A WIMBORNE-based business has become Dorset’s first producer of micro herbs, a nutritious super-food that packs a real punch in terms of flavour. Nine different varieties of micro herbs are being produced by chefs for chefs and are being supplied by HydroPhoria to restaurants across the UK. They are also available to consumers exclusively from…
GIN is big news these days – gone are the minimal choices in pubs, off-licences and on supermarket shelves. Nowadays, you can be baffled by the variety and you certainly don’t have to settle for a boring generic gin and tonic, tasting of nothing much unless you add some fresh lemon. You have not only…
by Simone Sekers MY father lost his sense of smell as he got older, and it ruined the considerable pleasure he’d had all his life in eating and drinking wine (spirits were a different matter, he said). I live in dread of inheriting this disability – for me it would be as bad as going…
TRAVELLING chef Philippa Davis continues her account of her weeks by a salmon river in the Highlands of Scotland. This week she discovers that fishing is fun and shares a recipe for horseradish sauce, the perfect complement to fresh wild Scottish salmon, as it is to perfect roast beef … There were members of my…
THERE is a new look to The Tickled Pig in Wimborne. After three years establishing the Michelin-recommended restaurant in East Street as a destination for outstanding locally-sourced and seasonal cuisine, The Tickled Pig has been reinvented as a new breed of delicatessen-come-café and kitchen, selling and serving its own home-grown and home-reared produce. In its…
by Simone Sekers WE’ve just had a swift shot of French life – 24 hours in Cherbourg via the fast ferry from Poole – which reminded me of just how traditional France still is. We stayed in the charming Hotel Régence overlooking the old port, way up under the roof, no lift to help our…
WHEN you try to arrange a party a year ahead, a party which depends on good weather too, you are running a huge risk. It’s madness, really, and most of us, as we get older, play safe by celebrating big birthdays by going on cruises, or holidays-of-a-lifetime. I am never certain about either; supposing I…
by Simone Sekers WE had our Christmas feast well on into the New Year, for various complicated reasons. It was hard work waiting for it, as we had splashed out on a free range goose from my favourite poultry supplier and we knew how good it was going to be. There it was in the…
ONE of Dorset’s best-known farm shops celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. Udder Farm Shop at East Stour, on the A30 west of Shaftesbury, began as a diversification project for farmer’s wife Jane Down and has become one of the success stories of the area. Jane and husband Brian have won many awards for the shop…
HISTORICALLY, the Brits have been brilliant at producing ham and bacon but rubbish at charcuterie – which is why most of the best-known examples of classic charcuterie have French or Italian or Spanish names, saucisson, confit, salami, guanciale, lardo, pancetta, jamon iberico, chorizo et al. But there is a quiet revolution going on in farms…