Posted by Dunc on May 13, 2009 in
Food Shopping,
Places 
As part of Carry On Britain’s mini tour of the Yorkshire Dales, we descended on the little town of Masham. Home to two of Yorkshire’s finest breweries; Black Sheep and Theakston’s, it seemed rude not to at least have a little taste!
After our cheese eating session at Wensleydale Creamery, we needed something to quench our thirst so we pointed the Sat Nav at Masham, full steam ahead!.
First up was the Black Sheep Brewery. Unfortunately we’d just missed the guided toor and with nearly an hour till the next one, we decided to grab a pint of the black stuff and mull over our next move.
A little about Black Sheep Brewery…
Started back in October 1992 by maverick brewer Paul Theakston, Black Sheep was the result of Scottish and Newcastle gaining control of the Theakston’s family brewery T & R Theakston Ltd in 1987. Not wanting to be part of the changes afoot in the old family business, but not wanting to leave Masham either, Paul decided that the small brewery life was for him and set about building the Black Sheep Brewery that we know and love today.
Built on the site of the old Lightfoot brewery, Black Sheep’s premises house the brewing plant along with a vistor centre including a bistro and shop. The centre is a large open space which, while very nice, did have a slight feel of the corporate chain-pub to it (but maybe that’s just me – I love small, cosy, country pubs). The food did look and smell amazing though. I can’t comment on the tour as we didn’t take part, but I’ve heard good reports (from me mum, amongst others) so it’s probably worth a visit. If you have been, leave a comment below and let us know what you thought!
The beer…
Black Sheep brew 3 Cask Ales:
Best Bitter
Far and away their best selling cask beer, a well hopped, light golden best bitter with a distinctive, dry, refreshing taste, to be enjoyed in true Black Sheep style through a rich creamy head.
Brewed using traditional methods and finest ingredients.
Black Sheep Ale
Full flavoured premium bitter, with a rich fruity aroma. It is brewed with many generous handfuls of choice Golding hops giving a bittersweet malty taste, followed by Black Sheep’ characteristic long, dry and bitter finish.
Riggwelter
The pick of the Black Sheep flock – a strong deep chestnut brown beer with a rich near-white head and the aroma of freshly roasted coffee.
A wonderfully complex palate with hints of coffee, bananas and liquorice leading to a classic Golding hop finish.
The verdict…
Best Bitter is definitely my favourite of the 3. It’s a light golden session beer with a deliciously dry refreshing taste. Black Sheep Ale has a slightly more fuller flavour and bitter finish, whereas Riggwelter (when a sheep is on its back and can’t get up without help, it is said to be ‘riggwelted’) has a very distinctive taste and smell of roasted coffee which was a little strong for my pallete – nice for something different, but not a session beer. A few pints and it would indeed put you on your back!
All in all – good stuff! I would like to go back sometime and do the full brewery tour.
Next stop – Theakton’s Brewery…
This weekend saw the Carry on Britain team travelling to the Yorkshire Dales in search of cheese and good bitter (I know, so easily pleased). Over the next few days each one of the team will give a round up of what we did and where we went but I will kick off with a basic round up and to talk about the best and the most important (in my opinion) WENSLEYDALE CHEESE.
Ok, so this weekend the team and I packed up the car full of camping equipment and essentials such as toilet roll and beer and headed to the Yorkshire Dales. After a brief break on the side of the M61 to mourn the loss of the camping chair that fell out the roof box, we arrived in good time. We pitched up the tent (more about the campsite later) then headed out for a walk to a pub in Muker for lunch and refreshments. We spent the afternoon drinking beer, eating ploughman’s lunches and soaking up the sunshine. That evening we spent the evening making a fire (a real necessity when camping in early May) and having a bbq. It was only later when we retired to the pub to get warm that we realized soaking up the sunshine resulted in the reddest nose I have ever seen, my nose has only just returned to normal 3 days later!
On Sunday, after a rubbish nights sleep we decided to go home via Wensleydale and the Black Sheep brewery.
So now the best bit……
WENSLEYDALE CHEESE. Oh my god!!!! HEAVEN!
We did the tour (which was a fantastic bargain at £2.50 per person) and saw where the cheese is made and watched a video on the whole process. All very interesting, but I was itching to get to the best bit. The shop, the shop where you can taste all the Wensleydale cheeses.
So what was on offer? Wensleydale, Mature Wensleydale, Extra Mature Wensleydale, Yorkshire Blue, Smoked Blue, Wensleydale with cranberries, blueberries, mango and papaya, Wensleydale with chives, Wensleydale with Onion and also Wensleydale with ginger. Not forgetting Goats milk Wensleydale and also Cheddar with wholegrain mustard 
It was brilliant. We bought loads. My favourites were the Yorkshire Blue and the Wensleydale with onions, but my ultimate favourite is Wensleydale with mango and papaya. We also brought a ginger Wensleydale cheesecake, which did rock my world – No cheesecake will ever live up to that! All in all…very exciting. After that we decided to go to the Black Sheep Brewery and then to Theakston’s Brewery where I had a bitter revelation and things went slowly downhill (in a good way) from there.
It’s all very well buying English veg, meat, bread etc. You have to look that bit harder, shop in more places, sometimes spend a bit more however ultimately the great tastes and sense of smugness from eating something that is fresh, local, supports the economy and tastes great is well worth it.
However for us to still sip that Sauvignon Blanc from the Malborough region of New Zealand, or Tuscan Chianti is a bit of a cop out for the Brit Bloggers. And, lets be honest, the booze is a large chunk of our pocket money….
Thus the English Wine and Cheese Evening was announced! ‘What a superb idea’ we all bullishly cheered in a famous five fashion (but secretly worried that this was going to be an evening in drinking nasty vinegary concoctions). Oh well, the stinking bishop will mask the taste.
The big day arrived and I hadn’t bought any wine, safe in the knowledge that surely all the big supermarkets are selling Blighty Vino nowadays. But this is not so…a trip around M&S was fruitless as was Tesco. Even the trusty Co-op was focusing its efforts on the Chilean Red (so much for shop local).
So it had to be Waitrose. Brilliant that I had an excuse to legitimately shop there as my tight-fisted Yorkshire boyfriend forbids it normally.
Waitrose is where I found Chapel Down English wines.
The retailer only stocked 2 English wines and both were from Chapel Down which is a winery in Kent – the Garden Of England.
Check out their website www.englishwinesgroup.co.uk for more info on their products and their ethics.
So I bought a bottle of Chapel Down Brut and a Pinot Noir (er not very English sounding). At £16.99 the Brut is mid priced and tastes as good as any similar priced champagne. In fact it’s more than good – its really nice! The white was perhaps not light enough for my palate however (I’m not a big white wine drinker) and certainly no connoisseur.
It’s a shame that the UK cannot produce a red (for the time being my Rioja is safe) however Chapel Down offer a wide range, spanning white, rose and fizz, including a Taste of England Case of 12 bottles inc Brut for £101.00.
It was a definite eye opener and I’d buy the Brut again and would like to try to rose. We all agreed twas a huge success!
Oh, I forgot to mention that at the checkout I was asked for ID which, at the age of 31, was immensely flattering and a gargantuan ego boost. What’s more, in addition to the UK wines, its just another reason to keep visiting Waitrose…
Posted by Lou on Mar 3, 2009 in
Food Shopping It’s official!!!
I have a new favorite supermarket.
Sorry Waitrose but if you were only cheaper we would be a match made in heaven. Anyway Morrison’s is fab!!! A new store has opened near where I work and its all shiny and new, and bizarrely not that busy.
Not only is a lot of the produce grown in Britain but they have a small section which is local to your area. The meat is all 100% British and on both the website and in store it says what sort of the life the chickens have had prior to the chop. I’d prefer for all the chickens to be free range happy chickens but I’ll leave that fight to Hugh.
So I finally managed to get some Yorkshire rhubarb…wahoo!!!
ROLL ON THE CRUMBLE.
Posted by Dunc on Feb 8, 2009 in
Food Shopping 
The latest veg box from Abel and Cole arrived today with some interesting info about the potatoes they have sourced. Hopefully they won’t mind me copying their newsletter word for word on the blog (a good bit of advertising for them at least!)
From the Farm…
The King of Potatoes
Andrew Dennis is a decendent of ‘The Potato King’. For the coronation of King Edward VIII in 1901, Andrew’s grandfather was asked to supply potatoes for a dinner the King had organised for the poor of London. The potatoes were such a hit that they started calling him ‘The Potato King’. If you venture to the town of Kirkton, near his family’s Woodlands Farm, you’ll see a statue of William Dennis standing proudly outside the town hall.
Taste a morsel of Andrew’s current crop of Pink Fir Apple potatoes and you can see that he’s proudly carrying on the family tradition of farming to a royal standard.
“Pink Fir Apple” potatoes are a very special breed”, Andrew notes, “In Victorian times they were considered an aphrodisiac”.
This heritage variety is unique in any ways. For one, it has an exceptionally delicious nutty taste, “They also have a really funny, knobbly shape”, says Andrew. “Because of this, they must be picked by hand.”
Just as you’d picture traditional apple pickers walking through orchards with wicker baskets in which ti carry their fruit, Andrew and his team tumble the gathered Pink Firs into little baskets, before being transferred into wooden crates.
Woodlands Farm is in a stunning location in the fertile Lincolnshire fens. You can see six church steeples poking out while standing on the farm. The gorgeous spot has drawn many artists and poets to stay on the farm to paint and write. We hope you find the Pink Firs equally inspiring!
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Well I don’t know about inspiring, but they certainly are pretty delicious! I know the cynics amongst you will argue that the story above is just an excellent example of ‘rose-tinted’ marketing spin to sell spuds at a premium, but I personally like the fact that I know a little more about where my food is coming from and feel happy that I’m putting something back into Britain at least.
Potatoes as an aphrodisiac? Hmmm…I let you know about that one!
