It’s all about Food or Omne suum circa cibum as the Romans might have said when they lived and worked in the Forest of Dean.
We love Harts Barn Cookery School and we love what they do at the light and airy training kitchen on Monmouth Road at Longhope. The phrase something for everybody is often overused but maestro in charge at Harts Barn Cookery School, Yvette Farrell, really does try to offer events and activities for everyone! From artisan skills courses in bread making, cake making and decorating or even making your very own personalised chocolates â itâs all here. At half term there are specific classes for kids where they cook and create in their own holiday atmosphere.
But it is the next Supper Club (hosted in the quirky Apple Barn dining area) we are most looking forward to at the moment. Weâll be at the âTaste of Thailandâ on Friday 26Â February and just canât wait! All those fabulous aromas of lemon grass, basil and spices. Itâs going to be wonderful!
Supper Clubs are held in the Apple Barn each month throughout the year and there is a full list of upcoming events on the cookery school website. Next up is Greek Night (March), followed by Rustic French in April, Middle Eastern in May and a riot of tricolore with a Taste of Italy in June.
Yvette says âThese nights are really social. Food always brings people together and we always aim for a really relaxed and informal atmosphere with great foodâ. Just a word, though, we know that the Supper Clubs are very popular and therefore booking is absolutely essential.
Drinks are available from the bar to accompany your meal, many sourced from great local suppliers.
Pick-up your culinary passport from Harts Barn Cookery School on your first fabulous night. Just like in the good old days of travel, you actually get your passport stamped by Yvette at the Apple Barn border and if you get enough stamps youâll qualify for a Supper Club meal for FREE! Yes, we did say free.
Supper Clubs are a great social night out enjoying food from around the world, meeting new people from the area or from further afield (holiday visitors are always made very welcome) â all without leaving the glorious Forest of Dean.
If you are interested in learning more about the Supper Clubs go to the booking page to see whatâs coming up or call 01452 831719; email info@hartsbarncookeryschool.co.uk
Weâve been very busy conducting some investigative journalism in the Dean Wye lately. Weâve been looking at pubs! Weâve got some great articles with a very different slant lined up for you this year including our quest for our favourite and very best pub!
All in this very good cause, we called in for a chat with the new owners of the Crown at Whitchurch. Youâll have noticed if you have passed by recently that they have a jazzy new sign in the car park and a sparkling paint job to the exterior. This though is no, superficial facelift. There is serious change afoot in The Crown at Whitchurch and this is just the start of bringing a traditional coaching inn back to its former glory.
Coaching Inns have been around ever since people starting moving around. A place to stage a long journey and relax, get something to eat and drink, recharge those batteries, chat to fellow travellers and smell the sweet malt and hops from the on-site brewery in the sheds out back. Coaching inns existed because of the road and when journeys were long and arduous, the road needed the coaching inn. So useful was the concept that small communities started to build up around them. No Roman way station on the least travelled backwater road would be without one!
When we started to move the roads because we needed bigger high capacity highways two things happened; the vital importance and the necessity of the coaching inn was retained and service stations where born, which we all know serve only the best quality food with great service and at a very reasonable priceâŠâŠMmmmm; The second was that all those lovely old traditional wayside inns were left stranded, beached like ocean going vessels when the tide had gone out, along way, and for good. Those with a village live on, but those without â who knows how many weâve lost.
Comfy and inviting bar. The Crown at Whitchurch
Walk into The Crown at Whitchurch and you get an instant feeling of homeliness. In fact before you get in, that feeling starts. Its position, which would have dominated the old village cross roads, looks imposing and no less so today, even with the A40 traffic whizzing by. Outside under the veranda red and black chequer laid tiles hint at a Victorian innovation, the steel table and chairs cast interesting shadows in the low winter sun and the main door has that solid weight of history hanging off the hinges. Once inside the interior is surprisingly open plan, yet still very intimate, the bright and well stocked bar to the right isnât the thing which catches your eye first, itâs the sexy Swedish log burner glowing attractively in the heath. Around it there is a shabby chic mismatch of furniture, comfortable and upholstered on a pleasing theme. A draughts board is set out ready for play on a small table below a small window and itâs invitingly snug cushion. The large window fills the bar with light and the bar itself glitters with Wye Valley Brewery beers and a chic stage-lit spirits collection â we can hear the cocktail shaker now!
Wye Valley Brewery ales. The Crown at Whitchurch
To the left, the very simple and very pleasant restaurant again with an eclectic collection of tables, chairs and tableware, awaits seated diners, although this is set for refurbishment before Easter.
Very inviting. The Crown at Whitchurch
And so just how do you breathe life back into a coaching house? Step one; have a lot of passion about it. Step two; have a vision. Three: get a good team behind you who share your passion. Nicola and Tom do not lack passion for the place! And so has the team. They already know most of them well because most of them are family, no we actually mean family. Apart from Nicola and Tom, there is Samara (daughter) as front of house manager and so it goes on, Tomâs brother and niece, Nicolaâs son and other daughter and a niece on patisserie! We not even sure thatâs all of them!
The Crown at Whitchurch
Back to whatâs happening for 2016. As weâve said the bar sparkles with the glittering hand pumps of Wye Valley Brewery Butty Bach and Dorothy Goodbody as well as locally made ciders and all the components of a great cocktail bar on the back. The main craft ales are feature beers and so change regularly â always worth a re-visit then. At the moment food is great pub food but Nicola tells us that Owain Jones, their 25 year old Welsh but South African classically trained chef is chaffing at the bit to do more. It showâs in the specials, Owain is putting his classical training and previous experience (Llangoed Hall restaurant) for inventiveness to good use. Heâs already established a great Sunday Roast â not to be missed – and in the week we visited the bar special was confit duck! For the upcoming Six Nations Rugby, (which The Crown will be showing) there is a bar menu in tune with the playing nations. Great homemade Fish and Chips and Aberdeen Angus burgers for the England Scotland match for example. They are also just starting their Phileas Fogg inspired world tour too. âAround the World in Eight Weeksâ kicked off with Indian and Mexican so check out their web site for whatâs next before itâs too late and youâve missed the balloon.
Old Ross Road. The Crown at Whitchurch
With a full refurbishment of the already pretty restaurant planned to open at Easter, no doubt Owain will allowed to go for it â we definitely look forward to seeing what he comes up with and weâll be bringing you a full report on the menu tests.
When you walk in to The Crown at Whitchurch It has a very welcoming colour scheme and itâs also very light and airy. But somehow it doesnât feel overly trendy, itâs not trying too hard, it feelsâŠâŠ.well, niceâŠ.., comfortable, familiarâŠâŠ., like home, like a place you would want to sit, have a drink, something to eat and wait for the next stage coach instead.
Hari and Colin Fell at the Tudor Farmhouse have been a little bit busy lately. As well as investing heavily as proprietors in all aspects of their fine hotel and restaurant dream to get it to their own high standards, they also work very hard running the very beautiful and very successful 20 bedroom Clearwell hotel (which – by the way – is ideally situated to explore the best of the Forest of Dean & Wye Valley). Amazing then that they have the energy for regular physical exercise lifting all that silverware at recent awards – Taste of the West Champions âBest South West Restaurant 2015â and Hotel of the Year 2015 from Sawdayâs. Impressive!
Hari Fell owner at the Tudor Farmhouse hotel
We caught up with Hari over a very nice midweek lunch. Hari is a very efficient and hard-working co-owner and keeps the place ticking like a clock, but she is also very friendly, charming and attentive and her staff looked after our table of two very well. Lunch – was a real winner and very tasty too.
I saw the smoked Haddock, leek and oyster soup in the list of three starters and to be honest I had already decided on the first course before I read the other two. A very similar thing happened across the table and so – âthatâll be two soups pleaseâ. For the second course we ordered one Stone bass, also known as Wreckfish in the UK, with attendant vegetables and one roasted cauliflower steak with pickled shallots and mash.
Smoked Haddock, in my opinion, always has the potential to make for a fabulous soup, if you can get the accompanying balancing ingredients spot on. Think of Cullen Skink a Scottish speciality of smoked Haddock, cream and potatoes a tour de force when done properly (Yorkshireman Brian Turner makes the finest I’ve ever tasted) but if itâs just off perfect, well, you have got trouble.
Head chef Rob Cox has the Tudor Farmhouse haddock, leek and oyster just right. A few nice pieces of haddock to give that great smoky flavour and aroma, with a few diced potatoes and some very fine julienne of fried leek with a golden yellow egg yolk in the bottom of the plate. The soup is well seasoned and served from a small jug at the table. As it pours the creamy light green soup fills the bowl to create an island paradise of the rest of the ingredients. Break the yolk and mix a little in each spoonful to complete the rich creamy and luxurious taste of the whole dish. Very nice indeed.
Tudor Farmhouse Hotel
Stone bass looks like the big brother of the more familiar sea bass. The local name of Wreckfish comes from itâs chosen habitat in deep water shipwreck sites and itâs most often caught by trawlermen in UK waters as itâs generally too deep for sea anglers. The meat is white and firm and because the species is a little larger, makes for a substantial fillet with a meatier texture than its more familiar relative. Tudor Farmhouse serve it perched on lovely dark green âblackâ cabbage which makes a wonderful contrast with cumin scented carrots and carrot and swede puree. Lovely crispy skin side up, it looked fab on the plate. How did it taste â well nothing went back!
Stone bass
Vegetarian food can so often be side lined in a carnivoreâs mind-set and overlooked on a menu. This in my estimation is a great mistake. Although a lifelong carnivore, I love main course vegetable dishes (that happen to be suitable for vegetarian customers in my own mind-set) when they are done well with the same attention to detail you expect from the rest of the menu. Cuisines from around the world donât seem to have such a problem with this. Think of the great Chinese and Asian vegetable dishes and things like the Vegetable Thali, a medley of several different vegetable dishes, served in good Indian restaurants.
The butter roasted cauliflower steak was great! A thick slice of cauliflower cut from the heart of the head and down through the main stalk to hold it all together before being oven roasted with butter was just perfect. The stem was tender with just the right amount of bite and the florets were soft and delicious. The roasted butter gave a delicate nutty flavour and there was a touch of piquancy from the topping of pickled shallot. A spoonful of very creamy mash and I think, Rob Cox, you can call that a great success. I would certainly order that again!
Tudor Farmhouse Hotel
Chosen dessert was a very attractive vanilla mouse with apple, rosemary and sweet rosemary oil with nasturtium leaves and a little granola for crunchy texture â again very, very tasty and it looked fab on the plate.
So well done Tudor Farmhouse our superb lunch was served in very homely surroundings in the smartly furnished warm honey stone and original timber front dining room you would expect from a good class country hotel. The cooking was inventive and skilful with great flavours in exactly the right balance. The two course lunch was ÂŁ22 and my lunch partner couldnât resist the dessert for just ÂŁ3 extra!
Tudor Farmhouse Hotel
Honours well and truly deserved Hari & Colin.
Visit the Tudor Farmhouse Hotel website to read Colin and Hariâs blog and sign up for the newsletter to get all the latest news, events and offers.
As an update to our blog of 18th August about the, then upcoming, Food and Beer Pairing event hosted by Harts Barn Cookery School and Hillside Brewery we caught up with Paul Williamson and Yvette Farrell to see how it all went.
Paul; the evening was a great success, with lovely feedback from our 40 visitors. The atmosphere was great too, very lively with great food and beer, with a fun interactive pub quiz based on beer throughout the evening.  Derek Orford, Master Brewer & Beer Sommelier, kept everyone entertained and informed with his wisdom and deep knowledge discussing the beer and food pairing. The food of course, (menu and food created by the talented Yvette Farrell) was a complete hit! Check out the menu in our previous blog post Food & Drink Pairing
Unashamed plug time
Paul says; Hillside is an exciting brewery running green sustainable brewing methods with a wide range of beer & craft ales. Itâs a family owned and run company, based in the Forest of Dean on a stunning 40 acre farm. We opened in May 2014 and have since received over 16 awards. We offer Brewery tours & tasting, team building days including additional fun activities, cookery classes and more! We also have an onsite shop selling our beers, merchandise, and local produce such as wine and chutneys and even beer ice cream! We are the perfect location for the perfect day out! We pride ourselves in producing high quality ales in small batches of the finest ingredients using traditional methods which have been developed and mastered over a lifetime. We want to change people’s perception of beer and what can be achieved. We are dedicated to sustainable brewing and we want to share our passion for great beer with you. Yvette;Harts Barn Cookery School launched in 2011 and have gone from strength to strength. We believe in the âsocialisationâ of food, bringing people together whether they are learning a new skill in the kitchen to sitting down and enjoying the fruits of their labours. Most of all though, we believe in the food, the freshness, the quality, the flavours, the localism and above all, great ingredients cooked simply to produce the finest plate from the Forest & Wye.
Upcoming Events for food and beer lovers.
Check out both websites for full events listings this autumn and winter.
Have a beer and warm your cockles by the fire – Hillside bonfire night on Friday 6th
November, Christmas Market 5th and 6th December and a Christmas carol service on Friday 18th December.
Harts Barn have published their Supper Club schedule with âIndian and the 80âsâ on 30th October, âAsian Flavoursâ on 27th November, Traditional Christmas Supper â several dates and a homage to the apple at their Wassail on 15th January 2016.
Two of the most enjoyable meals I have ever had have been tasting menus where the accompanying drinks were skilfully and expertly selected specifically for me course by course.
Start with a great and characterful menu of interesting ingredients and then pair your chosen tipple to the specific flavours, acidity, sweetness and aromas of the food â Genius! Many of you may have had similar experiences but it doesnât just have to be about wine. Lots of great, and sometimes surprising, combinations work and appeal to the palate enhancing the flavours of the food and the accompanying drink. The skill is in the pairing. Occasionally this happens by accident (see our Ice wine and pizza article) but itâs much more successfully achieved by experts! Those clever local food people at Harts Barn and ace beer brewers at Hillside have teamed up to prove it to you in a fab event coming in September.
Too often in this country what we eat and drink is often dictated by our perceptions that something is more acceptable or more sophisticated than something else. We want to be seen by others to have good taste and to understand the finer things. For a long time this meant wine, and specifically French wine and the majority of British people, feeling they lacked sufficient knowledge on the subject, used price as an indicator of quality and sophistication. Then a few Australianâs smashed in the door at “Le Bistro” and proved the complete nonsense of that with big bold flavours in deep gorgeous reds that wouldn’t break the bank. Take another example and look back fifteen years to the lowly reputation of the Spanish classic – Rioja, and then take a look at the supermarket prices of today.
The point is times change and things move on. And this is what is happening in the beer and cider marketplace. The dominance of the big factories, like a medieval castle before gunpowder, canât be easily or quickly overturned but it can be undermined, chipped away at and laid siege too. In the UK and across Europe, notably in Italy, people are making great craft beer again in ever growing numbers. Our new perceptions are that craft beer it is cool, tasty and sophisticated. Trendy young men and women in designer suits in shiny, busy London bars choose craft beer from around the UK as their wind-down Friday drink of choice whilst chatting about â well who knows what. Thereâs not a beard or a pullover in site! Although in fairness full beards are very much in fashion so weâll withdraw that.
The timing is perfect for beer to come out of the shadows in the UK and step toward the front of stage where it belongs. In the Forest of Dean and Wye Valley we are ahead of that curve, weâre in the vanguard and the reason shouldnât come as a surprise to anyone â we have great natural ingredients and we use them simply but superbly in keeping with our unashamedly rural and no nonsense approach, âerm, a bit like Provence in fact if you are feeling the need for a sophisticated interlude from yesteryear!
And so, in the spirit of all of this Yvette Farrell from Harts Barn will be on the hobs and larder whilst the ever likeable Derek, master beer sommelier from Hillside, has been drawing beer from the impressive May Hill cellar to bring you an evening of fun and learning where the food is paired to the beer – just as it should be.
Are you happy in your work? And by that we mean really, really happy? We know four people who are. We met them for the first time on a glorious Forest of Dean day on a small parcel of land rented to them by Matt Dunwell of Ragmanâs Farm. These four young entrepreneurs Ben Hanslip, Danny Fisher, Natalie Baker and Jon Goodman have grasped the opportunity to fulfil a shared dream, to grow a delicious and nutritious range of herbs, salads, cut flowers, veggies and fruit. They have grasped the opportunity with all of the vigour that passionate and enthusiastic young people are capable of and they are happy! They are growing produce of the finest quality, in an organic and sustainable way in one of the most beautiful part of the south west â whatâs not to like? Together they are called Ragmanâs Lane Market Garden.
Ben Hanslip
These young tenant market gardeners share the modest farmhouse on the plot, work (very hard) in the fields, eat from the plot and sell the very best of their produce locally to make a modest living. All still have to take work outside of the market garden at the moment, but they all hope that as sales improve they will be able, finally, to work that little patch of land full-time. It could all be a romantic documentary on a bygone rural idyll, but itâs not â itâs today. And this partnership of four young people with a dream is making it all come true for a new generation. Due in part to soaring land prices the average age of UK farmers is 59. The âFab Fourâ are working hard to put a dent in that scary statistic.
Jon Goodman
The genesis of all of the tasty green shoots is a great story, of serendipity, recognising opportunities and seeing the possibilities, in its own right. Jon and Ben studied together at SOAS University – The School of African and Oriental Studies http://www.soas.ac.uk/. Further inspiration came from the four WOOF-ing together (the exchange system for worldwide opportunities on organic farms as well as volunteering on community market gardens).
Fresh picked salad and edible flowers
Jon spent two years as a Soil Association Apprentice and Danny has some previous experience of handling working horses â the prospect of seeing a Suffolk Punch at work in Lydbrook is just a tantalising dream though, unfortunately. Jon met Freya Davies of Ragmanâs Farm when he visited their Permaculture Open Day at the well-known and award winning juicing orchard. There he saw (buried in the wild greenery) several poly tunnels in a sea of rampant undergrowth. Freya had mentioned in passing that Ragmanâs were on the look-out for any takers to bring the land back into production and here they all are!
How it all began for the “Fab Four”
So, on the thinnest of shoestring budgets, but with the whole hearted support of Matt Dunwell and full use of whatever was already on the land in terms of infrastructure and equipment â they began. The plot comes with the use of a two wheeled tractor to ease the burden which, wouldn’t look out of place in the fincaâs of the Spanish countryside, but which is exceptionally efficient for small scale market gardens like these. There is also a very practical and also very beautiful irrigation pond to provide water for the crops and habitat for the wildlife. The resident mallards and geese help to keep the slug population suppressed whilst the cute black and white cat heads up the pest control department.
Gravity pond used for irrigation
The value of this support to a brand new business such as this canât be underestimated. To have had to invest in that equipment and infrastructure at start-up would have been a death toll to the very germ of the âfab fourâsâ dream. That support, from an existing successful business, acted as an incubator for the new complimentary adventure and we think is a message lots of local businesses should think a little bit more about.
Danny
Spade met ground in February last year with frantic work by all four to turn an overgrown corner of a larger landholding into something where they could start to plant and grow both their crops and their fledgling business. Jon told us, âThe ethos is to provide some job security for ourselves; to do work on something that you believe; to be able to feed yourself and do it in a way thatâs sustainable, organic and FUN!â
Natalie
Walking around the market garden is an absolute pleasure. Although, if you ever do see the approach road to the farm, youâll understand why visitors are dissuaded at the moment! The four tend their âcut and come againâ salads to reduce waste and extend the life of the crop without reducing taste. Wild and cut flowers punctuate the market garden with vibrant colours and large Comfrey patches provide the raw material for organic, farm made, plant feeds. Natalie handles the flower department with an eye to supplying florists and designers with wild and cottage garden flowers to add an unusual twist to bouquets. This pollinatorâs paradise place is just a-buzz with the sound of insects and birds – Itâs how agriculture used to look in that respect.
You can buy Ragmanâs Market Garden produce, all picked fresh on the day, via the Dean Forest Food Hub. Popular and informal Walford foodie pub, The Mill Race buys from the fab four and Hayley Coombs of the Mill Race told us âWe are committed to using local quality produce and the majority of the ingredients we use come from within 30 miles of the Mill Race. Ragmanâs Lane supply us with amazing vegetables and is less than 3 miles away â you canât get more local than that!â
Cut and come again salads
If you are a local chef who demands freshness and quality produce and you like local suppliers â this one is for you. Why not talk to the âFab Fourâ or better still visit. If you do weâd love to cover the story and Ragmanâs partnership with you.
Preparing for a spring trip to Rome, I was chatting to an Italian friend within a larger group of friends. Someone asked Rosella how to ask for gluten free bread in Italian. Rosella cast a doubtful eye in his direction and, when pressed as to the availability of gluten free in Italy, she thought for a moment and then said âI think that you can get gluten free flour in some pharmacies in the cities and big townsâ. Low and behold though, during our visit, some of the shops in Romeâs tourism areas were advertising âgluten freeâ varieties of well-known Italian staples. Why is it, it occurred to me, that as the demand for gluten free bread and other similar products seems to be inexorably on the rise here, it is a rare product you need a prescription for in Italy?
Traditionally made bread from the Forest Bakehouse at Longhope.
This certainly isn’t a mystery to Sue of The Forest Bakehouse team. This small co-operative bakery, based in modest premises tucked away in the pretty Longhope village centre, produces outstandingly good âproperâ bread. During a lovely morning interviewing Sue and Chris, another member of the team, Sue discussed the co-ops passion for producing a real quality bakery range. Turns out that many of the problems digesting wheat and flour some people seem to suffer from may just be a consequence of how itâs made!
Traditionally made bread from the Forest Bakehouse at Longhope.
Modern bread, especially the arch criminal sliced white, takes a fraction of the time a traditional and experienced baker takes to produce a loaf. The bread that makes up the volume of that on offer in our supermarkets is made in vast bread production lines where it goes from cheap raw ingredients to sliced and bagged in just a matter of hours. No doubt this is a profitable business based on volumes alone. But in part consumer demand for ever cheaper stuff is also to blame. Take a supermarket sliced white value loaf at the royal price of 40 pence (link below – worth looking at the ingredients list too to see how many you recognise). Just what is it that we think we are getting for our hard earned 40 pence when a traditionally made loaf costs around ÂŁ2?
Traditionally made bread from the Forest Bakehouse at Longhope.
Modern large scale bread is made in super quick time with bulk bought ingredients, which need flavour and texture additives to make them palatable. And there is the problem â that speed of production and super-charged fermentation misses a very necessary opportunity. That opportunity is time to allow the process to change and soften the effects of the gluten. Time in fermentation breaks down those things we may have trouble digesting and gives our system a fighting chance. Luckily for us that time spent resting and proving also adds bags more flavour and character to the bread. There’s more of the science on the subject on their website, but the taste and quality is something that the crew at The Forest Bakehouse are really proud of.
The bakery is a community supported and part funded project, but donât think that this is anything other than a successful business. Itâs just one operated on a different model. Sue and Chris, we have already mentioned, but Ciaran and Peter complete the co-operative, although not there on the day we visited. The workload is shared between the members and they have now taken on an apprentice too! Sue, was candid when asked about working as a co-operative, âwe have learnt a lot, in the beginning we thought that it meant we all had to agree on everything! As we developed, we split the tasks into responsibilities and we each get on with our fair share of running and working in the business. It really worksâ. The community aspect of the project also means a great deal to the team who see the business as giving something back to the community investors who helped them get going in the first place.
Traditionally made bread from the Forest Bakehouse at Longhope.
Thatâs the business stuff over with â letâs talk about the taste! I tried their sourdough at the “See, Taste, Buy” event in the spring and was already hooked. The prospect of it straight from the Longhope ovens was just too tempting, and so that was the first target for tasting! The Bakehouse product range is really rather good for a smallish bakery. Alongside their sourdoughs, there are rustic looking farmhouse breads, savoury breads, their Latchen (soft white yeasted bread approximately 250 light years from supermarket sliced white), baguettes and ciabattas.
Traditionally made bread from the Forest Bakehouse at Longhope.
We aren’t experts! Let’s get that cleared up straight away, but, and this is just our opinion, there are several key elements to running a cheese shop! First, one needs a shop and some cheese â self evidently and preferably, it should be very good cheese. Next, one needs a person – but not just any person! A person who truly knows about cheese (not gained from an in-house training course or gleaned via product notes) , but whose passion  about cheese … well … over flows. There is a type of knowledge you only get when you hit the buffers and realise that you donât know something. This spurs you on to investigate and to research and learn, as well as appreciate and test. This type of enlightenment is what we like to call âbicycle knowledgeâ. Bicycle knowledge, once obtained, never leaves you, it never grows old or out of date, itâs even immune from the cruel ravages of ages. Like great cheese itself, this knowledge matures.
Bankers in general, or anyone who âworked in the cityâ, often get a bad press. Gordon, Fred and the crew have a lot to answer for Iâm sure! But that in no way speaks about the men and women, like you and I, whose occupation happened to be in the biggest and best financial centre in the world. However, there comes a time though when people want more.
How do you get âmoreâ? – thatâs the tough one.
Not for Tom Lewis, he just followed his dream and passion to one day own a deli. And now he does â The Marches Delicatessen – and itâs a very fine deli indeed, in a Welsh country town that really needs one.
The Marches Delicatessen window, Abergavenny.
“Having spent 6 years in London I was ready to come back to Wales. I was not really enjoying the job I was doing and lacked the drive to push on. I grew up near here and had been looking at opening my own delicatessen. An opportunity presented itself to move to Abergavenny – so I quit my job, moved back from London and opened The Marches”.
Our latest best friend, Tom Lewis â a very bright eyed and cheerful fella, already has some bicycle knowledge about cheese and seemingly there is nothing going to stop him from acquiring more. He is ever present in the shop and at the weekends his girlfriend and mum occasionally help out.
The obvious question of course….Why a cheese shop/deli?
“I’ve always been interested in it since childhood holidays in France. I really got into it whilst at university in Aberystwyth. There is an amazing delicatessen called Ultracomida, which first opened my eyes to some of the great Welsh produce being made. I knew I wanted to do something focusing on local produce and did not want to restrict it to Wales, so hence why I called it The Marches. I focus on produce from Wales, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Shropshire”.
Have you ever made cheese?
“Not yet, but there are plans to dabble in making some fresh cheese like ricotta or mozzarella. But having seen how much skill goes into making the cheeses we sell, I fear anything I make would turn out to be an embarrassment by comparison”.
Tom’s favourite cheese (anywhere) – “Mouldy Mabel  is a beautiful creamy blue cheese from Carmarthen & made using Jersey Cows milk or Celtic Promise, a wash rind cheese which although pungent has a that taste is much more a subtle, smooth & buttery”.
Tom on the spot time – Favourite maker and why? “Harry & Sue Ryder of Wye Valley Cheese – not only is their cheese amazing, it is very local and they were the first people I visited when I started to meet the producers. Sitting with Harry and watching him make the cheese was a real privilege”.
Tom Lewis’ The Marches Delicatessen, Abergavenny.
Whilst we were chatting we met Jane, a lovely customer of Tomâs and a regular customer and Abergavenny resident. She popped in intrigued by the âcheese of the weekâ billboard outside offering Rachel (a Somerset goats cheese by Pete Humphries). Jane told us,  âI just love this shop. When I walk in it makes me feel happy. Tom has transformed this place into somewhere you just want to walk into â itâs fantastic that someone would do this for our town. I canât really say any more than that.â Except, Jane doesn’t like goats cheese, “Itâs too strong!” – a woman whose opinion has been tainted by the plethora of goatâs cheese starters!
Very well stocked deli – The Marches Delicatessen, Abergavenny.
Tom says âI get lots of customers who decline even a tasting of anything â goaty. A bit like Jane their palates have been spoilt by mass produced goatâs cheese. It does generally have a tang to it, but some of them are very subtle indeed, not at all what you would expect. It can depend on how you are serving it or what you plan to drink with it. I’m always on hand to advise customers and let them try a littleâ
Tom stocks lots of great and tantalising deli products, but we really wanted to concentrate on the cheese today. We first met Tom, by luck, back in early December 2014 and heâd been in business for a little over 2 months (Sept 2014). Even then, despite the spartan premises, he had founded something special and had us hooked. For us it was cheese and what he was trying to do with Marches Deli. Well, it took us a few months to return – and in the meantime he seems to have worked wonders on all manner of tasty and different stock in the shop and the cheese counter was bursting with goodness!!
Blue Monk – The Marches Delicatessen, Abergavenny.
Everything looked fab, but we singled out a couple for tasting. The health and safety wallers will have you keep your cheese in the fridge , take it out, not put it down anywhere, but eat it straight from the wrapper whilst wearing gloves. But, we aren’t feeding anyone, we aren’t serving it and we absolve anyone in the council from blame – so, if itâs all the same to you, we adopted the French method of cheese management and put it on the passenger seat for the sunny drive home before leaving it out on the kitchen worktop for a few hours. We lived long enough to write this thankfully.
Wye Valley Mellow
Wye Valley Mellow, The Marches Delicatessen, Abergavenny.
The back story to this farmhouse maker is frankly incredible. The cheese lived up to the back story admirably. It has a nice thick crust that conceals a very creamy coloured, crumbly, but smooth tasting cheese which was just a delight. It has a milky cheesiness with a very pleasant slight hint of chewiness. We got the faint smell of exceedingly fresh shellfish, not fishy, just, well fresh! Itâs very creamy to taste with a lovely tangy mature after-taste on the back of the palate. Weâll take some!
Crottin Affine â France
Cute rounded individual cheeses, with a nutty soft white crust from the cave-aging process. Beneath that is a yellow waxy layer and inside a white creamy cheese with a wonderful smell of a classic French camembert. This would be perfect with a soft fruity chutney and a glass of ice wine. Is this a good time to tell you that… Â itâs actually a Goats cheese â this is the one Jane!
Nigel Slater: Eating Together – (C) Tigress Productions Ltd BBC Pictures – Photographer: Tom Blount
Donât know if you have been watching Nigel Slater (cook, author, The Observer food columnist) in his new series for the BBC â Eating Together? Nigel, who describes himself as “a cook who writes” is someone who we have followed for some time, he travels the world, in culinary terms, cooking, tasting and meeting those who have bought such a wealth of flavours and cultures to the British palate. If you havenât yet seen it you can catch a BBC One promo clip and taster for the series at www.bbc.co.uk/bbcone – we have and for a very special DeanWye reason!
Donât jump up to put the kettle on immediately the next episode ends, but wait for the credits. Right there, if youâre quick, youâll see the name Yvette Farrell! Thatâs right, the Yvette Farrell, our own local food hero, foraging Queen, Principal of Harts Barn Cookery School and this yearâs Forester Business Person of the Year as well as being champion of all things local and wonderful (see previous feature).
Yvette Farrell – brains behind Harts Barn Cookery School
The opportunity came about through a mutual acquaintance who happened to know that Nigel was one of Yvetteâs all-time food heroes. Pretty soon she was signed up, amidst total secrecy, for a gruelling week long schedule of 10/12 hour days cooking for Nigel and the crew during filming. Yvette got to work behind the scenes of the new series, which started this week on BBC1 and will continue every Monday night at 7.30pm. She appearing in the credits of the show and her main role was to prepare food and catering for Nigel and the crew during the long days of filming.
âIt was a great honour to work with my food hero, Nigel and he was every bit as likeable and caring as I had imagined he would be. His approach to food and cooking is very much in line with my own beliefs and ethos â one that I try to bring in to the Cookery School every day. My highlight was Nigel saying I made the best Flatbreads he has ever tasted â which is a great boost as I have plans to develop the Forest Flatbread for production and put the Forest of Dean on the map in the same way the Cornish Pasty has  done for Cornwall!â Yvette commented.
âI run a âHire A Chefâ catering service as part of the Cookery School, so I was well prepared for the hard work and the rewards really were fantastic,â she continued.
The new series sees Nigel Slater meet devoted home cooks across multi-cultural Britain to discover how food in this country has never been so exciting. From noodles, to dumplings and custard there are some dishes we all love to cook wherever we originate from in the world. In this series Nigel gathers inspiration from the distant cousins of some of his favourite recipes, finding out culinary secrets from across the world and discovering what makes different cultures within Britain tick.
Bristol-based cook Jo-Anne Lovemore of Green Tomato Kitchen creates abundant and delicious vegetarian buffet spreads for events and celebrations throughout the South-West and South Wales including the Wye Valley.
Curiosity about food and being interested in cooking has been with me for as long as I can remember. My mother enlisted my âhelpâ in the kitchen as soon as I could stand on tiptoes on a chair and wield a wooden spoon, and as children, my brother and I were allocated a corner of our garden veg patch each year to grow whatever flowers and edibles took our fancy. If I recall correctly, my pet rabbit was the primary beneficiary of the modest yield from my carrot crop, uprooted too early, thanks to my impatience.
During my teenage years, I (mis)spent many an hour glued to TV cookery shows, which at the time were enjoying a meteoric rise in popularity. I am sure this began as a diversionary tactic from schoolwork, but soon evolved into a genuine curiosity and a desire to experiment with newly discovered ingredients and culinary techniques. I would furiously scribble down recipes while Ainsley Harriott and co rattled through them at breakneck speed on the TV screen (this was before the days of the internet!)
Aside from a string of summer and weekend jobs working in kitchens while I was a student, my career path to date has taken me far away from the culinary world, although I continued to enjoy cooking for friends and experimenting with recipes. But it was only in my 30s when I began to question how I might get more fulfillment from my work and lifestyle that I decided to follow my heart into the kitchen. Since turning vegetarian at the age of 20 my interest and awareness has grown around what and how we choose to eat impacts our health.
Food is an integral part of any event â a tangible expression of care from host to guest. So with my recently launched catering business, Green Tomato Kitchen, my aim is to create delicious, original, varied and healthy menus that guests will remember for the right reasons. When designing menus, I work closely with my clients to really understand their needs and preferences. All of the food that I prepare is vegetarian, and I love to introduce people to the abundant variety of flavours and textures found within good vegetarian cooking.
Combining the freshest ingredients to create colourful salads, mouthwatering dips, hearty bakes, savoury pastries and quiches, and gluten-free goodies is my thing. I have a soft spot for baking cakes and desserts, and no buffet spread would be complete without a tempting sweet selection to round off the meal!
Dill, feta and black olive pogaÄa – small savoury Turkish pastries
Working from my home kitchen in the heart of Bristol, I’ll happily cater for clients with special dietary needs, or produce menus that are fully vegan, or lower in fat or sugar, for example. The central location in the south-west makes me ideally situated for one of the main strands of my business, supplying office lunches and celebratory feasts to business and private clients in the city. However, I’m not tied to the urban environment, being equally happy to offer the same high service to businesses or house parties and celebrations in  the Wye Valley.
At the moment I’m looking for a good, preferably organic, dairy supplier in the region and would be very happy to hear from any Wye Valley-based dairy farms producing delicious cheeses, butter, yoghurt and other dairy delights. Please do get in touch with any suggestions. To find out more about what Green Tomato Kitchen could offer you, visit www.greentomatokitchen.co.uk. I look forward to cooking for you!
Ed says……
We first met Jo-Anne at a business event in Bristol and we were immediately impressed with her passion for what she does. We asked her to tell us her story, particularly since she is always on the lookout for the very best vegetarian produce suppliers. So come on, if you think you can supply Green Tomato Kitchen, lets get a little bit of the Forest of Dean & Wye Valley into those sumptuous GTK buffets!! All pix M Lovemore.
