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Visit to Purity Brewery in Warwickshire

May 8th, 2013 by

Purity BreweryPurity BreweryPurity BreweryPurity BreweryPurity BreweryPurity Brewery

Best known by their award-winning Mad Goose, Pure Gold and UBU beers, this brewery is located on a farm in the picturesque Warwickshire countryside and was established in December 2005 by Paul Halsey and Jim Minkin. This innovative, young and fresh brewery, it is one of the fastest growing in England and still makes the beers in the traditional way.

I was invited by Paul Halsey to see how they produce their beers and hear about the next plans for the brewery. Flo Vialan, the head brewer, would show me the process of beer brewing and the eco-friendly wetland system to treat waste beer.

The landscape surrounding the brewery is entirely formed by cultivated fields and some spread farms. It is a really relaxing place out of the crowded city, far from the typical brewery housed in an urban industrial unit. Paul told me that after a long search they discovered some old barns to start their brewery. He loves the countryside and wanted this kind of location for their project.

I was shown the brewing process, which takes several stages, starting by boiling water in a tank mixed with barley and releasing the starches in the cereal. Then, this is followed by fermenting with yeast, converting into alcohol and adding the flavouring, including hops. It may sound easy, but there are some details in the process you have to be aware and some measures to be done, as the right natural ingredients, nice colour or adequate PH.

They are currently installing a new brew house due to expansion with more modern equipment to be able to produce an increase in brewing capacity. The new facility is regenerating another old barn and it is expected to be fully functional by the next month in June 2013.

The brewery also has a strong commitment to environment and sustainability and this is reflected in their process. They invested in heat exchange technology to save energy consumption and waste is managed to naturally recycle, spent grain goes to cattle, yeast to pigs and hops become fertiliser for the local farmers. Also bottles are made from reusable glass.

The most important feature for this sustainable approach to waste management is the natural wetland system they have incorporated. The liquid waste goes through different stages in ditches and ponds filtering and cleaning it before being discharged as pure water back to the river. A varied eco-system has been developed, where the waste feeds willow and alder trees, provides food for insects and helps algae to re-oxidate.

This sustainable wetland helps minimise carbon dioxide emissions and encourage wildlife diversity. The bulrush bed treatment for the effluent attracts a good amount of birds on summer. Furthermore, they create a lovely landscape.

After I saw the wetlands, it was the end of my visit and  I had the chance to look at the little farm next to the brewery. I really enjoyed watching the lambs, hens and ducks. It was a nice ending to a very enjoyable walk and it was great to discover how it is made one of the most emerging beers in England.

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Farm Shop & Deli Show 2013

Apr 22nd, 2013 by

Farm Shop & Deli Show 2013Farm Shop & Deli Show 2013Farm Shop & Deli Show 2013Farm Shop & Deli Show 2013Farm Shop & Deli Show 2013Farm Shop & Deli Show 2013Farm Shop & Deli Show 2013

Farm Shop & Deli Show 2013 was held from 14-16 April at Birmingham’s NEC. Organised by William Reed Business Media, this event showcased over 150 companies to show off their new and exciting products aimed to meet the needs of farm shops, markets, delis and artisan food outlets.

The event proved Great British producers are creating more and more excellent quality food with local resources and sustainability. Old recipes are recovered to resemble traditional flavours and new creative recipes aim to improve popular products. Some of them are completely environmentally friendly and have not any added flavourings, only using natural ingredients.

We found lots of interesting stalls with producers whose would tell the story behind their product and tried plenty of scrumptious food. We also enjoyed Dragons’ Pantry, feature of the show that offered entrepreneurs to pitch their new product ideas.

We loved several meat stalls and appreciated the natural flavouring of free-range hams of Dorset Farms, the delicious Pat Gorman chicken & ham pork pies and the very tasty Costwold terrines of Ross & Ross. We met the energetic guy behind Topping Pie Co who served us amazing cider and mustard pork pies and tasted the very innovative Earl Grey and orange infused hams with the very friendly and knowledgeable chap at Emmet’s traditional Suffolk hams.

Moving to cheese, we feature Shropshire based Moyden’s with their full of flavour award-winning artisan cheese, Cheshire Cheese Company with a wide variety on offer and the Scottish company The Big Cheese Making Kit, whose give us the possibility of making homemade cheese at home. We also talked with Paul Mendel at Garden of England preserves how they work with English farmers and discovered Ancient Recipes preserves from Scotland.

There were lots of sweets to discover. Whiteys let us sample their tasty innovative popcorns to enjoy in four varieties: original, maple syrup, cinnamon and cocoa flavours. Lottie Shaw offered us to try their yummy and traditional Yorkshire Parkin and the generous lady at Tray Bakes gave us a bag full of their wide range of beautiful cakes which I will review soon.

Last but not least, drinks on offer were at a high level as well. We tried Breckland Orchard flavoured spring water from Norfolk, the natural juices of Cawston Press and the Rochester Ginger. The great winner for us was Perry Court Farm with their gorgeous natural apple and pear juices with no additives at all and their very healthy air dried apple crisps.

In a miscellaneous section we would include Fayrefield Foods and the showcase of their healthy and quality products heading up with Collier’s Welsh cheddar. Another amazing feature from this show, The Mushroom Garden, based in the heart of Snowdonia, offered their local shiitake and their feature product Umami, which recreates this loved flavour in an amazing punching flavour with seaweed, sea salt and shiitake powder to be added in your recipes.

Farm Shop & Deli Show also included seminars covering a wide range of topics with experts like author and presenter Richard Fox or Paul Hargreaves, founder of Costwold Fayre. All of them taught visitors some tips for start-up food businesses. As graphic designer, I enjoyed “The importance of design and branding when setting up a new business” with Katie Taylor, proprietor of Drewton’s, who told us how important, is to keep a good image of your business.

It’s such a shame not to have better pictures taken at the event but we were astounded with all the great British produce we could enjoy at the fair. We insistently advice to check all the websites of the producers named in this article and appreciate the fact that all this local produce worth a try. I can’t wait for the next year’s event!

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Posted in Midlands-England | 4 Comments »

The old fashioned flowerpot bread

Apr 14th, 2013 by

Clay flower pots can sound like an unusual way to bake a loaf of bread nowadays, but bread was originally baked in terracotta for some centuries. In fact, the word comes from the Italian ‘cooked earth’ from the early 18th century.

This simple method turns a regular flowerpot into a homemade rustic baking stone and they are incredibly perfect to cook your own bread with a twist in the traditional presentation, making the activity of baking such a good fun.

Terracotta flowerpots have been fired previously at very high temperature in an oven, so they are just perfect to cook your own bread with a wonderful crust. This unglazed material can be found at garden centers and should be purchased new for this purpose. Try to find old-style hand-thrown pots, because the newer ones seem to crack when cooking in the oven.

Make sure your flowerpots are washed properly and seasoned with oil before you bake them for first time in order to use the pots over and over again, placing them in a preheated oven at 450º for one hour. You can use pretty much any bread recipe for this, allowing your imagination to create and develop your own flavours and textures. Think about fruity or cheesy bread, top with seeds and herbs or add exotic spices.

Just make the dough and transfer it really carefully into a flowerpot covered by baking paper and bake it like regular bread.

The result is awesome with not too much effort and you can surprise your guests in the table. Furthermore, baking homemade bread at home is a great chance for children to get involved in the kitchen and learn how to cook. Flowerpots just add the fun to this activity. And it’s very easy!

 

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Book review: Britain: The Cookbook by Phil Vickery

Apr 8th, 2013 by

Phil Vickery Britain Cookbook

You can see I’m passionate about British food when travelling around the country to know all about the local ingredients and food, so this book was tailored to me, as Phil takes a journey through Britain and Ireland in order to create 130 magnificent recipes. This is one of the books that inspired me the most to start British Local Food

Phil Vickery is an English celebrity TV chef from Folkestone, Kent. He worked his way up the kitchen ranks in several prestigious Michelin-award-winning restaurants along his career. He also hosted numerous TV shows, wrote several books, attended live events and advice as PR for top brands, finding time to farm his own land.

Vickery’s style is energetic, knowledgeable and nostalgic to homemade food. He relates stories about his childhood and writes about the people whose meet along his travels. He makes you feel happy about British products and show a sense of proud.

Phil Vickerys travelled around Britain in search of the best food producers for many year and put into words his feelings about the places he visits. He relates how our food is harvested and farmed to later show a bunch of recipes to cook with the ingredients he got in his journey.

The book starts with a very short introduction and it is divided by different chapters containing a region each. He shows some typical British local ingredients and then cooks with them, shaping a fairly well depicted beautiful graphic report about his findings and knowledge of food, to the point you really live his experience.

Some of the local produce he talks about include Cornish sardines, Yorkshire rhubarb, Croomer crabs, Cumberland sausages or Scottish smoked salmon. Vickery visits one of the best producers on each to show you how they are harvested, farmed and produced.

The entire book is defining a British food revival manifesto with very entertaining and engaging stories to tell and too much to discover. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

 

Disclaimer: Please note that I did not receive any compensation or incentive for this review.

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Yorkshire rhubarb, a British classic

Mar 26th, 2013 by

Yorkshire rhubarb

Rhubarb is as versatile as it is considered to be a vegetable in the UK and a fruit in the USA. The plants are herbaceous perennials growing from short and thick rhizomes with huge triangular leaves, featured by their bright pinky red stalks. In culinary use, the stems are the part used to cook and have a strong tart taste when raw.

The plant has grown originally wild in now Ukraine, along the banks of the River Volga, to be first introduced in Britain in the 13st century with medicinal purposes. During both World Wars the country ate an absolutely massive quantity of rhubarb because it was a really cheap food in those days.

Wakefield, Morley and Rothwell, in Yorkshire, became known as the Rhubarb Triangle back in Victorian times thanks to the industrial and geographical suitability due to cheap coal, suitable soil and good train links. In 1877 growers came with a very clever way of growing it indoors and this technique named as ‘forced’ achieves far sweeter rhubarb crops. This forced rhubarb was awarded PDO status after 6 long years battling with bureaucracy. The most famous producers are E. Oldroyd & sons.

Meanwhile normal rhubarb is grown from April to September outdoors as a summer vegetable, forced rhubarb are grown between December and March indoors. They would be cultivated in the dark in completely pitch-black and harvesting is done in candlelight to preserve the soft shoots from bolting. This technique keeps its poisonous leaves tight, yellow and diamond shape and also gives it an extra succulent flavour overall. They are harvested by skilled growers completely by hand, as a knife can introduce germs to the roots.

Back to the kitchen, most commonly the plant’s leaf stalks are cooked with sugar and used in sweet pies. But rhubarb is a very versatile vegetable with a delicate flavour and can be cooked sweet and sour, tender and firm, as a savoury and as a dessert.

It can be cooked as savoury and make a sauce for fish, chutney to side meats, use it to stuff poultry or even making cheese. You can also make rhubarb pies, delicious syrups for breakfast, crumble, ice-cream sauce and of course, with custard. It’s even being sold rhubarb schnapps.

Rhubarb is an ingredient worth investing in and I encourage you to explore all the posibilities it offers in the kitchen.

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Posted in North-England | 2 Comments »

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