Eating Local in London and the UK

For some reason or other, the UK has a bit of a poor reputation for its food. People, or at least tourists, tend to thoroughly enjoy visiting the UK and its many pleasant locations and historical sites – however, it is also common to hear that people’s least favourite part of visiting is the food. The fact is, though, that this might be a bit of an unfair criticism. One reason that people assume the UK does not have good food is simply that there are not many foods that one can specifically associate with the region. People immediately recognize foods and specialties from Italy, Spain, France and many other countries around the world. However, the UK, somewhat like the United States, does not have a strong national identity with regard to cuisine. Somewhat surprisingly though, the “food culture” of the UK has come a long way in recent years, and people in the region now seem more focused on producing great food. Now – particularly in London – there are a number of impressive local eateries and food producing regions. In fact, a lot of people in and around London much prefer to consume only local ingredients (even when going out to a restaurant or buying a Marks and Spencer Christmas hamper, and will go to great lengths to stay healthy and support the local food economies. Eating locally, particularly in an area that has something of a rejuvenated interest in food and ingredient production, can offer a number of benefits, not the least of which is taste. The fact is, imported ingredients are by their nature often less fresh than local ingredients, simply because more time elapses from when they are produced to when they reach your plate. So, if you are a person who cares deeply about the quality of your meals and their ingredients, you may have a lot to gain by eating locally, particularly if you have never really tried it. Whatever the case, and whatever your specific preferences may be, you certainly could benefit from realizing that the food scene in the UK, and particularly in and around London, has come a long way. For a region that does not necessarily get a lot of respect from the outside world regarding its food producing, there are actually a number of  “hidden gems,” so to speak, in this country’s  food production industry. At the very least, if you are curious about the UK food scene, do yourself a favour and experience it for yourself, rather than ignoring it because of the world’s unfair assumptions about it.    Read More

Rundles Sophisto-Bistro

Rundles Restaurant You are going to want to go here. Maybe you have a first date coming up with a cool boy… maybe you are married to a cool boy (or girl) and your anniversary is coming up. Maybe your best girlfriend is getting married and she needs a heart to heart before the big day over a really nice meal (and a big glass of wine!). Maybe its your dad’s birthday and you want to stroll down the river Avon, look at some swans and then have a really nice meal. Whatever the reason, you are going to want to make that next date with your most favourite person at Rundles Sophisto-Bistro in Stratford. Table and Masks – Garden Room The first thing you are going to notice is the details. This place is so cool, it’s Danish meets Tribal, meets nineteen-sixty meets nineteen-eighty, meets now. I loved all the little trinkets, the modern masks on the wall, the ethereal mobiles hanging from the ceiling and the outdoor garden. It’s such an amazing place, even the wooden bread box squeals with character – make sure you take a look at it! Freshly Baked Baguette   Homemade Butter We sat down and our host for the evening – Andrew came over to spoil us. I let him know I was interested in where all of the food came from and he was happy to guide me through the menu and all of its hidden treasures. First off, he brought us over a freshly baked baguette that is made in-house along with the homemade butter which they turn on site, in the kitchen from locally produced cream. If you look closely in this photo you can see that there are little pieces of course salt set atop of this glorious little cylinder of butter. It tastes very French, but it is very Ontario. Local Organic Baby Arugula and Spinach Salad with Oyster Mushrooms Although I would have been quite happy to sit for the entire evening with just the butter and baguette, there was much more to come. The menu at Sophisto-Bistro is a fixed menu. You pay a set price and you can choose from about four different items in each category for an appetizer, a main and a dessert. The kitchen is run by Neil Baxter who is also head of the acclaimed Stratford Chef School. I caught a glimpse of him coming out of the kitchen at one moment, but I resisted my urged to run up to him and beg him for a cooking class. For my appetizer I chose the local organic baby arugula and spinach salad with oyster mushrooms. The salad is served with finely sliced red cabbage, and grilled oyster mushrooms and garnished with chopped egg and fried sourdough breadcrumbs. The greens, cabbage and the eggs are from Anthony John’s farm at Soiled Reputation out of Sebringville Ontario. The mushrooms were unlike any I have ever tasted, they were like slivers of tender, juicy and nutty flavoured steak! The sourdough bread crumbs are of course homemade. You can see in this photo the colour and the presentation are sublime. The taste combination here is so delicious, it was perfection in a salad. PAN-FRIED PORK TENDERLOIN PICCATA   HOT-SMOKED, KOLAPORE SPRINGS TROUT SALAD grilled chiles poblanos, carrot and red onion escabeche (Mexican pickle) For our mains, Sean chose the Pan Fried Pork Tenderloin Picatta that sat atop a mixture of local vegetables including brussel sprouts, celeriac and devilled sauce – christened with capers, it was delicious (yes, he did let me taste test!). The pork is the elusive Berkshire variety – Rundles is bringing in locally from Perth Pork Products. For my main I chose the smoked trout that they smoke in-house, back in the kitchen. The trout comes from Kolapore Springs Trout Farm which is located near Collingwood. I have heard of Kolapore Springs and I remember it was a very interesting place where they do things differently than most fish farms. Sustainability is key in their business and they feed the trout a special fresh water shrimp that actually enhances the flavour, the nutrional value as well as the pink colour of the trout. It was a sweet tasting trout with a delicate smokiness to it that is quite unlike any I have ever had. Farm raised trout is one of the most sustainable fish for us to choose in Canada and it is very safe to raise trout in a farmed environment (unlike salmon). To make the dish even more adventurous it is served with grilled chiles poblanos, carrot and red onion escabeche (mexican pickle). Sounds exotic, but Chef Neil Baxter is replicating and at the same time reinventing a traditional dish here with local ingredients. The colour in this dish is terrific – various hues of pink, green and orange shine back at you as you take in all the flavours and the wonderful smokey and sweet scent. Table Charm This is one of the many little charms that reside in Sophisto-Bistro. A charming little moveable statue to keep you amused while you await your next course and next surprise. CANADIAN, UNPASTEURIZED MILK CHEESES For my dessert, I chose the cheese plate. It is a wonderful selection of (mostly) local cheese. All but one of these lovelies is from Ontario and believe me, you will not mind the one traveller in the group. The Sophisto-Bistro cheese plate is a selection of four unpasteurized milk cheeses. The blue cheese was called Tiger Blue and is from British Columbia, so even though it travelled a little further , it is still a welcome fellow Canadian. It was so creamy and delicious that I could have been finished there – but no, there were three more to sample. The next cheese was called Solaire from MonForte (Stratford), the next was Orati (near Ottawa) and the last was another MonForte Cheese called Paradiso which was a sheep’s milk cheese. The cheese plate is accompanied with a side of homemade walnut raisin bread and an in-house flax seed cracker that is a treat in itself. It was almost like a cookie and was so good it had me ohhing and awing. All of this comes with one more sidekick, a homemade apple and raisin chutney with a killer cinnamon bang with every bite – delicious! Rundles Rosehall Run Wine Wine, wine and more wine. Rundles and Sophisto-Bistro has a huge selection of wine to accompany any meal that you choose. I let Andrew our host pick my wine for the evening. He chose the house wine which is made for Rundles at Rosehall Run Winery which is a boutique winery that resides in Prince Edward County, Ontario. They make the private label for Rundles and it was a delicious choice that carried me right through from appetizer to dessert. This meal was surely one for the memory books. Sean and I felt like a King and Queen as we dined in such a unique environment with such amazing service and food that is truly exceptional. We will not forget it, in fact I am already planning my next day trip to Stratford so that I can stop in and try some of the other items on this menu. Anyone want to join me? Rundles Spohisto-Bistro 9 Cobourg Street Stratford, ON N5A 3E4 (519) 271-6442 www.rundlesrestaurant.com Twitter @Rundles Blog: rundlesrestaurant.wordpress.com  Read More

Do you Forage?

Forage 1. To wander in search of food or provisions. 2. To make a raid, as for food: soldiers foraging near an abandoned farm. 3. To conduct a search; rummage. A question for all of you…. do you forage? Sean and I took mister Henri the 10-year (old man) greyhound into the woods last night and as we wandered through a small wood, we came upon a thin stream just off a country road and when we stopped to look for fish – to my surprise, I looked around and I realized I was standing ankle deep in ramps. They were everywhere! I tried to pull some out to shove in my pockets and take home for a late dinner, but they were pretty stuck in the earth. I will have to go back in the next few days with a spade to see if I can coax a few out of the ground. For the record, Sean called me crazy again, but he always eats what I whip up, so he is careful not to offend my food choices too much! ;,,) Oh, and people usually ask – so for the record, ”ramps” are wild leeks. There were also young raspberries shoots poking up all about, everything is coming up so early this year. So what I want to know is… do you forage? Do you have wild and secret places you visit throughout the season to pillage under cover? Would I meet you on the side of the road where a secret plot of fiddleheads grow? Tell me. Share, I am curious. You don”t have to give up your locations! Kelly  Read More

Strawberry Jam Session!

I grew up in London. To me, London does not feel too large or too small. It just feels like what I have always known, I guess it feels just the right size. Actually, I feel a bit privileged to be the owner of that feeling. You see, I have made many connections with other Londoners starting from a young age – through school life and then later on in life – through work. Unfortunately, sometimes living in London you may find yourself feeling unconnected. Perhaps this is because when it comes down to it, London is in fact quite a large city. When I meet people that have come from smaller towns and then have re-rooted themselves in London for a new start, it is common to hear a little frustration. I hear that the city is “too big” to make some of those real “small town” types of connections. It seems that people begin to miss that sense of community and unfortunately it sometimes gets even more lost as the city grows larger. That “small town feeling” is a hot commodity. For instance, as you drive North out Highway 4, you will witness large billboards and slogans that housing developments are using to entice people to live in certain areas – “Lucan, come get that small town feeling”. I am guessing that this is a clear indicator that we are all on some level missing that “small town” feeling if it is being preyed upon my thirsty marketers. I believe most of Londoners are especially unconnected with another part of our community that is sometimes taken for granted and sadly, even forgotten – the vast,fertile farmland that surrounds us as a city. That is one of the main reasons I choose to write this little blog – I want you all to know it and live it. No matter which direction you take out of London – North,South, East or West, you will be met by cow barns, fields of hay, various croplands, sweeping green pastures and really, really friendly people that are working hard on farms – big and small. So what has me nattering on about feelings and small towns you wonder? Well, last night I enjoyed the company of about 10 woman in a large country kitchen and I felt I was transported to that very “small town” sense of community. It was a get-together at Duenk Farms to harvest and preserve the bounty of the current crop – strawberries! We knew that we shared a common goal, that we all wanted to know how to preserve jam. Strangers I thought, with a common interest – jam making. Strangers I thought, until we all started talking and getting to know one another. You see, as the evening progressed we learned that we all knew someone from somewhere or perhaps had worked at the same place at sometime or another – we were connected. As I said, I grew up in London and it does not feel too big to me, it feels just right. That said, I feel that the past two years on this little local food adventure of mine has really connected me to new people. Funny as it turns out, they were people that were there all along in my life – they were even feeding me dinner at times and I just was not aware of it. This new feeling and these new people, I can only explain it as more enriching, more rewarding then anything before. I am a foodie for sure, so I will admit I am quite a bit more obsessed with food than most people, but you all should try this adventure, I promise you will like it! Start at the market, introduce yourself to a farmer and you will make one new friend and then another and another and your own “small town” adventure will have begun. Details about last night: Our canning expert was Joan Brady who runs “Smokey Hollow Farm Market” in Dashwood (near Grand Bend). Joan can be found selling strawberries, lettuce, raspberries, peas, onions, beans, frozen pork and much more out of the St. Mary”s Farmers Market on Saturdays. She also frequents the Grand Bend Market and the Exeter Farmers Market. Joan”s farm includes a small strawberry portion that next year will be officially Certified Organic. The berries that she brought to the jam night were the small, sweet variety. Delicious! Oh, and she even whipped us up some fresh strawberry juice on our arrival. Our host for the evening was Karen Eatwell and it all took place in her lovely farm kitchen at Duenk Farms. Karen even treated us all to a burger when we arrived that was directly farm to plate. Thanks Karen! Our berry was the Strawberry. For anyone that is interested, Karen may host more of these events in the future and I will be sure to let you know about them through the blog. The Duenk Farms has fresh eggs, chickens and all cuts of Angus Beef for sale anytime – just call to arrange an order: 519-232-4105 I will be posting about the Duenk Farm in detail at a later date, I just have to get my pictures in order!  Read More

Great resource for eating local

I have been in kind of a funk about the weather lately, so I have not been making it out to the farms too much. But where I have been, is to alot of garden centres as I attempt to get my garden ready…I was thinking about drafting up a post about planting your own garden, grow your own local, kind of deal – but it needs some more serious time alotted to get it just right – so I will at a later date. I will tell you this – I know for sure that you can find asparagus, lettuce, spinach, rhubarb, fiddleheads and even arugula right now, it”s out there – and its waiting to be eaten. If you have been procrastinating and have not been to a garden centre yet, you will be as surprised as I was to see that there are many more veggies available this year to grow in containers or in garden beds right at home – a heck of a lot more varieties than I remember seeing last year. I even heard that you can buy seedling heirloom tomatoe plants at the covent garden market on saturdays right now. What I do want to let you all know about is this great resource – every wednesday in the Londoner, there is a columnist – Christine Scheer that writes a column about eating with the seasons. Her section is always intelligent,with a delicious twist – apparently she was a chef for a number of years in london and she now grows and cooks local food and shares her adventures as well as her wonderful recipes in our local paper. I have been trying to add the links to her stories to this blog so that they are easier to find,but the latest one (on arugula!) can be read right here: http://www.thelondoner.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1056235&auth=Christine+Scheer happy eating xo  Read More