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