• Wine
Wednesday, 04 May 2011 11:57

Real Bread, please!

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Real bread, please!

My grandfather, Jim Farrow, was a Master Baker and ran the bakery and post office at Ixworth for many years. His son David also learned this trade and makes his own fabulous bread every day although the bakery has closed. I remember it well; the warm yeasty smell, the size of the huge mixing bowls, the heat of the ovens and the mismatched lino...although my childhood fantasy of ‘choose what you like from the shelves bursting with cakes, sausage rolls and pork pies’ was never fulfilled, as Grandad only ever offered us things that were months past their sell by date. And as a result of having fresh bread at home all the time, I tried to be best friends with children who had white-sliced. But now I have seen the error of my ways I love a nice wholemeal loaf, and although I don’t always make my bread, I do try to buy it from smaller bakers who have survived the supermarket onslaught when I can. In this part of Suffolk we are lucky to have Palmers, their family still making fresh bread every day, but although I say it myself, they can't make Chelsea Buns like mine!

palmers bakery 

Paul Campbell is the founder of Local Food Direct, a social enterprise working to give local people access to local food produced in Norfolk and Suffolk. He contributes part of our feature here. 

One of the things I have noticed recently is how few genuine bakers there are around – people making delicious, fresh bread from good ingredients and without preservatives. Real bread is skilfully made from four simple ingredients: yeast, flour, water and salt – and in sourdough there isn’t even any yeast! Compare that to the extensive ingredients lists that are impossible to decipher on the packaging of industrially produced bread – they are worlds apart. When we talk about something being “the best thing since sliced bread”, I’m not sure we’re really on the right track. I’d take a freshly baked rustic loaf with a flavoursome crust above a preservative-filled, generic, perfectly sliced bread any day – even if does require getting a breadknife out.

I was having a look online for some statistics to include in this post and I came across the Real Bread campaign (http://www.sustainweb.org/realbread/) It’s a lottery funded project run by ‘Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming’. I was interested to see that one of their criteria for “real bread” is that at least 20% of the ingredients are locally sourced – good on ‘em. Reading up on them I found the stats I was looking for – that 95% of bread in the UK is produced by a handful of industrial bakers and in supermarkets. The problem is that this bread is so over-processed that it’s not healthy any more, and has become part of the national problem of unhealthy eating. I recommend having a look at the Real Bread campaign’s “background to the campaign” page – it outlines the argument clearly. I see bread as another example of the shift our society has made away from local suppliers and towards mass-produced food – but I’m glad to say the tide is turning. We have more and more customers requesting ‘real bread’ with their deliveries and are really happy to work with Dozen Artisan Bakery in Norwich, where all the bread is baked using traditional methods and organic ingredients. As far as local produce goes, bread is one of the things that really is better when it’s bought locally – the closer you are to the oven it’s baked in, the fewer preservatives are needed, the better the ingredients will be, the fresher the loaf on your table will be and the better the taste.

my chelsea buns

So those of us who are the offspring of bakers, farmers and other food producers often take up these particular reins. The Telegraph recently featured ‘fresh young foodies’ and there were a few from Suffolk. Stephany Hardingham from Alder Carr Farm has developed a brand of ice creams – Alder Tree – which use the fruit from the pick your own business and the farm shop. ·And the Strachan family from Rendham have developed a specialist milk herd and supply milk from four farms to produce Marybelle products that include milk, yoghurt and ice cream and they sell it throughout Suffolk. These new food businesses are not just about profit, they are about putting a family and social responsibility first, and bringing delicious home-made food to our tables.

Sunday, 01 May 2011 12:08

Thank God that's over...

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Along with lots of others we celebrated - Coronation chicken, raspberry Royale, burger King...but the best bit was the Waving Queen...

the royal couple  the royal buffet  waving_queen 

Wednesday, 27 April 2011 23:55

I love Gregg Wallace...

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...and his unbridled enthusiasm for food on tonights Masterchef final. Although Inspector X wanted Sara to win, it was impossible to decide and I had to get a glass of sherry on a day I don't normallly drink it was so exciting.  I want to try  the octopus pease pudding, the suckling pig, the carageen moss vanilla custard, the hare, all the burgers especially the monkfish liver one - and will someone in Suffolk please start to do the chocolate ravioli stuffed with partridge? As Gregg would say...oh God!

Wednesday, 27 April 2011 21:57

A Lowestoft break

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 coffee and the news     

Coffee break today was on the seafront in Lowestoft.  This cappuccino was good and the papers were available to read the latest gossip. Snappy service and friendly staff although no time to try the lasagne which was dish of the day.  The large terrace meant that I could catch up on a bit of windy sunshine too.

Tuesday, 26 April 2011 11:46

Fram Fest

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strawberries and cream anyone?

The sun was full out for this and so were the hot sauce and chutney sellers - rather too many for one festival. But local bands and good fast food, we had hot fried mackerel sandwiches. Remind me to look for an airstream on e bay for suffolk foodie.

Monday, 25 April 2011 19:15

What? No internet?

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So whoever made off with BT's copper piping and left half the county without any phone or internet - thank you for the most peaceful three days in recent memory. But sorry readers, no posts on here so lots to catch up on.
Friday, 22 April 2011 21:07

Granola

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Granola - a toasted muesli, nice with fresh fruit and yoghurt for a vegetarian breakfast, this is a very adaptable recipe using any grains, seeds and nuts that you fancy.

Ingredients

  • 12 oz / 300g rolled oats, wheat flakes, rolled barley or any other rolled grains
  • 4oz / 100g chopped hazelnuts, pecans, almonds or any other nuts
  • 2oz/50g pumpkin, flax, sunflower seeds or seeds of your choice
  • 2oz/50g desiccated coconut
  • 4 fl oz Hill Farm rapeseed oil or sunflower oil
  • 4 fl oz Suffolk honey
  • 6oz/150g raisins or sultanas

Method

Preheat the oven to 130c/Gas 2 ( a cool setting)

Place the rolled oats in a bowl and mix in the nuts, seeds and coconut.  ( not the raisins yet!) Stir well.

Warm the honey and oil together in a small pan and pour onto the dry mixture.

Coat all the nuts, oats, seeds etc in the honey and oil.

Spread the mixture onto a baking tin and place in the oven for 40 mins.  You will need to move the granola around a little from time to time to ensure that it crisps all over.

Remove from the oven and mix in the raisins.  Leave to cool and store in an airtight container. where it will keep for several weeks.

Monday, 18 April 2011 11:07

My Broccoli

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broccoli      the veg patch

Here is the veg plot for this year - extended by a curve, with a new rose arch for beans and a hi-vis scarecrow to keep off the pigeons. But a sad year for broccoli, still no rain and will be lucky to get two portions from this crop.

Friday, 15 April 2011 11:05

Framlingham Food, Drink and Music Festival

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is on the 22nd, 23rd and 24th April and are looking for Suffolk chefs and restaurants to take part. Would you like to do a demonstration?  Call Paula Edmundson on 0788 1787534 direct if you're not doing anything that weekend.

Thursday, 14 April 2011 22:32

Seafood in Woodbridge

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We’d long been planning to try this place when going for walks along the docks at Woodbridge, particularly when it regularly announces fish soup and seafood platters.  Finally we got the chance at the weekend.   It’s in a great spot for watching the tide and the boats and the menu is appealing, with a good choice of wine by the glass.  I went straight for the fish soup and the boys started with oysters which they loved. 

Then I became obsessed with the size of the tiny kitchen and the absence of any cooking smells and it became clear that the food must be cooked elsewhere and reheated at the restaurant.  Nothing wrong with that, but if I go back I will either go for afternoon tea (cakes looked delicious) or for a cold seafood platter and mixed leaf salad.

Woodbridge lunch           the port 

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