Hibiscus Lily jellies for juicy lamb

Photo: © childsdesign

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Even the best grilled meat needs a good accompaniment either to enhance, counterbalance or complement it. Sweet, spicy and tangy flavours are always a welcome addition, particularly the jellies from Hibiscus Lily.

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We are pleased to award Hibiscus Lily our 'Artisan Food Trail Approved' status for 

their Pomegranate Jelly with Rose Petals and 

Hot Chilli Jam.

To find out more about Hibiscus Lily visit their page on 
The Artisan Food Trail here.

Hibiscus Lily's superb spicy, sticky, tangy chutney

Photo: © Hibiscus Lily

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A good dollop of chutney is always an essential companion to cheeses and meats, hot or cold. A piquant tang of sweet and sour will enliven many foods as well as rev up the taste buds.

Read full review

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We are pleased to award Hibiscus Lily our 'Artisan Food Trail Approved' status for their Hot and Spicy Date & Tamarind Chutney.

To find out more about Hibiscus Lily visit their page on The Artisan Food Trail here where you’ll find a link to their website for further information.

Womersley Foods exhibiting at Speciality & Fine Food Fair 2015

The Speciality & Fine Food Fair is coming to London, Olympia on 6th – 8th September 2015 and there will be a number of Artisan Food Trail members exhibiting at the trade show.

Womersley Foods will be on stand V58 showcasing their 'Drop dead gorgeous' fruit and herb vinegars.

Whilst the making of fruit vinegars is a fine old British tradition, Womersley we are proud to say that they have perfected recipes which will delight and surprise you. The recent popularity of drinking vinegars has further increased the profile of Womersley fruit vinegars.
Their multi-award winning vinegars all contain generous quantities of the rich fruits which give them a luxurious finish.
Visit their stand to try the new fruitier recipes to discover how delicious they are and why they are a must for all fine food outlets.

More information about Womersley Foods here
Find them on Stand V58 at the Speciality & Fine Food Fair

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The Artisan Food Trail is proud to be a media partner with 

the Speciality & Fine Food Fair in 2015

Register to receive your FREE tickets to attend

20 Ways with Pesto (other than pasta)

Everyone knows pesto is perfect with pasta but did you know that you can do so much more with it?
Here are just 20 ideas to liven up your meals and the list could go on…

1. Mix into minced meat to make meatballs or burgers
2. Use as a pizza sauce instead of tomato
3. Mix with mayonnaise and spread on to sandwiches
4. Pesto butter – mix with softened butter
5. Stir into mashed potatoes
6. Add to seafood such as mussels
7. Great with steamed green/runner beans
8. Perfect with peas and pancetta
9. Add to potato salad
10. Tasty topping for grilled chicken
11. Add to scrambled eggs
12. Make a dip – add pesto to mayonnaise and crème fraîche with some capers, lemon zest and juice and mix well
13. Stir into soups, tomato is particularly good
14. Add some to a frittata or omelette
15. Add to hummous
16. Rub over chicken before roasting
17. Bake into bread
18. Mix into salad dressing
19. Toss hot vegetables in it
20. Spread on bruschetta

Yare Valley Oils dressings are not just for salads

Photo: © Yare Valley Oils

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Yare Valley Oils  have combined their delicious Norfolk extra virgin cold pressed rapeseed oil with a variety of different, herbs, spices and seasonings to produce a range of dressings.
Currently there are three to choose from, all quite different, to complement a wide range of foods; Norfolk Honey & Mustard, Chilli and Norfolk Vinaigrette.
Yare Valley Oils' wonderfully golden rapeseed oil has a nutty taste with a particularly floral character which makes a pleasing base flavour.

Read full review

We are pleased to award Yare Valley Oils our 'Artisan Food Trail Approved' status for their Norfolk Honey & Mustard Dressing, Chilli Dressing and Norfolk Vinaigrette.

To find out more about Yare Valley Oils visit their page on The Artisan Food Trail here.

Spring Sale in the foodbyalancoxon.com shop

Photo: © childsdesign

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Chef Alan Coxon is currently running a special spring promotion on selected products available to buy online from foodbyalancoxon.com.

There are considerable savings to be had on Roman Vinaigre, Ancient Greek Vinaigre and the complete range of fruit vinegars.
Roman Vinaigre was £13.95 is now £6.50; Ancient Greek Vinaigre was £14.95 now £7.50 and the fruit vinegars were all £9.95 now £6.95 each.

If you've never tried any of these vinegars before, now would be a good time to place an order. We can thoroughly recommend them too.

Approved: Womersley’s Orange & Mace Vinegar

Photo: © childsdesign

Sometimes we wonder what we did before we had the pleasure of using flavoured vinegars in our cooking. Working with several producers on The Artisan Food Trail has introduced us to some interesting fruit infused vinegars all of which are individual in their own right.

Read full review

We are pleased to award Womersley Fruit & Herb Vinegars our 'Artisan Food Trail Approved' status for their Orange & Mace Vinegar.

To find out more about Womersley Fruit & Herb Vinegars visit their page on The Artisan Food Trail here.

New seasonal fruit vinegars added to Alan Coxon's range

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We're excited to tell you about a new addition to Alan Coxon's vinegar range. Those of you who've visited his stand at any recent events may have already seen them.

Alan Coxon has used his multi-award winning historic Roman and Ancient Greek Vinaigres as the base in which to add and blend soft fruit flavours such as Raspberry, Strawberry, Passion Fruit and Blackcurrant.

These four fruity vinegars create a stunning new collection offering fresh vibrant and zingy taste sensations adding more fun and culinary adventures to the kitchen and plate. Whilst these are new to Alan’s food line and range, the fruits and vinegars themselves have been made for centuries.

The fruit vinegars are a special edition reflecting the changing seasons.
We hope you like the labels too as Alan asked us rustle up a quick 'fun, fresh and fruity' idea to add to the bottles.

To find out more about these vinegars and to purchase online visit foodbyalancoxon.com

Well dressed for dinner with Mr Filbert's

Photo: © childsdesign

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Whilst writing our review we are experiencing quite an intense heatwave, which as a result, salad has become a regular mealtime choice. So just as well we have a couple of Mr Filbert's drizzles to hand.

Mr Filbert's sent some for us try and we can say that they have been thoroughly tested since unpacking the parcel.
The dressings, or drizzles as Mr Filbert's calls them, are made in true artisan style and crafted using their own extra virgin rapeseed oil and locally produced vinegars as the base. You can really taste the subtle nuttiness of the rapseed oil, which is the perfect foil for the other flavours.
The consistency is just right meaning that the dressing clings well to foods but isn't in any way gloopy. As with most oil and vinegar dressings they do separate and a good shake of the bottle will amalgamate them again.

We tried two varieties which are quite different in character:

Dorset Honey & Mustard with Zingy Gooseberry
This one is refreshing in flavour with a nice tang and a little kick from mustard and black pepper. A delicate sweetness and perfume from some local honey gives it balance.
We liked the fruity twist from English gooseberries – they really give the dressing a little lift.
We reckon it would be smashing with mackerel.

Tangy Apple & Balsamic Vinaigrette
By contrast, this drizzle is decidedly richer in flavour than the first. Dark in colour and savoury in character it is certainly more robust. At first we couldn't quite pin down what gives it such a savoury taste and on closer inspection of the ingredients, noticed that it contains soy sauce. Not something we were expecting but the end result is desirable nonetheless.
Sweet complex balsamic vinegar combined with fresh apple makes it particularly delicious. There's a hint of garlic too. It was wonderful on an Italian style salad with Parmesan.

Don't just reserve these drizzles for the salad though, they are so good and can be enjoyed in their own right as a simple dip for bread.
You can even use them as a quick fix marinade. We used the Tangy Apple & Balsamic Vinaigrette in this way and added it to chunks of raw chicken, red onion and peppers, left to marinate in the fridge for a few hours and then chargrilled. Of course this would be ideal for the barbecue at the moment.

We are pleased to award Mr Filbert's our 'Artisan Food Trail Approved' status for their Dorset Honey & Mustard with Zingy Gooseberry Drizzle and Tangy Apple & Balsamic Vinaigrette.

To find out more about Filbert's Fine Foods visit their page on The Artisan Food Trail here.

Note: Mr Filbert's have just recently rebranded so the samples we were sent we're from the old-look range. According to their website the drizzle range consists of four varieties and the Tangy Apple & Balsamic Vinaigrette seems to be no longer made, however (at the time of writing) old stock is still available in their shop.

NEWS FLASH!: Alan Coxon's Historic Food Range launches in Partridges

News just in that Alan Coxon's Historic Food Range will be launching at Partridges, Sloane Square, London.
This Saturday 23rd February Alan Coxon's unique range of vinegars, including Ale-Gar, Roman Vinaigre, Ancient Greek Vinaigre as well as the new Macadamia Nut Oil will all be available.
So if you're in the area, do drop by for a tasting and to say hello.
It would even be well worth a
special trip.

For more information about 
Alan Coxon visit his page on 
The Artisan Food Trail here

Alan Coxon’s Ale-Gar™ approved

Photo: © childsdesign

Rich and dark in colour with flavour delivering hints of chocolate,
cinnamon and roasted malt, Ale-Gar™ is quite unique.

Read full review

We are pleased to give Alan Coxon ‘Artisan Food Trail Approved’ status for his Ale-Gar™ 

For more information about Alan Coxon visit his page on The Artisan Food Trail here

Special Offer from Alan Coxon

Photo: © childsdesign

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To celebrate the launch of Alan Coxon's new Macadamia Nut Oil he’s offering free delivery to all Artisan Food Trail visitors.

Order one or more of his historic vinegars and/or Macadamia Nut Oil and quote the code AC2 to get your FREE delivery.
This offer is available throughout January and February 2013.

To order visit the online store here

Alan Coxon introduces new Macadamia Nut Oil to his range

Photo: ©Alan Coxon

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Alan Coxon has launched a brand new product within the UK in the form of one of the healthiest oils in the world.

Macadamia nut oil has so many wonderful properties including no cholesterol and high in vitamin E and omega 7, and equally as important, it tastes fantastic with a mild clean flavour of the nut itself.

Alan has added the cold pressed extra virgin Macadamia nut oil to his existing historic food range that includes the globally unique and multi award winning Mediaeval Old English Ale-Gar™, Roman Vinaigre™ and Ancient Greek Vinaigre™ because it marries so well with these products.

The nutty flavour, density and golden colour goes hand in hand to create a stunning dip for bread, salad dressing, or marinade.
In addition to the health and flavour benefits, the oil is perfect to cook with and one of the best for roasting, baking and frying, offering a smoke point of up to 210˚C.

For more detailed information on the benefits of Macadamia Nut Oil please visit Alan Coxon’s website here

To find out more about Alan Coxon visit his page on The Artisan Food Trail here

Order directly from foodbyalancoxon.com

Fields of Gold at Yare Valley Oils

Photos: © Yare Valley Oils

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Ever since settling beside the Norfolk Broads in the early 1900’s the Mack family have been farming the rich soil of the Yare Valley.

Oilseed rape has been grown across their fields for many years and the crop has become an important part of farming along with potatoes, sugar beet and cereals. From plough to plate every single seed is grown, pressed and bottled for you to enjoy.

The oil has full traceability from field to table and nothing goes to waste – the pulp from the pressing goes straight back into the biomass boiler to fuel the farm.

The oil seed rape is sown on the farm the first week of September with approximately 2½ Kilos of seed per hectare. Pigeons are often a problem as they love the brassica seed. In March the fields are fertilised and by April and May the rape begins to flower creating a brilliant yellow display. After enjoying the sun and insect pollination, the flowers produce pods which are full of rapeseeds.

The rapeseed plants are left in the field and allowed to mature naturally and dry before harvesting in late July to early August. The seed is collected and then stored before being cold pressed using a mechanical screw and then filtered twice to obtain the highest quality when it reaches your plate.

Being cold pressed, Yare Valley’s oil is the purest form of rape oil, no other heat or chemical extraction processes are used and it is healthy too with many nutritional benefits.

As well as selling pure rapeseed oil, Yare Valley also produce a range of dressings containing it carefully blended with other ingredients, some locally sourced to retain the true Norfolk taste. Look out for Chilli, Norfolk Honey & Mustard and Norfolk Vinaigrette.

To find out more about Yare Valley Oils visit their page on The Artisan Food Trail here

The past is brought to life in Alan Coxon's historic vinegars

Photo: © childsdesign

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With twinkling eyes and a disarming smile, Alan Coxon is a man brimming with enthusiasm and a head full of interesting food and history facts. Some would say he is the Stephen Fry of the culinary world.
We have ‘known’ him since the 90s when he was on many television cooking programmes. We finally got to meet Alan giving one of his informative and engaging cookery demonstrations last year at Woburn Food & Crafts Festival.

Read full review

We are pleased to give Alan Coxon ‘Artisan Food Trail Approved’ status for his Roman Vinaigre™ and Ancient Greek Vinaigre™

For more information about Alan Coxon see his page on 
The Artisan Food Trail here

A chilli weekend in December with Edible Ornamentals

Photo: © childsdesign

Good news for chilli fans, because this weekend Edible Ornamentals will be at various markets and fairs selling their delicious Bedfordshire-grown chilli products.
If you know someone who loves chillies maybe you'll find the perfect Christmas gift for them.

You'll be able to find Edible Ornamentals at the following places this weekend:


Saturday 3rd December

• Mill Road Winter Fair,                                                                       Cambridge – starts 10.30am (map)
• Wyboston Christmas Fayre,                                                             Wyboston Village Hall – starts 10am (map)
• Four Seasons Market,                                                             Potton Market Square, Beds – 9am – 1pm (map)

Sunday 4th December

• Queens Park Farmers Market,                                                         Salusbury Primary School, London – 10am – 2pm (map)
• Marylebone Farmers Market,                                                   Cramer Street Car Park, London – 10am – 2pm (map)

For more information about Edible Ornamentals visit their page on 
The Artisan Food Trail here

New bottle sizes, gift pack and a new product from Womersley Fruit & Herb Vinegars

The complete vinegar range from Womersley Fruit & Herb Vinegars will be also be available in new smaller sized 100ml bottles. Launching from 1st October 2011, just in time to think about selecting those Christmas presents, the small bottles are ideal as gifts. You will be able to buy gift packs containing 3 x 100ml, presented in an attractive and convenient box – perfect for any enthusiastic cook.

To brighten up you food at Christmas time, Womersley Fruit & Herb Vinegars have brought back one of their old favourites, Orange and Mace, full of festive warmth and aroma.

To find out where and how to buy, either in stores or online click here

For more information about the range you can download the current information leaflet below



Visit Womersley Fruit & Herb Vinegars on The Artisan Food Trail here

Essence of Taste: Womersley Fruit & Herb Vinegars

The Womersley brand was launched by Martin and Aline Parsons from their home, Womersley Hall, in 1979 and has become one of Yorkshire’s and England's leading Gourmet Brands.

The home-grown specialist herbs and fruits are the key ingredients of all their fruit and herb vinegars and jellies. Martin attributes his expert knowledge of speciality herbs to his family's background. The Parsons family has lived in Yorkshire for generations and is famous for grand gardens and horticulture at Nymans in Sussex and Birr Castle in Ireland. Martin's instinctive ability to blend specialist herbs and sumptuous fruits with vinegar and sugar has created for cooks and chefs a product of such versatility and has led them to win numerous taste awards.

In 2009, Martin and Aline's son, Rupert, took on the privilege of running Womersley. Since doing so, he has overseen the move to a bespoke new, and larger, premises as well as rebranding the company image – the beautiful labels are the work of Swedish artist, Petra Borner

Whilst the making of fruit vinegars and herb jellies is a fine old British tradition, at Womersley they are proud to say that they’ve perfected recipes which will delight and surprise.

The jellies are soft-set, jewel-coloured and translucent. The recipe is balanced to allow maximum versatility in the kitchen, whilst ensuring that the true aromas of all the flavours always shine through whether that is geranium, rosemary, apache chilli or lavender. They only use the natural pectin in the apples as the setting agent.

The multi-award winning vinegars all contain generous quantities of the rich fruits which give them a luxuriously thick finish. The range of flavours can be used in the making of or to accompany almost any dish.

Visit Womersley Fruit & Herb Vinegars on The Artisan Food Trail here