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Friday 7 August 2009
Put on a Sussex Spread (Sussex Life - August 2009)
Last month, we finally took the plunge and moved out of Brighton to the lovely old Sussex villages of Bramber and Upper Beeding. For our family, it’s a step closer to the good life and whilst I’m enjoying planting our raised beds and choosing our new chickens, it’s the opportunity to support traditional high street shops, local markets and village events that’s got me really excited.
We dipped a toe in the water last weekend, heading off to the Bramber & Upper Beeding village fete and it didn’t disappoint our family of keen foodies. As well as tables full of homemade scones and cakes, stalls selling home-grown plants & herbs and a whole suckling pig roasting away merrily, it was a great chance to stock up on some locally-made jams and preserves.
In Sussex, we are particularly blessed with a talented selection of condiment makers, whose tasty preserves, sauces and chutneys provide the perfect accompaniment to a traditional British summer spread. More importantly the success that Sussex companies are enjoying means that their products are widely available across the county, from city delis to country farm shops.
For the traditionalists among you, look no further that the amazing array of products made by Ouse Valley Foods, near Uckfield. Set up x years ago by Violet Hancock and Julian Warrender, two great cooks with a passion for fresh local ingredients, many of the products they make are seasonal and foraged and, when particular wild ingredients are available, the whole team can often be found out in the fields near their kitchen, hunting and gathering. I was particularly lucky, earlier in the year, to get my hands on a pot of their famous wild garlic pesto and I’ll be first in the queue next season.
Relative newcomers to the field are Mark & Barbara, the talented couple behind the Arundel-based brand, Relish in Spice. This year’s worthy winners of the Sussex Food Awards’ Producer of the Year title, they make several of the staple items you’ll always find in my cupboard – their fresh and tangy tomato ketchup, a traditional Sussex Ploughman’s Pickle and my favourite condiment, a Dijon-style Champagne & Tarragon Mustard.
If you fancy trying your own hand at making your own wild bramble jam, the end of August marks the beginning of blackberry season. A hot start to the summer should mean a bumper crop so head for the hedgerows earlier than normal to secure the pick of the crop.
Products from Ouse Valley Foods and Relish in Spice are available at www.we-love-local.com or in delis and farm shops throughout Sussex.
We dipped a toe in the water last weekend, heading off to the Bramber & Upper Beeding village fete and it didn’t disappoint our family of keen foodies. As well as tables full of homemade scones and cakes, stalls selling home-grown plants & herbs and a whole suckling pig roasting away merrily, it was a great chance to stock up on some locally-made jams and preserves.
In Sussex, we are particularly blessed with a talented selection of condiment makers, whose tasty preserves, sauces and chutneys provide the perfect accompaniment to a traditional British summer spread. More importantly the success that Sussex companies are enjoying means that their products are widely available across the county, from city delis to country farm shops.
For the traditionalists among you, look no further that the amazing array of products made by Ouse Valley Foods, near Uckfield. Set up x years ago by Violet Hancock and Julian Warrender, two great cooks with a passion for fresh local ingredients, many of the products they make are seasonal and foraged and, when particular wild ingredients are available, the whole team can often be found out in the fields near their kitchen, hunting and gathering. I was particularly lucky, earlier in the year, to get my hands on a pot of their famous wild garlic pesto and I’ll be first in the queue next season.
Relative newcomers to the field are Mark & Barbara, the talented couple behind the Arundel-based brand, Relish in Spice. This year’s worthy winners of the Sussex Food Awards’ Producer of the Year title, they make several of the staple items you’ll always find in my cupboard – their fresh and tangy tomato ketchup, a traditional Sussex Ploughman’s Pickle and my favourite condiment, a Dijon-style Champagne & Tarragon Mustard.
If you fancy trying your own hand at making your own wild bramble jam, the end of August marks the beginning of blackberry season. A hot start to the summer should mean a bumper crop so head for the hedgerows earlier than normal to secure the pick of the crop.
Products from Ouse Valley Foods and Relish in Spice are available at www.we-love-local.com or in delis and farm shops throughout Sussex.
Eat Your Sussex Greens (Sussex Life - July 2009)
Sussex has long been a centre for salad growing in the UK. Clustered around the coastal plains of Chichester, salad farms in that area produce nearly one third of the country’s salad crops. As with grapes grown for wine in the county, the sandy soil and mild micro-climate in that part of West Sussex suits the production of delicate leafy crops and vine-ripened tomatoes.
Many of the larger growers were established before the Second World War, and were among the first producers in Europe to pioneer growing under glass. Whilst growers then used to concentrate on traditional varieties of lettuce, like iceberg and gem, these days you are just as likely to find exotic leaves like rocket and mizuna or micro herbs and cresses grown on hydroponic mats.
In truth, much of the produce from large-scale growers ends up being distributed across the UK, but there are many small salad nurseries in the county whose amazingly fresh leaves and vine fruit end up in box schemes and at farmers’ markets handy to all of us.
One of the most exciting growers in Sussex, Fletching Glasshouses, is a relative newcomer, setting up in 2006 on Fletching Common near Newick. Isobel, Alan & Emily Rae initially bought the property to house their rapidly expanding online business which sells plants over the internet. Finding themselves with over 2 acres of working but dilapidated greenhouses, the family set about reclaiming the productive growing space slowly, and now have 3 out of 4 houses back in production and are working on rehabilitating the 4th and final house.
The variety of leaves and exotic vegetables they produce is truly staggering, from baby courgettes and bushy-topped fennel to okra and tomatillos. However, they are rightly renowned for their salad leaves which they grow throughout the year. During the summer months, I always have a bag of their loose salad to hand and guests never fail to comment on the weird, wonderful and intensely flavoured leaves and shoots they find on their plates.
You can get hold of their produce from We Love Local but the Fletching team also appear at many farmers’ markets around the county. Find out more at www.fletchingglasshouses.co.uk.
Many of the larger growers were established before the Second World War, and were among the first producers in Europe to pioneer growing under glass. Whilst growers then used to concentrate on traditional varieties of lettuce, like iceberg and gem, these days you are just as likely to find exotic leaves like rocket and mizuna or micro herbs and cresses grown on hydroponic mats.
In truth, much of the produce from large-scale growers ends up being distributed across the UK, but there are many small salad nurseries in the county whose amazingly fresh leaves and vine fruit end up in box schemes and at farmers’ markets handy to all of us.
One of the most exciting growers in Sussex, Fletching Glasshouses, is a relative newcomer, setting up in 2006 on Fletching Common near Newick. Isobel, Alan & Emily Rae initially bought the property to house their rapidly expanding online business which sells plants over the internet. Finding themselves with over 2 acres of working but dilapidated greenhouses, the family set about reclaiming the productive growing space slowly, and now have 3 out of 4 houses back in production and are working on rehabilitating the 4th and final house.
The variety of leaves and exotic vegetables they produce is truly staggering, from baby courgettes and bushy-topped fennel to okra and tomatillos. However, they are rightly renowned for their salad leaves which they grow throughout the year. During the summer months, I always have a bag of their loose salad to hand and guests never fail to comment on the weird, wonderful and intensely flavoured leaves and shoots they find on their plates.
You can get hold of their produce from We Love Local but the Fletching team also appear at many farmers’ markets around the county. Find out more at www.fletchingglasshouses.co.uk.
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