Husband and wife, Tim and Gillian Matthews make and sell a range of gourmet foods including Smoked British Beef Fillet, both hot and cold smoked Scottish Salmon, Smoked Salami, Hot Smoked Duck Breast, smoked cheeses such as Cropwell Bishop Stilton, Westcombe Cheddar and goats cheese. There’s also a selection of smoked ingredients to inspire the cook with Smoked Dried Mushrooms, Garlic and Italian Olive Oil.
The Smoking Process
All of The Artisan Smokehouse’s fish and meat products are dry cured for between 24 and 72 hours, using a mixture of sugar and salt. By keeping the curing mix simple a superior and purer taste is obtained.
Before smoking, the fish and beef are first dried for a period of 12 hours in order to assist the smoking process, enhance the flavour and aid preservation.
The majority of products are cold smoked. Cold smoking smokes but does not cook the product and is a very effective way of controlling the flavour of the food being smoked. It is during this process that the food changes both in colour and flavour.
The Artisan Smokehouse uses natural hardwood chippings that contain no additives. producing a cleaner smoke. The majority of food is smoked using maple wood, which gives a rich and distinctive flavour.
Tim is constantly experimenting with a variety of different foods and has even added the infusion of smoke to cinnamon. A visit to any of the shows or farmers’ markets they attend will usually reveal an unusual find or something that is not readily available through their website.
Visit The Artisan Smokehouse on The Artisan Food Trail here
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