Fruit & Veg Update

This week we have:
Lots of Apples
Cox
Jonagold Red
Royal Gala
Russet

Broccoli
Carrots
Onions
Parsnips
Pears (Conference)
Potatoes
Pumpkins (Little Bear for eating and the huge halloween ones, all grown in Dorney)
Tomatoes

This week’s Fruit and Veg

Thinking about the return of the pickled onions got me thinking about our wonderful seasonal fruit and vegetables*. The range changes quicker than I really expected it would. Spring was so exciting with all sorts of new things arriving every couple of weeks. We had English lettuces, tomatoes, cucumbers, spring onions, asparagus, raspberries, celery, broad beans, strawberries, courgettes, sweetcorn, plums, cherries, runner beans... And, even though we're well into autumn now, there are still new bits and pieces coming into season. This week it is the English broccoli. I'm going to try to list which vegetables we have available whenever something new arrives over the next few weeks.

This week we have:
Lots of Apples
Bramley
Cox
Jonagold Red
Royal Gala
Russet

Broccoli
Onions
Pears (Conference)
Potatoes
Pumpkins (Little Bear grown in Dorney)
Tomatoes

And a quick browse on our nearest supermarket's web site revealed all our prices are lower than theirs where I could find a comparable product! I couldn't find any fresh pumpkins or vine tomatoes sold by the weight rather than by the number of tomatoes. But where I could compare we are cheaper which I'm really pleased about.



* Though we started off selling just seasonal English fruit and veg (local where possible) we now also have imported bananas and citrus fruit.

British Cheese Awards 2008

Last week saw the announcement of the winners of the British Cheese Awards 2008. It has been a mixed blessing. The wonderful (and local to us) Barkham Blue, made by Sandy and Andy Rose near Wokingham, won no less than three major awards:
Best Blue Cheese
Best English Cheese
Supreme Champion

No mean feet as it was up against over 900 cheeses from all around the British Isles. We knew it was a wonderful cheese. A sweet, spicy blue, deliciously creamy and moreish. The trouble is that now everyone else knows how great it is and we can't get hold of any!

Another of our local specials, the Wigmore, made by Sandy Rose's cousin Anne, at Village Maid Dairies won best soft white. A good day for Berkshire cheese makers! Not such a good day for Berkshire delicatessens now facing a shortage of their favourites!

A full list of the winners can be found at:
http://www.thecheeseweb.com/contentok.php?id=278

and an article on the BBC web site:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/berkshire/7649621.stm

They're Back!

Susie's Honeyed Pickled Onions have returned. Susie only makes them at this time of year when the onions are just right, and they only keep until spring so we’ve been without them for a few months. They were missed.

We had a bit of a run on these just before Christmas last year after lots of people who bought early for Christmas found they had accidentally eaten them all before Father Christmas had finished packing his sleigh. So this year we have the first batch Susie has made (which will be better if eaten from November onwards) and lots of them; giving everyone the chance to get some now and more in December!

I do like it when things like this come and go. I miss them when they're gone, but it is so exciting when they come back. Or is that just me?

Return of the Blog

This blog has been rather neglected recently. It wasn't intentional. It just didn't get written and once you miss a couple of weeks it is much harder to pick it up again. Where is a good place to resume?

The summer has been good for us (not the weather mind you). The shop was busy, brave people still went on picnics (though probably not as many as if we'd had some sun), visitors still came to see the college and castle and business was good. New products have arrived, a couple of slow sellers have ceased and the range looks pretty good at the moment (even if I do say so myself). There will be some exciting new products appearing over the next couple of months along with the return of some favourites from last winter. I will try harder with the blog.

Great Taste Awards 2008

I nearly forgot to tell you all about the winners of this year’s Great Taste Awards. I didn’t have time to spend a day as a judge this year so haven’t a sneak preview of the delights that were entered. But it didn’t matter as we stock a lot of the winners right here in the shop.

Teapigs had a very good night with two gold stars for their Jasmine Pearls and Mao Feng Green Tea, and one star for their Tung Ting Oolong Tea and Peppermint Leaves. Williamsons our black tea producer also won some awards. As did Pukka herbs.

Luscombe won a gold star for their organic Sicilian lemonade. Mother’s Garden, the olive oil from Spain which was mentioned by Delia Smith won a gold star as did Vallecoppa’s divine lemon infused extra virgin olive oil. Stratta entered their newest flavoured vinegars this year and won gold award for both the Sweet Black Mulberry and Sweet Damson.

Jules and Sharpie were awarded another star to add to their collection from last year. This time for hot mint jelly. And Tracklements also added to their collection with a star for their apple and sage jelly, strong horseradish & cream, apricot and ginger chutney, farmhouse pickle and onion marmalade.

Atkins & Potts won a gold star for their inventive Purple Basil Jam. Olives et al entered their Dukka in the "any other ingredient" category and it too won a gold star.

Piper’s Anglesey Sea Salt and Sea Salt & Somerset Cider Vinegar Crisps both won gold stars (as did another two of the flavours they produce).

Mike’s Smokehouse was awarded a gold star for heir smoked salmon pate, and for their hot-roast smoked salmon and smoked trout. The Ortiz anchovies also won a gold star.

Fine Cheeses from France

I stumbled across a new web site recently and really liked it. Very informative (it even mentions Tastes Deli!), lots of recipes and well laid out. If you are interested in Fine Cheeses from France have a look at http://www.frencheese.co.uk/

Salad Days

More and more English vegetables are becoming available and to accompany the asparagus we now have a lot of deliciously fresh salad items; little gems, baby carrots, spring onions, cucumbers, sprouted beans and spinach. All grown in England. Which is very timely as Gordon Ramsay was on the news this morning promoting seasonal produce! Now we just need the sun to start shining again and will be all set for picnicking by the Thames.

May Day

Yesterday way May Day and the official start of the British Asparagus season. Right on schedule I took delivery of my first batch of local asparagus! Grown 3.5 miles from the shop and delivered within hours of being picked. You can’t get much fresher!

It's been a while...

I've just been reminded that I've only one day left to put an entry in the blog for April. I hadn't realised it had been so long! I will be back soon....