Great British Food Revival: Beetroot

One of the best things on TV recently has been the second series of Great British Food Revival (BBC2). The series aims to promote underappreciated British vegetables, fruits, meat, fish and shellfish, in order to try and change the public’s perception of these foods. This is needed to reverse often alarming declines in their production, with serious implications for British farming and food culture.

Different chefs have championed different foods. Highlights of the series so far have included John Torode on beef from heritage breeds, Valentine Warner on cockles and mussels, Raymond Blanc on plums, Richard Corrigan on mackerel, Michael Roux Jr on bread and on pears, and the Hairy Bikers (yes, really) enthusing about cauliflowers. With its farm-to-fork emphasis on seasonality, local produce and traditional cooking, this is my kind of cookery show.

Last night, Antonio Carluccio was promoting beetroot. I had been aware of this program since July when I briefly corresponded with Assistant Producer Isaure de Pontbriand, who was using my e-book Beetroot (2004) for research. We agreed that getting production statistics for this crop is very difficult. I think more is probably grown on allotments and in gardens than is produced commercially. They reckoned that beetroot accounts for just 1% of vegetables grown in Britain.

For those who missed it (or saw it and would welcome a summary), Antonio Carluccio started by roasting a large beetroot in embers and relating the type of statistics that have become all-to-familiar during this series. Half of all British beetroot fields have been lost in the past 30 years. In the case of beetroot, the post-war trend to preserve it in cheap heavy vinegar has seriously damaged the crop’s reputation.

Antonio talked to beetroot supplier Graham Forber and the general farm manager of Riverford Organics James McGregor, who both agreed that beetroot still has an image problem to overcome. At the Lost Gardens of Heligan in Cornwall, Head Gardener Nicola Bradley introduced us to some heritage varieties, showing the diversity of beetroot. They can be cylindrical or globular, and range in colour from purple to red, orange and white.

The health benefits of beetroot were illustrated using recent research at Exeter University showing that beetroot juice significantly enhanced exercise performance. This research is new to me, and I would like to read a bit more about it. I know that discussing the health benefits was the hardest part of writing Beetroot, because there is so much flaky stuff out there. The general health benefits of consuming beetroot are not in doubt, however. If Team Britain does consume concentrated shots of beetroot juice as a “secret weapon” (oops!), then they should probably be warned about beeturia (that’s red pee, to you and me).

Interspersed with his peripatetic wanderings, Carluccio cooked a three-course meal using beetroot: A Beetroot Soufflé with Anchovy Sauce, a Timbale of Beetroot (white sauce, ham, leeks and cheese), and a Panna Cotta Dessert with lime syrup and beetroot.

Simon Hulstone, the Michelin-starred head chef at The Elephant in Torquay, likes to cook with beetroot. His Beets and Curds features a range of heritage beetroot varieties, including Chioggia (white with red stripes), Golden, a white variety (possibly Albina Vereduna), and a dusting of red beetroot powder. The heritage varieties are all grown especially for him by a local farmer. The dish looks great and I’ll certainly be ordering it if I ever find myself in Torquay.

This was another excellent edition of Great British Food Revival.

I am currently harvesting beetroot from a deep bed in my Welsh garden. My personal preference is for the cylindrical varieties (which actually predate the globe ones), with Forono being my favourite. At the time of writing Beetroot (2004), I had an allotment in Stevenage, England, where I grew a range of modern and heritage varieties. You can see photos of them in the final section of the e-book, which comprises a dictionary of cultivated varieties (The photos included here are of the heritage variety Bull’s Blood).

Beetroot (2004):
http://www.stephennottingham.co.uk/beetroot.htm

Dictionary of Beetroot Varieties:
http://www.stephennottingham.co.uk/beetroot8.htm

Farm to Fork: The Pork at St Fagans

We took visitors to St Fagans National History Museum yesterday and had Sunday lunch in the museum’s Vale Restaurant.

The open air museum, on the edge of Cardiff, is Wales’ most popular heritage attraction. The large site contains over 40 historic buildings from all around Wales, which have been moved and rebuilt. They show how people have lived in Wales over the ages. Our visitors are never disappointed by St Fagans.

I had the roast pork for lunch, which came with boiled and roast potatoes, cabbage, fluffy mashed Swede that had an unexpected hotness, some parsnip and stuffing, gravy and apple sauce. The meat was delightfully tender.

All the pork served in the restaurant is from pigs reared at St Fagans: at the Llwyn-yr–Eos Farm just a few hundred yards from the restaurant. The farm is in its original site, with the farmhouse preserved as it would have been at the end of the First World War. The pigs are traditional Welsh pigs, kept in traditional sties. The larger pigs have access to a field. You can see that the pigs and other animals are well-cared for.

I approve of the trend for suppliers to be listed on restaurant boards and in menus. I think that knowing more about how your dinner has travelled from farm to fork really adds to the dining experience.

In addition to the home-reared pork, St Fagans sources ham and potatoes from Pembrokeshire, butter from Swansea, and cheese from south Wales: Smoked Caerphilly, Welsh cheddar and Perl Lâs. The latter is described by its makers, Caws Cenarth of Carmarthenshire, as a mature Caerphilly cheese that has become naturally blue.

St Fagans: National History Museum, Cardiff CF5 6XB

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

Cowbridge Food & Drink Festival

Large crowds turned out today for the seventh annual Cowbridge Food & Drink Festival / Gŵyl Bwyd a Diod Y Bont-Faen (29-30 Oct 2011), in the heart of the Vale of Glamorgan. With over 80 exhibitors, cooking demonstrations, food and drink talks, entertainment and children’s activities, it has become one of the regions top food festivals.

We arrived early and parked in a farm on the edge of town – part of the free park and ride service. The main marquees were bustling with activity by mid-morning. Although the festival is centred on these marquees, events occur throughout the market town.

In the main Festival Marquee and the Cheese & Wine Marquee there was a great selection of fine food and drink to sample and purchase. We seemed to sample a lot of cheese, and lingered at Teifi Farmhouse Cheese, Cothi Valley Goats (cheese), Caws Cenarth Cheese, Slade Farm Organics, Wernddu Wines & Vineyard, and many more stalls besides. You can see Cardiff’s The Parsnipship in the foreground of the photo taken down the main marquee.

There was some tempting cooking smells emanating from the hot food marquee. Glam Lamb and the Venison Burger stalls, and the hog roast, were attracting sizeable queues. We opted for Taste of Persia, sharing a Lamb Kebab and a Pomegranate Chicken with Walnuts and rice. Based in Llanbadoc, Monmouthshire, they are regulars at Cardiff’s Riverside Food Market.

Taste of Persia’s owner Kamran Khanverdi was among the chefs doing demonstrations today in the True Taste of Wales exhibition trailer, in the Town Hall car park. Others included Kurt Fleming of ffresh Bar & Restaurant. Martin Cowley (Cowley’s Fine Foods) was demonstrating historical meat-drying techniques.

Bev Robins from the Otley Brewery and Deryck Mathews of Preselli Coffee are among the contributors to the drinks talks programme in Cowbridge Town Hall. A Real Ale Festival was well underway by lunchtime today at the Vale of Glamorgan Inn.

Other events around Cowbridge include a Craft Fayre, a Champagne Marquee & Bar, and a circus (from the Belgian twin town of Mouscron). The festival continues tomorrow (Sunday 30 Oct: 10am-4pm). Entry to marquees: £4 adults (under 12s free).

Last year the event was awarded the National Tourism Awards Wales: Best Community Event 2010. If it continues to be this successful, the organizers might have to get bigger marquees to fit in all the visitors (they already have many more applications for trade stands than they can accomodate). 

Cowbridge Food & Drink Festival is already pencilled into our diary again for next year, with a note that we need to spend much more time there to do justice to all the events!

Cowbridge Food & Drink Festival:
http://www.cowbridgefoodanddrink.org/

Penarth Apple Day

Apple Day was first launched as an annual food awareness day in 1990 by the environmental charity Common Ground. Today (16 Oct), Penarth’s local environmental group Gwyrddio Penarth Greening (GPG) organized Penarth’s first Apple Day in Belle Vue Park.

Among the stalls was a display of different apple varieties, with notes on their history, and a comparison tasting of three stewed apples (Bramley Seedling, Tom Putt and Golden Noble). An apple press was being put to constant use, making freshly-pressed apple juice from local apples. You could buy apple chutneys and preserves, cider and apple wine and apple juice, and apples from an orchard “picked on Thursday.”

Hampton’s were selling half-a-dozen different types of apple cake and tarts. I went for a large slice of the Apple Date and Cinnamon Cake, which was generously topped with toasted nuts. This kept me going for the rest of my cycle ride from Dinas Powys.

La Crêperie de Sophie were cooking apple-themed pancakes.

In addition to organizing the Apple Day, GPG have been running the Harvest Penarth scheme. Anthony Slaughter of GPG said that this involves some complex logistics. Groups of volunteers have to be organized to visit gardens around Penarth that have unwanted and surplus fruit. They have harvested over 20 trees from residents who are happy to support the scheme. The idea is that the fruit is distributed to care homes and charitable organizations in the area. Some of the damaged and bruised fruit collected was used to make the chutneys on sale today.

PGP also organize the Penarth Food Festival:

http://sfnottingham.blogspot.com/2011/07/penarth-food-festival_17.html

PGP:
http://www.gpgpenarth.org.uk/

National Food Weeks

This week it is apparently National Curry Week, Chocolate Week and British Egg Week.

There has been a proliferation of National Food Weeks in the UK (and globally) over the past ten years or so. These promotional or awareness weeks are initiated by corporate concerns, government bodies and pressure groups. They are usually promoted uncritically by the media. No wonder National Food Weeks are so popular - it’s free advertising!

In addition, there are any number of food promotion days (e.g., Yorkshire Pudding Day falls on 5th Feb 2012) that are too numerous to record here.

There are also health awareness weeks most weeks, highlighting medical conditions that are often food-related (e.g., Food Allergies and Intolerances: 23-28 Jan 2012). The medical conditions rising in incidence the most alarmingly, such as diabetes, are linked to overeating and obesity (National Childhood Obesity Week: 4-12 July 2011).

If you want to start your own awareness week, you better get in quick as there are not many weeks left free (in fact, most weeks are double-booked!). The more they stack up, the more ineffectual they are going to become.

This week I cooked curry, scrambled eggs and ate chocolate (not all at the same time), but I refuse to believe that it had anything to do with National Food Weeks.

Below I list some of the main promotional weeks in the UK with dates and the names of the organizations behind them.

National Farmhouse Breakfast Week (22-28 Jan 2012) is a government promotion of cereal farming by the Cereals Division of AHDB (Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board).

Bramley Apple Week (5-12 Feb 2012) is bought to you by The Bramley Campaign.

National Chip Week (21-27 Feb 2011) is an initiative from the British Potato Council.

Fairtrade Fortnight (28 Feb - 13 March 2011) is Fairtrade organized.

British Pie Week (7-13 March 2011) is bought to you by Jus-Rol Pastry, a division of General Mills Berwick Ltd.

Bacon Connoisseurs Week (21-27 March 2011) is a Red Tractor initiative - a government agricultural promotion.

British Sandwich Week (15-21 May 2011) is organized by The British Sandwich Association and supported by Tesco, Sainsbury’s, M&S, Ginsters, Greggs, Prêt a Manger etc.

National Vegetarian Week (23-29 May 2011) is organized by The Vegetarian Society of the UK and supported by Cauldron Foods.

British Food Fortnight and Welsh Food Fortnight (17 Sept - 2 Oct 2011) is sponsored by Aramark.

British Cheese Week (24 Sept - 2 Oct 2011) is organized by The British Cheese Board and sponsored by Ryvita. Events include The Great British Cheese Festival in Cardiff Castle.

National Cask Ale Week (1–9 Oct 2011) is a brewing industry initiative.

Chocolate Week (10-16 Oct 2011) is sponsored by Hotel Chocolat, Thornton’s, Divine Chocolate and others.

British Egg Week (10-16 Oct 2011) is organized in association with British Lion Eggs (the egg marketing board).

National Curry Week (9-15 Oct 2011) is supported by ASDA, Cobra Lager and Pataks.

British Sausage Week (31 Oct -6 Nov 2011) is an initiative of The British Sausage Appreciation Society (supported by several commercial sponsers).


National Taste of Game Fortnight (5-19 Nov 2011) is organized by the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC).

National Eating Out Week (20-26 Nov 2011) appears to be a spin off from National Curry Week, supported by Indian restaurants among others.

Of course, being a food writer, I am as guilty of passing on National Food Week marketing as the next blogger. Sometimes it just can’t be resisted.

Here’s a previous post on British Pie Week:
http://sfnottingham.blogspot.com/2011/03/british-pie-week.html

For a complete list of US National Food Holidays see:
http://foodimentaryguy.wordpress.com/today-in-national-food-holidays/today-in-food-holidays-food-facts/january-food-holidays-foodimentary/

Red Mullet

Back in the day, we thought a mullet was a haircut. Nowadays, we know it’s a fish; a fish that is becoming more common on UK fish slabs.

We need to change our fish-eating habits. Cod stocks are depleted and switching to whiting, mackerel, coley and other sustainably-fished species is desirable. However, there is another change coming: global climate change.

A recent report by marine biologists concluded that global warming will lead to profound changes in the populations of common fish species in the waters off the UK. Rising sea temperatures will adversely impact cold-water species such as cod, haddock and pollock. The good news is that the study demonstrated responses to warming in 72% of common species, with three times more species increasing in abundance than declining. The study is supported by recent data from actual catches. Red mullet, hake and dab are among the species that are now being caught more frequently in British waters.

It is therefore a good time to look out some recipes for red mullet and other warmer-water species. You will not find them in British seafood cookery books; you have to look to Mediterranean cuisine.

Red mullet or surmullets are actually two species of goatfish (Mullus barbatus and Mullus surmuletus), which are unrelated to grey mullet. They have been eaten in the Mediterranean since Roman times, when they were reared in pools (an early example of fish-farming).

The Silver Spoon, Italy’s best-selling cookbook, has the following recipes for red mullet: with fennel, Livorno-style, with herbs, and with beans. The book advises that red mullet be touched as little as possible, since the tender flesh breaks up easily.

On Monday, I had Red Mullet with Anchovies and Herb Crème Fraiche, cooked by guest chef Shaun Hill, at ffresh in Cardiff Bay (see October 4 blog). It is a pretty pink fish, with delicately flavoured white flesh. On that occasion it was cooked to perfection.

I was going to cook red mullet tonight, but didn’t manage to get hold of any (rather undermining the thrust of today's post!). However, I did cook sea bass; briefly under a hot grill and then roasted with fennel seeds, lemon and a splash of wine, and served with ratatouille and some apple smoked sourdough made by Geraint here in Dinas Powys. The fennel seeds inside the fish cavity imparted a pleasing flavour.

References:
Continental Shelf-Wide Response of a Fish Assemblage to Rapid Warming of the Sea. Stephen D. Simpson, Simon Jennings, Mark P. Johnson, Julia L. Blanchard, Pieter-Jan Schön, David W. Sims, and Martin J. Genner. Current Biology, 15 Sept 2011.
http://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(11)00891-8

The Silver Spoon. English Edition. Phaidon Press. 2005.

A previous post on tilapia:
http://sfnottingham.blogspot.com/2010/07/tilapia.html

Community Food Cooperatives

There are over 300 local Food Co-ops in Wales supported by the Rural Regeneration Unit (RRU).

A food co-op is a non-profit operation that gives people access to affordable, fresh fruit and vegetables on a weekly basis, at a local community venue. Volunteers meet each week to bag up food that has been sourced from a local supplier. Bags are ordered a week in advance, with cash up front to pay the supplier on delivery. The supplier sends potatoes, carrots and three or four other best-value seasonal items. Deliveries are shared equally and the cost of each bag is £2.50 (organic £4.50).

The RRU is a social enterprise scheme funded by the Welsh Assembly government. The funding is to enhance diet in communities, via a supply of affordable fresh fruit and vegetables, and (through Rural Affairs funding) to promote local produce.

There are around twenty food co-ops in Cardiff and five in Penarth supported by the RRU. A new food co-op in Tennyson Road in Penarth already has volunteers packing around 40 bags weekly.

The first step in starting a food co-op, via the RRU route, is to talk with a regional representative. They will approach local businesses, to see if they have any objections, and then talk to potential local suppliers.

Today, I joined Geraint Roberts, who is initiating the process for setting up an organic food co-op in Dinas Powys, in a meeting with Hannah James, the RRU's Food Development Worker for South Wales. She talked us through the process. We were impressed by the level of help available from RRU in setting up a food co-op. Through Welsh Assembly funding, for example, the RRU supplies the reusable green bags for the food, along with some other equipment and promotional literature.

The initial meeting went well. I will keep you posted on developments and will share our experiences of setting up a local food co-op.

Rural Regeneration Unit:
http://www.ruralregeneration.org.uk/

New food co-op in Penarth:
http://www.penarthtimes.co.uk/news/latestnews/9240540.Fruit_and_veg_co_op_launched_in_Penarth_s_Tennyson_Road/?ref=twtrec

Clark’s Pies, Cardiff

Clark’s Pies operate from a corner-shop in Grangetown, Cardiff. The history of Clark’s Pies can be traced back to the early years of the 20th Century and they are a Cardiff institution. The meat pies are nicknamed “Clarkies” or “Clarksies”. This week (Monday 19 Sept) a brand-new Clark’s Pies flavour was launched: Beef Tikka.

I went along to their shop today to get a selection of pies for dinner. They are all oval-shaped with a thick shortcrust pastry casing. The four flavours are now distinguished by an extra bit of pastry on top: square for Chicken and Mushroom, a circle for the Chicken Balti and a flower for the new Tikka. The Clark’s Original (available in small and large sizes) has a plain pastry top. Ever since 1934, every pie has the word "CLARPIE" stamped into the pastry on the bottom (“If it doesn’t have CLARPIE – it’s not a genuine Clarksie!”).

Clark’s Pasties - the Original (small, medium and large) and vegetarian Cheese and Onion - and a range of drinks are also for sale in the shop; along with Clarks Pies T-shirts, baseball caps, bottle opener key-rings, lanyards and other souvenirs (did I tell you it was a Cardiff institution). The actual bakery is out back, where they start baking at around 5.30am.

I was told that it was best to heat the pies for around 15-20 minutes in a hot oven; “they’re not the same in the microwave.” We ate them with chips, baked beans and some buttery cabbage.

First up was the Clark’s Large Original (it’s also sold in a smaller size), which comprises minced beef with potatoes in a gravy base. Apparently, it has remained largely unchanged for many years. It is a very tasty beef pie and got a big ‘thumbs up’ from everyone.

Next was the Chicken and Mushroom. Our youngest does not like mushrooms, so she passed on this one. The filling is thicker, and side-by-side I preferred the taste and gravyness of the Original.

The Chicken Balti pie was launched earlier this year. Clark’s describe it thus: “Chunks of chicken with tomatoes and onion in a spicy balti curry sauce…. with spice base of cumin, paprika, chilli, coriander and garlic”. The filling is like something you would serve on rice. It is very tasty. This would be good if you fancied a pie that was a little different.

Finally, the brand-new Tikka flavour. This is the original beef recipe with a spicy tikka flavouring. Described as “Tikka with Gravy” by Clark’s, this has the plus factors of the Original with a tikka flavouring, which is nicely understated. This was a hit with everyone here.

On the night, the Clark’s Original came out top, but if I was watching sport on a cold winter's day and wanted a warming pie I wouldn’t hesitate to choose the Tikka.

All the pies are characterized by a thick pastry casing, so they don’t require a tray. They are therefore very practical to eat on the move. Needless to say, many Clarks’ Pies are consumed in Cardiff on football and rugby match days.

Clark’s Pies have been made in Cardiff since around 1912. They gained in popularity during the 1920s, enabled Mary Clark to open the first Clark’s Pie shop in 1928, at 110 Paget Street in Grangetown, just around the corner from their present location (on the corner of Paget and Bromsgrove). For a history of the company and the family that has run it for four generations see the Clark’s Pies website: http://www.clarkspies.co.uk/

Dennis Dutch, grandson of Mary Clark, opened the Bromsgrove Street shop in 1955. Here is his story on the We Are Cardiff blog:
http://wearecardiff.wordpress.com/2011/09/23/i-always-knew-i-wanted-to-join-the-family-business-dennis/

There is a film and accompanying items relating to Clark’s Pies in the Cardiff Story museum. See my previous post on the museum: http://sfnottingham.blogspot.com/2011/04/cardiff-story.html

This video on YouTube was filmed recently during a Clark’s Pies eating challenge at a Cardiff Blues game in the Cardiff City Stadium:

Clark’s Pies, 23 Bromsgrove Street, Grangetown, Cardiff CF11 7EZ

Shop opening times: Monday to Saturday 10:00am till 1:30pm

Unusual Vegetables

It has come to my attention (via Luigi Guarino) that Dr Michael Mazourek (Professor of Plant Breeder at Cornell University in the USA) is engineering all manner of new fruits and vegetables, such as black-and-white cucumbers, pear-flavoured melons, and miniature vegetables with vivid polka dot patterns.

However, these innovatives are not the result of a genetic engineering program, but the clever use of traditional and cutting-edge plant breeding techniques.

The Farmer's Daughter honeydew melon was bred for mildew resistance and for easy harvesting, as it slips off the vine when ripe, as well as its pear-like flavour. It is the result of six years of selective crossing.

The black-spined white-skinned 'Salt and Pepper' cucumber, the result of a cross between white spine and long green varieties, proved to have an unexpectedly sweet flavour.

Mazourek’s lab has also released a mild habanero pepper - the Habanada - for those who like the flavour without the hotness, and a miniature butternut squash called the Honeynut.

His current experiments with purple snap peas and miniaturized vegetables with vivid colours, stripes and polka dots are being conducted with the aim of producing vegetables that appeal to children, and thereby improve their diet.

There is also a market for unusual vegetables among celebrity chefs in top-end restaurants, keen to introduce their customers to new food experiences.

Mazourek's vegetables are bred for high nutritional content, disease and pest resistance, and suitability for growing under organic and regional growing conditions. He has a keen eye for novelty, which adds extra value to the fruits and vegetables produced at Cornell. It's a good illustration of the power of plant breeding.

Read more:

Luigi Guarino, Agricultural Biodiversity roundup:
http://www.scoop.it/t/agricultural-biodiversity/p/466624396/plant-inventor-creates-designer-veggies

Stacey Shackford, Cornell University news:
http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Sept11/MazourekCALS.html

Steve Garrett on Cardiff's Castle Quarter Farmers' Market

Steve Garrett is quietly confident that Cardiff’s weekly Castle Quarter Farmers’ Market will carry on after its initial 12-week trial period. Steve is the founding director and special projects manager of the Riverside Community Market Association (RCMA), which runs the market. “The trial so far has been a real success - in spite of some very rainy Thursdays,” he says.

Today’s sunshine certainly suited the outdoor street market much more than last week’s rain. A guitarist entertained shoppers with some appropriate tunes (“parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme”) and more people were stopping to sample the cooked foods on offer. “Customers have said that the top of the High Street on Market Day is like a 'piazza' - with the Castle as a backdrop and a lovely buzz of people and smells from all the stalls,” relates Steve, “This is just what we wanted to achieve”.

This particular Farmer’s Market has a good range of cooked food for customers to eat, as well as plenty of breads and cakes to take home. In addition to last week’s stalls (see last week's post), this week saw the return of The Parsnipship, selling an interesting range of pies and breads made in flowerpots, and there was a first-time appearance for Hungry Planet, selling artisan sourdough loaves.

Steve stressed that “local businesses are mostly happy with the new footfall that the Market is drawing to the area, and the Central Market is benefiting from a guest stall that we offer one of their traders each week to help promote them as well”.

“All the indications are that the Castle Quarter Farmers’ Market will continue on after the trial period” says Steve, “and we have some exciting Xmas food market plans for the location later this year as well.”

Previous post on the Castle Quarter Farmers’ Market:
http://sfnottingham.blogspot.com/2011/09/castle-quarter-farmers-market-cardiff.html