Guest Blog: A Shrewsbury Film Society Special Event – Wine Tasting and Screening of Sideways

Shropshire Food Confidential (aka “SFC”) has very kindly let me add a guest post about this forthcoming event at the Hive on Belmont. Basically, it is an idea that they saw at the Electric Cinema in Birmingham, that was too impractical for us to go to (we would not have got back to Shrewsbury by train until 1am on a weekday), of screening one of my favourite films of the 21st century, Sideways, and certainly one of the all time great films about food and drink, and combining it with one of Howard Hutchin’s informal wine tastings. SFC and I are lucky enough to be in a wine club with Howard, and we love his choice of wines and also his ability to point out why a wine is considered to be great without pontificating in the way so many of those wine aficionados (bores) invariably do.

I could go on and on about how great the film is but our wine club has posted about the event here. SFC and I can’t wait.

Pig’s Head and Paleo Leap

Went to see the Mike Leigh film, Mr Turner at the Old Market Hall last night, and there was a scene where a whole pig’s head was cooked.

My childhood in the 70’s and early 80’s was spent in the Black Country and as a treat my mother used to cook for my father; a whole pig’s head. My overwhelming memory of food was coming home on a Friday evening to an awful stench in the kitchen. If the smell wasn’t bad enough, then the sight of my father sat at the kitchen table, with the pig looking at him, calmly carving into its face has put me off this dish for life. When he took out the brains to eat them also didn’t help. I’ve also noticed I never see it on a restaurant menu; cannot think why.

I’ve asked my mother how she cooked this and she said it was basically put the head in a large sauce pan (I seem to remember the jam kettle being used for this – luckily my mother never made jam) and boiling it for 5 hours with nothing added to it. Cannot get simpler than that. The only thing which my dad added was a squirt of vinegar at the table.

The only recipe I can find is as follows: http://paleoleap.com/cooking-with-the-whole-pigs-head/. What the hell is Paleo Leap? I’ve had a quick look at the website and cannot quite get my head around what this diet is about. Can anyone help?

Note: this blog is not going to be about me scouring the internet for articles but what I come across in my daily life. However I am happy for others to do this and comment with what they find.

Lunch at The River & Rail, Hampton Loade

My mother and I were running late to have lunch on a Thursday in November so decided to go to a pub, near to her house that I’d never been to before. When we pulled into the car park it wasn’t encouraging as we were greeted by a dated, ugly 1990’s building close to the river bank (wasn’t helped by the fact it was overcast, damp and cold).
Passing through the front entrance the situation got worse when we were confronted by an equally tired and drab interior from the same era. It was a symphony of different shades of ‘poo’ brown (1990’s Black Country chic). Added to this we were the only customers. We nearly turned around but it was getting too late to find somewhere else still open. The saving grace for the interior was a great big roaring log burner, kicking out loads of heat and that the lighting was low enough to disguise the worst of the decor.
Friendly enough waitress handed us the menus and things started to look up. On the surface it looked like your bog standard pub menu but they were describing dishes as homemade and not too many options, which is normally a good sign. From experience I find the more on offer means the less likely it will be any good. There is no way any small to medium sized eating place can keep freshly made ingredients for lots of different dishes. Normally a large menu leads to ‘ping, ping’ food which has been hastily reheated.
I chose their home-made burger and chip’s at £8.95 and my mum had Fish and Chip’s at £10.25.
Encouragingly the food didn’t come out super fast despite being the only customers (also the waitress got the timing right between giving us enough time to order and not hurrying us). Both of us were very impressed with the food. My burger was succulent with plenty of fresh garnish and the skinny chips were perfect. Equally my mother’s fish was cooked just right. The portions were the right size (too often I’ve had pub food where more is left and you end up leaving half of it). Nothing tasted as if it was straight out of a freezer.
This is not gourmet dining but simple food done very well. Definitively worth a visit if you can cope with the interior. Cheap as well.
www.theriverandrail.net

Great Berwick Organics – Long Horn Beef

Last Friday I visited Shrewsbury farmers market in the square. It was pouring down with rain but the stall holders bravely battled with the elements. As per usual my favourite beef was on sale by Great Berwick Organics. This is a local farm about a couple of miles outside Shrewsbury on the Baschurch road. They only produce rare breed, Long Horn cattle which is feed on grass rather than grain.
I will not go on a long ramble about the beef as it is perfectly explained on their website http://www.longhornbeef.co.uk. I’ve tried everything from their mince, to the shin cut and the steaks and it has a wonderful, strong, almost gamey flavour. It’s very different from your supermarket meat and it isn’t obscenely expensive.

You can buy it from the farmer’s market or online but the best way is to drive out to the farm on a Friday afternoon and visit their small butchers at the farm. Even if you decide not to buy anything it is a pleasant journey.

Litter in Shrewsbury

Have just spent a relaxing afternoon hour walking in the winter sunshine along the old riverbed up to Hencott. Only 80 metres above sea level but the best view of Shrewsbury and the Shropshire Hills to be had. The only fly in the ointment was the amount of litter about, especially by the side of the Ellesmere Road. Started to notice that most of it appeared to be from KFC, McDonalds’, Tesco’s and similar establishments. Didn’t notice any rubbish what you would normally associate with places like Shrewsbury market, Pomona and other smaller, independent retailers.
What does this mean? Could it mean the people who shop at Shrewsbury market and so on are more environmentally conscious? Discuss.
(PS: I know what some of you are thinking, that I am a snob. However, I was born and bred in Dudley so whatever I say or do I could never be deemed a snob).

Majorcan foodshop and website – Fet a Soller

Just got back from working and topping up my tan in Majorca and have to tell you about a shop called ‘Fet a Soller’ (I know you must be thinking what has this got to do with Shropshire but if you have a Deli you might want to look at importing the produce they sell). They have one in Soller old town and one in Port de Soller and concentrate on selling only local Majorcan produce especially wine, salt, olive oil, herbs, cheese, salami and much more. Tried some of their produce and definitely in the quality produce bracket. Particularly liked the red wine ‘ANA12’ which was just under €15 (it was €2 more at the local supermarket and duty free at Palma airport).
Also tried the vanilla ice cream made by ‘Sa Fabrica de Gelats’ made in Soller. Not as creamy as the Dairy Dreams produced near Montgomery but certainly better than any mass produced stuff.

I also visited the local cooperative in Soller where they produce the olive oil which was sold in the shop.  I did a tasting of the oils and was amazed by the distinct differences between the olives.  This olive oil is definately for your salads and not making ‘spag bol’!
You can order the produce online from www.fetasoller.com and have it shipped over to the UK. If anyone does buy online can you please give me some feedback?

Urgent – Shrewsbury Chocolate Festival 14th to 16th November

It is essential you go to this. It’s at St Mary’s Church in the centre of town and is Shrewsbury’s first chocolate festival from Friday 14th to Sunday 16th November. Have just been and it was a little overwhelming with every imaginable type of quality chocolate available. There were over 12 stalls and most were giving tasters. Also there are talks, demos and children workshops in which is probably Shrewsbury’s finest church. To find out more check out http://www.shrewsburychocolatefestival.co.uk.

Remember chocolate is your friend and there is no problem it cannot solve.

“I’m pretty sure that eating chocolate keeps wrinkles away because I have never seen a 10 year old with a Hershey bar and crows feet.”
― Amy Neftzger

“This is what you British do not understand about the French. You think you must work, work, work, work and open on Sundays and make mothers and fathers with families slave in supermarkets at three o’clock in the morning and make people leave their homes and their churches and their children and go shopping on Sundays.’
‘Their shops are open on Sundays?’ said Benoît in surprise.
‘Yes! They make people work on Sundays! And through lunchtimes! But for what? For rubbish from China? For cheap clothes sewed by poor women in Malaysia? For why? So you can go more often to KFC and get full of fried chicken? You would rather have six bars of bad chocolate than one bar of good chocolate. Why? Why are six bad things better than one good thing? I don’t understand.”
― Jenny Colgan, The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris

Sloe Gin

It’s a cold and wet November Friday and have spent the afternoon with Rose making Sloe Gin. We used a load of Sloes I picked in September from the side of Hubert Way and have kept in the freezer ever since (plus a couple of litres of genuine Majorcan ‘London’ gin or at least that is what it said on the label). This means you can ignore the advice to pick them after the first frost in November and when most of them will have disappeared into the mouths of the local wildlife.
I had a couple of recipes ready but we used Rose’s tried and tested method which is filling a bottle with a third sloes, a third gin and a third Demerara sugar, and then shake rigorously. (Also need gently bash the bags of frozen sloes with a rolling pin first). Need to keep shaking the bottles at least once a week for a couple of months. After that I will decanter, strain and rebottle. The only flaw to this is that I think we would have been better starting it off in Kilmer jars to begin with because it’s going to be a real pain trying to get the mixture out of the narrow bottle tops. Dooah!
How do you make sloe gin?

Habberley Cider

Just spent a beautiful day with friends walking up to the Iron Age hill fort on Earls Hill near Pontesbury. Stunning views of the north Shropshire plains and it managed not to rain. On the way back to the car we dropped into the Mytton Arms in Habberley (SY5 0TP) and I tried the still cider which is made in the village. Given it is only sold here (according to one of the locals) and in small quantities I was expecting something on the harsh side but was pleasantly surprised. It was smooth, medium dry with a slight hint of acidity and very easy to drink. It is 8% alcohol but didn’t taste heavy so don’t get lulled into drinking too much. At £3 a pint it is also a bit of a bargain. You can also purchase a wine bottle of the cider to take out at £4.

The Mytton Arms is a bit of a rarity; a genuine rural village pub which hasn’t had the dreaded gastro pub/Farrow and Ball makeover. Also, given the accents, most people in there were actually from Shropshire which is unique in this day and age. No food just good real ale (Three Tuns 3X). Please keep this pub a secret

Clementines, Pomegranates and Pineberries

It’s a damp but mild October’s day in Shrewsbury and popped into Pomona on Castle Street on my way back from the library. What’s new? They got small punnets of pineberries (£1.75) which I’d never heard of before. They look like tiny, white strawberries which taste a little like pineapple. Has anyone had these before or comment on them?
Pomona has also started to sell the boxes of Clementine’s at £3.75 (approximately 30 to a box) which they do every winter. They are sweet, juicy and peel easily. I eat them like sweets and find they keep colds at bay. Probably got more vitamin C than the average fruit because they are in season. A lot of them aren’t fully ripe yet but I put the box on the window sill and from past experience find they usually ripen OK.
Also noticed they are selling really large Pomegranates for £2.
I bought a box of small vine tomatos for £2.35 and reckon there is about the equivalent of 4 vines of tomatos in there. This seems very cheap. As I do not buy this produce in the supermarkets how does this compare?

As I’m writing this blog I’ve noticed a Peacock Butterfly on the inside of my bedroom window.  Surely this is too late for them to still be out (late October)?