Onion Update

Our guess the number of onions competition has now closed. Thanks to everyone for their interest and participation.

There were 22 onions in the giant jar of Tracklements Onion Marmalade. We had guesses ranging from 6 to 562 and lots in between. For those of you interested in these sort of things; the most common answer was 38, the middle answer was 48 (with half the entrants thinking there were more than 48 and half thinking there were less). But most importantly, one person was exactly right with 22.

In The News!

Our "Guess the Number of Onions" competition made the local paper. You can
read the article online, but need to scroll to the bottom of the page.

Sundays

On Sunday (6th) from 12 noon until 3pm we will be selling some of our Christmas lines at St Cuthbert's Primary School* Fair. It is open to everyone so do come along.

From the following Sunday (13th) the shop will be open every Sunday until Christmas.

*St Cuthbert's Primary School,
Bagshot Road,
Englefield Green,
Surrey TW20 0RY.

Most Festive

Tastes Delicatessen is now at it's most festive. All the seasonal stock has arrived and is on display*. And nothing has yet sold out. I quite like it!

This is as full of festive stock as we are going to be. From next week I expect to start running out of things.

* We even have an example of the whole Serrano hams which are available to order.

Christmas Lights

Tonight is the night the Christmas lights are switched on in Eton.
From around 5:15, the children from the Porny School will parade down the High Street singing carols and carrying the lanterns they have been making. Husky dogs and FATHER CHRISTMAS will join them! The man himself will turn on the lights at 5:45. And assuming the wind hasn't blown an important part of the circuit away, the High Street should be illuminated in all its glory. Many of the shops (including Tastes, of course) will be open late tonight. Hope to see you there!

One Month To Go

Talking of Christmas, we've been making up some example gift boxes, which you can see in our online deli (and if we haven't sold them yet, in the real shop as well). We can put almost anything from the shelves into a gift box, for Christmas, or any other occasion. Hopefully having some photos of example boxes will provide inspiration!

HOW Many???

This month we are running a little competition.

It is 10 years since Tracklements started making their divine, award winning, onion marmalade. And to celebrate, a limited set of 350 GIANT jars have been produced, with labels beautifully illustrated by Tim Bulmer. The lovely people at Tracklements have let me have one and rather than eating it all up (which, I can assure you, was quite tempting) we are using it as a competition prize. So now everyone else has a chance of eating it (and I don't).

And the question is "How many onions are in the jar?".

Anyone who enters is asked to make a £1 donation to the Thames Valley and Chiltern Air Ambulance.

If you would like to enter, pop into Tastes Delicatessen, number 92 High Street, Eton, have a look at the giant jar, put your answer on an entry form and pop £1 in the collect bucket.

Closing date is 6pm on Saturday 19th December and the winner will be contacted on Monday 21st.

Good Luck!

It's Coming

Now seems a safe time to mention Christmas. It's six weeks tomorrow and therefore time for us to have the Star Mince Pies back on sale! We do have far far more than last year in the hope of not running out too early this time, but if you'd like to buy them now we are happy to hold them for you until Christmas. I know the temptation of having them in the house is too much for most of you!

Cyber-Deli

In a further instalment to my list of excuses for my lack of "blogging", I would like to cite our new and improved web site. Having photographed, described, and weighed over a hundred of the items on sale in the shop, I reached a point where I had enough content ready to launch an online shop. And (with some technical jiggery pokery and fair amount of luck), I did. It is far from complete, in fact, it never will be, but it works! Now you don't need to be anywhere near Eton to have a look at some of the things we sell (and buy a few if you like!). Have a look at www.tastesdeli.co.uk.

Dragon's Blood

Seeing as it is Hallow'een, I should mention something a little scary – Dragon's Blood!

No, it's nothing to do with Wagner or Harry Potter. It's an award winning extremely hot sauce, made with Naga Jolakia chilli peppers (the world's hottest, which we also sell dried). Surprisingly, Dragon's Blood is made in the UK.

Use with discretion, as it's 200-400 times as strong as Tabasco*. It's not just for chilli heads though - when used in single drop quantities, it adds a certain something to a wide variety of dishes. Just make sure your hand doesn't wobble when pouring – best to measure onto a spoon rather than straight into your cooking to be on the safe side!

Next Hallow'een I'll tell you about Vampire's Revenge!

* Chilli strength is measured on the Scoville scale. Standard capsicums are 0, Tabasco is 2,500 to 5,000, and Dragon's Blood
comes in at a searing 800,000!

Bigger Is Better

With some new shelves and a significant rearrangement of the stock and packaging in the storeroom I have managed to steal a little more of the storage area's floor space and turn it into shop floor space! That combined with all the extra shelving I've been sneaking in to any space I could find over the past few years, has given us twice the display space we had when we opened. And somehow I have managed to get three times the number of products into that space!

So, when I should have been writing entries for the blog I was in fact tasting new ranges of chocolates, cakes and biscuits to fill the new shelves. It's a hard life, but some-one has to do it!

British Cheese Awards 2009

It is that time of year again. The Great British Cheese Festival begins today along with British Cheese Week. And last night the winners of the coveted British Cheese Awards were announced at the National Museum Cardiff.

Our local cheese makers did well again. Although not best at show, Wigmore won silver in the "soft white cheese" category and Spenwood (also made by Anne and Andy Wigmore) won bronze in the "modern British" category.

Best "semi-soft cheese" was this year won by Rachel, from White Lake Cheeses. This is one of our favourite goats' cheeses. With a washed rind and lovely texture, Rachel is one of our regulars. It also won a gold medal in the "rind washed semi-soft cheese" category. Another of our favourite goats' milk cheeses also won gold in the "other cooking cheeses" category; the delicious Rosary Goats Cheese (on the left in the photo). The ash coated version (which we have when we can get it) won gold in the "cheeseboard" category and pepper coated won silver in the "flavour added category". In the same category our other fresh cheese the Gruth Dhu (or Black Crowdie) from Scotland won Bronze.

Saint Giles and Olde Winchester both won bronze in the "modern British category".

I've been studying the winners and will be introducing a few more as guest cheeses over the next few months.

More March Hares

March Hare Foods have added some new dishes to their range. They proved irresistible and we have now added them to the collection available from our freezer. The new range includes more complete meals - a hot pot, a bake and a pie all topped with potatoes/root veg. So now you don't have to cook the potatoes yourself and because they contain a bit less meat they are cheaper.

March Hare Foods was created by Colin and Julia; a busy working couple who ate a lot of ready meals. With a young family they had a niggling guilt about convenience food, and the added stabilisers and preservatives they contained. They set about finding great-tasting ingredients and cooking them in a traditional way. They use only wild or free-range meat and fish, sourced from small-scale producers. Essentially the meals are cooked as you would at home, just on a larger scale.

We now carry 15 dishes from March Hare Foods, and they are proving very popular, especially now the evenings are feeling shorter.

I've updated the list of the meals we offer online so you can browse at your leisure by visiting: http://www.tastesdeli.co.uk/shop/pages/PreparedFrozenMeals.pdf

Great Taste Awards 2009

Once again it is award season for foods. And with even more blind tasters than ever the great taste awards announced their winners at last night's ceremony. Booja Booja won one of only 83 three star awards (there were 4873 entries) for their Hunky Punky Chcolate Ice Cream. Anyone who has tried it will know why!

Luscombe were awarded two stars for Organic Sicilian Lemonade as was our (new this summer) honeycomb ice cream from Salcombe Dairy. Olives et al won two stars for their sunshine olives (which we sell loose), and a star for their bags of dangerously moresish Harrisa almonds.

Both versions of our fabulous Spanish Olive Oil biscuits (Torta de Aceite Sugar) were also entered and awarded two stars for biscuits flavoured with spices and biscuits flavoured with nuts. Our favourite smoked salmon pate from Mike's smokehouse was awarded two stars, as was their manuka smoked salmon. El Lagar Del Soto, produced by Jacoliva, Spain, was awarded 2 stars in the single estate extra virgin olive oil category and Nunez de Pado was awarded one.

Pukka Herbs clocked up some more awards with their refresh, detox, cleanse and harmonise teas. In the same category Teapigs won a star for their liquorice and peppermint tea.

Tracklements were awarded a star for their organic rosemary jelly and their chilli jam. Karimix were award a gold star for their Tamarind Chutney. Lizi Shaw was awarded a gold star for her organic granola. Lewis & Cooper Handmade Luxury Fruit Cake and gluten free plum pudding were also awarded gold stars.

I'm pleased to see Pollen Organics won awards for their pesto, as I was thinking of offering that as an alternative to the Italian Basil pesto we currently sell. Their chilli and ginger salsa also won an award last year and the salad dressings we currently sell have proved to be a real hit with our customers.

Didn't we have a lovely time?

What lucky picnic-ers we were last Sunday. Fantastic weather, a great turnout and a wonderful band playing great music all afternoon. Over £400 was raised for the "Breath of Fresh Air" Campaign for South Meadow Surgery and everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves.

Eton Picnic

It is the Eton Picnic on Sunday 23rd August

From 2pm picnic-ers will be gathering on the Brocas (the grassed area west of the High Street to the bank of the Thames). There will be some entertainment; music, games and a raffle.

Open to everyone.

(You don't need to buy your picnic from us, but if you need anything, you know where we are!)

To Fill or Not to Fill

A comment from a customer recently has made me question whether my "efficient" shelf filling is such a good idea. We fill the shelves daily (sometimes more often if I get a chance to go to the stock room). But apparently, it makes it look as though nothing moves! Particularly with really popular lines that I always have a stockpile of. To a customer these never appear to run low. I tried to be more relaxed with my shelf filling, but find gaps on the shelves unappealing. Not sure what the solution is. I would just like to reassure you there is nothing on the shelves that was there when we opened. That jar of honey you saw last year has gone, and a hundred or so very similar looking jars have in turn taken its place.

Onion Marmalde - available in Eton for 2 years!

It was June 2007 before we started stocking an old favourite of mine: Onion Marmalade. I don't know why it took so long, but seem to remember being in a rush to get my first order as I had run out at home!

Tracklements have been making outstanding products in Wiltshire since 1970 and took their name from the term used to describe condiments other than salt and pepper. They aim to be the best on the market, as good as the very best home-made products and use only natural ingredients and traditional methods.

Their Onion Marmalade is deliciously sweet and sticky. It's quite impossible to have just a small amount. Each jar is just crammed with long thin, slivers of onion, and no matter how small a spoon you intend to take, once you’ve dipped in, it just keeps on coming.

I tend to use Onion Marmalade for "dolloping"; in a sandwich with some farmhouse cheddar, on a crispbread with some chicken liver pate or on the side of a plate of egg and chips (once you've tried it there is no going back to ketchup). The people at Tracklements suggest putting it on sausages for their last 5 minutes in the oven and have now produced a recipe card showing how to turn it into gravy. Mmmmm

Henshelwoods Jams and Mustard

We are often asked where we find all our stock. And to be honest I'm always on the look out for new products and find them all over the place. One range in particular, has a particularly unusual source...

I use the post office in my home village (as well as the one in Eton, of course) and the postmaster knows who I am and all about the shop. A few months ago a regular post office customer came in to excitedly collect a parcel, got chatting to the postmaster, Raj, and told him all about the contents of the box; jams and mustard from Henshelwoods. She loved the products but couldn't get them anywhere locally so had them sent from Scotland. Raj suggested she contact me. A letter was written and passed to me, on my next visit to the post office. I contacted Henshelwoods and before long their award winning jams and mustards were making their debut in Eton. (And I was providing a mail order delivery service to my home village!).

March Hare Food

After much searching and tasting, we have decided to sell the frozen meals made by Julia and Colin Whitham of March Hare Foods in County Durham. By freezing the food, they don't need to pack it full of preservatives. The meals can even be cooked straight from frozen (30 minutes in an oven, 8 in a microwave). Every meal we tried tasted great and was quick and easy to cook. Most of the meals are generous single portions which (depending on the meal) can be served with potatoes, rice, cous cous or one of the delicious March Hare accompaniments such as colcannon or sherried lentils. Some of the meals are complete as they are: Salmon Laksa which comes with noodles, or Mushroom & Spinach Lasagne. They were just what we were looking for.

I've put a list of the meals we offer online so you can browse at your leisure by visiting: http://www.tastesdeli.co.uk/shop/pages/PreparedFrozenMeals.pdf

Cheese & Wine – Very Fine

On the 15th May you will find me at the Laithwaites wine festival in Savil Gardens. There will be lots and lots of wines available to taste and wine producers there to talk to, and also a stall of cheeses to try (and buy). The event starts at 6pm and is open to everyone, although tickets are limited due to the space available. Contact Laithwaites in Windsor for tickets (01753 866 192).

New and Old

I've not done very well keeping the blog up to date with new products. For the whole of the first year we took on at least one new product every week, sometimes entire ranges of products, but by the time I get them on the shelf, make the little cards, put them in the database etc, they are old news. Seeing as it has been two years now since we opened I thought I would instead use the blog to talk about items on their 2nd anniversary as well as the new things. Eventually I might catch up!

Vive's Friday Grab

Vive Magazine has started a new initiative to source three special offers every Friday and offer these to their fans via facebook. And to kick the initiative off we are offering 10% OFF of all our chesses for one week only (until Friday 20th March). Now I've not yet got to grips with facebook, so can't post a direct link, but if you can find the profile for "Vive Magazine", on Friday you will see a link for "Vive's Friday Grab #1" and in there the code you will need to mention to obtain your 10% Discount.

Lessons from Last Year

Christmas is a huge event in the deli and we certainly learn a lot each year. The year before last we stayed open far too late on Christmas Eve and were still cleaning up well into the night. Last year we were much better at closing the door and getting on with the clean up (whilst periodically opening the door again for last-minute emergency purchasers).

Where we fell down was that a lot of the Christmas stock, which had sold out, had been on shelves near the front of the shop and once it had gone the shelves were bare. Now a shop with bare shelves always looks like a shop that is struggling, a shop that can't afford to re-stock. In our case the opposite was true - the shop had done well, exceeded our expectations. We didn't have much left. And it was Christmas. We couldn't restock. But I couldn't leave a bare shop for two weeks. So I moved things around to fill gaps.

So on my first day back in chilly January, I had to move it all back again. All done now, and I can concentrate on sourcing some wonderful new products for 2009. And there is Valentines coming up, and Easter, the Fourth of June picnics... Better get organised.