WELL SEASONED

I was shopping in our local supermarket recently. When I do use the larger shops I try wherever possible to look at the labelling and to buy low food miles, in-season food. Simple you might think - all supermarket food is now labelled with its source of origin so its just a case of checking out the packaging and looking for UK-sourced food, right?

Regrettably, it seems its not that easy. I picked up a packet of organic maris piper potatoes. A 2kg packet, grown in the UK. Simple enough, except I didn’t want 2kg so I picked up the otherwise identical 1kg pack right beside it on the shelf. On closer inspection, the 1kg was not from the UK but Egypt. And presumably (although it didn’t say on the packet) flown from the African continent. The two products on the shelf are identical for most intents and purposes but couldn’t be more different in terms of their environmental footprints. Why would the supermarket do that? Instead of buying all its organic maris pipers from a single supplier, the smaller portion (I would suggest the more frequently-purchased size) is from a cheaper, foreign producer.
 
So that was bad enough, but then I wanted to buy some white fish. As I passed the fish counter this packaging caught my eye:
 

“Responsibly Sourced” haddock. Great - everyone knows there are problems with fish stocks but if Tesco’s have sourced it responsibly then presumably we can keep eating it without guilt. But what on earth does “Responsibly Sourced” mean? With no further explanation on the packet it seems that is anyone’s guess. But here is my main beef with the fish - You may be able to see from the photo that next to each other, in identical packaging, indeed in the same box, were long-line caught and seine-net caught fish. So, whatever “responsible” means, it doesn’t necessarily extend to the method of catch. Again, though, we have identical products, in identical packets, but potentially very different ethical credentials. 

What is the supermarket’s motive for doing this? Is it possible that it’s a deliberate tactic? Is there any way they hope to hoodwink the hurried shopper into paying the same amount for products that they have bought-in for less? Until the supermarkets actually come round to the ethical demands of their customers, rather than just paying them lip-service, it is our duty as consumers to scrutinise food packaging and labelling, making sure we get what we want and using our purchasing power to put some pressure on the shops.

Woohoo, it’s finally March! This month, the clocks will go forward, putting an end to the darkest of the evenings and, as we wrote in our February blog, there is a distinct whiff of Spring-iness in the air. The Anglo-Saxons called March ‘Hlyd’ or the “stormy month”. Certainly the March weather is never predictable and the only guarantee is that we’ll have some good and some bad. They say that if it comes in as a lion it will go out as a lamb. There’s probably more lamb than lion about this one so we may have to hold on to our hats for the rest of the month!
 
Alongside February, March is perhaps one of the less bountiful months. But that’s not to say there’s nothing to try in the kitchen. If you’re looking for something new, nettles are perhaps the easiest March crop to get hold of (but before you do this literally, make sure you’re wearing gloves!). They are a rich source of iron and go well in place of spinach in most things. Nettle soup is delicious. You can find a good recipe here and we promise it’s well worth the odd sting.
 
The season for most gamebirds has now finished so any that you buy are likely to be from frozen stocks. Interesting alternatives are available; rabbit is not at its best right now but you could branch out and try some hare. With hare you just need to be a little careful where you buy from - some parts of the country (Norfolk and other eastern counties) have healthy stocks but in other areas (notably the south west) numbers are reportedly getting low. Venison is always a safe bet and it is increasingly easy to buy. It has a reputation for having a strong flavour but that definitely does not have to be the case; if you ask you butcher to get some young, fresh meat it will be tender and full of flavour but not ‘gamey’.
 
In terms of events, Spring was traditionally a time to be preparing the ground for the next sowing season so there are few festivities on the seasonal calendar - the hard work of ploughing the fields clearly left little time for party planning. That said, we have both St David’s Day (1st) and St Patrick’s Day (17th) to celebrate. Wales and Ireland both have unique food and drink heritage so we’ll be cooking up laverbread and a beef and stout pie in due course. In the garden, March is a good time to plant peas and broad beans. You’ll want to harvest both of these in the height of summer so think about getting them in the ground half way through the month (traditionally St Patrick’s Day is the first day of pea planting) providing it doesn’t look like a late frost.
 
So, there’s gardening to be done and some celebrations to be had. We previously debated whether the first day of Spring should be the 1st March or the vernal equinox on the 20th. It’s difficult to know who’s right but, either way, the countdown to Spring starts here and we’re in the blocks with our shiny new trainers (or perhaps wellies) on… 
 

Pollack

Still seen by many as the poor man’s cod this delicious white fish can be a brilliant substitute for its endangered cousin. Get yourself a gold star for sustainability - pester your fishmonger to sell it!

 Spring chicken

We’re well out of the game season now but never fear, some of the freshest most tender chicken is waiting to take its place. Always buy free range for the happiest, tastiest birds

 Purple sprouting broccoli

The fresher the better as far as this spring veg is concerned. Treat it exactly the same way as normal broccoli but reduce cooking time slightly. Each every part of the plant above ground is edible and it goes with pretty much anything.

Just over an hour to go until Shrove Tuesday - Pancake Day! Rather than give you yet another recipe for the “perfect pancake” we thought we’d give you our top 10 pancake facts that we uncovered during our foodie research. If you have any others do let us know. 

• The first recipe for a pancake appeared in an English cookbook in the fifteenth century.
• In Ireland, the eldest daughter would traditionally toss the first pancake. If she did so successfully she would supposedly be married within the year.
• The name Shrove comes from the old word “shrive” which means to confess.
• In the Midlands, the first pancake would traditionally be given to the family chickens to ensure they produced eggs for the forthcoming year.
• Elsewhere in England, the first three pancakes were sacred. They were marked with the sign of the cross and sprinkled with salt to ward off evil.
• In Brazil they celebrate “Terça-feira gorda”, in Greece it is known as “Apocreas and in Iceland “Sprengidagur” (Bursting day).
• The record for speed pancakes flipping is 349 tosses in 2 minutes.
• Celebrity chef Aldo Zilli holds the world record for the highest pancake toss at 329cm.
• The first recorded pancake race was in Olney, Buckinghamshire in 1445.
• The African Pancake Tortoise has a flat, soft and flexible shell, enabling it to squeeze under rocks when in danger - aaaah.

 And finally…

A Englishman, an Irishman and a Scotsman were having a drink. The conversation came round to their children’s names. ”My son was born on St George’s Day” said the Englishman, “so, we Christened him George”. “Amazing” said the Welshman. “My son was born on St David’s Day, so we called him David. “That’s quite incredible”, declared the Irishman, “Exactly the same thing happened with my son Pancake.”

Sorry - Enjoy Pancake Day!

“Why, what’s the matter, That you have such a February face, So full of frost, of storm and cloudiness?” - William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing
 
Even the romantic poets and playwrights couldn’t bring themselves to write nice things about February. The last of the winter months, it is generally cold and gloomy with nothing to do in the garden but wait. February can, however, be usefully spent planning the coming year’s plantings and perhaps buying-in some supplies. We’ve been dusting off the window boxes, clearing away the remaining debris which is (shamefully) still loitering from last year and planning our chilli crop which will need planting (indoors) in March. We’ve also got some very exciting allotment news/plans for the year which we hope to report on in due course.

In the kitchen, warming, hearty fare is still the order of the day with stews and soups still going down well. The game season finished on 1 February in most places and so the stores are full of a wide variety of wild meats which can be made into pies, terrines and pasties. We’ve been working on a new Oriental style duck and plum pasty which is great for taking on those long winter walks. Recipe to follow shortly (if they are a success!)

Depressing as it can be to some, February is not without its seasonal celebrations. The 14th is of course Valentine’s day but of more interest to us foodies is 16th when we have perhaps the only seasonal festival that is actually known by the food eaten - indeed, these days, almost to the exclusion of its religious significance - Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Day. More of that to come in due course but if you want to practice in advance (and why not?) we don’t think you can go wrong with Delia’s basic pancake recipe 

As we write, the last of the most recent snowfall has melted and there is a bright blue sky out of the window. Is it our imagination or could Spring be just around the corner? It’s certainly not far away - February is at least mercifully short. Let’s hand back to the poets for the last word…

“February sweet and small, greatest month of all.”
 
Hmm. That might be stretching it a bit, but at least it’s a positive note to end on. 

Cockles

It’s pretty cold this time of year so you might prefer to get these from the fishmonger rather than forage them yourself! A delicious addition to any fishy dish.

Hare

Similar in appearance but much richer in taste to its distant cousin the rabbit. Jugged, stewed or in a pie, it’s all delicious.

Chicory

Red and white varieties of this tasty plant are available throughout winter. Eat them in a hearty winter salad or braised.

It’s often said that “things that grow together go together” and certainly that can be true. But if ever two ingredients disproved the point it’s artichokes and scallops. The nutty, earthy root brilliantly compliments the sweet, meaty mollusc. The other thing that this recipe proves is that the winter months are anything but bland – these are some seriously tasty ingredients, both very good at this time of year. As you can see from the short recipe, the flavours are so good that very little else is needed.

The best flavours will undoubtedly be found with British scallops. If at all possible buy hand dived ones (see our earlier post about the horrors of scallop dredging). If you really can’t find hand dived ones, you can now buy Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified farmed scallops. The difficulty with these is that they are often flown from abroad (usually South America) so not great for the food miles but they are still probably preferable to dredged British ones. Quality hand dived scallops can be pricey so this makes a better starter than a main course.
 
Scallops with artichoke puree
Serves 4

12 hand dived scallops, shucked and cleaned. Clean and keep four of the shells
Two small knobs of butter 
400g Jerusalem artichokes, peeled and cut into halves
Salt and black pepper to taste
Lemon

Boil the artichokes for 10 to 15 minutes until soft. Strain from the water and blitz in a liquidizer until it becomes a smooth puree. If needed you can add a little of the water to help the liquidizing process. When you have a smooth puree, pour it back into a pan and heat for a couple of minutes, stirring continuously to reduce slightly and thicken it up. Turn off the heat, stir in a small knob of butter, a pinch of salt and several twists of fresh black pepper. Now cook the scallops. Put a knob of butter in the pan and heat until just smoking. Add the scallops to the pan and cook for a minute on each side. Be careful not to overcook them as they will become rubbery.

To serve, add a spoonful of the artichoke puree to each of the four cleaned scallop shells and place three of the scallops on each. Serve immediately giving each one a quick twist of black pepper and a squeeze of lemon.

Apparently yesterday was most depressing day of the year; we’ve all broken the usual resolutions about not drinking, giving up smoking, losing weight. Add to that the fact that we got paid early in December, that we have a mountain of credit card bills to pay off from Christmas shopping and that it’s aaaages until the Spring, it can all be a bit soul-destroying. But, for a privileged few the seasonal way of life means we don’t have to join the miserable hordes. For us (including you) every month (yes, even January) has it’s plus points and it’s own personality that we can work with, welcome and plan for. Granted, January is a little less approachable than the bright, optimistic March, or the warm, endless June but that’s not to say we can’t still be friends with it. January suggests, in fact, almost insists that you don’t bother doing any work (there’s very little you can usefully do in the garden other than a bit of tidying up) so your time is your own. Go for a long walk in the woods then come home, cosy up in front of a fire and enjoy some of the delicious produce that is still around in the shape of game (have you had your fill of partridge, woodcock, pheasant, venison and duck yet? I very much doubt it) root vegetables (parsnips, artichokes, carrots, chicory are all great right now) or fish (ditto - cockles, rock oysters, whiting). Anyone who suggests January is a barren month really isn’t looking hard enough.
 
And whilst you’re enjoying the best of the season you could make some New Year resolutions that you’ll actually have a chance of keeping. How about doing some of the following, all of which can be small but important steps towards the seasonal way of life:

• Eat more sustainable fish
• Try a new type of meat
• Plan a seashore-foraging or mushroom-hunting expedition
• Have a meat-free day
• Get a window box
• Plan to plant something you haven’t grown before
• Get a seasonal cookery book
• Buy more local food
• Put your name on an allotment waiting list
• Become and educated comsumer and learn what the different welfare symbols on food packaging mean

And if none of that helps, you may be interested to know that the commonly-held view of when Spring starts is incorrect. Astronomically (and also as far as the Met Office are concerned) 1st March is the first day of Spring. The 21st is the vernal equinox and, technically, should be somewhere in the middle of the season. On that basis, there are just forty days to go!

One of the most traditionally seasonal elements of the British diet is game. The very fact that game can only be shot at particular times of the year means it is strictly (and legally) a seasonal treat.

We have only a few weeks left in this year’s game season (which for most species in England ends either on 31 January or 1 February) and there are plentiful supplies of game in most markets, butchers and game dealers at the moment. So now is definitely the time to get out there and buy some if you are thinking about it.

Last weekend we set off to Cambridge for a small shoot hosted by a friend of ours on the farm his family have owned for many generations. The day started early on a crisp, bright and extremely cold Saturday morning. After some sausage sandwiches and a shot (possibly two) of Alex’s warming plum gin we started off onto the first drive. We shot three drives of predominantly pheasant before lunch, took a break for some pheasant pasties and then shot two more drives. Finally, as the sun began to set over the snowy Cambridge countryside, we set up around a small pond for some duck flighting. Several different breeds flew in and we saw a challenging mixture of teal, mallard and tufted duck.

At the end of the day between 8 guns we had 30 birds, comprising a great mixed bag which will allow us to try a range of seasonal seasonal recipes (and which we’ll report on here in due course.)

Shooting is an emotive subject and rightly prompts people to consider the moral issues involved. Killing your own food is obviously not something to be taken lightly but I strongly feel that, done properly, game shooting is one of the most defensible ways of gathering and eating meat. It seems to me that the birds we shot, had lived wild or virtually wild lives and had been as happy, free range and organic as it is possible to be. They were then swiftly and humanely dispatched and every one of them will be savoured by the people who shot them and who appreciate the value of that meat.

If you are a principled vegetarian then you are unlikely to think that shooting is ever right. On the other hand, if we eat meat, our duty must be to ensure that the animals we eat live comfortable lives and are treated with respect. Surely wild or near-wild birds live infinitely happier lives that any of their intensively farmed cousins?

For me personally, shooting has really changed the way I think about the cold winter months. Instead of a gloomy five month period before the days get warmer, it has become an exciting time of year that I look forward to. If you get the opportunity to go shooting, do consider it. A small scale local shoot might take a couple of dozen birds in a day, all of which will be treated with respect and gladly taken away by the guns at the end of the day. Taking an active part in the shooting of game is a great way to get into the countryside and to appreciate first hand the source of your food.

J

At this time of year we often have leftover pheasant or chicken to use up after a Sunday roast. There’s frequently a few peas, other veg and sausages too. This recipe is a great way of ensuring the leftovers don’t go to waste. It’s very versatile and you can experiment with pretty much any combination of vegetables and poultry. Pasties are meant to have a delicious, squishy centre so you don’t need to worry too much about the state of the veg going in. They make a perfect travelling snack on a long winter walk or a day out in the field.
 
To make 6 pheasant, sausage and veg pasties:
 
500g leftover roast pheasant, shredded
150g leftover cooked sausages, diced
2 medium leeks, washed and thinly sliced
1 small onion, peeled and diced
50g cooked peas
150g double cream
1 small glass white wine (or chicken stock if you prefer)
2 x 375g packs of pre-rolled puff pastry (feel free to make it yourself but I’m rubbish at it)
1/2 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper to season
butter or olive oil
2 eggs, beaten
 
Start by sweating the leaks and onion in the butter or oil a large pan for five minutes or so until soft. Add the pheasant and sausage, cream, peas and white wine and mix together. Add the thyme and plenty of black pepper and salt to taste. Now turn the heat up and simmer for five minutes or so or until the sauce is thick. You now have your pasty filling. Turn off the heat and put to one side. Dust your work surface with flour and roll out your pastry into a large square. Cut the pastry into rectangles, approximately 15cm x 25cm. If you prefer a traditional half-moon shaped pasty then you can cut out into circles using a large bowl but I find it much easier to produce rectangles of a consistent thickness (told you I was no good with pastry). Take two tablespoons of the filling and pile onto one half of each rectangle (but don’t over-fill them - you dont want the pasties to burst in the oven). Leave at least a centimetre of pastry around the edge. With a pastry brush or your finger, moisten the edges of the pastry with some water and then fold the top of the pastry over the filling. With a fork or your fingers, lightly crimp the edges of the pastry together to seal the pasty. Repeat the process with all six pasties. Place the pasties onto a baking tray and give the tops a light brushing of the beaten egg to ensure a deep brown glaze. Bake at around 180 degrees C for 25 minutes or until golden brown. You can eat them straight away or prepare them a day or so in advance, just re-heating them for 5 minutes or so when required. You can also freeze the un-cooked pasties (provided you thoroughly defrost them before baking) although the quality of the pastry will determine how well them come out.
And finally…
 
Why did the pasty cross the road?

Cos he was meat ‘n potato
 
Boom boom….