I'm returning to this blog after a long break, unforeseen circumstances keeping me away from a computer for most of January. We've also been away from Cambridge in North Staffordshire, where we both grew up - many years ago!
One thing that seems to have changed since we last spent much time there (again, a long time ago) is the number of farm shops dotted around the place. We were particularly impressed by Brookfields Farm Shop (Stone Road, Blackbrook, nr Newcastle-under-Lyme), a nice selection of veg, some very good sausages and a quite wonderful bacon joint which we baked yesterday.
Somewhat in contrast to Cambridge (weekly) and Huntingdon (fortnightly), there are various venues nearby with monthly markets. On the first Saturday of the month, one can be found in Stone and then another in Stafford on the second Saturday, Penkridge on the third (although this does not appear on the 'official' list) and Eccleshall on the last. We went to the Penkridge market, which was excellent - a large general market with the farmers market under cover. Amongst other things, a particularly good (and good value!) piece of brisket made a lovely pot roast and then red flannel hash - a mixture of beef, potato and beetroot. It's a recipe we first saw in Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's great Meat book and is a great leftovers dish.
January does tend to be a quiet month and we've missed a few notable dates. On January the 13th, Christmas ended in Sweden on St Knut's Day; the day after saw the medieval festival of donkeys, the festum asinorum. The 17th of January was St Antony's day, the one who's always being persecuted by strange demons in the art of the Northern Renaissance, while the 20th is St Agnes' Eve and traditionally a day in England when love divinations were made. We polished off some of the excellent Bailie Nicol Jarvie blended Scotch whisky on Burns Night - but didn't go down the route of catching and eating a haggis.
And that brings us to February. A very early Lent this year, starting next Wednesday and so possibly a chance to cut down after the celebrations of December and the commiserations of a cold, wet January.
Thursday, 31 January 2008
Wednesday, 9 January 2008
What's in Season?
And how do you find out?
The best thing to do is go to a local farmers market, where the vegetables that are on sale are guaranteed to be seasonal! At the market here on Sunday, there were some particularly delicious looking leeks (which we didn't buy do to lack of space in our bags) and some Jerusalem artichokes, january king cabbage and swede - which we did bring home.
Knobbly Jerusalem artichokes (left) make a particularly nice soup - a Delia Smith recipe, Carrot and Artichoke Soup. It's not only a beautiful rich orange colour, as she points out, but a lovely thick, rich and tasty meal. One tip if you're following this recipe is to add a little squeeze of lemon juice at the end (to taste), giving it a hint of sharpness to cut through the richness. We had a bowl each this lunchtime with some sourdough bread and the last of the mature Gouda we'd bought in for Christmas from the Cambridge Cheese Company. They are closing for renovations, but (if anyone local to Cambridge is reading this) they were at the market on Sunday and more details of where they'll be and when are available via that link to their website.
Swede mashed with butter and black pepper is one of our favourites. It really is the time of the year when humble ingredients, cooked simply, provide the kind of hearty pleasures necessary to get through a cold month. To those who are only thrilled by exotic dishes and ingredients, to wax lyrical about a cabbage might seem a bit eccentric - but the January kings (see left) which the Sunday veg stall on the market have in abundance at the moment (since December, in contradiction of their name) are a great treat. No need to do anything else than chop them up into a colander, rinse them, stick them in a pan you can cover with a little bit of water in the bottom and a knob of butter and then cook, covered, until they're just done.
The poultry stall at the market had some lovely looking partridges, but as we were weighed down already, we'll put that off for a treat for next week.
Other than going to a seasonal market, the other thing you can do is consult a handy reference work. This could be a cookbook - Nigel Slater's Kitchen Diaries is a journal of his cooking year and uses predominantly seasonal ingredients; and Simon Hopkinson's Week in Week Out, which does something similar. I'd very much recommend the Slater book - it's something we've been dipping into on and off for the last year. Week In Week Out we got this Christmas, so we haven't used it much yet.
Also a new arrival this Christmas was Seasonal Food by Paul Waddington, which gives clear handy references for what's in season when. It's a book I shall attempt to review in a later post, but looks to be a useful aid to eating more seasonally.
The best thing to do is go to a local farmers market, where the vegetables that are on sale are guaranteed to be seasonal! At the market here on Sunday, there were some particularly delicious looking leeks (which we didn't buy do to lack of space in our bags) and some Jerusalem artichokes, january king cabbage and swede - which we did bring home.
Knobbly Jerusalem artichokes (left) make a particularly nice soup - a Delia Smith recipe, Carrot and Artichoke Soup. It's not only a beautiful rich orange colour, as she points out, but a lovely thick, rich and tasty meal. One tip if you're following this recipe is to add a little squeeze of lemon juice at the end (to taste), giving it a hint of sharpness to cut through the richness. We had a bowl each this lunchtime with some sourdough bread and the last of the mature Gouda we'd bought in for Christmas from the Cambridge Cheese Company. They are closing for renovations, but (if anyone local to Cambridge is reading this) they were at the market on Sunday and more details of where they'll be and when are available via that link to their website.Swede mashed with butter and black pepper is one of our favourites. It really is the time of the year when humble ingredients, cooked simply, provide the kind of hearty pleasures necessary to get through a cold month. To those who are only thrilled by exotic dishes and ingredients, to wax lyrical about a cabbage might seem a bit eccentric - but the January kings (see left) which the Sunday veg stall on the market have in abundance at the moment (since December, in contradiction of their name) are a great treat. No need to do anything else than chop them up into a colander, rinse them, stick them in a pan you can cover with a little bit of water in the bottom and a knob of butter and then cook, covered, until they're just done.The poultry stall at the market had some lovely looking partridges, but as we were weighed down already, we'll put that off for a treat for next week.
Other than going to a seasonal market, the other thing you can do is consult a handy reference work. This could be a cookbook - Nigel Slater's Kitchen Diaries is a journal of his cooking year and uses predominantly seasonal ingredients; and Simon Hopkinson's Week in Week Out, which does something similar. I'd very much recommend the Slater book - it's something we've been dipping into on and off for the last year. Week In Week Out we got this Christmas, so we haven't used it much yet.
Also a new arrival this Christmas was Seasonal Food by Paul Waddington, which gives clear handy references for what's in season when. It's a book I shall attempt to review in a later post, but looks to be a useful aid to eating more seasonally.
Monday, 7 January 2008
Recovering from Christmas, looking forward to 2008
This blog is a continuation of Christmas Matters, which collected together a few bits and bobs about seasonal customs, food, drink, music and what we were up to for Advent and Christmas last year. It can seem like a bit of a wasteland - or at least a time to seriously tighten your belt - by the time you get to January. But there are always plenty of things to look forward to and that's what we'll try to describe in this blog throughout the year.
We'll be looking at customs (predominantly from England) connected to the time of year, food that's in season, drinks appropriate to the time of year and activities you can do with your kids to mark the passing of the year.
Today was Plough Monday, the traditional date for the start of the agricultural year. Many older English customs were suppressed at the time of the Reformation, including the parish priest blessing the communal plough which was for anyone too poor to own their own and the lighting of candles to bless the whole cycle of planting and harvest. It's a reminder to us of the most important part of eating more locally and seasonally, which is to support the beleaguered UK farming sector. Cambridge where we live has a small but very good farmers market every week - this website helps you to find somewhere near you where you can buy directly from the producer. Channel 4 are re-showing Molly Dineen's award-winning documentary about the UK's rural economy, 'The Lie of the Land', tomorrow night. It's well worth staying up for, or setting the video.
Sadly we didn't find out if there was any Morris Dancing in Cambridge today and were stuck at home for one reason and another anyway. But we did enjoy some beautiful January King cabbage with our Irish Stew this evening, bought of course from the market yesterday morning.
We'll be looking at customs (predominantly from England) connected to the time of year, food that's in season, drinks appropriate to the time of year and activities you can do with your kids to mark the passing of the year.
Today was Plough Monday, the traditional date for the start of the agricultural year. Many older English customs were suppressed at the time of the Reformation, including the parish priest blessing the communal plough which was for anyone too poor to own their own and the lighting of candles to bless the whole cycle of planting and harvest. It's a reminder to us of the most important part of eating more locally and seasonally, which is to support the beleaguered UK farming sector. Cambridge where we live has a small but very good farmers market every week - this website helps you to find somewhere near you where you can buy directly from the producer. Channel 4 are re-showing Molly Dineen's award-winning documentary about the UK's rural economy, 'The Lie of the Land', tomorrow night. It's well worth staying up for, or setting the video.
Sadly we didn't find out if there was any Morris Dancing in Cambridge today and were stuck at home for one reason and another anyway. But we did enjoy some beautiful January King cabbage with our Irish Stew this evening, bought of course from the market yesterday morning.
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