News and views from the BigBarn offices http://www.bigbarn.co.uk Ant is on Radio 4's Food Programme this Sunday, for the third time. And BigBarn has been nominated for this years BBC Radio 4 Food & Farming Awards in the 'Best Retail Initiative' for the BigBarn MarketPlace. Now that over £3b is spent on food online we think we should help local producers take some of this spend. Especially when supermarket online customers are only one click away. MarketPlace is designed to help any local producer on BigBarn quickly set up an online shop and meet the needs of those of us wanting speciality food or too busy to visit our local supplier. So far 390 of our members have added 7,500 products, from artisan foods like regional cheeses, Isle of Bute Seaweed and Langoustine, to great local beef and bacon. Local because our MarketPlace shows local first, giving the distance from each producer to the user's postcode. In time we want to help farmers and retailers team up throughout the country to offer a complete range of fresh local foods in one delivery. And judging by our Cheaper than initiative, hopefully cheaper than the supermarket. Please help us get there by trying out the MarketPlace and voting for it here http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/ffa/2009/nominate/. As well as voting in the other categories. We are very lucky to have so many great food producers in this country. To encourage them, and more farmers to diversify, we simply need to buy and enjoy their produce, so please tell your friends. To listen again to Ant's last Radio 4 appearance, click here. http://bigbarn.co.uk/blog/?articleid=299 Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:21:17 BST What a great and versatile meat. And a prime example of the difference between buying a quality local product and a mediocre supermarket commodity. The trouble is, beef is complicated. Breed, time and type of hanging/maturing, age, different cuts, butchery method, type of feed, are all factors influencing taste and tenderness. And why so many people opt for what little they know and often pay far too much. A great example is my cousin who bought the finest 'fillet' of beef from a supermarket only to throw most of it away because it was so tough. A piece of well-hung 'topside' would probably have been half the price and twice as good. Likewise the 'chopped shin' of a well-hung rare breed animal could be better and cheaper for stewing, than the more expensive 'best stewing steak' from the supermarket. The great news is you don't have to go to college or even buy a book, simply ask. Go and see your local butcher or better still, local beef farmer and ask what they recommend as well as how to cook it. It is in their interest to look after you, as they want to see you buying again. So all you have to do is use our map to find your local beef, or for a delivery check our MarketPlace for beef and don't be afraid to phone first and get a recommendation. And for inspiration try our recipes. http://bigbarn.co.uk/blog/?articleid=298 Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:58:41 BST Most of us think olive oil is the healthiest cooking oil. We perceive the sunny Mediterranean climate and a luxury product like an olive must produce a healthy oil. So it's a surprise to hear that our own cold pressed rape seed oil is better and very tasty. And the chances are you probably have a local producer. Have you tried it yet? Cold pressed rapeseed oil has the lowest saturated fat of any culinary oil and less than half that of Olive Oil. Like olive oil, rapeseed oil is low in saturated fat and high in good essential omega oils normally obtained from fish. What are the health benefits of Rapeseed Oil? Contains the lowest saturated fat content of any oil - less than half that of Olive Oil. Has 10 times more Omega 3 than Olive Oil. Is a good source of Vitamin E. High in monounsaturated fats. Contains no artificial preservatives and is trans-fat and GM free. Cold pressed means pressed at room temperature with no solvents, producing a natural additive free oil. Cold pressing means a lower yield of oil but with the excess pulp sold at a good price as animal feed, a farmer can afford the better production method. So if you haven't tried it ask your local farm shop or buy online here from our MarketPlace and don't forget other great British oils like Linseed, Flax or Sunflower. http://bigbarn.co.uk/blog/?articleid=297 Thu, 18 Jun 2009 15:04:55 BST Online food shopping can provide access to amazing artisan food, bargains from those trying to promote their products and the one stop delivered convenience, for your granny. Interested? If like me you have been reluctantly dragged in to the digital age you probably started shopping online for the holiday flight, then the book or DVD, Christmas gifts, insurance and now clothes and food? In the past online shopping best suited price comparison on branded products or commodities, now 'taster' bargains and convenience are big factors. Why not enjoy a bargain. And get your granny's heavy shopping bags delivered? We have set up our MarketPlace to help artisan and local food producers sell online. In time, we want everybody in the country to be able to buy a complete range of local food and drink in one delivery, for everybody's granny. So far 391 producers and retailers have added 7,300 products to the BigBarn MarketPlace. In some areas you can get a complete range, in others we are hoping to help village shops team up with local farmers to offer a bigger range online than can be stocked in the shop. You can then collect or get a local delivery for you and your granny. And bargains? Many producers have some delicious foods and will be setting up special offers to encourage people to taste and, hopefully reorder. To get a bargain and encourage more producers to join and team up simply register as a customer by buying delicious food and drink. Simply click on any of the following, and if our system does not already know it, type in your postcode, to see who sells online nearest to you; beef, free range pork, chicken, sausages, home cure bacon, game, fish, langoustine, sea salt, chilli sauce, wild yeast, ham, asparagus, beer, wine, cider, honey, preserves, salami, pate, fudge, chocolate, cakes, pies, oysters, shrimp, coffee, tea, veg box, pesto, olives, cheese, mustard, herbs, biscuits, cakes. And for the boring stuff, tins, washing powder, loo rolls, dog food, the really heavy bags, we recommend www.mysupermarket.com where you can type in you shopping list and let the supermarkets scrap amongst themselves for your business. http://bigbarn.co.uk/blog/?articleid=296 Tue, 09 Jun 2009 11:35:27 BST Grow your own veg? Ever thought about farming at home? All you really need is light and water, in the age of plant pots and grow bags you can grow anything. You can even make life even easier by buying ready grown plants from your local nursery. And to support your climbing beans use local coppiced bean poles rather than imported bamboo and help sustain your local woodland. Nearly all fruit and vegetables have a much better flavour when fresh and 'just picked' and what better way to persuade kids to eat 'yukky greens' than getting them involved in the growing. Especially if they experience the magic of growing from seeds. For the best and easiest, try a climbing bean and wonder if it will grow up to the clouds with a giant at the top guarding a golden egg. Once you are a professional you may want to get an allotment and start selling your surplus to local people and even your local shop! To find your local bean pole supplier or nursery for seeds, herb and veg plants, fruit trees, and great advice type your postcode here. http://bigbarn.co.uk/blog/?articleid=295 Fri, 08 May 2009 7:58:25 BST The great seasonal vegetable that has to be home grown or local for optimum freshness. For crowns to plant your own asparagus bed, as I have just done, click here or read on for more. Asparagus should be eaten within 2 hours of being picked as all the sugars turn to starch. If ever a product should be sourced locally it is this, especially with all the health benefits below! To find your local supplier enter your postcode and type 'asparagus' into the product search box. To make the best of your local bounty don't just boil it, try baking in the oven or check out our recipe section for a few ideas. Here are the great health benefits I found for the wonderful asparagus: It is high in vitamin K and Folate Eat asparagus when you are pregnant or thinking about conceiving - because of it being high in folic acid it helps prevent birth defects such as spina bifida Great for your heart Great for your gastrointestinal tract and your colon Great food to help treat depression Has been known to increase the success rate of chemo therapy Is considered a diuretic which means it is a good anti-inflammatory - best for arthritis, asthma rheumatism, and even water retention. Help get rid of warts Add more asparagus to your diet to lower cholesterol Great for nursing mothers stimulating milk production Has antioxidant agents - prevents the effects of aging Has antifungal and antiviral qualities Great for your kidneys - cleansing your body by stimulating urination and preventing kidney stones Helps prevent bladder and urinary tract infections Use to be used as an a aphrodisiac - increase sexual and comforting feelings Asparagus has anti-cancer agents - especially lung cancer Helps fight chronic fatigue syndrome Great for your capillaries - eat more asparagus to avoid varicose veins Great for your eyes preventing cataracts If you are experiencing hair loss- eat more asparagus Helps treat toothaches Wow - looks like we should eat some every day! No, I say. Gorge yourself when it is fresh and in season then find an equally life enhancing food to keep your hair and other important bits healthy. Eat seasonal and local and you should stay fighting fit. For more health tips click here. For further information and recipes visit http://www.british-asparagus.co.uk/index.php. http://bigbarn.co.uk/blog/?articleid=275 Tue, 21 Apr 2009 10:25:21 BST Is Local food cheaper than the supermarket? We say YES, and would love your help to prove it and in the process blow away a common misconception that local food is more expensive, which is currently holding back the growth of the local food industry. I was amazed recently when I found sugar in a farm shop that was cheaper than the local supermarket. Traditionally supermarkets have sold sugar at a loss to entice customers. It seems once they have the customer everything changes! Unfortunately most consumers now believe that the supermarket's buying power will result in huge savings for all. This is not the case. It seems nearly every local food outlet I speak to - and we have 7,500 on BigBarn - is cheaper on many of their products, like for like, than their local supermarket. We want to highlight these outlets with a special 'price tag' shaped icon on the BigBarn map and would really appreciate your help in finding them. So please email and send us your list. You may even help keep prices low by increasing your local outlets volume of sales and, in time, encourage local producers to grow a wider range of produce. http://bigbarn.co.uk/blog/?articleid=294 Tue, 14 Apr 2009 12:05:06 BST If you've ever seen a hen in the rain, you'll know what "really miserable" looks like. After an absolutely glorious weekend, today is looking like a stinker. In addition to the steady drizzle there's a nasty gusting wind that's doing it's best to whisk my polytunnel away to someone else's garden, and the hens - in best British tradition - are determined to grimly stick it out in the rain. For crying out loud, girls! Go inside! It's the perfect day for a bit of comfort food and in our household we've developed something we call "Stewp" - a cross between a stew and a soup - that fits the bill perfectly. It was largely inspired by a Jamie Oliver recipe which we saw him make on his Jamie at Home show. It's an Italian Bread and Cabbage soup, which tastes an awful lot nicer than it might sound. Jamie makes his in a beautiful brick oven in his garden. I don't have a brick oven, and my wife won't let me build one, but it works in a regular oven as well. As you'll see if you look at his recipe, Jamie's version is a mixture of some classic Italian ingredients - pancetta, cavalo nero, fontina and parmesan cheeses, garlic, and so on - but the basic method of the dish can be applied to a variety of ingredients. That basic method is: Roast or grill your ingredients. Slowly cook in chicken stock in the oven. Here is our current favourite version, and it uses good quality free range chicken. Roughly chop a couple of onions. Add to a baking tray with a sprig of rosemary, a couple or three whole garlic cloves and a few glugs of olive oil. Cook in a medium hot oven until the onions are starting to caramelize. Cut your chicken into portions and add to the onions and garlic. Return to the oven to brown well. While the chicken and onions are cooking, roughly dice some potatoes, chop some cabbage (savoy, or kale also works well) and grate some cheese (cheddar or an edam-type cheese work great). When the chicken is well browned, remove from the tray and add some thick doorsteps of stale ciabbatta. Mix well to coat the bread in the oniony-garlic juices and return to the oven to brown (this will only take a minute or two. Remove the tray and turn the oven down slightly. Now, in a casserole dish you want to layer your ingredients - onions, potatoes, cabbage, chicken, bread, sprinkle of cheese, onions, potatoes.... Make sure you finish with a layer of bread on top, and sprinkle the bread with the remaining cheese. Now fill the casserole with chicken stock so that it doesn't quite cover the top layer of bread. Cook in the oven until the potatoes are tender and the top is golden brown. This is a great, warming, comforting dish, and at least it got one of the chickens inside and out of the rain! Have you tried a similar recipe? If so, leave a comment and let us know. http://bigbarn.co.uk/blog/?articleid=293 Wed, 25 Mar 2009 15:02:56 GMT This time of year can be a bit sparse in the fresh fruit and vegetable department (locally-grown and British, that is). However, one vegetable that is coming into season right now is purple sprouting broccoli. I have a handful of purple sprouting broccoli plants in my garden, which have been lurking near the back fence, not appearing to do a whole lot. However, since the first few days of spring they have erupted into a blossom of vivid purple and green, and to reward them for that, I'm going to eat them. Simple is best for purple sprouting broccoli - steam them gently for a few minutes and you're done. It is great as an accompaniment, but stellar when it's the main event. Try serving it with anchovy butter (anchovies mixed with butter!) or with a homemade garlic mayo. In these days of "superfoods" purple sprouting broccoli can hold it's hand up and ask to join the club. Rich in sulphoraphane which may help prevent cancer, heart disease, osteoporosis and diabetes, it's also loaded with vitamin C, vitamin A, iron, folic acid, calcium and more. It's easy enough to grow. I am a serial assassin of anything green and leafy, but it's survived a year in my back yard. However, your best bet for a quick purple fix is to find a good farm shop where it'll be much cheaper than the examples in your supermarket, which may also be imported. It's a seasonal veg, so act now - if you find a good farm shop selling purple sprouting broccoli, post a comment below and let everyone else know about it. http://bigbarn.co.uk/blog/?articleid=292 Wed, 25 Mar 2009 15:00:09 GMT We are now in the age of video, I wouldn't be surprised if the highway code was soon available on DVD! So here is a video about BigBarn. Please let us know what you think and forward it to your friends. The more people who buy local food the better. Buying direct will encourage your local farmers to grow a wider range of produce and you can influence production methods and animal welfare. To see the BigBarn video click below. http://bigbarn.co.uk/blog/?articleid=291 Tue, 24 Feb 2009 12:36:08 GMT