Good things come to those who wait: British Asparagus

I know you can buy asparagus all year round these days, but to be honest I’d sooner poke myself in the eye with it than eat the sad excuse for the stuff imported from Spain, Thailand or Peru that's on offer year round in the supermarkets! Taste it and you’ll seriously wonder what the fuss is all about, only those with a fertile imagination could possibly identify any real flavour in it. For proper asparagus, in all its glory, you have to hold out for the British asparagus season... and until then I'd rather go without.

So the season is long awaited but also desperately short; traditionally beginning on 1st May it runs for around seven to eight delicious asparagus-filled weeks, until the end of June. For me the shortness of the season only serves to heighten both my anticipation and enjoyment of it and I can happily devour it three times a week in something resembling an asparagus feeding frenzy.

We bought our first asparagus of the season on May bank holiday weekend at The Dales Festival of Food in Leyburn. Grown by the Spilman's at Pasture Lane Asparagus, it is some of the best around and we indulged in 2 big bundles of the unmistakable thick, purple tipped spears. Britain's climate means the plant matures more slowly than it does in warmer climes and this helps to develop the uniquely delicate flavour that is so prized by asparagus lovers. Proper British asparagus has an amazingly sweet, fresh grassy taste, similar to peas - only better.
We enjoyed it simply steamed and dipped soilder-style into soft boiled duck eggs, accompanied by some air dried ham and brown bread and butter. This must be what angels eat.

Simple is best where asparagus is concerned. I love it adorned with hollandaise sauce or even just butter and a spritz of lemon. It is also great quickly griddled on the BBQ, even better served with a "fondue" of Brie or Camembert (wrap a whole cheese in a couple of layers of foil and stick it over the coals until it melts, then dip said asparagus into the molten gooey cheese!).

Another favourite is an adaptaion of Jamie Oliver's recipe for Beautiful Courgette Carbonara. Probably not completely authentic, but it is indeed beautiful and only improved by the substitution of asparagus for the courgette.

And yes, eat too much and asparagus can make your wee smell funny. It can even turn it green. The science-y bit says that this is because of sulphur-containing amino acids in the spears that break down during digestion. I won’t be giving that a second thought though as I tuck into yet another bundle of the first taste of summer. Get your fill before it's gone for another year.

Pasture Lane Asparagus
Richard & Sally Spilman Lodge Farm, Helperby, York

Knight of the Black Pudding

Good Friday's breakfast was black pudding, purchased at the Farmer's Market last weekend, and provided one of life's epiphany moments. I've been eating black pudding all my life but suddenly I realised that these were special; not only part of the history and tradition of the area I am from, but when made properly black puddings such as these are a taste sensation - a true delicacy up there with the best. Those of a more squeamish disposition would no doubt disagree, but they would be wrong and are missing out.

I'd encourage anyone to try the black puddings made by champion black pudding maker and "Knight of the Black Pudding", Andrew Holt. His business, The Real Lancashire Black Pudding Company, is based in Rossendale near Bury and their multi-award winning puds are a revelation; made using time-honoured methods, Andrew's recipe dates back to 1879. Traditional black pudding is made from pig's blood (more often than not these days it is dried blood), pork fat, onion, rusk, pearl barley, oatmeal and a blend of herbs and spices all encased in a length of intestine.

The herbs used vary from one maker to another, each recipe a closely guarded secret. In a Bury black pudding you are likely to find pennyroyal, along with thyme, marjoram, pepper and celery seed. It is the traditional "horseshoe" shape and this characteristic spicing that makes a Bury black pudding special. Pennyroyal has an interesting distinctly minty flavour, often likened to camphor, and it is easily identified in Andrew's rich, spicy pudding; it is quite subtle and harmonises completely with the other spices, yet gives a truly distinctive taste to the soft, moist sausage. There is an even distribution of barley and nuggets of pearly white fat throughout and a natural casing. I can't quite believe that blood can taste this good, but at this rate can see why vampirism may be so contagious!

The black puddings we buy in the UK are already cooked; you just need to reheat them. The traditional Lancastrian way to prepare the individual Bury type Black Pudding is to gently heat it through in water at about 80oc for about 10-15 minutes. The difficulty is that the pudding can burst out of its skin so it is important that they are not allowed to boil, hence the instruction for the relatively low temperature. The pudding is then split it down the middle, opened out on the plate and served with nothing more than salt, pepper, a slick of mustard and maybe some thickly buttered bread. That's it.

The straight "sticks" of black pudding are more usually sliced then grilled or fried - delicious severed as part of a full monty breakfast. Again gentle heat is the key as overcooking will cause them to be dry and hard.

As long as man has slaughtered animals to eat, blood sausages have been in existence and most regions of the world have their own variant of a speciality sausage based on congealed blood; drisheen from Ireland, boudin noir from France, morcilla from Spain, Biroldo from Italy & blutwurst from Germany, to name but a few. There are similar variations found throughout Asia and The Americas. They are revered the world over, so much so that in France there is an exclusive brotherhood known as the Chevalier du Gôute-Boudin - Knight of the Black Pudding. Andrew Holt was sworn into this exclusive group in 1998.

So why do many of us in the UK find the idea of eating blood from an animal that has been killed to provide us with meat so disturbing, even offensive? Most of us are carnivores and happy to consume flesh, fat and muscle (and much worse if you eat cheap sausages, dodgy burgers and kebabs), yet baulk at the prospect of eating blood. I guess it is the word and all it's gory conotations. But ultimately we were responsible for the death of that animal so surely the least we can do is pay it the basic respect of eating it all - nose to tail, everything but the squeak. We really have no excuse, especially when it tastes this good!

Black pudding deserves a more prominent place in our national cuisine. Stirred into mashed potato and eaten with a pork chop or roast chicken leg it makes a simple and tasty supper dish. It is also great added into a Lancashire hotpot or crumbled into a stew to give body and is often paired with scallops for an indulgent treat. For the more adventurous it can be incorporated into any number of imaginative dishes and there are some great recipe ideas on The Real Lancashire Black Pudding Company's website showing how versatile an ingredient it is, from black pudding lasagna to crispy won-tons!

They also do a great "chilli bomb" black pudding, the hot chilli providing a spicy flavour explosion to tingle the taste buds; amazingly good. That's for another day though, this morning it just doesn't get better than simply boiled Bury black pudding for breakfast.

New (Blue) Cheese on the Block; Stichelton

It is described as a classic English blue cheese, but it is most definitely not Stilton.

It is in fact Stichelton, a relative newcomer to the English artisan cheese scene. It has been made since 2006 by American cheese maker Joe Schneider, in collaboration with Randolph Hodgson of Neal’s Yard Dairy, at Collinthwaite Farm on the Welbeck Estate in Nottinghamshire. It is produced from organic milk from the farm's 150 Friesian-Holstein cows.

The name Stichelton (pronounced as it is spelt, stitch-el-ton not stick-el-ton) apparently derives from an early name for the town of Stilton, as recorded in the 11th century Doomsday Book. The cheese is actually produced within the allowed PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) geographical area for Stilton and is made to what is essentially a traditional Stilton recipe. So the links with the archetypal English blue cheese are certainly more than tenuous. But crucially Stichelton is made from unpasteurised (or raw) milk and, as such, it is prevented from being called Stilton.

Evidently those Stilton producers who weren't already doing so, began using pasteurised milk after a food poisoning outbreak in 1989. The link with Stilton was unproven but it still brought to an end the use of unpasteurised milk in its production and pasteurisation, perhaps controversially, became one of the factors stipulated in the PDO status for Stilton when it was granted in the mid 1990's.

I was brought up on unpasteurised cow's milk, straight from the udder, and the difference is noticable. I still look forward to visting the farm, to return home with a carton of unadulterated full fat, raw creamy milk from my dad's own herd of Friesian-Holsteins. I firmly believe that pasteurisation does have a detrimental effect on the flavour and structure of milk and think this is well illustrated in the end result of this cheese. Surely many of its fabulous characteristics must be directly attributable to the use of unpasteurised milk.

It is undeniably reminiscent of traditional Stilton, yet Stichelton seems somehow to have an added dimension of flavor and texture. It has a rich, buttery mouth feel, almost moist in texture, with a full flavour that develops in the mouth and lingers afterwards. It is unmistakably creamy, in both colour and flavour, yet there is deep salty sharpness from the well distributed blue mould. This is a sensational cheese.

Stichelton - it's Stilton, only better.

Availability is limited but check out the website for a full list of suppliers; stockists include the Welbeck Farm Shop on the estate and Neal's Yard Dairy (it is also available via the Neal's Yard mail order service).

Otley’s Own Super Market

I make no bones about the fact that I harbor an intense dislike for supermarkets. There is nothing “super” about them as far as I am concerned (apart from their ability to dominate the retail food sector, devastating consumer choice and local economies). Lucky then that my home town of Otley boasts no less than 3 butchers, an artisan bakery, traditional grocers, mobile fishmonger and an independent wine/beer merchants, as well as a thrice weekly market.

However a shopping highlight is always the thriving Farmers’ Market. Held on the last Sunday of each month (between 9.00am and 1.00pm) when the cobbled Market Square, overlooked by the Victorian Jubilee Clock, hosts a vibrant and colourful group of tightly packed stalls, buzzing with punters.

It is recognised as one of the leading farmers markets in West Yorkshire and features more than forty stalls. It’s not just preserves and chutney’s on offer either; you can actually do your full weekly shop here, as well as stocking up on non-perishable goodies to sustain you through the month ahead. There are a wide variety of producers, the emphasis being on fresh local produce rather than exclusively organic goods, although there are a number of really good organic stalls. Almost all products are grown, reared, made or processed by the stallholder - there are no middle men. Also under the Farmers' market Certification scheme, run by FARMA, the produce on sale must originate within 50 miles and, where possible, 30 miles of Otley. Only a couple of specialist producers travel from outside Yorkshire.

One of the biggest queues is always at Langthorne's Buffalo Produce from Northallerton; their wares include Buffalo meat and cheese, but also Venison, Aberdeen Angus Beef, Wild Boar, Iron Age Pig, Lamb and Mutton. The buffalo burgers are amazing; buy them ready prepared to take home and cook, or they always have a batch sizzling on the grill to sell in a bun in case you missed breakfast. Or even if you didn’t as the smell and sight of the big juicy burgers is difficult to resist.

Other regular favorites include:
Kilnsey Park Trout Farm (Upper Wharfedale); fresh and smoked trout, pates & fish products
Swillington Organic Farm (Leeds); organic free range rare breed pork & chicken
Yockenthwaite Farm (Buckden, North Yorkshire); their hand baked granola is delicious
Swaledale Cheese Company (Swaledale); artisan cheeses made using traditional methods
J Stringer & Sons (Malton, North Yorkshire); Organic flour, bread mixes, porridge oats & potatoes, they also sell Yorkshire rapeseed oil
Dumouchel (Leeds); amazing fresh breads and patisserie
Quay Ingredients (Skipton); an extensive range of dried herbs & spices
Curry Cusine (Leeds); a range of custom made spice blends / mixes & pickles to produce authentic Indian meals at home – they have also been known to do live cookery demonstrations in the market
Braythorne Bees (Stainburn, North Yorkshire); different varieties of honey and honey-based products including candles and skin creams
The Organic Pantry (Tadcaster, North Yorkshire); seasonal organic veggies

Garth Cottage Nursery (Northallerton); Specialist growers of culinary herbs and herb-infused oils, salad dressings and vinegars, garlic and chillis. This month they were also selling rhubarb roots and forcing pots
Ledston Estate Game (Ripon); including venison, pheasant, rabbit, hare
Pattacakes; patisserie, puddings & pies
Autumn Harvest mushrooms

It annoys me if people expect the produce at a FM to be cheap – “after all they cut out the middle man”, they argue - or refer to the produce as expensive. These misconceptions are entirely due to society’s conditioning by the supermarkets. In reality food isn’t, and should not be, a cheap commodity to be flogged in BOGOFs. For me these people are missing the point, but incidentally if you do want cheap you can buy 3 lambs hearts for 75p. FMs provide an outlet for producers to by pass the supermarkets, sell direct to the public and get a fair price for their produce. In return the customer gets to build up a relationship with their producers, ask questions, buy the best fresh local produce and enjoy a more interactive and pleasant shopping experience.

I missed the market last month due to a particularly veracious hangover that kept me in bed until well after everyone had packed up and gone home, but I was reliably informed that there was a new stall in town. This month's visit confirmed it; The Real Lancashire Black Pudding Company has moved in. My life is now complete!

Farmers' market facts:
The concept was imported from the United States, where they have been in existence for 35 years.

The UK Farmers' market Certification scheme is run by FARMA (National Farmer's Retail & Markets Association) and is inspected by an independent body which assesses member markets to ensure they operate within their guidelines for what makes a farmers' market the real thing.

Farmers' markets in the UK started in the autumn of 1997, the first one being held in Bath. There are now more than 500, with over half of them being certified as operating under terms defined by FARMA.

http://www.farmersmarkets.net

Otley farmer's Market
Market Square
Last Sunday in the month, 9am – 1pm
FARMA Certified

Celebrating Britain’s Protected Products

Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb has become the latest British product to achieve Protected Designated Origin (PDO) status from the European Commission this week.

PDO status safeguards regional foods by preventing producers from outside the designated geographical area from calling it by the protected name. Products are also extensively audited, ensuring that traditional production methods are maintained and consumers can be confident that they are buying an authentic product.

Britain, and in particular Yorkshire, has been slow to cotton on to the benefits of PDO but Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb now joins Swaledale Cheese as a uniquely Yorkshire product and becomes the 41st British product to be added to the list of legally protected names. It is in good company, joining the likes of West Country Farmhouse Cheddar, Stilton cheese, Cornish clotted cream, Jersey Royal potatoes, and Melton Mowbry pork pies.

The Wensleydale Creamery in Hawes have applied for PDO status for ‘Yorkshire Wensleydale’ and after a lengthy 3 year campaign have a decision pending for later this year. Bizarrely they claim that 56% of the Wensleydale cheese sold in the UK is not actually made in Wenslydale at all, but is made elsewhere in counties such as Lancashire, Cheshire & Shropshire. I’m sure Wallace and Gromit would have something to say about that, lad.

Anything that helps preserve the heritage, character and reputation of British foods and gives our producers an advantage over cheap imitations must be a positive move.
Surely when it comes down to it, the clue should be in the name?

A Magical Mystery Tour; the Rhubarb Triangle

West Yorkshire has been the home of the ‘Rhubarb Triangle’ since the late 19th century. Despite the apparent lack of paranormal activity and notorious disappearances, the facts about this little known phenomenon are still often vague and shrouded in mystery. So in order to get to the bottom of the peculiar goings on in deepest Wakefield at this time of year we embarked on a mini rhubarb adventure.
It started with a phone call a week ahead to check availability of the tour, as advised on the website. I was told that they were very busy but we could indeed be squeezed in on Saturday 13th February at 10.30am. The booking was provisionally made and I posted a cheque at the soonest opportunity to confirm, we would then be emailed our tickets and directions to the location.
We were off to discover the secret world of the Rhubarb Triangle and to meet the ‘High Priestess of Rhubarb’!

The Rhubarb Triangle owes its name to the areas history of rhubarb growing, more specifically to its position at the epicentre of "forced" rhubarb production. The first misnomer that needs to be cleared up is its location. The Rhubarb Triangle is often described as being the triangular area between the cities of Leeds, Wakefield and Bradford (the green triangle on the map). Other sources give the points of the triangle as Leeds, Morley and Wakefield (the blue triangle on the map). However both of these claims are rhubarb (pardon the obvious pun) as the largest area of rhubarb cultivation actually falls outside both of these triangles. It more accurately covers the triangular 9-square-mile area of land formed between Morley, Wakefield and Rothwell (the red triangle on the map).

Map courtesy of Yorkshire Gardener Sue from Green Lane Allotments

In fact much of the rhubarb these days is grown around the village of Carlton and this is where we were heading.

On arrival at Oldroyd's Farm we were met by Janet Oldroyd Hulme (AKA the ‘High Priestess of Rhubarb’). The tour started with Tea / Coffee and Biscuits and then we were taken back in time to 2700BC to trace rhubarb’s ancient history. Rhubarb (actually a vegetable, not a fruit) is originally native of Siberia and since early times has been highly prized for its medicinal properties. In fact, back to the modern day and only this week it was announced that this super food has now been linked with the prevention and possible treatment of cancer.

Although not native to the UK Rhubarb was found to flourish in Yorkshire’s cold, damp soils.
The forcing process was discovered by chance in the early 19th Century, but it wasn't until 1877 that Yorkshire became the first place in the world to build special sheds to grow it in. In its heyday there were more than two hundred growers in the Rhubarb Triangle and it produced 90% of the world's winter rhubarb. It was grown, picked and whisked away to London via the rail network on the "Rhubarb Express", to be sold at Covent Garden and Spitalfields markets and on into Europe. I wondered if the trains left from Platform nine and three quarters but didn't dare to ask.
After World War II the industry sadly went into decline and producers went bankrupt or were forced to sell up as other, more exotic fruit became widely available and more popular. Now there are just a handful of growers left in the area; 12 to be precise. Leading the renaissance is the Oldroyd family, now into its fifth generation of dedicated rhubarb growers. Janet leaves you with no doubt as to her passion for this crimson stalk.

We were then introduced to the dark art of rhubarb forcing! Each winter rhubarb crowns (established root systems) are transferred indoors into dark, heated nursery sheds to be "forced". Anything referred to as being "forced" would generally have bad connotations, particularly in relation to food. In the case of rhubarb though, it describes the process of growing the plants at an accelerated rate in warm, dimly lit conditions a process that actually results in a superior product. The forced stalks are tender, sweet, and a distinctive bright pink in colour. Known as "Champagne Rhubarb", it is a seasonal delicacy and can fetch much higher prices than its more fibrous and lip-puckeringly sour outdoor equivalent that has given rhubarb such a bad reputation.
Once inside the secret word of the low, dark forcing sheds the ambiance is eerie, almost other worldly. With the giant heaters turned off, in the silence you can actually hear the rhubarb growing; it is a distinctive "pop" as the buds of new stalks burst open. The grotto-like shed runs as far as the eye can see, and the rhubarb emerges in the flickering candlelight. Janet describes it as "almost like a religious experience" and without doubt it is strangely atmospheric, even magical.

The Yorkshire rhubarb growers are currently waiting on a decision from Brussels on an application for Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status for their crop, to allow them to officially name their product "traditionally grown Yorkshire rhubarb" and prevent cheap imitations from impostors, such as the Dutch. The decision is due in the next few days and hopefully forced Yorkshire rhubarb will then join the elite list of protected regional foods and put the Rhubarb Triangle firmly on the map.

E.Oldroyd & Sons Ltd
Carlton Village, LS26 0ST
Tours run from January to March.

Wakefield Food, Drink and Rhubarb Festival runs from 26th to 27th February 2010.