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Cecilia |
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Sunday, June 07, 2009 9:25 PM |
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Good food, interesting people and news from the Cumbrian food scene |
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Get your apples pressed! |
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By Cecilia on
Wednesday, September 29, 2010 8:28 AM
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There will be a seasonal apple flavour to October’s Farmers’ Market at Orton (Saturday 9 October) and a chance for visitors and local fruit growers to press apple juice from their own crop. Local expert, Hilary Wilson, will be at the Market with members of the new North Cumbria Orchard Group and they will be bringing along the smaller of their two apple presses.
“If visitors bring along roughly a carrier bag full of their apple crop, we should be able to press at least a litre of juice for them,” says Hilary. “They’ll need to bring along containers for the final juice too. It should be fascinating to find out where the apples have grown, the variety and a little bit about the health of the trees. If ...
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King Naga rules again |
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By Cecilia on
Wednesday, September 29, 2010 7:15 AM
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Adam Marks, the man behind Mr Vikki's fantastic "Indian fusion pickles", as he describes them, has won yet another accolade. At the Fiery Foods UK autumn chilli festival in Brighton on Sep 18-19, his explosive King Naga sauce won in the extreme chilli sauce category - again.
Congratulations Adam!
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God smiled at Cockermouth |
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By Cecilia on
Tuesday, September 28, 2010 8:51 PM
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The giant food festival in Cockermouth at the weekend was blessed with sunshine, huge crowds and so many of our wonderful local producers.
Most exciting news of the day – The Spice Club reopens in about a month. We had lunch in this wonderful Indian restaurant (owned by five – or six? brothers) on November 15 last year. I was about to write the review when the floods hit, and then I couldn't really stomach it. Anyway last Saturday we met Jimmy Haidur, one of the brothers, who was very happy to tell us the planned re-opening is Oct 25 (after a hellish year). We will go back as soon as we can. Lukie loved that Chicken Korma!
The festival represented a great cross-section of Cumbrian producers and chefs showing their food. At the Word ...
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Mushroom forgaging with Annette Gibbons |
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By Cecilia on
Saturday, September 18, 2010 9:24 AM
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We spent a fantastic, sunny Friday with our dear friend Annette Gibbons, who lives up on the shores of the Solway Firth. We did some apple filming for our October e-magazine issue - so check that out when it comes out. But the unexpected extra bonus of the day was a fantastic forage for mushrooms on the beach!
And being guided by an expert we soon found some prime specimens of Shaggy Ink Caps...
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We judge the food stands at the Westmorland Show |
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By Cecilia on
Thursday, September 16, 2010 9:57 AM
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Sorry this blog is a bit late, had to go to London for a few days (not really about food, more new digital strategies for newspapers, but nevertheless had a great dinner at Truc Vert).
So - to the point: We had a fantastic time at the Westmorland County Show last Thursday. Christine Knipe and her team run the most professional, well-organised event in Cumbria and congratulations to them all! We were thrilled to be an active part of the show this year – Martin was co-jugding the trade stands in the fabulous food hall. His fellow judge was Nicki Quayle, Chairman of the Farmers Club – and a great new acquaintance!
It was a hard job ...
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Fork Fest – a festival with heart |
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By Cecilia on
Sunday, September 05, 2010 10:36 AM
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OK, so let's hear it for "celebrity chefs" (I do hate that phrase) who come to Cumbria to take part in our food festivals because they actually care and love the produce here, not because they're getting a load of money. Like Simon Rimmer, the resident chef at BBC2's Sunday morning magazine show Something for the Weekend. Simon runs two NW restaurants; Greens in Manchester and Earle in Cheshire, and he's a real northern lad. We got an interview with Simon before he was off to open the Kirkby Lonsdale Fork Fest, and he told us he's old friends with John Natlacen at Churchmouse Cheeses in Kirkby Lonsdale, who is one of the people behind this new festival. "When John called and asked if I'd consider coming up – adding that they had no money – I didn't hesitate. I love ...
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Luca's reopens after flood refurbishment |
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By Cecilia on
Friday, September 03, 2010 3:48 PM
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An Italian restaurant by Greta Bridge in Keswick was one of the business hardest hit by the floods last November. Well, they have now finished their refurbishment, and are re-opening today (Sep 3). I must confess, I have not been, but the menu is mouthwatering, so we'll give it a try asap. Genuine Italian fare is promised, looking forward to Paul Protano's take on that.
This is from their press release:
Luca’s Ristorante by Greta Bridge in Keswick was badly affected by last November’s floods and Head Chef and owner, Paul Protano, and his family have been working hard to re-open as soon as possible.
Luca’s has room for up to 70 diners and has always had a reputation for the best of Italian food but Paul is keen to stress an aspec ...
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Farm walk at Deer'n'Dexter |
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By Cecilia on
Wednesday, August 18, 2010 11:44 AM
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Are you interested in learning more about farming, food production and how farming affects the landscape and natural environment? Join Jane Emerson & Peter Stoeken on a farm walk, Sunday August 22 at 2 pm, around their landholding in the northern fells where they rear red deer and Dexter cattle on herb rich pasture to produce grass fed meat of high quality.
Find out about the challenges they face farming in this tough Lake District environment, how they manage their land to conserve and encourage wildlife and how their animals benefit from the Five Freedoms.
Finish off by taking the opportunity to buy some local produce from the farm – food preparation takes place on site and Deer ‘n Dexter have a small butchery on the farm and retail all the meat ...
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Recipe for Skarpsås to go with marinated mackerel |
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By Cecilia on
Sunday, August 15, 2010 7:29 AM
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This is the recipe for the Skarpsås ("sharp sauce") which should be served with traditional Swedish marinated mackerel (the recipe for the mackerel is at the end of this blog).
Ingredients for the sauce:
1 hard boiled egg yolk
1 raw egg yolk
1 tbs vinegar
1 tsp French mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1 pinch of ground white pepper
2 tbs finely chopped dill
200 ml whipping cream, whipped
Method:
Mash the boiled, cooled egg yolk in a bowl and add the raw egg yolk.
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L'Enclume country's 4th best restaurant |
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By Cecilia on
Saturday, August 14, 2010 2:02 PM
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Congratulations to Simon Rogan, whose Michelin star restaurant L'Enclume, in Cartmel, has just been awarded as the fourth best restaurant in the country in The Good Food Guide 2010! No doubt his relatively new alliance with Julia Sayburn at organic Howbarrow Farm has helped - she now grows herbs and veg exclusively for Simon. Read our feature article, including video interview, in the Aug-Sep issue of the Artisan-food e-magazine.
From The Good Food Guide PR:
"Heston Blumenthal and Gordon Ramsay remain the cream of the culinary
crop - but there’s a change in the air as restaurants outside of London
climb up the ladder, according t ...
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