and other organisations, depending on location, Urban Buzz will create pollinator habitats, such as wildflower meadows, and engage with a diverse range of people, groups and organisations. The project will provide volunteers with training and experience in the field of habitat creation, habitat assessment, and conservation practice.

Clare Dunham of Buglife welcomed us all to the launch event. She put the initiative into context, for example, its contribution to the Welsh Assembly Government’s Action Plan for Pollinators.

Urban Buzz is one of two projects involving Buglife that aim to benefit pollinating insects (mainly bees, but also other invertebrates such as butterflies, moths and beetles). The other project is B-lines, in which a network of wildflower-rich grassland corridors is being established through the countryside. This is a good example of landscape-scale conservation (see link below), and provides the ecological corridors linking biodiversity that are vital as habitats increasingly fragment and the climate changes. Such a system of B-lines is being planned for South Wales, along the lines of B-lines already created in the West of England as a result of a collaboration between Buglife and Avon Wildlife Trust.

At the Urban Buzz launch, Councillor Bob Derbyshire (Rumney, Cardiff) outlined the importance to Cardiff of the project, which will establish partnerships to enhance parks and gardens for wildlife in the city.

Michelle Bales of Buglife then reminded us of the importance of pollinators and provided more detail about Cardiff Urban Buzz. Urban areas provide an important refuge for pollinators, particularly bees, which are declining in the countryside due to loss of natural habitats, intensive farming practices and the use of pesticides. The decline in the total number and the number of species of bumblebees, honeybees and other pollinators are genuinely alarming, especially given that they are vital for the pollination of many food crops and a large amount of our native flora. One in every three mouthfuls of food, accordingly to statistics presented here, contains a food crop pollinated by insects.

In Cardiff, a local steering group will direct the Cardiff Urban Buzz actions; the group will include Buglife, Cardiff Council, the local Wildlife Trust, the National Museum Wales in Cardiff, Keep Wales Tidy and a range of local community groups. The project aims to create habitats for pollinators in partnership with local organisations. The overall goal is to create 100 habitat areas in the eight cities (25 ha per city), on both the small and large scale. This will include wildflower meadows, green walls, bee hotels, and other appropriate foraging and nesting sites for pollinator species. Engaging with a diverse range of people and organisations, to raise awareness and to get as many volunteers on board as possible, is an essential part of the project. Volunteers will be able to learn new practical skills through training workshops in habitat creation, habitat assessment, identification and monitoring. The project will provide tools and resources for habitat creation, and the capacity that will enable these local initiatives to carry on after the 18 months of the Cardiff Urban Buzz project.

Michelle pointed us in the direction of the project website – www.buglife.org.uk/urban-buzz/cardiff - where people can suggest sites for pollinator habitat creation or enhancement. These sites already include parks, Cathays Cemetery, river and lakeside areas, and allotments. Further along the line, there will be a public voting system to prioritise lines of action. This all helps create the sense of ownership necessary for the longevity of the project actions.

The next stage will be volunteer recruitment and the selection of sites, so visit the website or contact Michelle Bales (michelle.bales@buglife.org.uk) if you are interested or know a good as yet unsuggested site.

Julie Hughes, representing the Heritage Lottery Fund, gave the final short presentation. In south Wales, the Heritage Lottery Fund has funded numerous natural heritage projects, including two high profile projects: the Living Levels to promote conservation in the Gwent Levels and the Forgotten Landscape Partnership Project focused on the Blaenavon World Heritage Site (the wildlife value of coal spoil tips and brownfield sites are now starting to be recognised). The selection criteria focuses on what people consider important, and what will provide benefits to both nature and people. So far the Cardiff-based Heritage Lottery Fund Wales has distributed around £320 million to around 2,300 projects of widely-ranging sizes in Wales.

Selected previous posts on pollinators on this blog:

http://sfnottingham.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/nectar-point-networks.html

http://sfnottingham.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/nectar-point-networks-2.html

A news story I did on the ‘The Future of Landscape-scale Conservation in Europe’ meeting in Bristol (4-5 March 2015) for the EC LIFE Programme website:
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/life/news/newsarchive2015/march/index.htm#landscape-scale

See also:
http://www.buglife.org.uk
http://www.hlf.org.uk
http://bumblebeeconservation.org

In the archive at St Fagans National History Museum

Members of the Slow Food South East Wales Committee visited the archive at the St Fagans National History Museum this week, to look at the wealth of food and drink related material in the collection. We plan to make use of this material in upcoming Slow Food South East Wales events, for example, to give historical context to planned meetings that focus on particular topics, such as beekeeping or Welsh lamb.

The material in the archive includes films and photographs, index cards with recipes, taped audio interviews, and letters sent by the public describing their typical daily diet in the early 1960s. It all amounts to an invaluable resource, detailing knowledge of local food culture that is in danger of being lost.

Many of the films in the archive were given by BBC Wales and the commercial channel TWW (Television Wales and the West), at a time when these broadcasters did not usually keep their own documentary footage on tape. We watched a film about cider making in Monmouth in the 1960s; a film showing cockle harvesting on Llanrhidian Marsh, the cleaning and cooking process, and their journey to Swansea Market; and two that were filmed in one of the farmhouses on the St Fagans site that represent the only visual record of the preparation of traditional cake recipes.

The majority of the food-related material in the archive relates to the work of S. Minwel Tibbot at the National History Museum, who travelled throughout Wales in the 1970s interviewing the older generation of woman about their food memories. We listening to some of the tape recordings of interviews conducted by S. Minwel Tibbot, in which she obtained detailed information about traditional dishes. This information informed her classic books, including ‘Welsh Fare’ and ‘Geirfa'r gegin’. In one sound recording, conducted by S. Minwel Tibbott in 1971, Mrs Griffiths of Gwaelod-y-Garth describes how she made and sold two types of toffee (white and brown) from her home in Pentyrch at the beginning of the 20th century. In another recording, with Mrs Rogers in 1972, we hear about family recipes for peas pudding, parsley pie, Aunt Martha’s pudding, Granny’s pudding, nettle pop and mead.

The image library has a room of its own, with slides and photos mounted on card arranged by theme in filing cabinets. The archive has also amassed a large recipe collection, obtained through questionnaires, letters and handwritten recipes passed down through the generations. At this year’s St Fagans Food Festival in September, visitors were asked to contribute to this collection, by sharing their family recipes.

Look out for some of this material in the new galleries at St Fagans National History Museum, when they open after redevelopment, and at upcoming Slow Food South East Wales events.


Slow Food South East Wales currently has a stall at the Riverside Farmers’ Market in Cardiff (Sundays 10am-2pm), with a cook book swap and recipe advice.

To celebrate Slow Food’s Terra Madre Day on 10 December, Slow Food South East Wales will be holding an event in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Group, with a focus on honey and beekeeping.

In the spring, Slow Food South East Wales will be holding an event on a farm, where Welsh lamb takes centre stage.

I will forward on further info in a future blog post. In the meantime, you could follow @SlowFoodSEWales on Twitter.

Previous posts concerning Slow Food on this blog:

Slow Food South East Wales launches at St Fagans

http://sfnottingham.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/slow-food-south-east-wales-launches-at.html

Welsh products in the Ark of Taste

http://sfnottingham.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/welsh-products-in-ark-of-taste.html

Bringing Slow Food to South East Wales

http://sfnottingham.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/welsh-products-in-ark-of-taste.html

More on the St Fagans archives:

http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/curatorial/social-cultural-history/archives/

More on the extension at St Fagans:

http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/stfagans/makinghistory/

 

 

 

Welsh products seeking EU Protected Food Name registration

You may have seen recent articles in the national and regional media about British food and drink products seeking EU Protected Food Name status. There are currently 63 protected food names in the UK, and many more have been proposed - with the UK government wanting the number of protected British foods to increase to 200.

Here in Wales, for instance, nine products have been put forward for consideration: Carmarthen ham, Traditional Welsh Caerphilly cheese, Traditionally-reared Pedigree Welsh pork, Conwy mussels, Welsh laverbread, West Wales coracle-caught salmon, West Wales coracle-caught sewin, Traditional Welsh cider and Traditional Welsh perry. They will join products such as Halen Mon Anglesey Sea Salt, which was awarded EU Protected Food Name status last year.

This post gives a bit more background, than found in the mainstream media articles, about how these foods are considered by the European Commission (EC) for protected name status.

The system for the protection of food names on a geographical or traditional recipe basis in the EU dates from a piece of legislation in 1993. The EU Protected Food Name scheme was introduced to highlight regional and traditional foods whose authenticity and origin can be guaranteed. It encourages diverse agricultural production, protects product names from misuse and imitation, and helps consumers by giving them information concerning the specific characteristics of the products.

There are three marks (and logos) that can be awarded to regional and traditional products:
Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), which covers agricultural products and foodstuffs which are produced, processed and prepared in a given geographical area using recognised know-how;
Protected Geographical Indication (PGI), which covers agricultural products and foodstuffs closely linked to their geographical area (i.e. at least one key production stage takes place in the area); and
Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG), which highlights traditional character, either in the composition or means of production.

In Wales, for example, Welsh Lamb and Pembroke Early Potatoes have been awarded PGI status, while Anglesey Sea Salt was the first Welsh product to be awarded PDO status. The characteristic flavour of Welsh lamb arises from traditional breeds and extensive farming practices; early potatoes have long been grown in Pembrokeshire using a distinct method (e.g. leaving stones in fields to warm the soil); while sea salt, produced in Anglesey since Roman times, has a distinct appearance, flavour and mouthfeel compared to other salts.

If a product is successful in its registration under the scheme, it will be given legal protection against imitation throughout the EU. Inferior imitation products in Italy and Spain, for instance, had been using ‘Halon Mon’ on their labels – under the EU Protected Food Name scheme the producers of these can be prosecuted.  Registration also raises awareness of regional and speciality foods throughout Europe.

The UK government, through DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs), gives guidance on how to apply to register a product under the EU Protected Food Name scheme: https://www.gov.uk/protected-food-names-guidance-for-producers

Applications (based on a template supplied by the EC) can be put forward by groups of producers or individuals. The Caws Cenarth diary is applying through DEFRA, for example, to register Traditional Welsh Caerphilly. The submission, which is for PDO status, is the final stages of review and includes details of milk sourcing and the production process, a definition of the product’s chemical composition, and a history of Caerphilly cheese production in the area. These submissions are a good source of information about the food products: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/317278/welsh-caerphilly-specification.pdf

In the case of Carmarthen Ham (“an air dried salt cured ham made from pork legs”) the application is being made by Chris Rees and his family, who have handed down the recipe for five generations. You can read their application for PGI status here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/380562/carmarthen-ham-pgi-spec-141127.pdf

Selwyn's Penclawdd Seafoods in Llanmorlais, Swansea, is seeking PDO status for Welsh laverbread: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/388236/welsh-laverbread-spec-update.pdf

The Conwy Mussel Group submitted an application for protected name status for Conwy mussels: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/395767/conwy-mussels-prod-spec20150113.pdf

The application for traditionally reared pedigree Welsh pork, also in the final stages of review, is for TSG status: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/360526/traditionally-reared-pedigree-welsh-pork-specification.pdf

The Carmarthen Coracle and Netsmen’s Association are applying for PGI status for both West Wales coracle caught salmon and West Wales coracle caught sewin: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/256321/wwcc-salmon-spec.pdf
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/256322/wwcc-sewin-spec.pdf

Meanwhile, the Welsh Perry and Cider Society Limited, representing 44 producers and based in Newport, is applying for PFO status for both Traditional Welsh cider and Traditional Welsh perry:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/339507/welsh-cider-pdo.pdf
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/339508/welsh-perry-pdo.pdf

There is also an amendment to an application for Welsh beef (PGI status) in the system:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/278748/welsh-beef-pgi.pdf

At the national level, an application dossier compiled by the submitting producer group or individual is assessed by DEFRA. This is subjected to a national opposition procedure, giving other organisations or individuals an opportunity to query the application. All valid applications are then sent to the European Commission for assessment. The relevant EC committee first looks at each application to see if it complies with the relevant legislation, primarily four EC Food Quality regulations. This process can take up to six months, after which applications are either rejected or published in an EU Official Journal. From this, an EU-wide opposition procedure starts whereby objections from other producers or individuals can be made over a three-month period. If any objection is made, there is a two-month period for deciding on the validity of objections. Finally, successful applications are registered under the scheme as a protected food name.

There can be big economic benefits to having regional food names protected. The Welsh Government, for example, is promoting the country as a food tourism destination; so a greater number of recognised regional specialities is desirable. In other parts of the UK, similar economic benefits could occur, for example, in Birmingham’s Balti Triangle if Birmingham Balti is successful in getting TSG status within the EU Protected Food Names scheme.

The Protected Food Name scheme is a continuous process, so not all the decisions are reported at once. You can search the EC DOOR database ("Database Of Origin & Registration") to find how each application for EU Protected name status is doing (Applied, Published or Registered): http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/quality/door/list.html

I will report back at a later date with some analysis on the outcomes of the above applications.

The two year old Community Garden and the six year old Community Gardener

The Nightingale Community Garden in Dinas Powys is in its second year, having opened in April 2013. I have been posting regular updates since the garden was on the drawing board, and include a chronological index of posts below for newcomers to this strand.

I also include some photos taken last week (hard to believe this was a weed-infested abandoned play area and the focus for anti-social behaviour just a few years ago) and report on some great news concerning one of our youngest gardeners.

The largest plot in the garden was allocated to a group of families from Dinas Powys Infants School. Through this, organiser Angela Peterken and the five families involved introduced at least eight children (and their friends) to the joys of communal gardening.

One of those young people, who grew his first plants in the Community Garden, was a finalist in this years Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Young Gardener of the Year Awards. Dan Tailby (now aged 6) and his family went to the RHS Garden Wisley in Surrey for the prize-giving ceremony on Saturday 5 July 2015. He was one of four finalists in his age group. Although he did not win the overall prize, the decision was said to be very close and the judges want to keep in touch with him.

This is Dan in a story in one of our local papers:

The judges were impressed with the 5-minute video filmed at Nightingale Community Garden, with Dan, his family, Angela and others. They're our beans forming a backdrop to his interview! The video can be found on Dan's page on the RHS website:

https://schoolgardening.rhs.org.uk/Competitions/school-gardeners-of-the-year/School-Gardener-of-the-Year-2015-Results/Young-School-Gardener-Daniel-Tailby

This highlights the success of the garden and how community gardens in general can inspire children and bring families together to grow their own food.

Timeline for Nightingale Community Garden, Dinas Powys:

Jan 2012
http://sfnottingham.blogspot.com/2012/01/creating-community-garden.html
The initial idea and looking for funding

Feb 2012
http://sfnottingham.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/creating-community-garden-2.html
The involvement of Creative Rural Communities and the first plan for the site

Aug 2012
http://sfnottingham.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/creating-community-garden-3.html

Oct 2012
http://sfnottingham.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/creating-community-garden-4.html
Funding in place and residents are briefed on progress

Jan 2013
http://sfnottingham.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/creating-community-garden-5.html
Work starts clearing the ground

Feb 2013
http://sfnottingham.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/creating-community-garden-6.html
The building contractors on site

March 2013
http://sfnottingham.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/creating-community-garden-7.html
Topsoil is spread and the first garden visit occurs

April 2013
http://sfnottingham.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/creating-community-garden-8.html
The plots are marked out and allocated, the first plants go in

June 2013
http://sfnottingham.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/creating-community-garden-9.html
Photos of the garden flourishing in its first year

Sept 2013
http://sfnottingham.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/creating-community-garden-10.html
The official opening of the community garden, with guests including Jane Hutt AM and Derek Brockway

May 2014
http://sfnottingham.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/creating-community-garden-11.html
Progress report a year after opening – a highly productive local food growing area

July 2014
http://sfnottingham.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/nightingale-community-garden-links-up.html
The Community Garden links up with the local food bank – to supply fresh food to supplement the basic food bank boxes

 

Slow Food South East Wales launches at St Fagans

The new Slow Food group for South East Wales (Slow Food Y De-Ddwyrain) launched in style at St Fagans yesterday (6 June), as the wider movement celebrated Slow Food Week (1-7 June).

Mark Richards, Director of Operations at National Museum Wales, welcomed everyone to the Slow Food marquee at St Fagans National History Museum (Cardiff). He noted the Museum’s research in preserving the memory of traditional Welsh food culture, exemplified by Minwel Tibbott’s role in collecting information about food from across Wales in the 1970s; the maintenance of rare animal breeds and heritage varieties (e.g. Welsh Mountain Sheep and Carlin peas) on the Museum’s farm; and how the new £26 million expansion of St Fagans will provide exhibition space for raising awareness about traditional Welsh food culture.

Slow Food South East Wales Chairperson Mark Adams spoke about the objectives of Slow Food, which include the Ark of Taste directory in support of disappearing regional foods, the promotion of small producers of foods traditional to their areas, and educating people about food production and cooking. Mark noted that the new Slow Food group was already starting activities to further a number of key Slow Food objectives.

Mark introduced Jane Hutt AM (below), the Assembly Member for the Vale of Glamorgan and Minister for Finance in the National Assembly government. She welcomed the launch of the fifth Welsh Slow Food group, saying it now gives people throughout Wales the opportunity to participate in a grassroots movement that promotes local and sustainable food production and provides a means of reaching politicians regarding local food issues. She noted several areas of Welsh Government policy that particularly coincide with the principles of Slow Food, such as the free breakfast schemes for schoolchildren (e.g. no extra sugar allowed), the Sustainable Food City initiative for Cardiff, the Well-being of Future Generations Act, and the Food Tourism Strategy Action Plan (Food Tourism being defined by the Welsh Assembly as “any activity that promotes a high-quality, distinctive, local and sustainable food experience…”). Jane Hutt concluded by commenting that, given the convergence of objectives, Wales should aim to become a Slow Food nation.

Geoff Andrews (below), author of ‘The Slow Food Story: Politics and Pleasure’ (Pluto Press, 2008), talked about the origins and history of the Slow Food movement and how its once marginal ideas have become mainstream. Members of the Cardiff, Vale & Valleys Beekeepers talked us through some basic beekeeping, while Joanne Tarling of Love Food Hate Waste gave some useful tips about reducing food waste (e.g. using left-overs and getting portion sizes right), and how this can save you money (up to £60 a month). Liz Torbin of ViVino wines of Hirwaun talked about how the company imports wine from small Spanish producers who do not use pesticides or additives in wine production.

Carol Adams, Secretary of Slow Food South East Wales, gave an introduction to the Ark of Taste. This was followed by a presented on South Wales Mountain Sheep (also called Nelson South Wales Mountain Sheep) by Glyn Davies, Secretary for this livestock breed's association. One of the first projects of the new Slow Food group is to work to get the South Wales Mountain Sheep aboard the Slow Food Ark of Taste. Although ewes of this breed are popular as cross-breeding animals, only about 25 to 30 people are involved in keeping the breed pure. Financial support for this heritage breed was recently lost from a European scheme. Ark of Taste status could help in finding alternative means of support, so the breed can continue to be traditionally farmed in its area of origin.

Around 15 local small-scale food and drink producers from South East Wales, who embrace Slow Food principles, supported the launch, and their products helped to illustrate what the Slow Food movement is all about.

Penrhiw Farm is a family-run business that produces and sells organic Welsh meat, including lambs from South Wales Mountain Sheep and the pedigree Welsh Pig that is already included in the Ark of Taste.

 

Another Welsh Ark of Taste product, artisan Caerphilly Cheese could be found on the Penylan Pantry stall, alongside other cheeses produced by small-scale producers in the South East Wales area. Alongside them, the Boragouiner Bakery (Canton, Cardiff) had soda bread and sourdough loaves, made using Welsh heritage wheat varieties, as well as Halen Môn Welsh sea salt.

The Llantwit Major micro-brewery of Rolant Tomos and Rob Lilford (Tomos a Lilford) was representative of small-scale local beer production in the area. Coaltown coffee roasters import beans from small farms around the world. Dan Reed of Chilli of the Valley currently grows 88 varieties of chilli in a greenhouse near Merthyr Tydfil and produces a wide range of chilli sauces from them. To cool the tongue after sampling those, there was ice cream from Mari (Melin Iâ) of Penarth with innovative flavours, such as sweet fennel fudge. There were homemade jams, curds and chutneys made by Clare Williams of Penylan Preserves, and Hangfire had a range of BBQ sauces. Gluten-free pies could be snapped up from GP Uprising, raw chocolate products were available from Coco-Caravan, while Lia’s Kitchen was selling pies made using herbs from the Riverside Market Garden, an organisation that was promoting its vegetable box scheme at the event.

Nicola Lewis explained the 'reach4food directory', an initiative of the rural development programme in Bridgend, which is primarily aimed at cafes and the hospitality industry and lists local food producers and details about their produce.

With Children’s Activities, plus loud artillery bangs from the civil war re-enactment in the next field, and a wonderful atmosphere throughout the day, this was a very successful launch for Slow Food South East Wales. I’ll keep you posted as we plan our first projects, activities and other events.

Previous posts on Slow Food:
Welsh products in the Ark of Taste
http://sfnottingham.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/welsh-products-in-ark-of-taste.html

Starting Slow Food South East Wales

http://sfnottingham.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/slow-food-south-east-wales-launches.html

 See also:

The pork at St Fagans
http://sfnottingham.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/from-farm-to-fork-pork-at-st-fagans.html

Let’s Eat Insects: The Pestaurant visits Cardiff

This week (Wedn 3 June), the pop-up ‘Pestaurant’ arrived in Cardiff for the first time. Many insects were eaten by the curious shoppers on Queen Street, who learnt a bit about the benefits of entomophagy.

In a previous post (link below), I summarised some information on the widespread consumption of insects around the world, such as the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation data that shows over 2 billion people worldwide supplementing their diet with insects. It is only a novelty to eat insects in countries like the UK.

There are many benefits to consuming insects as a source of cheap protein (e.g. high protein content, low calorie food), particularly in terms of environmental impacts. For example, cattle require twelve times more feed to produce the same amount of protein as crickets, and they need way more water: 150g of beef needs 3,250 litre compared to about a pint for that amount of insect protein.

The pop-up Pestuarant is an initiative of Rentokil (“The Experts in Pest Control”). Their first Pestuarant sprang up in August 2013 in London, serving pigeon burgers as well as edible insects, such as curried crickets. They have popped-up in many places since. Cardiff’s Pestuarant was part of Rentokil’s ‘Global Pestaurant Day 2015', with around a dozen Pestuarants popping-up across the world.

Special guest at the Cardiff Pestaurant was Andrew Holcroft, founder and head chef of Grub Kitchen (“Eat insects – feed the world”). He is on a mission to promote insects as a sustainable foodstuff and to put insects on the menu in the UK. The Grub Kitchen will be opening later this year, just outside St David’s in Pembrokeshire, where it will be offering a full menu of insect dishes.

On Queen Street, Andrew served up ‘Cumin toasted crickets with wild garlic hummus’ canapes, which once you got past the initial hesitation were very good. I went back for more (photo below).

His other speciality on the day was ‘Cricket, Nutella and peanut butter cookies’. This protein-enriched cookie (5-10g protein) is made by replacing a proportion of the flour in the mix with ground cricket powder. The photo above is of Andrew serving up his cookies.

In the Grub Kitchen, Andrew is experimenting, and coming up with new edible insect dishes. So far, his signature dishes include Bug Burgers, Sago Worm Pad Thai Curry, and Cricket Kofta Kebabs. He says he is even thinking of doing a bit of insect molecular gastronomy. You never know, it could become a top foodie destination!

Andrew has to source human food grade insects from abroad, but he says he will be looking to get the proper certification to rear his own insects for the Grub Kitchen. His kitchen operates on ‘Dr Beynon's Bug Farm’, a science education and insect research centre.

Rentokil supplied a range of home-made snacks and novelty edible insect products sourced from the USA. ‘Salt & vinegar crickets’ were one of the better offerings, as the flavour enhanced a slight ‘prawny’ aftertaste (reminding you that this is not that far removed from eating crustaceans). The locusts and crickets worked reasonably well with Mexican spice and curry flavours, though I didn't rate the mealworms in any combination. Some of this would make great novelty party snack food. The plain roasted locusts and crickets were a bit bland.

Chocolate-dipped bugs, and scorpion lollipops and brittle, were at the far end of the insect as novelty food market, and were given away with Rentokil “I survived the Pestaurant challenge” badges. A little at odds with the Grub Kitchen’s promotion of edible insects as a serious food option, but it meant there was something here for everybody. Nearly everyone I saw had no problem tucking into the edible insects. I think that is a big change from the reaction such a stall would have received even a decade ago.

Introduction to eating insects:
http://sfnottingham.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/lets-eat-insects-introduction.html

Rentokil Pestaurant page:
http://www.rentokil.co.uk/pestaurant/

Dr Benyon’s Bug Farm:
http://www.drbeynonsbugfarm.com/

Grub Kitchen – coming soon!
http://www.grubkitchen.co.uk/

 

Slow Food South East Wales official launch on Sat 6 June at St Fagans

The new Slow Food group, Slow Food South East Wales (Slow Food Y De-Ddwyrain), will be holding its official launch event on Saturday 6 June at St Fagans National History Museum, from 11am to 4pm. The event will take place in The Marquee near the Abernodwydd Farmhouse at the Museum, which is located four miles west of Cardiff City Centre (just off the A4232: CF5 6XB).

The event is free and everyone is welcome to come and find out more about the Slow Food movement, and how this new local Slow Food group is championing local food producers and the traditional foods of the area. A fun day has been planned, with Slow Food and Drink producers from the area, food talks, children’s activities and more.

Slow Food is a global, grassroots organisation with supporters in over 150 countries around the world that promotes good, clean and fair food for everyone. That is, good food that is fresh, flavoursome, seasonal and part of the local culture; that is produced in a way that is not harmful to the environment, animal welfare or human health; and that is produced through fair conditions and pay for producers and accessible prices for consumers.

Local Slow Food groups work to raise people’s awareness about the food they eat and where it comes from, by supporting and promoting local food and drink producers and eateries, safeguarding endangered local foods (e.g. rare breeds and heritage vegetable varieties) and cooking traditions, and teaching the pleasure of good, clean and fair food.

At the event at St Fagans there will be a Slow Bar, stocking bottles from local producers, including craft beers from Tomos a Lilford (Llantwit Major) and wine from Spanish wine importers ViVino wines (Aberdare).

There will be around 15 food stalls, promoting a range of distinct local products and flavours. These will include a Hangfire BBQ sauce stall, the Welsh Coffee company, the Baragouiner bakery, Penylan Pantry (cheese), Trealy Farm, Penrhiw Farm (organic meat), Lia's Kitchen (pies), the Riverside Market Garden, homemade ice cream, gluten-free savoury goods, and the Cardiff beekeeping society.

A series of interesting talks throughout the event will include Geoff Andrews on his book 'The Slow Food Story', Liz Torbin on Slow Wine, Rhodri Powell on bees, Glyn Davies and Carol Adams on proposing a new Welsh product for the Slow Food Ark of Taste, and Joanne Tarling on the activities of Love Food Hate Waste.

Jane Hutt AM will be there to help open proceedings and to officially launch the new Slow Food group.

For further information on the event, contact: secretary@slowfoodssoutheastwales.org.uk

St Fagans is open 10am-5pm daily. For further information, visit the website: http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/stfagans
 

Previous posts on Slow Food:

http://sfnottingham.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/welsh-products-in-ark-of-taste.html

http://sfnottingham.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/slow-food-south-east-wales-launches.html

 

Let’s Eat Insects: Introduction

In addition to writing about Slow Food this year, I am here starting a new series of posts on edible insects.

According to the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), there are more than 1,900 insect species consumed as food worldwide. These edible insects are mainly beetles (order Coleoptera); butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera); bees, wasps and ants (Hymenoptera); grasshoppers and crickets (Orthoptera); termites (Isoptera); true bugs (Hemiptera); and cicadas (Homoptera). At least 250 insect species are consumed in Africa, 549 in Mexico, 180 in China, and 160 in the Mekong area. In addition, a number of insect species are eaten in Japan, especially wasps, and a few in Australia.

The FAO estimate that around 2 billion people around the world eat insects as part of their normal diet. Yde Jongema, a taxonomist of the Laboratory of Entomology of Wageningen University in the Netherlands, has compiled a comprehensive list of edible insects (see link below).

The first international conference on insects for food was held in Wageningen in May 2014, with participants from over 45 countries attending. This conference highlighted the great potential of insects for human food and animal feed. Insects have a good nutritional quality and they can provide a much cheaper source of protein, with a much lower environmental impact, than many current farming practices.

In Europe, there is much less of a tradition for eating insects (entomophagy) than in Mexico or Asia. The big challenges are raising awareness and changing perceptions, and establishing high-tech mass-rearing facilities, mainly for livestock feed and aquaculture but also to supply the increasing demand for insect protein in the human diet.

Here in Wales, we are getting out first taste of edible insects this year, through a Mexican dish that has been served in Wahaca in Cardiff, and via Grub Kitchen in Pembrokeshire.

Wahaca was founded by Thomasina Miers with the goal of bringing a more street-food orientated Mexican cuisine to the UK. Insects, sustainably farmed in Mexico and specially imported, were first served in Wahaca’s flagship Covent Garden (London) restaurant. Wahaca opened in Wales for the first time in St David’s in Cardiff city centre late last year, and one of the street food specials available earlier this year was ‘Chapulines Fundido’ - a dish made using crickets.  The crickets are fried with onions and chillies to create a brown tapenade-style paste, which is smothered with melted cheese; the dish was accompanied by corn tortillas. The crickets give this dish a nutty/smoky flavour. Its novelty value made it a popular choice, but it also helped shift perceptions about what eating insects is all about. There was no obvious insect parts on the plate, just a nutritious, flavoursome and sustainably produced protein ingredient.

There are 13 edible insect products in the Slow Food ‘Ark of Taste’. We will look at them all in another blog post. Of the 5 from Mexico, one is the Chapulines described above, and another is Chicatana flying ants. These were featured in a recent BBC Radio 4 ‘The Food Programme’ spot on Ark of Taste products. In this programme, Thomasina Miers described how the ants were collected, prepared and used in traditional Mexican dishes. There is a link to the programme below.

Grub Kitchen, near St David's in Pembrokeshire, meanwhile, is planning to serve a whole menu based on insects in its restaurant. Owner and Head Chef Andrew Holcroft is adapting and devising dishes for the British market, including bug burgers, cricket kofta kebabs, bug burritos, Mexican red Chapuline grasshoppers, and even bamboo worm fudge ice cream. Andrew is a keen advocate of insects as a sustainable source of protein, and hopes they can be mainstreamed into the British diet within 10 to 15 years. Grub Kitchen, the first UK insect restaurant, is the first step to achieving this goal.

Grub Kitchen is associated with ‘Dr Beynon's Bug Farm’, a science attraction run by entomologist Dr Sarah Beynon where edible insect dishes can be sampled. Bug Kitchen are taking their educational show on the road to festivals and schools this summer. They are also looking to ‘pop up’ to serve you a selection of edible insect dishes - I'll report on that in my next ‘Let’s Eat Insects’ posting!

Links and references:

FAO data on edible insects:
http://www.fao.org/forestry/edibleinsects/84627/en/

List of insects eaten worldwide compiled by Wageningen University (the pdf list can be downloaded here; but beware before printing - it runs to 79 pages):
http://www.wageningenur.nl/en/Expertise-Services/Chair-groups/Plant-Sciences/Laboratory-of-Entomology/Edible-insects/Worldwide-species-list.htm

BBC Radio 4 ‘The Food Programme: The Ark of Taste’: Dan Saldino talks to Thomasina Meirs about Chicatana flying ants:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02r7pqs

Andrew Holcroft of Grub Kitchen talks to BigHospitality:
http://www.bighospitality.co.uk/Business/UK-s-first-insect-restaurant-opening-this-summer

SlowFood posts:

http://sfnottingham.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/slow-food-south-east-wales-launches.html

http://sfnottingham.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/welsh-products-in-ark-of-taste.html

Welsh products in The Ark of Taste

The Ark of Taste is SlowFood’s catalogue of disappearing local food culture. On board The Ark are breeds of domesticated animal, cultivated plants, and artisan food products and techniques, all in need of recognition and protection to prevent them from disappearing.

Many local products and traditional production methods have suffered due to competition with cheaper, mass-produced, year-round-imported food items, such as those mainly sold in supermarkets. Farmers, producers and restaurant owners are fighting back by promoting local food systems based on heritage breeds and varieties, sustainable and seasonal production, local food sourcing and regional cuisine.

The Ark of Taste brings together small-scale, quality food production from diverse cultures and traditions worldwide. It draws attention to the existence of an extraordinary heritage of animal breeds, fruit and vegetable varieties, fish and seafood resources, cheeses, breads, and numerous artisan products, all of which are at risk of extinction within generations given present trends. Administered by the SlowFood Foundation for Biodiversity, it invites everyone to take action to help protect the items in The Ark. This can involve buying and consuming artisan products, supporting their producers, or taking part in various campaigning initiatives.

The Ark of Taste currently (25 April 2015) has 2431 products on board from all around the world (see http://www.slowfoodfoundation.com/ark).

For a taster of these, ‘The Food Programme’ on BBC Radio 4 is currently featuring stories of some Ark of Taste products (e.g. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02pdjh9).

On board The Ark are 83 products from the UK.  These are mainly rare animal breeds (21); artisan cheeses from specific localities (10); localised fish and shellfish (10); fresh fruit and dried fruit products, including nuts (11); and vegetables (9). Also included are cured meat products, cereals and flour, baked products, spirits, pulses, seaweed (dulse) and honey. Further details of these 83 products are given on the SlowFood UK website (http://www.slowfood.org.uk/ff-products/).

There are currently 5 Welsh products (6%) among the 83 UK products in The Ark of Taste: a cheese, two animal breeds, a rare apple variety, and a seafood. The following information on these products is mainly gleaned from the SlowFood UK website:

1. Artisan Caerphilly Cheese
Traditional Caerphilly is a hard, crumbly white cheese, with a short maturation period, made using unpasteurised milk. It has long been produced by hand, on small family-run farms, as a means of using and preserving surplus milk. When sold in local markets, it was typically in the form of 5 or 10 lb truckles. From the 1830’s onwards, it became associated with Caerphilly because of its popularity among the town’s mining community.

Today, it is in competition with a very different young cheese product, also called Caerphilly, which is mass-produced using pasteurised milk and sold more cheaply in supermarkets. Traditional Caerphilly cheese is now produced by only a limited number of creameries in South Wales, such as Caws Cenarth. A small quantity of aged Caerphilly is also available from artisan producers.

2. Badger Face Welsh Mountain Sheep
The Badger Face Welsh Mountain Sheep is a low-maintenance Welsh mountain breed. It has two sub-types, both being relatively small and hardy: the Torddu (black belly) and Torwen (white belly). This breed produces milk, wool and high-quality meat having an excellent flavour. Although a very old breed, it was first officially recognised in 1976, when a small group of farmers in mid Wales, who were breeding the sheep, formed the Badger Face Welsh Mountain Sheep Society.

Pedigree flocks are relatively small and mostly kept by smallholders for their unique characteristics. They are slow to mature. Small-scale producers, such as Hebsnbadgers and Llwyn-on, are promoting it as a Slow Meat product.

3. Bardsey Island Apple
A medium-sized, sweet and juicy, pink eating apple with a unique lemon aroma, the Bardsey Island Apple is a very rare variety. The mother tree grows by a house built by Lord Newborough in the 1870’s on Bardsey Island, where it is continually ‘pruned’ by salt-laden gales.  The trees produced by grafting from it are resilient and disease-resistant, requiring no chemical spraying.

The SlowFood UK website relates how, in 1998, ornithologist Andy Clarke brought several apples from the tree to local fruit grower Ian Sturrock for identification. He, in turn, took them to the National Fruit Collection in Brogdale, where the Bardsey Island Apple was declared a new variety. The variety is grown by Ian Sturrock & Sons of Bangor and other small-scale producers in North Wales, where it has spearheaded a resurgence of interest in old and almost extinct Welsh Varieties.

4. Pedigree Welsh Pig
The Welsh Pig was first referenced in the 1870’s, and the Welsh Pig Society (formed 1922) played an important role in increasing numbers and developing its commercial characteristics. The pig is white with lop ears, a curly tail, and a long body. It is hardy and thrives in both indoor and outdoor conditions. The breed has a traditional pork flavour, and produces high-quality, well-developed hams, with a desirable ratio of meat (70%) to fat (30%). Although it has characteristics that could be of valuable to the modern pig industry, numbers have continued to decline due to competition with commercial breeds. Small producers, such as Kilvrough Welsh Pigs on the Gower, rear Pedigree Welsh Pig non-intensively.

5. Penclawdd Cockles
Penclawdd Cockles are removed from the low-tide sands of the Burry Estuary, near Swansea, by pulling a flat cart (once by donkey, now a tractor) with a metal scrape to expose them for hand-picking. A government decree in 1965 only permits licensed gatherers to take cockles, within limited quotas.  They are sold at local markets, either boiled and peeled or untreated. The cockle industry in Penclawdd has suffered due to water pollution and mismanagement of stocks, though there has been a recovery in recent years.

Many of the traditional products in The Ark of Taste have helped shape local cuisine. Protecting these products helps preserve the recipes, knowledge and history surrounding them, which may also be at risk of being lost.  This is certainly true of Penclawdd Cockles. ‘Welsh breakfast’ is a traditional local breakfast that includes cockles fried in bacon fat, laverbread and fried eggs, for instance, while the Swansea Cockle Festival is celebrated every September.

In ‘The Taste of Britain’ (2006, HarperPress), Laura Mason and Catherine Brown explored the traditional foods of Britain. The section on Wales includes further information on Caerphilly Cheese, Welsh Mountain Sheep, Penclawdd Cockles and other traditional foods closely identified with parts of Wales, including Glamorgan Sausage, Laverbread, Sewin (sea trout), Welsh Black Cattle, Aberffraw Cake, Welsh Cakes and Teisen Lap (fruit cake).

By this point, you will have realised that there is room in The Ark of Taste for many more products of the type described above, from countries all around the world, which would benefit from inclusion.

One of the many aims of the newly-established SlowFood South East Wales group (see links below) is to research and identify further Welsh products for potential inclusion in The Ark of Taste.

Previous posts on Slow Food in South East Wales:

http://sfnottingham.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/slow-food-south-east-wales-launches.html

http://sfnottingham.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/slow-food-in-cardiff.html

Slow Food South East Wales launches

New Slow Food® group launches - Slow Food South East Wales / y De-ddwyrain

A new Slow Food UK group has started in Wales: Slow Food South East Wales / y De-ddwyrain. This is the fifth group to open in Wales, with the others being in Llangollen, Dyfi Valley, Carmarthenshire and Anglesey (Dros-y-Fenai). People in South East Wales will now have an opportunity to participate in a wide range of Slow Food activities, such as meetings with guest speakers, campaigns on specific issues, awareness-raising programmes, and diverse events.

Slow Food is about helping people think differently about food. In the UK, Slow Food works to reconnect people with where their food comes from, so they can better understand the implications of the choices they make about what they put on their plates. The aim is to encourage people to choose nutritious food from sustainable and local sources, which tastes great. Slow Food is a non-profit organization, supported by members and donations.  

Mark Adams, Group Leader of Slow Food South East Wales said: “I am very happy that we have been able to form a Slow Food group in the area. These days the food market is dominated by multi-national corporations offering highly processed, multi-ingredient products as opposed to simple wholesome food. Add to this the lack of food education and we are seeing the loss of traditional cooking skills along with some of our unique native breeds.”

He adds: “Our aim in forming the group is to help people understand the impact that their choices in food can have on them, their families and the environment. We want to promote the importance of ‘local’ and help protect our culinary traditions and regional food products. Ultimately we want everyone to have access to good, clean and fair food.”

Carol Adams, founding member and Secretary of the group says: “We are a young group but have a strong committee comprising of local food and drink producers, business owners, chefs and those with an interest in good food. We are actively seeking new members to help us achieve our goals."

"We have a strong focus on food education to help individuals and communities make informed choices about their food and its production,” she explains. “Our aim is to help preserve forgotten Welsh foods and cooking traditions, alongside supporting artisan producers and farmers of sustainable and biodiverse food, which in turn helps protect the land for future generations. Our locality has an abundance of great producers and produce, and we shall be hosting a number of activities and events throughout the region.”

Slow Food South East Wales y De-ddwyrain covers an area roughly from Bridgend to the English border, sweeping up through Merthyr Tydfil and the Valleys to Monmouthshire.

The newly formed Slow Food South East Wales committee members are as follows:

Mark Adams (Group Leader/Chair), Barnaby Hibbert (Vice Chair), Rolant Tomos (Treasurer), Carol Adams (Secretary), Grady Atkins, John Thomas, Melissa Boothman, Richard Crowe, Rob Lilford, Stephen Nottingham.

For more information about the group email: info@slowfoodsoutheastwales.org.uk

http://www.slowfood.org.uk/groups/south-east-wales/

Committee members

Back row from left to right: Grady Atkins, Rob Lilford, Melissa Boothman, Stephen Nottingham, Richard Crowe, Carol Adams, Rolant Tomos, and John Thomas

Front  Row: Mark Adams and Barnaby Hibbert

About Committee Members:

Mark Adams: Group Leader, Aberdare-based, Professional Trainer, Food Blogger, Food Adventure Ltd

Barnaby Hibbert: Vice Chair, Chef and Patron The Gallery Restaurant in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan

Carol Adams: Secretary, Aberdare-based, Director Food Adventure Ltd

Rolant Tomos: Micro Brewer Tomos a Lilford, Vale of Glamorgan

Rob Lilford: Micro Brewer Tomos a Lilford, Vale of Glamorgan

 

Grady Atkins: Chef and Consultant, Cardiff

 

Richard Crowe: Cardiff, avid consumer of good food and drink, a keen home cook and Welsh translator

John Thomas: Merthyr Tydfil, livestock farmer based at Penrhiw farm Trelewis. John is the fourth generation of the Thomas family to farm at Penrhiw

Stephen Nottingham: Vale of Glamorgan, freelance writer and journalist, specialising in European nature conservation, environment, climate change and food-related issues

Melissa Boothman: Cardiff, Deli Owner, The Penylan Pantry

For further information contact Carol Adams secretary@slowfoodsoutheastwales.org.uk