CASTLE Cary, with its beautiful golden stone, is one of Somerset’s prettiest towns, and the Market House, one of its jewels, is the setting for an Apple Day celebration on Sunday 22nd October from 11am to 3pm. Organised by cook and food writer Lucas Hollweg and his partner Lucie Reader, there will be stalls offering…
HAVE you ever wondered how Saffron Walden got its name? Or why Saffron cake is one of Cornwall’s most famous dishes? Nowadays most saffron is grown in Spain and Iran, but for centuries, England had a flourishing saffron industry, whose roots are largely lost in time and myth. In her new book, Fool’s Gold: A…
THE results of the 2022 Great Taste Awards, organised by the Guild of Fine Food, based in Gillingham, include 529 Great Taste star products from the south west. From blood orange marmalade to hot and cold smoked salmon and kimchi, the awards demonstrate the amazing variety and creativity of food producers around the region, the…
AWARD-winning West Dorset-based charcuterie makers Capreolus are launching their Great Taste Award-winning products from the British Charcuterie range into Waitrose stores. David and Karen Richards have been creating their award-winning artisan charcuterie since 2009, supplying to trade, retail and the general public. They and their small team at Rampisham follow timeless artisan techniques inspired by…
THERE was a time when the only spices in the average kitchen were nutmeg, pepper (usually white and finely ground) and possibly cinnamon. Names such as baharat, sumac or zaatar were, literally, foreign to the average British cook. Tastes and cooking knowledge have moved on hugely and nowadays, in part thanks to inventive and inspiring…
FORGET “Veganuary” – meet “Regenuary.” Well no, you probably don’t like either of these made-up words, and the idea that any given month or week or day should be designated to make us change the way we eat or drink or think. But beneath the tiresome ad-speak there is a serious message here, and it’s…
COMMUNITY groups and charities keen to plant or extend community orchards this spring can apply for help from Somerset-based Thatchers Cider. The Somerset cider-maker’s Community Orchard Project is being launched this month, with 250 apple trees to be donated to groups either undertaking new planting this year, or looking to extend a community orchard they…
THE ever-inventive Marcus Fergusson at Feltham’s Farm near Wincanton has produced an enticing addition to his range: a bloomy, white-rind organic cheese called Gert Lush, which came out just in time for Christmas and New Year cheeseboards. As any Somerset person knows, “Gert Lush” is a dialect phrase meaning “really lovely” (lovely as in attractive),…
THE Trethowan brothers, who make award-winning farmhouse Cheddar and Caerphilly at Hewish in north Somerset, have won the Best British Cheese award at this year’s World Cheese Awards, held at Oviedo in Spain, during the Asturias Paraíso Natural International Cheese Festival. Overall, the Trethowans’ Gorwydd Caerphilly took seventh place. The World Champion was a soft…
SOMERSET cider-maker Thatchers, which has more than 500 acres of orchards and the largest and most diverse collection of apples used in cider making, is working with the University of Bristol on a project using DNA fingerprinting techniques to identify apple tree varieties. With many old and heritage varieties of apple trees beginning to disappear,…