Black Truffle Potato Crisps / Patatas Fritas Torres (Trufa Negra)

Last week Daniel* came to deliver a new batch of fabulous Puremiel organic honey from Spain. He also had a box of new things to show me, which included Torres Selecta Premium Potato Chips from Barcelona. I tried to say that we didn't need any more crisps. I tried to say we were very happy with Piper's Crisps. I tried to say that I'd find it difficult to justify the price of premium premium crisps.

Daniel simply opened a packet and made me try them. Long story, short, I bought a case! These are no ordinary crisp. Yes, they are thin slices of potato fried in oil. In fact these are exceptionally thin, translucent slices of potato, fried to a bright golden colour. But they are also flavoured with black truffle. In a wonderful way. The flavour is strong, but not unpleasantly so, fills your mouth and dissipates, leaving you wanting another. On their web site they are described as unique and I have to say, I have never tasted a crisp like these. Definitely one for adults. A perfect nibble with drinks, and surely a talking point.

Torres have been making potato crisps since 1969. They have worked with the same potato growers for more than 35 years and seem to have found exactly the right ingredients and technique to make an amazing product.  They even have a recipe on their web site for Fried eggs with Torres Selecta Black Truffle potato chips!

Ingredients:
•1 bag of Torres Selecta Black Truffle potato chips
•2 eggs
•2 slices of chopped Spanish ham
•olive oil, and salt

Preparation:
Put a base of Torres Selecta Black Truffle potato chips on a plate. Put aside 2 eggs. Heat the olive oil in a pan. Once the olive oil is hot, fry the eggs to your liking. When cooked, place the eggs over the potato chips and add the chopped ham on top. Now we can enjoy a quick, simple, and exquisite dish.

*If you have been diligently following my blog for more than 3 years you might remember Daniel did a very similar thing almost exactly 3 years ago!

Web Site Re-do

So, aside from buying and selling fabulous food, what have I been up to recently?

Mainly beavering* away on the shop web site: www.tastesdeli.co.uk

It still looks, pretty much, the same. But there are now more than 500 items available in the online shop. I've replaced a lot of the product images. The postage rates have decreased, as Royal Mail have now increased the size limit for small parcels. A new Parcel Force postage option has been added, which is more cost effective for larger parcels. I re-enabled the review product feature having eventually managed to adjust it to show only the last initials rather than surnames of reviewers. The entire "back end stuff" which makes the shopping cart work has been updated (mainly to improve security) and because that took hours and made no difference to how the site looked, I have also changed the buttons and added a lightbox to display the larger product images. Just to prove I had done something! Then because I was feeling confident (perhaps overly so) I added a new feature: a little button that enables you to save things from your cart for later. So you can checkout with just what you want today, and the other items you were interested in will remain in your cart for next time. Seems to be working!

Fingers crossed it will encourage more people to buy fine foods online from us. If you've enjoyed any of our products please do register online and post your reviews. Other shoppers would love to hear your opinions.

*Assuming beavers spend many hours frowning at computer screens while occasionally inhaling deeply, crossing their figures and pressing buttons!

Return of the water

What a week! Since I posted photographs of the receding water levels after the flooding in January, they rose dramatically, and fell again, and then the winds came. Unfortunately, my journey time to Eton also increased dramatically so I've not had much time to explore and photograph. But here is what I have seen. Meadow Lane, South Meadow and the Brocas taken on 11th January, 1st, 12th, 13th and 15th February. The most dramatic change over night last night was the collapse of a large tree on the edge of South Meadow, which somewhat obscures the view of the football pitch I have been photographing.

Revisting the Isle of Eton

Since my photos of the floods on the 11th January, the water has subsided, risen and subsided again. Three weeks after taking the first set of photos I went back to the same locations. I wasn't planning to do this and had neither the correct footwear, or time to do it properly. But I did take a few snaps, in roughly the right places, here they are for comparison. I'd like to think that in a few more weeks I will be able to return on a bright and sunny morning and take more pictures. But I'm not promising anything!

The Brocas 11 Jan

The Brocas 1 Feb

Barnes Pool 11 Jan

Barnes Pool 1 Feb

Meadow Lane 11 Jan

Meadow Lane 1 Feb

South Meadow 11 Jan

South Meadow 1 Feb

River Thames 11 Jan

River Thames 1 Feb

Valentine's Paper Chain

Today I have been harnessing my inner Blue Peter presenter and have created paper chains for the shop window!

I've also shown a few customers how I made them. So I thought I'd share it here.

Not that it's tricky. 

Not only are they encouraging people to stop and look at the goodies on sale, they brighten up the view from inside on this grey day!

A new vegetable

When was the last time you were introduced to a new vegetable? I can't remember, myself. I know there are vegetables that have been new to me. Turnips for example. Strangely, I'd never cooked one of those until recently. But I'd seen them. I knew they existed (apparently since 2000BC according to selfsufficientish).

Earlier this year, I met a vegetable that I didn't even know existed. Which is because, until recently, it didn't! It is a brand new vegetable. Which I find pretty amazing. The culmination of fifteen years of work by Tozer Seeds, in Surrey, using traditional plant breeding techniques.

And so, appropriately in the season of good intentions, and eating more vegetables, may I introduce to you The Flower Sprout......

It looks like tiny cabbage, on a sprout stalk, with green frilly leaves and streaks of purple. It tastes like a subtle sprout with the nuttiness of kale. And its extremely versatile - steam, stir fry, boil, blanch or mircowave. It even has its own web site with plenty of recipes. It is also packed with vitamin B6, C and E.

Available now at Tastes Delicatessen!

 













Update: I've now added some recipes to our pinterest board.

Isle of Eton

Eton is now an island.  Upstream of the high street, water is overflowing the bank of the Thames, flowing across the brocas, and over south meadow. The stream through Barnes Pool contains water for the first time in many years and Baldwin's Bridge is once again a bridge over water. The water is meeting up with tributaries of the Thames and flowing back into the river down stream of Eton high street. It is quite incredible. Huge volumes of water. Meadows and playing fields becoming lakes, roads turning into rivers and Romney weir is barely visible. To witness the change in the landscape is quite incredible.

Yet the water level is well below what is was at the time of previous floods (some four feet lower than the 1894 level under Baldwins Bridge). Some flats have been flooded, some basements are filling with water and some residents are moving possessions upstairs. Horrible as that is, it could be far worse. So far, Eton appears to have been let off lightly. The high street is open for business as usual. Even Cote Brassiere, situated right on the river in what was the House on the Bridge, is open, despite their lower dinning room being below the current level of the Thames. 

Barnes Pool
There is a bench in there somewhere

Meadow Lane
currently resembles a river

South
Meadow

Looking downstream from the
Windsor Eton Bridge

Great Taste Awards Revisited

When I wrote my blog entry about the 2012 Great Taste Awards I intended to add a photo collage of all the winners we stock. I realised it might take me a while, so I published the post with the intention of returning to it later to add the photographs. Twelve months, and forty blog posts, later, and I've still not produced the collage. So I wrote a post about the 2013 award winners. And again I thought a nice collage would be a good idea. For a couple of weeks I really thought I would return to it and add photographs. I really did! But it gradually dawned on me that was not going to happen. I then had another idea. Pinterest! I could make a pinterest board of all our award winners. It still took ages to gather together the images, but I didn't have to worry about the sizes and layout. So here it is, our Great Taste Award Winners 2013!

Eton Roof-scape

The demolition of Eton Court may have generated a lot of crashing and banging, and taken away some of our parking spaces this summer. But it has opened up some previously hidden views of the wonderfully undulating roof line of Eton High Street. So before they are hidden again, I snapped a few photographs.

 

 Windsor Castle Peeking out above the roof tops of 88-94(ish) High Street

 

The former Eton Court demolished, revealing the back of the Town Council office, with Eton Travel to the left and Studio 101 to the right.

The roof line in the evening sun with Windsor Castle in the background.

Great Taste Awards 2013

It's that time of year again when my inbox fills with excited notes from award winning food producers! The winners of the Great Taste Awards 2013 have been announced. Of course our fantastic producers have done fantastically well!

 *** 3 stars

Nearly 10,000 products were entered this year and just 125 were awarded the highest accolade of three stars.

This included Salcombe Dairy's blackcurrant sorbet. Salcombe Dairy also won three stars for their fig and sherry frozen yoghurt which I didn't even know existed. I have, of course, added that to our next order!  They also won one star for our best selling ice cream; Madagascan vanilla.

Azada were awarded three stars for both their virgin hazelnut oil and their virgin almond oil (and one star for virgin walnut oil).

Teapigs won three stars for second year running for their liquorice and peppermint tea.

** 2 stars

Newcomer, Granny's Secret, was awarded two stars for their 100% apricot fruit spread and for their sour cherries. They also received one star for their apricot juice and one star for ayvar, a roasted red pepper dip/spread.

Oro Bailen extra virgin olive oil was again awarded two stars.

Wessex Mill achieved a lot of two star awards. For Wessex Cobber bread flour and mixed grain bread flour and pasta & pizza flour and sunflower bread flour and half & half bread flour (and if that wasn't enough, one star for strong white bread flour). Doves Farm were also awarded two stars for their gluten & wheat free plain white flour.

Once again Tracklements have a collection of two star award winning products. This year, that includes chilli jam, strong horseradish & cream, and new product a beetroot & horseradish relish. They were also awarded one star for each of their roasted cherry tomato relish (another new addition) and fig relish.

Teapigs' chamomile flowers tea was awarded two stars this year (one star last year and the year before) and pure lemongrass tea, was also awarded two stars (as last year). Teapigs' also received one star for their green tea with mint which we have added to our selection this year.

Bessant and Drury's Lemon Ice-Cream was awarded two stars as was Grumpy Mule Panama diamond mountain coffee.

Two of our favourite blue cheeses were also given two stars; the very traditional Colston Bassett Blue Stilton and the very new (and local to us) Rosethorn Blue.

* 1 star

Lots of stars went to relatively new producers this year. Including Artisan Malt Vinegar, Nim's Apple Crisps, Love pickle (Extra Hot), Avlaki's 'Agatherí Groves' oil and Olive Branch's Sun Dried Tomato Paste. Olive Branch were also awarded a gold star for their olive oil.

Bim's Kitchen (new in 2012) won again. This time their African Tomato & Cashew Nut Curry sauce picked up a gold star.  African Bean & Nut Curry Sauce, Baobab Chilli Jam and Spicy African Ketchup all received gold stars last year.

Peppersmith won their first award, for their delicious Lemon Peppermints last year and this year were awarded one star for their Tingz.

Luscombe have been winning awards for their Organic Sicilian Lemonade since I started following the winners back in 2007. They won another gold star this year.

Mike's Smokehouse (another perennial winner) won a hatrick of awards, for Manuka Salmon Pate, Manuka Smoked Duck and Manuka Smoked Chicken.

Pipers Crisps were awarded a gold star for both their Anglesey sea salt crisps (again!) and their  Burrow Hill cider vinegar & sea salt crisps.

Gold stars were also given to Navarrico's delicious giant chickpeas (Garbanzo), The Bay Tree's Marinated Miniature Figs, Brindisa's Tortas de Aceite, with almonds, We Are Tea's

Moroccan Mint

Tea and Copas free range bronze turkeys.

If you are really interested, you can read about who won awards in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 (part one and part two) in my previous blog posts.

Well done everyone! I knew your products were great and now I have proof!