Good Food Shops

Greenwich Market

2012-01-24T07:00:00.000Z

I always think Samuel Johnson should have said "If you're tired of London, go to Greenwich"! I love climbing up the hill by the observatory and looking down at the river. There's lots of places for tourists to get good food in Greenwich, but my favourite place is in the market.

There's three markets in Greenwich (the other two being the Clock Tower and the Village markets), but I'm talking about the one on the College Approach, near the Royal Navel College.

There's been a market at Greenwich since the 14th century. The site has a major rebuild by Joseph Kay in 1827-1833, but was extensively damaged in World War 2. After the war it was a wholesale fruit and vegetable market but now it's a retail with a variety of stalls. Wednesday is the day to go for fresh and organic produce, but the food court is open Wednesday to Sunday (and some shops are open seven days a week).

It's great seeing and smelling the food being cooked. My son recommend a wrap from Sultan's Delight:

There's a couple of places selling good cheese:

I rather liked the sign in the roof arch:

which reads “A false balance is an abomination to the Lord but a just weight is his delight”!

There's food from around the world, like Nigerian cuisine from Sahara Kitchen, and Ethiopian vegetarian food. Taste of the Algarve were selling suckling pig rissols, and coxinhas galinha (chicken cooked in tomato sauce with olive oil, onion garlic and fresh parsley:

If you've never had one, we can recommend a Portuguese custard tart:

It's always nice to see stalls catering for special diets and vegans. Cakes from Ruby Tuesdays Bakery are made without animal products:

They also wheat gluten and sugar free produce. Also present were M S Cupcake who apparently makes the naughiest vegan cakes in town:

The testers in our party confirmed that naughty = nice!

Greenwich Market
College Approach
Greenwich
London
SE10 9HZ

Tel: 020 8269 5096

Web: www.greenwichmarket.net

High Lane - Ricky the Butcher

2012-01-12T07:30:00.003Z

I've met Ricky the butcher quite a few times over the years, at quite a few different Farmers Markets. I was on a walking holiday at Lyme Park last year and realised the shop was only a mile away from the entrance to Lyme Park, so decided to pay him a visit.

He's quite a character (I've never seen him out of that hat), so I wasn't surprised to see a massive mural on the outside of the shop:

They've always had a good reputation for their beef:

and they're also famous for their sausages. These are hand made on the farm with natural skins, with pork, beef, lamb and venison varieties. They also do things you can't always get elsewhere, like Boerewors (South African sausages):

and even more unusual items like these Zulu Eggs (hand cut lamb, beef and pork, whole roasted garlic and chili with a centre of cheese):

Ricky the Butcher

Scotch Produce Centre
Lomber Hey Farm
Andrew Lane
High Lane
Stockport
Cheshire
SK6 8HY

Tel: 0161 427 2532

Web: www.rickythebutcher.co.uk

Ditton Priors - Reg May and Son

2012-01-03T07:00:00.000Z

I expect the majority of my readers won't even know where Ditton Priors is? If you've ever been to a fine food shop in Shropshire and bought a pork pie, there's a good chance you may have tried one made in this shop:

Reg May and Son is a traditional family butchers in the heart of Shropshire's farming community, so the customers expect good meat.

Inside the shop there's the usual range of home made sausages etc.:

and if you want a joint:

Reg, or his son Nick, will cut one to order to give you exactly what you want. But it's the pies that they particularly excel at. There's quiches and steak pies etc. and one of the nicest pork pies I've ever tasted (and I've tried a few):

What could be nicer than a glass of dry, slightly chilled, farmhouse cider and and this pork pie?

If you can't get to Ditton Priors, they sell these pork pies in A J Pugh in Bishops Castle, the Crusty Cob in Cleobury Mortimer, Andrew Francis butchers in Ludlow, Mad Jack's Deli in Shrewsbury and other fine food shops in the area.

Reg May and Son
South Road
Ditton Priors
Bridgnorth
Shropshire
WV16 6SJ

Tel: 01748 712628

Sandiway - DeFINE Food and Wine

2011-12-28T18:30:00.000Z

As it's the middle of the party season, I thought I'd give DeFINE Food and Wine a mention.

If you're having a party with food and wine from this shop:

I'd like an invite!

It's a wine shop, with over 1,000 wines:

that also sells some seriously good food:

Pictured above is the French fridge with fine French cheeses, next to the French wines.

By the Italian and Spanish wines is the Mediterranean Fridge:

there's Italian cheeses and pasta (well actually the pasta is made in North Wales by the Fresh Pasta Company, but it's rather good) and Spanish chorizo and Serrano ham. They also sell Ligurian flatbreads, breadsticks and bruschetta.

In the English corner there's all my favourite cheeses:

like Appleby's Cheshire, Mrs Kirkham's Lancashire, Lincolnshire Poacher and Stinking Bishop - officially Britain's smelliest cheese. There's a small selection of beers like nearby Weetwood's Eastgate beer.

Samples of cheese are freely given, they know that if you try good cheese you'll want to buy it:

There's a good selection of antipasti, with a range of olives, artichoke hearts, sun dried tomatoes and peppers filled with feta cheese:

The best bit of this shop is the staff. They're all very helpful, without being interfering, and are great for advice on what wine goes with which food.

DeFINE Food and Wine
Chester Road
Sandiway
Cheshire
CW8 2NH

Tel: 01606 882101

Fax: 01606 888407

Web: http://www.definefoodandwine.com

Happy Christmas

2011-12-25T00:01:00.000Z

I'd like to wish all my readers a very happy Christmas. I've decided to use a photo of the Christmas Tree in the John Rylands library, as it looks a little better than the one in our house, which you can get a glimpse of in the next photo:

Regular readers may be surprised to see Christmas Dinner flavour pot noodle in my hand. The truth is they were half price and I thought it won't take any space in the fridge and is cooked in just 5 minutes!

Looking through the ingredients was interesting, I'm not sure what Sodium Carboxymethylcellulose is, and couldn't find Turkey on the ingredients. It does contain Chicken Powder (in at number 22 on the list of ingredients, after Potassium Chloride). I suppose I could give it to a child who wants a Chemistry Set for Christmas?

Once again I'd like to say thanks to all the farmers, food producers and retailers for making it so easy for us to have good food on our plates. I thought I'd finish with a picture of this year's Christmas Market in Manchester:

It's taken from upstairs in Manchester town hall, when I did a tour of the clock tower. If you want to see what it looks like from the very top of the Clock Tower go to my Other Stuff blog.

Rumwell Farm Shop

2011-12-21T08:00:00.000Z

It's bad enough coming home from a holiday, without sitting in stationary traffic on the M5...

The last time this happened we decided to go on the A38 instead. It's not normally as fast, but it's more interesting and that's how we discovered Rumwell Farm Shop:

It's a large farm shop and is less than 3 miles, to the west, from the centre of Taunton.

This farm Shop is the first farm shop in the UK to achieve a GOAL (Genuine Own And Local) standard from the National Farmers’ Retail and Markets Association.

So, for instance, the potatoes they sell are grown on their own farm:

as are the apples:

They rear the Aberdeen Angus beef, and free-range pork, that they sell, and the lamb comes from Exmoor:

They also have their own bakery, where they make all their own cakes:

Their sticky Toffee Puddings won a gold star award in the Taste of the West awards and their Rock Cakes won a gold star in the Great Taste Awards this year.

They sell their own home-made jams, chutneys, pickles:

Their Glamorous Gooseberry and Elderflower Jam, Glorious Grapefruit and Lemon Marmalade, Splendid Spicy Tomato Chutney, and Terrific Tangerine Marmalade also all won awards in the Taste of the West awards this year.

They also sell fresh fish from Samuels Fresh Fish and Game of Wellington, fresh crab, and kippers from the oldest smoke house in the country:

If that's made you thirsty, there's a good selection of local drinks in the Rumswell Tipple:

including Sheppy's cider from just down the road, beers from Cotleigh Brewery in Wiveliscombe and fruit wines from Lyme Bay Winery.

Alternatively you can make your own drinks, when I called earlier this year they were showing you how to make your own Damson Gin, and selling you the damsons.

Our home-made damson gin is looking good, has anyone tried making jam from the damsons that have been used for making damson gin?

Rumwell Farm Shop
Wellington Road
Rumwell
Taunton
Somerset
TA4 1EJ

Tel: 01823 461599

Web: www.rumwellfarmshop.com

Books for Cooks

2011-12-17T14:08:00.000Z

Here are some of my suggestions for books that anyone interested in food may enjoy...

My first suggestion is The Good Produce Guide. Mary Portas said "This book makes my heart beat with joy"! I always keep a copy of this book in my car as Rose Prince is very good at finding the sort of place this blog loves. Please let me know if you ever need an assistant Rose!

Taste Britain, introduced by rock n roll cheesemaker Alex James, is another good guide to regional produce, speciality shops and organic food.

If you live in (or visit) London I'd recommend two books, firstly

London's Best Food Shops, which is an excellent guide to fine food shops and specialist suppliers area by area.

Also covering London is:

Jenny Lindford's Food Lovers London, which Nigel Slater simply describes as "a joy"! I can't decide which I prefer, so I've included both.

When in London, I also consult my copy of the London Market Guide.

My next choice is:

Andrew Webb's Food Britannia was reviewed in this blog earlier this year, and is an around Britain on a plate guide to local food and producers. It's more of a book for the coffee table than the car's glove box, it's a nice read on a cold winter evening.

I've not included recipe books, probably because I'm not very good at sticking to them! I've got plenty at home and wouldn't be without my Good Housekeeping Cookery Book and Delia's Complete Cookery Course etc. but these days it's easier to Google a few ingredients to find a recipe, isn't it?

However I'd recommend:

Don't Sweat the Aubergine. Nicholas Clee clearly explains the theory behind cooking and what works and what doesn't!

My last suggestion is:

Chocolate Therapy, a fascinating book which analyses chocolate eaters by what shape chocolate you choose, what centre you choose and also what you do with the wrapper afterwards!

Liskeard - Taste Cornwall

2011-12-14T07:00:00.000Z

When I visited Pengelly's and Beddoe's Arcade Fruits I got talking to a customer (of both shops) who told me I really should also visit Taste Cornwall:

I'm very glad I did! It is run by the Cornish Guild of Smallholders, the same organisation that runs Lostwithiel Farmers Market.

Everything they stock has been made in Cornwall or within 35 miles of the shop.

There's freshly baked bread:

and very nice cakes:

There's Wessex Pantry pies "The outsides are made in Devon but the insides are Cornish through and through":

and local cheeses, local ham and Deli Farm charcuterie, milk from Roskillys and Roddas clotted cream.

There's a great selection of drinks, including local apple juice and the fantastic Cornish Orchard Cider:

It's a great shop to see lots of different things from lots of small producers. There's often the same item from more than one supplier - which means you have to buy two to see which you prefer J!

If you don't live in the South West, you can call on the way home from your Cornish holiday and get some proper presents!

They also do hampers, which would make a very acceptable Christmas present:

Taste Cornwall

6 Bay Tree Hill

Liskeard

Cornwall

PL14 4BE

Tel: 01579 344110

Web: www.tastecornwall.co.uk

Liskeard - Beddoe's Arcade Fruits

2011-12-06T07:00:00.000Z

Andy Beddoe's Arcade Fruits is a great place to find local produce. The words "supporting Cornish growers" appear in his window, and the shop is packed with local Cornish vegetables:

and fruit:

He's a keen supporter of Growfair, who buy direct from local farmers and aim to reduce food miles and CO2 emissions.

In case you wondering, I'm a bit behind with some of my posting and I'm sure the carrots are now bigger than these:

It's a great shop for whatever's in season and, this being Cornwall, that's probably before the rest of us get it!

Beddoes Arcade Fruits
1 Fore Street
Liskeard
Cornwall
PL14 3JA

Tel: 01579 348680

Web: www.facebook.com/people/Beddoes-Arcade-Fruits/100001903855340

Map of Places Visited

2011-12-01T19:55:00.000Z

View Good Food Shops in a full screen map

Liskeard - Pengelly's Fishmongers

2011-12-01T07:00:00.000Z

I was wondering whether to stop when I passed through Liskeard earlier this year. When I read in Rose Prince's excellent Good Food Producers Guide that Liskeard was the home of one of her favourite fishmongers, and that was next door to a good fruit and vegetables shop, I felt I had to call!

The fish is from small day boats from Looe, where they also have a branch on the quay by the fish market. They also do mail order.

Pengelly's Fishmongers
The Arcade
Fore Street
Liskeard
Cornwall
PL14 3JB

Tel: 01579 340777

Bispham Green - Home Farm Shop

2011-11-22T18:00:00.003Z

I first heard about the Eagle and Child in the excellent North West Nosh blog. A pub next door to a farm shop is my idea of heaven! The farm shop and deli are both owned by the Ainscough family, who've been in the area since the 13th century. Other businesses they own include The Wizzard at Alderley Edge and Miller Howe in the Lake District. I like how each of these popular businesses has got its own individual character and feel.

The Eagle and Child is just 5 miles or (10 minutes) from Junction 27 of the M6.

The Farm Shop is situated in an old barn, next door to the pub. As you go through the door you go past locally grown Lancashire tomatoes:

and squashes (or are these gourdes)?

Inside the shop there's a butchers, selling beef from their own pedigree herds of Red Polls, Lincoln Reds, Aberdeen Angus and Belted Galloways. There's Sandhams, Singletons, Mrs Kirkhams and Leagram Organic Lancashire cheeses. Other finds include Morecambe Bay Potted Shrimps and Cartmel Sticky Toffee Pudding:

They've also got a good selection of organic wines:

and being close to Wigan, they have to sell Uncle Joe's mint balls:

Home Farm Shop

The Eagle and Child
Bispham Green
Near Parbold
Lancashire
L40 3SG

Tel: 01257 462624

Web: www.thehomefarmshop.co.uk

Shrewsbury - Savour the Flavour Local Food Store

2011-11-08T07:00:00.002Z

This was our lunch on Saturday - some of the best of Shropshire on a plate! We visited the Shropshire Food Enterprise Centre (pictured below):

which has already had a mention in this blog, when I went on an excellent Cooking with Fish course run by Fiona Asson, of Fish in a Box.

This weekend I was back - as I'd heard that Heart of England Fine Foods (HEFF) have opened a Savour the Flavour Local Food Store:

The shop sells some of the best produce in the area made by HEFF members. Some products are actually made by small producers who are based at the Shropshire Food Enterprise Centre.

Old friends were there, like Maynards bacon, Mr Moyden’s handmade cheese, The Flavoured Butter Co and Market Drayton Gingerbread:

and there were also foods I'd not come across before, like Coopers Gourmet Sausage Rolls:

'The Shropshire One’ is made with caramelised onion, Shropshire Blue cheese, and local pork, and there are 6 other flavours to choose from.

There were lots of samples to try, we enjoyed the Hogans cider! They also sell my favourite ice-cream, Just Rachel's from Ledbury. We can particularly recommend the lemon curd or damson and sloe gin ice-creams!

Situated in the same building is the TASTE kitchen:

where HEFF's talented resident chef, Ed Warren, makes the most of local ingredients like the tart pictured at the top of this post. This was made with Mr Moyden's Wrekin Blue cheese which is also made at the Shropshire Food Enterprise Centre. Even the sausage rolls looked and tasted amazing:

It's an impressive showcase for local food, which I hope that other regional food and drink organisations will copy. The shop is open Monday to Fridays, and on Saturdays up until 17th December, check their web site for details.

Savour the Flavour Local Food Store
Shropshire Food Enterprise Centre
Vanguard Way
Battlefield Enterprise Park
Shrewsbury
Shropshire
SY1 3TG

Tel: 01743 452818

Web: www.shropshirefoodcentre.co.uk

Charlestown - Orange Farm Shop

2011-11-03T07:00:00.001Z

Charlestown is one of my favourite places in Cornwall. If Charlestown looks like something straight out of "The Onedin Line" that's because it's where that 70's tv series was filmed. In fact it's been used for quite a few films, like "Persuasion", "Poldark", "The Three Musketeers" and "The Voyage of Charles Darwin" - which have all had some scenes shot at Charlestown.

We called earlier this year, and whilst my wife thought we were having a break from visiting food shops, I found the Orange Farm Shop at the end of the harbour!

As you can see, parts of it are very orange! Clare Gobey and Rob Earl aim to be as green as they are orange and use an old electric milk float to get produce from their small-holding to the harbour.

They specialise in fresh, local seasonal and organic produce. Fruit and vegetables includes some they've grown themselves and they sell free range eggs from their ex-battery hens. Inside the small, but packed, roundhouse you can find Cornish honey from their own bees, home-made jams jellies marmalade and chutneys, local dairy products, Duchy smoked fish, Tregothnan Cornish teas, Cornish crisps, and Cornish apple juice.

They also bake fresh organic bread each day, the selection varies - but usually includes wholegrain spelt, granary and a couple of others.

The orange umbrellas and plate make the bread appear slightly orange in my photo!

Naturally the Orange Farm Shop sell freshly squeezed orange juice, and at this time of the year you may also like some hot soup or hot chocolate. They're open Thursday to Sunday (check their website for details).

Orange Farm Shop
The Roundhouse
Charlestown Harbour
Saint Austell
Cornwall
PL25 3NJ

Tel: 01726 850242 or 07860 455812

Web: www.orangefarmshop.co.uk

Exeter - Bon Goût Deli

2011-10-26T08:00:00.000+01:00

Bon Goût Deli is a fantastic deli on Magdalen Road.

There's an interesting selection in the fridges, with items like char-grilled aubergines and cured salmon in a honey mustard dill sauce:

There's a good choice of cheeses, for instance they sell French unpasteurised Brie de Pays and Brie de Meaux, Sharpham Brie (from near Totnes), vegetarian Somerset brie and St Endellion brie (from Cornwall):

I arrived late in the day midweek, but they still had an interesting selection of pastries:

and cakes (including some gluten free).

Bon Goût Deli
45 Magdalen Road
Exeter
EX2 4TA

Tel: 01392 435521

Web: www.bongoutdeli.co.uk

Exeter - Gibson's Plaice

2011-10-24T07:42:00.003+01:00

Gibson's Plaice is an award winning fishmonger, almost opposite Pipers Farm (see last post).

There's a wide range of locally caught fish (sourced from Brixham), they aim to buy line-caught and sustainable fish from the smaller day boats where possible.

There's also smoked fish and shell fish. A nice touch is they offer Exeter's large student population a discount.

Gibson's Plaice
38 Magdalen Road
Exeter
EX2 4TD

Tel: 01392 495344

Web: www.gibsonsplaice.com

Exeter - Pipers Farm

2011-10-19T20:00:00.013+01:00

This blog always approves of shops which let you try before you buy!

Earlier in this blog I said that I'd struggled to find good food shops in Exeter. Well that was before I'd discovered Magdalen Road! There's a great deli, fishmonger, greengrocer, wine shop and Pipers Farm all in close proximity:

Pipers Farm is listed in the Telegraph's Britain's best delis, markets and farm shops, the Independent's 50 best farm shops, it's won a BBC Best Food Producer award and customers include Michael Caines!

They have their own farm at Cullompton, 10 miles away, and here animal welfare is paramount. The meat is top quality and attractively displayed:

They also do ready meals, their Ragu Bolognese was an award winner in this year's Great Taste Awards.

Pipers Farm
57 Magdalen Road
Exeter
EX2 4TA

Tel: 01392 274504

Web: www.pipersfarm.com‎

Great Haywood - Canalside Farm

2011-10-12T07:00:00.001+01:00

Great Haywood is a village in Stafordshire, about four miles from Rugeley and close to Shugborough Hall. Haywood Junction is an important junction on the canals, it's where the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal meets the Trent and Mersey Canal.

Canalside Farm lives up to its name:

the car park is next to the canal! They've been growing and selling market produce here for over 25 years, and on the 1st August this year opened a brand new farm shop.

It's got a particularly good display of fresh fruit and vegetables, if you haven't got access to damsons you can buy them here to make damson jam of damson gin:

There's a butchers:

selling beef, pork and lamb:

and Packington free range chickens (as featured on the Hairy Bikers).

There's a deli counter selling Tiggy's (a small independent baker from Stafford) pasties, pork pies, sausage rolls, quiche and Scotch eggs:

There's a good selection of cheeses:

including Bertelin Farmhouse Cheese from Eccleshall.

There's "mix and match" olives:

The milk here come from Wells Farm Dairy in Bradley:

Apparently it's so fresh, you can hear the moo!

This being Staffordshire I was surprised that they were selling Derbyshire oatcakes:

Apparently they were having difficulty getting Staffordshire ones, but I've given them a suggestion from here!

There's bread, including this Focaccia:

from Tiggy's (and another local bakery), and also Tiggy's sultana scones:

and a range of cakes including sponges from Fatherson Bakery:

They sell fudge and chocolates from Sweet Temptations:

made in Stafordshire, and locally made chutneys and sauces from The Kitchens at Horsley, near Eccleshall.

There's ice-cream:

from Red Lion Farm in Staffordshire and Peak District Dairy in Tideswell.

Best of all, at the back of the shop, there's some greenhouses:

Here you can pick your own strawberries:

You don't get wet, and you don't even have to bend down! I think it took less than 5 minutes to pick these:

in September!

Canalside Farm
Mill Lane
Great Haywood
Stafford
ST18 ORQ

Tel: 01889 881747

Web: www.canalsidefarm.co.uk

Sugnall Hall Farmers' Market

2011-10-08T08:00:00.002+01:00

Readers of my Other Stuff blog will already know that I love Sugnall Hall Walled Garden, and when I heard they were starting to have Farmers' Markets I had to be there at the first one!

The Farmers' Market is next door to the recently restored wall garden:

which was originally built in the 1730s.

There was a good range of stalls when I visited:

and the organisers tell me there will be even more next time.

It's a friendly market, with lots of stalls offering samples, like the sausages and bacon from Rushey Hey Farm:

Here they rear Gloucester Old Spot pigs, which are reared naturally outside.

If you don't eat meat (or are wanting to cut down your meat consumption) there was a stall selling Bernadette McCarthy's nut roasts:

We enjoyed the samples:

and had to buy!

The Pie Life were selling their luxury pies:

hand-made in the Goldhurst Farm Bakery.

I'd already come across the Local Tart Company:

at Stafford Farmers' Market, they sell great flavours like home made pesto, roast butternut squash, with red and green pepper and mozzarella on puff pastry!

Next door to them were Staffordshire Savoury Eggs:

If your experience of Scotch Eggs is only from party food bought in freezer centres, try one of these vastly superior products. They're hand-made with free-range eggs, and flavours include their original, a red pepper and chilli, and duck eggs wrapped in Black Forest ham.

Staying with eggs, Janet's Free-Range Eggs:

are considerably cheaper than my local supermarket.

I was please to see a former Reaseheath student selling Mr Moyden's cheese:

Above is their Newport variety and below is their Wrekin Blue variety:

They also sell an oak smoked variety.

If you wanted some pickles to go with the cheese, you didn't have to walk far to get to Mikes Homemade:

made 6 miles away in Woodseaves.

Next door to Mike's Homemade was Cop Cuisine:

who make handmade authentic Indian curry sauces and accompaniments in Mow Cop (hence the name).

For those with a sweet tooth there were several stands selling nice cupcakes:

and the Chocolate Tailor sold fun, tasty and unusual items:

and if you haven't got a sweet tooth you could buy a set here:

Not all the stands sold food. A Farmer's Daughter sold unusual gifts which will appeal to the farming community:

Lymestone Brewery, who are based in nearby Stone, use the name of the town for inspiration for their beer names:

After a sip of Rolling Stone and Stone the Crows I was a convert, they make good and very different beers.

The Farmers' Market even had it's own beer barn:

where you could buy ale from Joules Brewery in Market Drayton and Cheshire cider from Eddisbury Fruit Farm.

I've left my favourite stall till last, the one selling produce from Sugnall Walled Garden:

There was seasonal and unusual vegetables like kohlrabi, and beans in three different colours:

After all that, I went on an excellent guided tour around the walled garden, which gave me an appetite for a bacon butty:

and a scone with their own strawberry jam:

The next one is on Sunday - it's easy to remember it's Sugnall Second Sunday!

Sugnall Walled Garden
Sugnall
Stafford
ST21 6NF

Tel: 01785 850820

Web: www.sugnall.co.uk/farmers.html

O’Shea’s of Knightsbridge

2011-10-05T18:00:00.001+01:00

Almost next door to my last post, is O'Sheas of Knightsbridge. Darragh O’Shea runs O’Shea’s in Knightsbridge, he's the 8th generation of butchers from a family who established the first butchers in Tipperary in 1789.

They sell Black Angus free range and organic beef from both South West Ireland and Perthshire in Scotland. Their beef is dry-aged on the bone, for longer than most butchers, for a better flavour:

Their beef is well marbled and their customers include many of the top restaurants in the area.

Their free range and organic pork comes from pigs reared mainly outside on Dorset grasslands, and their lamb comes from farms in Yorkshire, the West Country, Wales and the Shetlands.

They make a wide range of sausages including a beef and Guinness Sausage!

Incidentally if you thought butchery is a male dominated business, Charlotte Harbottle is a butcher here and also wrtites her own blog: www.girlbutcher.co.uk.

O’Shea’s of Knightsbridge
11 Montpelier Street
Knightsbridge
London
SW7 1EX

Tel: 0207 581 7771

Web: www.osheasbutchers.com

Knightsbridge - Beillevaire

2011-10-03T08:00:00.001+01:00

Pascal Beillevaire is a 51 year old French farmer from Vendée Marsh, who started selling his own cheese 30 years ago in a Farmers' Market. He must have been rather good at it as he now has a chain of shops across France, and last November, with his son Fabrice, opened a shop in London's Knightsbridge, 100 metres away from Harrods!

It's a lovely part of France, - in the middle of London! I did spot some English cheese (Stichelton and Colston Bassett Stilton) but I gather most of their customers only want French cheeses.

If you thought all cheese were the same, come to this shop!

The "Fromagers Advice" when I called was this Saint-Nectaire farmhouse cheese, from the Auvergne, made with unpasteurised milk:

Beside the cheese there were all sorts of accompaniments, like quince paste, toast for cheese (from the Fine Cheese Company in Bath) and Vivat Triple beer brewed by Brasserie de l’Abbaye du Cateau:

The only problem with so many good cheeses, is which one(s) to take home....

They also sell their own yoghurt, butter and cream, you can even have a French breakfast:

or a cheese plate (with a glass of wine):

Très Bien!

Beillevaire
7 Montpelier Street
London
SW7 1EX

Tel: 0207 584 1231

Web: www.fromagerie-beillevaire.com

Stone - Aston Marina

2011-09-30T07:00:00.000+01:00

Aston Marina is on the A51just south of Stone, or on the Trent and Mersey Canal if travelling by boat. You can go for boat trips from the marina, have meal in their bistro or go food shopping in their farm shop.

There's a nice old grey Fergie - "the worlds most famous tractor" as you go in:

Inside the shop there's a butchers, delicatessen, sandwich bar, and groceries. Their fruit and veg is home grown or local where possible:

They also do fruit and veg boxes.

There's a proper butchers selling their own meat and from nearby farms:

One of their specialities is goat meat (very low in fat and cholesterol) from their own herd of Boer goats:

There's also pork and bacon is from outdoor reared free range pigs from Shiffords Grange Farm, as well as their own herd of Gloucester Old Spot pigs. There's local lamb and beef (hung for 28 days). You may also see venison (from Idlerocks Deer Park), free range poultry, ducks, geese, partridge, pheasant, pigeon, guinea fowl, rabbit, and wild boar.

Groceries include pickles and preserves from producers like Mike's Homemade in Woodseaves and Jam Today in Stafford:

and Gran Stead's Traditional Still Lemonade:

A lot of the produce is made on the premises, like these cheesecakes:

or these "miniature treats"

and biscuits:

Aston Marina
Lichfield Road
Stone
Staffordshire
ST15 8QU

01785 819702

Web: www.astonmarina.co.uk

Henley Ice Cream

2011-09-26T19:00:00.002+01:00

Henley in Arden (not to be confused with Henley on Thames) is a fine ancient manorial town, with some interesting historic buildings. You can buy Henley ice-cream from their 16th Century ice-cream parlour and tea room situated on the High Street, in the middle of Henley.

There's a wide range of flavours available:

and for special diets they also do a diabetic ice cream, gluten and lactose free ice cream and gluten free cones.

Henley ice-cream has been going since 1934, according to their web site they used to have a member of staff directing traffic, as the volume of customers were causing the High Street to get blocked!

Henley Ice Cream
152 High Street
Henley in Arden
Warwickshire
B95 5BS

Tel: 01564 795172

Web: www.henleyicecream.co.uk

The Family JAM Production Co.

2011-09-20T07:00:00.002+01:00

I first met Celia and Pam Toler when we were guests on a programme about Cheshire food on Red Shift Radio. The two sisters make jam and preserves at Yarrangall Green Farm (Yarrangall means a place with a good view) which is situated on the Sandstone Trail.

Their philosophy is simple. The fruit and vegetables come form their own farm farm (or other family and friends) and their recipes use natural preserving methods (sugar and vinegar, but no salt, additives or artificial flavours).

I know these Victoria Plums:

taste gorgeous because Pam gave us some. Besides Victoria plum jam they also do Greengage plum jam, Mirabelle plum jam, and Round plum jam and that's just the plum varieties!

They also do jellies (like wild crab apple jelly) and fruit cheeses (they don't contain any cheese, but their quince cheese is highly recommended to eat with cheese). They also make chutneys like their Cheshire Chutney (blackberry, plum, apple), or rhubarb and banana chutney.

They do a range of cordials:

(damson, rhubarb, plum, elderflower, grape and rosehip) which are nice diluted with soda water.

They have a shop and café, but it's only open on Wednesday mornings. However you can also buy online.

The Family JAM Production Co.
Yarrangall Green Farm
Simmonds Hill
Manley
Frodsham
Cheshire
WA6 9DP

Tel: 01928 740200

Web: www.familyjam.co.uk

Lostwithiel Farmers Market

2011-09-15T07:00:00.001+01:00

Lostwithiel Farmers Market is run by the Cornish Guild of Smallholders, and takes place in Lostwithiel Community Centre on alternate Fridays (see here for details). It's the sort of market where it's best not to go with a shopping list, but just see what's there and in season and buy what takes your fancy.

The first stall holder I spoke to had some Cornish cob nuts:

I was given one to try, and also offered some of her Cornish apple juice to try. I don't think her apples would win a beauty contest, but they'd got great names (like Pigs Nose Westwards):

and the juice tasted fantastic.

This stall was called Kerensa Aval (which apparently means Apple Friendship) and this group of orchard owners in the Tamar and Lynher valleys grow over 30 traditional Cornish apple varieties and produce blended and single variety juices.

Web: www.applevalley.co.uk

There was Cornish sausage and burgers:

The Duchy Smoked Fish Company were selling cold smoked mackerel, salmon, cheese, haddock, and trout:

There was very fresh fruit and vegetables:

and Tamar Valley Honey:

Overcoombe Farm Kitchen were selling bread, cakes, jams and chutneys:

and Coppergon Produce sell preserves, jams, pickles, vegetables, eggs, and excess plants!

There's more producers besides, check their web site - or better still, visit soon...

Web: www.cgos.co.uk/lostwithiel-market.aspx