Good Food Shops

Barnard Castle - Cross Lanes Organic Farm

2013-05-16T07:42:00.000+01:00

I was on holiday in Durham, and got talking to the chef at the hotel restaurant where I was staying. As the restaurant was keen on sourcing local food, I asked the chef if he could recommend any good farm shops in the area. Without hesitating, he suggested I go to Cross Lanes Organic Farm near Barnard Castle.

Peter Coverdale is a highly respected stone mason, who with his wife Sue, decided to open an organic farm shop, café and horticultural centre. It has only been open for about a year, but has already won numerous awards.

It's been stylish designed, and with a lot of thought paid to environmental issues. You may notice old pews for seats

and even shelves made from recycled old tractor tyres!

The roof is green - it's a living roof, with sedum and meadow turf and around 25 varieties of wild flower and grasses. Even the toilets are green - there's an outdoor composting toilet with a Whitby heather thatched roof

The excellent butchers sell grass fed shorthorn beef (and dripping) comes from the farm next door

and other meat also comes from named local farms.

The organic bread is made on the premises, like this organic beer cob:

which is made with organic ale and molasses and browned off in their wood fired oven.

There's jams and preserves from Just Williams in Richmond (whose bitter and twisted marmalade has won a great taste award). Organic loose leaf teas from Steenbergs, in Melberby near Ripon:

There's also a good selection of beers, from local breweries like Allendale Brewery, North Yorkshire Brewery, Wensleydale Brewery, Black Paw and Yorkshire Dales Beer Company.

You can have a meal in the café:

Dishes are prepared using organic seasonal produce, locally sourced where possible.

Last of all, this blog has already told you about shops selling chocolate shoes, but have you ever seen chocolate wellingtons before?

Cross Lanes Organic Farm
Cross Lanes
Barnard Castle
County Durham
DL12 9SL

Tel: 01833 630619
Butchers: 01833 694395

Web: www.crosslanesorganics.co.uk

email: info@crosslanesorganics.co.uk

Failsworth - Robinsons Bakery

2013-05-08T06:24:00.001+01:00

Robinsons of Failsworth proudly claim to be Manchester's oldest family run craft bakery.

They were established in 1864, and still make bread the traditional way.

It's a family business (there's 6 generations whom have worked in the bakery). It's now run by David Robinson, who trained at Chatwins in Nantwich. David is passionate about preserving traditional methods to produce top quality products.

Saturday's the best day to go, as they have the biggest selection of different loaves (they make 17 different sorts).

They've also got some seriously good cakes:

like these cream cakes:

and amazing Danish pastries (see the first picture in this post) which reminded me of the ones that the Danish Food Centre used to sell when they were on Cross Street in the city centre.

Robinsons also do gingerbread:

Footballers are available in red, white and blue:

but I'm not sure which team the snails represent?

There's also chocolate muffins, carrot cakes and Toscana cakes:

and proper Lancashire (not to be confused with Yorkshire) parkin:

They've also got a shop in New Moston, and have now started to sell in some of Manchester's markets Grace Robinson, the youngest of David's three daughters who all work in the bakery, does a great job promoting events they're at here on Twitter.

One of their most popular lines at markets is a Manchester Tart. As a child in Manchester, we would sometimes have a "Manchester Tart" for school dinners. These were a disgusting concoction made from pastry, a cheap and nasty "fruit" jam with coconut sprinkled on top. The ones Robinsons make are as different as possible from my childhood memories, and were really enjoyed by my family:

Robinsons of Failsworth (Bakers) Ltd
69/71 Ashton Rd East
Failsworth
Manchester
M35 9PW

Tel/Fax: 0161 681 2493

Email: mail@robinsonsbakery.co.uk

Web: www.robinsonsbakery.co.uk

Clitheroe - Wellgate Fisheries

2013-05-01T07:00:00.000+01:00

Wellgate Fisheries is in Clitheroe, and is on the wonderful Ribble Valley Food Trail. They have a shop in Clitheroe Market three days a week, and I visited their shop on Wellgate:

They source sustainably caught fish where possible, and buy direct from fishermen on the Lancashire and Cumbrian coasts, and also in Manchester fish market. They also operate a wholesale business from Manchester, and supply many of the top restaurants in the area, and supply chef Breda Murphy with the ingredients for her famous fish pie.

Kippers come from Loch Fyne, or the Isle of Man.

Depending on the time of year there may be Morecambe Bay brown shrimps, or Lune estuary whitebait, and sea trout from the River Lune. There's also crabs from the Cumbrian coast.

Wellgate Fisheries
5 Wellgate
Clitheroe
Lancashire
BB7 2DS

Tel: 01200 423511

Web: www.wellgatefisheries.co.uk

Blackburn - Woods Craft Bakery

2013-04-20T09:19:00.000+01:00

I'm glad that more people are now looking to buy real bread. Barry Wood's craft bakery in Blackburn is listed on Sustain's Real Bread Finder and makes proper bread! If you're passing by, you can order a hot or cold sandwich:

It's also the home of the Lancashire Pasty Company who make award winning handmade Lancashire pasties, with locally sourced ingredients.

Varieties include this award winning (gold award in North West Fine Foods) Bowland lamb hotpot pasty:

- which is made with Trough of Bowland lamb, potatoes and onions from Ormskirk, and Lancashire butter.

Vegetarians are catered for with Lancashire cheese and spinach rolls and butter pies.

There's also a Mawsons Oldham sarsaparilla, apple and custard pasty!

Cakes include Florentines and Jap cakes (called Japonaise fancies if you're posh):

Woods Craft Bakery

784 Whalley New Road
Blackburn
Lancashire
BB1 9BA

Tel: 01254 247225

Web: www.facebook.com/pages/Woods-Craft-Bakery/208092969270066

Oliver's Cider and Perry

2013-04-09T07:17:00.004+01:00

The man above is Tom Oliver, a really nice person who is one of the best cider and perry makers you'll ever meet. If you're in Herefordshire, keep an eye out for brown signs showing you where the cider farms are:

Better still find (or download) the Herefordshire Cider Route, and if you're near the delightfully sounding Ocle Pychard, look out for Moorhouse Farm:

Here, in an old hop kiln, is where you'll find Oliver's Cider and Perry:

Inside is an Aladdin's cave for fans of cider and perry:

There's single varietals like Dabinett, Kingston Black or Yarlington Mill Ciders, and Blakeney Red, Swans Egg, Oldfield or Rock Perry. It's fascinating learning the stories about how these apples and pears got their different and sometimes unusual names. What's in stock depends on when you visit. Some varieties, like Coppy, only produce a decent crop every 3 or 4 years - so you may have to wait for that.

You can taste before you buy:

Tom also does blends, and a good cider maker like Tom will also mature the vintage ciders in oak barrels to give another dimension to the drink.

At the back you can also see some of the numerous awards that Tom has won:

Besides the cider and perry there's also cider vinegar and rock perry vinegar:

The rock perry vinegar (which is served on the Sticky Fried Chicken Wings at the Disco Bistro in London) has revolutionised my salad dressings. Rick Stein gave Oliver's Cider & Perry "Superhero" status, and I imagine Rick used it when he made Warm chicken liver salad with perry vinegar dressing.

There's also (frozen) sausage for sale, made with rare breed pork from Noggin Farm in Much Marcle and Tom Oliver's cider.

I could have stayed and talked to Tom for much longer.... I never even found out about his work as a sound engineer and tour manager for rock groups - as he had to go and rescue a lamb that had got stuck!

Oliver's Cider and Perry Ltd.
Moor House Farm
Ocle Pychard
Hereford
Herefordshire
HR1 3QZ

Tel: 01432 820569

Web: www.theolivers.org.uk

Settle - The Courtyard Dairy

2013-04-04T08:05:00.003+01:00

I've featured some seriously good cheese shops in this blog, and the recently opened Courtyard Dairy near Settle is definitely in the premier league!

It's situated in a group of traditional barns on the A65:

where in The Courtyard you'll also find an art gallery and brasserie, and upmarket shops selling hand crafted furniture as well as an excellent wine merchant Buon Vino, who'll sell you something different to go with your cheese.

The dairy:

is run by Andy Swinscoe, and his partner Kathy, and they know and care a lot about the cheese they sell.

Their cheeses are sourced from small farms and artisan producers and matured to perfection.

You're not going to find piles of blocks of pre-cut cheeses, sweating in cling film here!

And the only day you'll see processed cheese slices is on April Fools day - see here for a picture Andy put up J.

The bottle of Marc de Bourgogne (in the picture above) is not for Andy and Kathy - it's to go on the Langres, a creamy cheese made by Schertenleib in Champagne-Ardenne!

Like most good cheese shops, a sample to taste is freely given. They know that the more you try, the more you'll want to buy!

There's local cheeses, like Dale End Cheddar an unpasteurised clothbound cheese made by Alastair Pearson (no relation) in North Yorkshire at Botton Camphill Farming Community for adults with learning disabilities.

Also from North Yorkshire is Andy Ridley's Richard III Wensleydale. When I was in the shop, a customer who'd bought bought a small piece the previous day had come back to buy a massive piece because they'd enjoyed it so much.

There's some really good blue cheeses like Battlefield Blue (made by Jo and David Clarke in Leicestershire), Bleu des Causses (aged in natural caves in France), and Gorgonzola Dolce (made in Piemonte, Italy):

If you don't like cheese (maybe that's because you've never been to this shop?) there's charcuterie like Yorkshire chorizo and salami

From further afield there's good Italian cured meats like prosciutto, and finocchiona (a Tuscan salami flavoured with fennel):

and again you can try before you buy.

There's also things to go with your cheese:

like biscuits for your cheese and chutney made by Raydale preserves

They also have some stylish cheese boards, like these Burlington Slate:

My only complaint about this shop is that it's not nearer to my house - but their cheese can be delivered anywhere in mainland England, Wales and Central Scotland.

The Courtyard Dairy
A65
Settle
North Yorkshire
BD24 9JY

Tel: 01729 892 902

Mobile: 07791 137 608

Email: andy@thecourtyarddairy.co.uk

Web: www.thecourtyarddairy.co.uk

Stirchley Stores

2013-03-29T09:38:00.000Z

Stirchley Stores is a new co-op, which sells ethical, affordable and local food. It's run by volunteers and there's a lovely atmosphere the moment you enter the shop.

Working with other businesses in the area, the aim is to rejuvenate Stirchley. The shop opened last autumn, and is on the busy A441, not far from Bournville railway station.

It's next door to Loaf, which contains a cookery school and is a social enterprise with the aim of building up communities and promoting real food and healthy living in Birmingham.

Tom Baker, who was an NHS nutritionalist, runs the Loaf on a day-to-day basis and is passionate about what he does.

inside the shop there's wholefoods and eco friendly products:

and even a cookery book section where you can donate your old books and buy new ones.

Why I really like this shop is because there's a great selection of bread:

which are made in the bakery at the back of the shop:

They were recently included in the Sunday Telegraph's list of Britain's top 5 bakeries. They use flour from Shipton Mill, a Cotswold mill which produces quality flour using traditional methods.

There's even a Stirchley loaf, a half wholemeal bread with a lovely crust:

The Foccacia is also great:

and, with the shops emphasis on local ingredients, is made with English rapeseed oil.

There's also cakes, like this bread pudding:

and we can recommend these Chelsea buns:

This is a great enterprise, that ticks all the boxes for me. Fantastic local food, served by lovely people - you leave the shop feeling the world is a better place!

Stirchley Stores
1421 Pershore Road
Stirchley
Birmingham
B30 2JL

Web: www.loafonline.co.uk
&
www.stirchleystores.co.uk

Alderley Edge - The Yard

2013-03-21T06:37:00.005Z

The Yard is a lovely new business, run by the Pickering family, in Alderley Edge. It's just off the main road, by one of the car parks, and not far from the station.

It's a curious mixture of businesses - at the front there's a deli:

where you can buy organic fruit and veg and unusual cooking ingredients. Next to that there's Si the butcher:

who clearly knows a thing or two about good meat. He sells fine, 28 day matured, beef from local farms:

There's also award winning Scotch Eggs from The Happy Belly in Bolton:

and on Thursdays Mal, from Northern Shoal, sells fresh fish from his van in the car park.

At the back there's a café, where you can have a special from the Organic Juice Bar, prepared by Sadie - who you may recognise as an actress in Waterloo Road, and something to eat.

There's all manner of events held here, like painting and garden workshops, butchery courses, yoga, and open mic nights!

I'll definitely be back - it's such a friendly place - and more like going to see old friends than shopping!

The Yard
32 South Street
Alderley Edge
Cheshire
SK9 7ES

Tel: 01625 586962

Web: www.theyardalderleyedge.com

Prestbury Farm Shop

2013-03-17T09:24:00.001Z

Prestbury Farm Shop is situated in the middle of Prestbury, a lovely village between Macclesfield and Wilmslow.

It's owned and run by Debbie Stanley, with the help of her fiancé, the actor Charlie Lawson:

As you can see, it's a good place to get game which is sourced locally and from Scotland. They've got their own on-site butcher and their beef, lamb and pork come from local farms.

You may have noticed outside the shop is Charlie's BBQ. It is available every day, whatever the weather, they'll barbecue their own burgers, chicken, sausage and steaks.

They also sell potted beef, pheasant and venison, and wild duck rillettes from the Moocher. There's ham from Maynards and bread from Peter Herd in Wilmslow. To go with it, there's lovely chutneys and jams etc. from Christine's Preserves.

Milk and cream is from Cloudview Dairy and they sell Tiresford Guernsey Gold Cheshire yoghurt, which our family love.

Prestbury Farm Shop
Prestbury Village
Cheshire
SK10 4DG

Tel: 01625 820035

Web: www.prestburyfarmshop.co.uk

Hale - Hill's Bakery

2013-03-12T12:51:00.001Z

After the recent horse meat scandal, I'm surprised that more people aren't taking a closer interest in what's in their bread. You'll have no worries about that at Hill's Bakery in Hale though, and naturally (sorry about the pun) you'll find them on the Real Bread Campaign's Bread Finder.

Last year they celebrated their 100th anniversary, and it's still a family run business. Once your inside the shop you'll need to decide whether to go for a white tin:

or a bloomer, a Manchester cob, or a soughdough...

There's also cakes

and, as it's nearly Easter, Hot Cross Buns:

Hill's Bakery
217 Ashley Road
Hale
Altrincham
WA15 9SZ

Tel: 0161 9281 309

Web: www.hillsbakeryhale.co.uk

The Cheese Place

2013-03-03T19:14:00.000Z

It was Aumbry Restaurant that first drew my attention to the Cheese Place in Prestwich. I thought if it's good enough for that Michelin listed, multi award winning restaurant, then I ought to pay them a visit.

It's a modern shop, just half a mile from Junction 17 of the M60, and very close to Prestwich station on the Metrolink.

They also have a franchise at Boston Spa, which I hope to visit soon.

Inside the shop:

there's a good range of carefully selected cheeses, like Appleby's Cheshire and Sandham's Lancashire.

Blue cheeses are kept in a separate fridge:

where Colston Bassett Stilton and Shepherds Purse Yorkshire Blue sit alongside Cabrales and Roquefort.

There's helpful labels to give you more information:

and the staff are also cheese lovers!

You need good bread to go with cheese, and they sell bread from Barbakan Bakery which is always good:

There's also a nice range of things to go with cheese, I'd not heard of Cheshire Relish Sauce before:

It's made by Just like it used to be.

If you want something to drink there's beers from Irwell Works Brewery.co.uk

There's much more in this lovely shop - I think you better go yourself as I've bound to have missed something important!

The Cheese Place
Unit 6
Radius Building
Prestwich
M25 1AY

Tel: 0161 425 7975

Web: www.thecheeseplace.co.uk

Wilmslow - Northwest Fish

2013-02-19T08:33:00.000Z

Wilmslow, with its Incredible Edible project and fantastic Artisan Market, has already had several mentions in this blog. In fact I'd gone back to visit the latter when I noticed a new fishmonger on Grove Street.

It's a family run business, which has only been open 2 weeks, and is already doing a steady trade.

There's a wide range of top quality fresh and smoked fish.

There's also crayfish tails and brown shrimps:

crabs, mussels, oysters and prawns.

In a couple of weeks they're hoping to open a fish restaurant above the shop.

Northwest Fish
Grove Street
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 1DU

Tel: 01625 525995

Web: www.facebook.com/northwestfish

Bea's of Bloomsbury

2013-02-16T09:46:00.000Z

I was walking in London, on a wet and dreary day, when suddenly I walked past this window:

and realised I'd just gone past Bea's of Bloomsbury! I quickly went back, and into the shop. Regular readers may remember Bea's was one of the highlights when I went to Maltby Street Market last February.

It was breakfast time when I called, so I could choose from croissants and American breakfast scones:

But this is a place for cakes!

The owner, chef Bea Vo, was born in Washington D.C., but then moved across the herring pond and was apprenticed to a French patisserie and trained at Le Cordon Bleu. So in the shop you'll find there's fabulous New York style cheesecake:

Flavours vary, so ask for the day's flavours. How about this berry cheesecake with passion fruit curd?

You can also try and recreate the cakes at home, with recipe books like Tea with Bea:

Bea's of Bloomsbury

44 Theobalds Road
London
WC1X 8NW

Tel: 0207 242 8330

Web: www.beasofbloomsbury.com

Ledbury - Three Counties Cider Shop

2013-02-02T10:04:00.001Z

I don't need an excuse to return to Ledbury - it's one of the best towns in the country for good independent food producers. But I've now found yet another reason to visit this lovely town - Three Counties Cider Shop.

When they built the Barrett Browning Institute (named at the famous poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning) at the end of the 18th century, they helpfully erected the fine clock tower shown at the top of this post. When you've found this, you've found the Three Counties Cider Shop which is directly opposite:

Once inside:

you're surrounded by good cider and perry! The shop is owned by Once Upon A Tree who were featured in this blog last year, just before they won Best Drinks Producer in the BBC's Food & Farming Awards. So you'd expect to find their ciders and perry:

At the back of the shop there's draft cider and perry:

Some of my finds included Butford Organics:

Their Ganymede cider was commended in the Soil Association 2012 Organic Food Awards and they also sell Aurora and Sadira - naturally produced organic bottle conditioned perry.

I was recently talking to Tom Oliver, who is one of my favourite cider producers. Tom will be featured in this blog later this year and you can buy Olivers cider and perry in this shop. It's amazing how different the tastes can be of cider and perry, even when they're made with the same varieties.

It's interesting to study the differences between the label designs in this shop. The Ross-on-Wye Cider & Perry Company have pictures of the apples:

Hogans Cider in the Malverns is one of a new breed of artisan cider makers and has a stylish label:

I must also visit the Orchard Centre, at Hartpury in Gloucestershire, where Out of the Orchard cider is made:

Whilst on the subject of labels, Wilce's Cider:

which is made less than a mile from this shop, features the fantastic Market House in Ledbury (see here for a picture of the real thing).

Not all the cider is from the Three Counties, the rare Abbey Lands Tyson's Tipple:

is made from a blend of dessert apples and pears at Ryedale Vineyards near York. In fact the great thing about this shop is you never know what you're going to find. Stocks vary depending on supplies (most of the suppliers are relatively small producers) and the time of year.

If you fancy something stronger, there's liqueurs:

like Gun Dog damson, raspberry or rhubarb fruit gin from Putley, or Slightly Foxed Orange Liqueur, Number Nine and Bloody Furlong from Celtic Marches (the last two won Gold in the Great Taste Awards).

There's Pixley Berries blackcurrants cordials:

they're made, not far from Dragon Orchard, with fruit juice, sugar, water and nothing else.

They sell mustards from the Three Counties Gourmet:

like Sizzling Sausage Mustard and The Connoisseur's Mustard (great for gourmet sauces or salad dressings) and Delia's White Wine & Chilli Mustard (a great alternative to Dijon Mustard). If you don't like mustard, you can marinade your chicken with Delia's Natural Sweet Chilli Sauce .

They also have Once Upon a Tree's delicious jams jellies and chutneys:

flavours include Medlar Jelly (a nice present for the in-laws?) and Quince Jelly.

Three Counties Cider Shop
5a The Homend
Ledbury
HR8 1BN

Web: www.onceuponatree.co.uk/visit/three-counties-cider-shop.html

Audlem - Oxtail & Trotter

2013-01-23T23:36:00.000Z

Oxtail & Trotter is the new butchers in Audlem. With a name like Oxtail & Trotter, you can tell that they're serious about food.

The new owners are local farmers Hugh and Kate Pocock, who operate the shop with Simon - a butcher who has 40 years' experience in the trade.

The meat comes from their own and other local farms.

They also when in season, sell game, and even game sausages:

They sell Maynard's Stafordshire Black bacon - dry cured with aged treacle and molasses.

I've encountered some very good pork pies on my travels, and the ones they sell here are some of the best:

They also sell Coopers Gourmet Sausage Rolls. We went for the Shropshire Blue and Caramelised Onion variety.

There's also items like preserves from the Hawkshead Relish Company, and closer to home the Kitchens Fine Food Co.:

If you're in a hurry try a frozen ready meal, made by the Vintage Kitchen like this sticky spiced ginger pork dish:

You can keep it in your freezer and it cooks in about 7 minutes in your microwave.

Oxtail & Trotter
11 Cheshire Street
Audlem
Crewe
Cheshire
CW3 0AH

Tel: 01270 811793

Web: www.oxtailandtrotter.com

Audlem - Hoc's Fat Pigeon

2013-01-17T12:14:00.000Z

I thought I'd start this post with a picture of the church of St James the Great in Audlem. The earliest part dates back to the 13th century. In front of the church is the Buttermarket. Audlem was granted its Market Charter in 1296.

It's nice to see the village is still thriving. Whilst other villages are losing their shops, in Audlem new shops keep opening! Audlem is also where one of my favourites walks is.

A short distance from the church up Cheshire Street is Hoc's Fat Pigeon. It's a friendly shop which their Facebook page tells me "if its fair-traded, organic, natural, therapeutic, wholefoods and healthy you'll find it at the Fat Pigeon"!

Inside you'll find everything from eco English charcoal,

and cereals to cous cous.

Where possible there's an emphasis on local food so there's Staffordshire Oatcakes, Cheshire honey and free range eggs from Ben's Eggs at Hookgate.

They also sell organic and local fruit and vegetables:

Hoc's Fat Pigeon

9 Cheshire Street
Audlem
Cheshire
CW3 0AH

Tel: 01270 812424

Web: www.hocsfatpigeon.co.uk

Cleobury Mortimer - Carrot Tops

2013-01-09T19:24:00.000Z

The lovely town of Cleobury Mortimer, in South Shropshire, was one of the first places to be mentioned in this blog. Since writing that piece both Copes and Hems butchers have closed down, as has Courtneys Deli, and Brown's - which was a great bakery.

However it's not all bad news in Cleobury. Bowketts have opened a shop and the Cleobury Cafe sells Ashley's bread and cakes, and across the road the Crusty Cob sells Reg May's fantastic pork pies and Richard Swift's wonderful bread.

One of my favourite new businesses is Rachel Siddall's Carrot Tops:

They source locally from over twenty different suppliers. The produce is always fresh and every time I go in I find something new! The latest thing is Carrot Top's Jonagold Apple Juice and Conference Pear Juice:

which is produced by Mannings Juice in Bromyard. We've tried them both and they're delicious.

They've recently enlarged the shop. At the back you'll find delicious dried fruit and nuts, luxury muesli and porridge mixes,from the Ludlow Nut Company.

I particularly like looking in their fridge!

There's unusual cheeses, brawn, Shropshire pork, pastrami, mixed salami from Clun Valley Foods and fantastic charcuterie from Forest Pigs (who I visited last Summer).

They'll also make you a hamper:

and if you're in the area they'll even deliver to your door.

There's also Mawley Milk, Netherend Farm Butter and Saddlers Barn Farm Eggs and Bagginswood Preserves and much more besides.

Carrot Tops

28 High Street
Cleobury Mortimer
Worcestershire
DY14 8DQ

Tel: 01299 272886

Web: www.carrottops.info

Tallinn

2013-01-06T17:29:00.002Z

Apparently this is the most popular day for people in the UK to choose their holiday, so I thought I'd do a post about our last holiday in Tallinn - the capital of Estonia.

It's a beautiful city. Apparently it became very profitable, as a member of the Hanseatic League, trading in Medieval times. By Victorian times, when every one else was pulling down their medieval walls, Tallinn was poorer and couldn't afford to pull them down. As a result Tallinn has more medieval wall than most - which adds to its charm!

There's plenty of places for good food lovers, like Vertigo Gourmet:

which is a deli and café:

where we'd go for cakes:

and cider!

Also famous for its cakes is the Café Maiasmokk:

In case you're wondering, Maiasmokk means "Sweet Tooth"! It's the oldest operational cafe in Tallinn with beautiful cakes:

When on holiday I like to try the local food, our Estonian guide recommended Kuldse Notsu Korts:

for authentic Estonian cuisine. Here I enjoyed a homemade Sea Buckthorn Berry shot served with Marinated Pumpkin and Smoked Cheese

and a sausage selection:

Põrgu, which apparently means Hell in Estonian, had a great selection of beers and very reasonably priced food including this delicious bowl of borscht:

Prices were even more reasonable when you went away from the tourist areas and went to where the locals shopped. I always like to go to the local markets, this is Jaama Market:

There's quite a few shops selling marzipan, but we decided to avoid the marzipan chickens:

It's worth a visit to Kadriorg Palace, a Baroque palace of Catherine I of Russia:

Nearby is the Art Museum of Estonia, which has a nice café, where I had Cummin roasted beetroot and herring:

Also worth a visit is the Estonian Open Air Museum:

to get an idea of village life in old Estonian. We dined in the village pub:

where I tried to eat like the locals!

At the other end of the gastronomic scale was Ribe Restaurant where we had one of the best meals ever. I enjoyed this chicken liver ice-cream, gorgonzola cream, praline, celery and potato crumble:

We're not normally big fans of rye bread, but their ryebread was so delicious we had to ask for an extra helping!

I'd thoroughly recommend a visit to Tallinn, it's a beautiful city and friendly people.

Some New Year’s Resolutions for Food Lovers

2013-01-01T10:24:00.002Z

1. Eat more pulses

As a child I used to hate butter beans etc. that were unimaginatively served in school dinners. But now I really enjoy trying different pulses and they're good for your health. Using pulses also means I can pay more for meat that has bean reared in an acceptable way, because adding pulses to stews and other dishes makes a little meat go a long way.

If you're not sure about cooking pulses, there's some help here and more recipes here. It's easier to use tinned beans, but cheaper to buy dried ones. A pressure cooker saves a lot of time.

2. Eat more fruit and vegetables
I'm sure my doctor will approve of this one! These days I much prefer a vegetable curry to a meat curry and it’s more authentic. It's time to rediscover fennel, red cabbage, and turnips.

3. Eat more seasonally

Why do we buy tasteless strawberries in December? Eating according to the seasons is cheaper and better for the environment.

There's plenty of advice on the web about how to do this, like the BBC's Food Seasons and Eat Seasonably.

4. Eat more sustainable fish

It's alarmed me how many species of fish seem to have gone (or become very scarce). Why are we catching fish like mackerel and then feeding it to salmon in horrible fish farms? I'd rather eat mackerel than salmon, and it takes about three pounds of wild fish to grow one pound of farmed fish

Find a good fishmonger and use the Good Fish Guide for guidance.

5. Drink less alcohol

My recent course at Cheshire Wine School reminded me that spending a bit more on a bottle gets a lot better quality wine so if I drink less I can improve the quality of what I drink!

I can't stand low alcohol wines, but drinking a nice English cider or perry (like those made by Once Upon A Tree or Oliver's Cider and Perry) rather than a glass of wine will also help cut down my alcohol consumption.

6. Buy more real bread

Real bread may cost a little more than the mass produced cotton wool sort that many of us eat, but I think it's well worth paying a bit more for proper bread. Watching Britain's Best Bakery reminded me how passionate bakers can be, and I look forward to visiting as many as possible this year.

It's easy to find a good baker:

www.sustainweb.org/realbread/bakery_finder

It's always nice to visit a proper bakery, bakers are some of the nicest people I know!

7. Buy more local foods

I'm delighted that local foods seem to be making a comeback. According to the Food Ethics Council food accounts for 25% of the distance travelled by lorries in the UK, and 12 billion miles driven a year by consumers.

I'm pleased that small artisan producers are starting to use some of the tactics used by supermarkets and are now doing loyalty cards etc.

8. Exercise more

The easiest exercise you can do is to not do a one stop shop at your supermarket! Instead walk around your town or village and do more shopping at the small independents. You can build up a relationship with them. If you ask, they'll often get thing in if they don't already stock it, and they will advice you on what's good at the moment and if you're on a budget they'll find you a bargain!

Going on a nice walk means you can eat more, and not put on the calories. The endorphins produced by exercise beats taking drugs! The Ramblers and the National Trust make it easy to find some nice walks (and here are some I've done).

9. Discover old recipes

There's lots of new recipes on the internet, many of highly dubious providence. This morning I saw a recipe for Champagne and Curry Soup with Oysters! What a waste of good ingredients.

Instead why not have a look at some of the recipes our grandparents used? For inspiration there's fantastic sites like Great British Kitchen and The Foods of England.

I feel, having made a list of 9 things, that is should 10! What have I missed out?

Jones Deli @ The Egerton Arms

2012-12-30T14:46:00.001Z

As it's the season to be jolly, I've found yet another good pub with a nice deli attached:

This time it's the recently opened Jones Deli at The Egerton Arms in Chelford. The deli does have a separate entrance, or you can wander through the pub straight into the deli:

The Egerton Arms has recently been taken over by Jeremy Hague and Anne Lefeuvre. Chelford, with its large livestock market, is at the heart of the North Cheshire farming community. So it's appropriate to mention that Jeremy's grandfather was Glynne Jones who, with his brother, made the first British self-tying pick up baler in Mold - which explains why there's a copy of The Jones Baler Story:

next door to the Sharpham Park organic spelt luxury granola!

Jeremy's partner Anne, comes from Île-aux-Moines in Brittany - famous for its cider. The couple previously had a restaurant in St Germain serving fine Asian cuisine - so expect to find something unusual here.

There's tapas and more:

and French cheeses next to these Cheshire cheeses:

There's some interesting items for lovers of truffles:

like white truffle honey or truffle carpaccio.

Some of the food comes direct from the kitchen of the restaurant next door, so if you enjoyed your soup in the restaurant you can take some more back home with you.

Like all good delis, samples are freely given:

like this delicious cumin humous:

and sambal (made with roasted peppers, chili, garlic and tomato). Ask to try the onions pickled in balsamic vinegar, they're deliciously sweet.

There's a good selection of drinks to take home:

like local beers from Mobberley Fine Ales (made in what used to be a milking parlour):

and more beers from Storm Brewing Company in Macclesfield, or Tatton Brewery in Knutsford and other local breweries.

If you fancy something stronger, there's delicious damson and sloe gin from Sloe Motion:

and keeping it local there's also Cheshire gin!

It makes me smile when you Google "Cheshire Gin":

Google asks "did you mean Cheshire Grin?"!

Jones Deli @ The Egerton Arms

Knutsford Road
Chelford
Macclesfield
Cheshire
SK11 9BB

Web: www.jonesdeli.co.uk

Tel: 01625 860900

E-mail: info@jonesdeli.co.uk

The Norden Arms Deli

2012-12-26T14:30:00.001Z

With many pubs and shops closing down these days, combining a pub with a deli seems a great way forward. The Norden Arms is a recently refurbished pub on the old road between Rochdale and Burnley.

Next to the pub is the Norden Arms Deli:

It's managed by Paul Sherrin, who previously ran Heroes Fine Foods (which won the 'Best Food & Drink retail Outlet' award in the Manchester Food and Drink Festival).

Inside the shop there's an interest selection of food and drink:

It's a place to go if you want a something you won't find in a supermarket, like these hand raised Lancashire pork pies:

and slow fermented bread from Lancashire Artisan Bakery.

There's cooked meats from the award wining Andrews Quality Foods in Salford and a good selection of charcuterie like smoked chicken, duck or goose and Russian gravadlax from Mackenzies Yorkshire Smokehouse.

There's a great selection of cheeses. There's local cheeses like Mrs Kirkham's Lancashire and fine cheese from further afield like Brie de Meaux and Manchego - which has been matured for 12 months.

I was hoping to try some organic cheese from The Pextenement Cheese Company in Todmorden:

but Paul told me it sells out almost as soon as it arrives! Still it's nice to have an excuse to go back...

The Norden Arms Deli

539 Edenfield Road
Norden
Rochdale
Lancashire
OL11 5XH

Tel: 0844 241 3003

Web: www.nordenarms.co.uk/site/deli

Happy Christmas

2012-12-25T10:58:00.002Z

Hope Santa "dropped in" and brought you some nice food? Cakes above are from a fantastic new deli at the Chelford Arms (post coming up soon.

Can I wish all my readers a very Happy Christmas? Cake below from Champagne Dreams.

and remember:

An artisan food producer is for life and not just for Christmas!

Nantwich - Fromage & More

2012-12-20T20:21:00.002Z

I don't like the term "foody" - but my home town of Nantwich is rapidly becoming a Foodies Capital! The icing on the cake is a new cheese shop in the town on Pillory Street:

It's situated on Pillory Street (not far from the stocks that give the street its name). It's near a new chocolate shop and is next door to a rather fine crêperie which raises money for St Luke's Hospice.

The shop is owned by Diane Lund-Conlon, who Dabbers (that's people from Nantwich) may know as a director of Mouse Matters, and her daughter Verity, who also runs Cake Fancy - a cup cake business. And no, I'm not going to do any jokes about from mice to cheese.

There's an interesting selection of cheeses. There's some of my favourites like Appleby's Cheshire and Wensleydale from Hawes:

They asked the customers of Mouse matters what their favourite cheese was and they said "Gudbrandsdalen"!

I first had this cheese 35 years ago, when I was working on a pig farm in Denmark (the cheese is actually from Norway). It looks like peanut butter or fudge and is unlike any cheese I've ever tasted. I won't try and describe it any more - you need to try it.

The Mozzarella they sell is Mozzarella di Bufala Campana, the proper one made with milk from water buffaloes in Campania.

I enjoyed a Finn cheese from Neal's Yard Creamery in Herefordshire.

Alex James's journey from music to cheese has been well documented here, Fromage & More sell Little Wallop:

alongside Stinking Bishop from Charles Martel, and Hereford Hop from Joseph Heler (made just down the road).

I bought some Nantwich Blue cheese, from Hartington Creamery, to have on Christmas day. Unfortunately we've eaten it!

At the back of the shop there's more items, like cheese biscuits, and preserves from Auntie Vals:

There will be even more in this space soon.

The cheese selections will also expand and vary - so lots of reasons to pop back...

Fromage & More
8 Pillory Street
Nantwich
Cheshire
CW5 5BD

Tel: 01270 611630

Web: www.cheesefor.me

Beryl Pearson 1926 - 2012

2012-12-14T06:19:00.000Z

The vast majority of my readers will have never met my mother, who died yesterday. However I've decided to write a tribute to her here, because without her this blog wouldn't exist.

After leaving school my mum studied domestic science at college in Sheffield. She then found a job by getting names and addresses from food jars and tins, and writing to the firms! She got a job as a cookery demonstrator for Cadburys:

I treasure this article about her, written in Home Chat in 1949. She went to Cordon Bleu, in Paris, where the chefs only spoke French and the temperature of the ovens was precisely controlled by how much the door was open! She then worked in a hotel in Okehampton, and then became a domestic science teacher and married my father.

When I was a child there was always home-made food. We’d come back from school and the house would smell of parkin (or whatever she’d been making). My sister and I were encouraged to cook from an early age. I can remember making sugar mice, and other sweets. We wrapped brandy snaps around poles and, in those halcyon pre Eggwina Currie days, we always enjoyed eating a bit of raw cake or biscuit mixture!

Cookery lessons with my mum were also educational. I think my parents would have liked me to become a doctor, so giblets became a biology lesson as well as a useful ingredient. I was also praised for my surgeons work, when sewing up a stuffed Christmas turkey. I learnt the French word for cabbage whilst making choux pastry. When I did acids and alkalis at school, I already knew about them, because my mum had let me add vinegar to baking powder, to make "bombs", to show me how raising agents work.

My mum taught me how not to follow a recipe! It became a joke in our house when my mum would say “I’m never going to follow that recipe again”! Upon inquiry we would find that my mum had felt that the author had clearly made a mistake and so quantities and ingredients were changed or my mum had substituted ingredients depending on what was in her cupboard and adapted it depending on what she liked.

There was not much waste either. My dad was a keen gardener and surpluses were preserved in Kilner jars and later in a freezer. I loved to have home-made raspberry vinegar on Yorkshire puddings as a dessert.

I’m grateful to my mum for sharing her love of food. It’s helped my education, and possibly helped me to find a wife. Food can be a great social thing. When I was in the scouts my patrol made fine chicken casseroles when others offered disgusting variations on corned beef hash.

I worry about today’s children. Many hardly know what a vegetable is, and live on a diet of unhealthy processed foods. But most of all they’ve missed some of the fun of good food - which my Mum was always happy to share...

Friars Park Jacobs

2012-12-05T21:50:00.000Z

In case you don't know, the Jacob sheep is an attractive, rare breed, of small, piebald (white with coloured spots) sheep. People from a non farming background may be appalled that I suggest you eat a rare breed, but we've lost many of of our rare breeds because people stopped eating them. So, if you're a meat eater, the best way to conserve our rare breeds is buy their produce - so farmers can then afford to keep them!

I first met Georgina Jones at the North West Food Lovers Festival at Tatton Park. She was sells mutton as well as lamb, so I realised she understands good taste!

She gave me a lamb Henry to try. I slow cooked it until the meat dropped of the bone, using this recipe from Caroline Watson of Heritage Meats. It was gorgeous. I thought it might serve 3, but when I added some flageolet beans (to make it go a bit further) we got 6 servings. Not bad from a piece of meat that cost less than a fiver.

When I found out that they have a farm shop, near Chester Zoo and very near to Backford Belles (one of my favourite ice-cream makers), I thought I'd pay them a visit. I tried some very nice lamb chops:

They also may have some local veg and game when in season.

It's a working farm, and the shop isn't open every day, so it might be worth checking what they've got in stock before making a long journey. They're usually got frozen meat and fresh meat at weekends.

Friars Park Jacobs
Friars Park Farm
Mollington
Chester
Cheshire
CH1 6NT

Tel: 01244 851333

Web: www.friarparkjacobs.co.uk