Archive for December, 2006

Royal Farm Shop Windsor

by Andrew on December 30, 2006 in Delicatessens, Farm Shops and Markets, Online Retailers with 1 Comment

Windsor Farm ShopOccupying converted Victorian Potting Sheds the Royal Farm Shop at Windsor sells produce from the Duchy of Cornwall in addition to products sourced from across the Thames Valley.

My local brewer and winery, Chiltern Valley Wines, have just been awarded the honour of a ‘by Royal Appointment‘ and are apparently stocked at the shop; they do not appear to be listed on the website perhaps they are sold under an ‘own-label’?

Alcohol wise there are beers from the Chiltern Brewery from near Chinnor, wines from Chapel Down and whisky from Balmoral. The Duchy Original range is of course fully represented nestling alongside the large range of jellies, sauces, mayo’s, jams and marmalades. For local delivery only (which is within 5 miles of the shop) are milk, creams, yoghurt’s and butters from local herds. Plenty of meat products too are available – sausages, pork, game when in season. In short all you would expect from a decent, up-market, deli.

Delivery charges are not too bad. To England it is £9.95 per order rising up to £29.95 to the Republic of Ireland and the outer Scottish Islands.


New Foodie Magazine – TasteItalia

by Andrew on December 22, 2006 in Books For Cooks with No comments

Taste ItalySpotted a new magazine on the shelf at WHSmiths today – Taste Italia ‘for lovers of Italian food an drink’.

It is published by the producers of Taste Italia, which I believe is a travel and Italian culture magazine. The emphasis in Taste Italia is totally about Italian food and wine.

Every issue is packed with regional and seasonal Italian recipes, the finest wine writing, gastro tours, restaurant reviews, Italian chef interviews and recipes, and news on the best Italian produce.

This first issue is priced at £3.50. While the overall design appears a little lacking when compared to the likes of Delicious or Olive (is it the different font Taste Italia utilises or perhaps the ‘not quite as good’ photographs?) the contents shouldn’t disappoint. A handful of recipes jumped out as ‘must tries’ just by flicking through and the wine section, written by Brian St Pierre, is quite substantial.

In addition to a dozen of so wine recommendations the wine section offers several recipes each with a suggested wine to accompany – Traditional Veal With Tuna Sauce with a Clerico Dolcetto Langhe Visandi 2004 and a La Guistiniana Gavi di Gavi Lugarara 2005 with an Aubergine soufflé for example.

A guide to Italian restaurants in Italy and the UK are included while Valentina Harris provides a selection of Risotto recipes, eating ouot in Rome and some general gift/shopping ideas adds to the overall mix of food, wine, eating out and travel.

Seasonal Duck recipes

by duck on December 21, 2006 in Books For Cooks, food, On The Web, Reading/Viewing, Taste with 1 Comment

duck roast
We’ve plumped(!) for duck as our Christmas bird this year, so a hunt for appropriate recipes was called for. Problem is of course that ducks tend to be a tad smaller than Turkey or Goose, so depending on numbers you may need more than one bird. Waitrose offer a couple of promising recipes – and although “duck with orange” sounds a bit of a cliché this sounds good: Roast Duck with Thyme and orange-roasted pumpkin. Alternatively try Roast Duck with Elderberry Sauce
Over at the Observer, Nigel Slater offers a simple Roast Duck and Pancetta and Potatoes
Courtesy of www.slashfood.com we found a pile of duck recipes from the SanFrancisco Chronicle including several for Slow Roasted Duck.
On the BBC website there is a more British recipe for Gary Rhodes’ Roast duck with crispy duck hash and local beer gravy, spring greens and glazed carrots.
However for a more French version you could try “Caneton à la Bigarade” which is a variation on Duckling à l’Orange but using bitter oranges (bigarades) found in Elizabeth Luard’s delightful book Classic French Cooking: Recipes for Mastering the French Kitchen

Best Mince Pies Best Christmas Puddings

by Andrew on December 15, 2006 in In the Press, On The Web with No comments

Duchy Originals Mince Pies Taste tests abound – The Independent has proclaimed the Waitrose Panettone as pud as the No 1 Best Christmas Pudding £4.99 for 454g. (Never really understood the attraction of Panettone; but I might be tempted to add this to my Ocado Christmas order). Second place was given to an organic and Fairtrade pud from The Village Bakery. This comes in at £6.99 for 450g.

You have to register to view the Custom PC site (which I find really annoying) and why a PC magazine has a review of mince pies is anyones guess. I have always favoured the Duchy Originals Mince Pies, £2.99 for six, (my first attempts at actually making some were less than successful) but Custom PC put them at a lowly 5th place.

Out on top though were the Harrods Mince Pies (£5.50 for six)

The mighty mince pies from Harrods take this year’s prize. They’re an all-round treat – big, strong-tasting and well-constructed. A box of pies costs 12 times as much as Sainsbury’s Basic pies, it isn’t hyperbole to say that Harrods’ pies are far better than that. Definitely too good to be left out for Santa Claus.

In Search Of… Darioles Moulds

by Andrew on December 15, 2006 in In Search Of..., Online Retailers with 1 Comment

To be honest I had no idea what a Darioles is (or was) let alone the mould in which to make them. I ran across a reference to them when researching a project I have in mind for 2007 over on SpittoonExtra.

According to Good Things In England by Florence White (Amazon.co.uk £12) ‘dariole’ is not only one of the oldest words in the English language but also the oldest of which we have any knowledge.

It comes to us from the East, a dariole originally meant ‘something made in a dairy’…. a dariole being a custard baked in a pastry. But in days gone by there was no tin used, the crust was raised and formed the ‘coffin’ or case for the custard. The tins were named after these custards not the custards after the tins. Darioles are mentioned in out earliest English cookery books.

But it was only after an hunt around various internet merchants that I found exactly what they look like. Little pudding tins basically. A French company sells six non-stick dariole pans or babas pans for just over 30 euros that can be shipped to the UK. But there is also Abbode Cookware that lists two different sizes – £1.75 for small, £2 for large.

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