Foodies In The News

[Suffs]

Ouch!
https://www.theguardian.com/food/2024/d ... ant-review

[Earthmaiden]

There seem to be a lot of these lately. 'Big' names with mediocre food and ambience in areas where entertaining goes onto an account.

[miss mouse]

There seem to be a lot of these lately. 'Big' names with mediocre food and ambience in areas where entertaining goes onto an account.

Hmm. Do we think those heady days will come again? Maybe but not for a long time I suspect.

[KeenCook]

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2024/d ... be-helping

Every cloud .....

[Earthmaiden]

Indeed, KC.

[miss mouse]

It didn't need Brexit to develop though. I'd have thought that would be quite a drawback.

[Stokey Sue]

I’ve seen English charcuterie around at food fairs, Borough Market and in delis since before lockdown. I know, without looking them up, of two companies, one in Somerset and one in Suffolk, I think Marcus Wareing featured the Somerset one (it might be Wiltshire thinking about it) on his tv prog, and I think the Hairy Bikers found a few

[Suffs]

Indeed SSue … there are quite a few nowadays … these folk are quite well established now … they’re just down the road from my old home https://www.suffolksalami.co.uk/

Nowadays agricultural colleges are laying a lot of emphasis on marketing, which I think is beginning to pay dividends.

[Busybee]

Nowadays agricultural colleges are laying a lot of emphasis on marketing, which I think is beginning to pay dividends.

My OH went to agricultural collage in the 70’s, Harper Adams and then Bishop Burton. A few years back we went to one of the open days, to say he was surprised at the changes was an understatement! When he went you did sheep, pigs and cows plus a bit of arable, he was amazed at the breadth of the syllabus and all the diversification that was taught. He had a good old grumble with an old tutor he recognised, but was act7ally very impressed.

It’s good to see the seeds of change bear fruit.

BB

[Pepper Pig]

Andi Oliver.

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radi ... -appalling

[Earthmaiden]

Like the Andi Oliver piece.

It didn't need Brexit to develop though. I'd have thought that would be quite a drawback.

I'm not sure I agree. Even on this board and it's predecessors there has been a degree of food snobbery about items traditionally from various parts of Europe and there might be less desire to try the British offerings if it wasn't for Brexit red tape plus foodie 'influencers' in the comfortably off 'shires' (including those not strictly shires!). I think it's wonderful that so many good small industries of this kind are popping up.

[Stokey Sue]

I think there’s also a price thing, the UK products are quite expensive - as of course premium EU products but I think Brexit has removed a lot of the mid-priced stuff from our shelves, the sort of thing you’d bring back from a French hypermarket

[miss mouse]

That was interesting F-P.

[miss mouse]

I'm not sure I agree. Even on this board and it's predecessors there has been a degree of food snobbery about items traditionally from various parts of Europe and there might be less desire to try the British offerings if it wasn't for Brexit red tape plus foodie 'influencers' in the comfortably off 'shires' (including those not strictly shires!). I think it's wonderful that so many good small industries of this kind are popping up.

I haven't been and am not snobby about UK produce. Perhaps it is our own producers who do not have the requisite marketing skills or couldn't be bothered or there is no help for them. No idea. I do care a lot about US imports, have you any idea about hormone beef? Breezily labelled 'feed lot'. The salmonella eggs which have to be washed and then refrigerated? There is a whole range of terrible food waiting to be dumped on the UK.

I don't want to eat it.

[Badger's Mate]

Paying good prices for food in the UK is a niche. There is a lot of cheap charcuterie in supermarkets, and if one of them brings out something fourpence cheaper, people will buy it and the other shops price-match it. The market for aged hams or cheeses is tiny.

As food gets cheaper, products which cost more to make seem expensive. I imagine that’s why Gigha halibut went under. Why pay jamon iberico prices for ‘a bit of smoked fish’ when it’s way cheaper in Tesco? The vast majority of people would rather spend their money on other things. At Christmas, that’s far too much cheap food, much of which goes to landfill. Additionally, a lot of Chinese plastic.

[Earthmaiden]

I haven't been and am not snobby about UK produce.

That was my point. There was a lot of snobbery about having European things which we are now learning can be produced very well in the UK but didn't really need to be before. Of course we don't want to import mediocre food from new sources. Sadly, BM highlights why we probably will. Let's hope there is enough market for the good (and more expensive) things to continue to grow and flourish.

[Pepper Pig]

Rachel Roddy’s Ham baked in bread.

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2024/d ... chel-roddy

[Pepper Pig]

Felicity’s Chilli con Queso.

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2025/j ... ity-cloake

[Stokey Sue]

So a sort of Tex Mex fondue I might not bother to make - however I am very grateful for this clear explanation. At last

In the context of US cheese sharp means cheese aged for six to 12 months, which corresponds to British medium cheddar, while extra sharp is 12-24 months, which could be either mature or extra-mature over here.

[KeenCook]

I would be genuinely keen to try this, but I'm afraid that amount of cheese would be a no-no for OH; it is not good for him, sadly. Causes far too much catarrh for comfort