Speciality-Food-Magazine-September-2024

@specialityfood 38 AGLIMPSE INTOTHEYORKSHIRE ARTISAN FOOD SCENE During our visit Speciality Food spent a great deal of time talking with some of Yorkshire’s fabulous producers, who share their stories here The Chilli Jam Man Simon Barrett set up a tiny market stall in Yorkshire 15 years ago, having left the financial sector during a recesssion... and he hasn’t looked back. From a clutch of just a handful of products, Simon now makes more than a dozen chilli jams and preserves, inspired by his time living in Australia. “I lived there in the 90s for about five years and got very into Southeast Asian flavours and proper heat. When I came back to the UK it was like someone had chopped my right arm off! I started off making batches for myself and giving the rest to friends, and it went from there,” he says. “The way this has grown astounds me.” Simon’s chilli jams range from the meek and mild to intensely fiery, using the very best fresh and slow-dried chillies, including authentic chipotle from Central America, smoked over pecan wood. “The other difference between my products and what you’ll find in the supermarkets is I cook mine on rolling boil over five or six hours – that reduction of the tomatoes and the vinegars and the sugar, the garlic, ginger and chillies, means you end up with a very flavoursome product filled with umami.” He says shoppers have become more adventurous when seeking out chilli products, and are no longer afraid to dial up the heat, using his jams to enhance the spice profile of stir fries, curries and chillies, or as a seasoning at the end of cooking. They’re no longer just a ‘bit on the side’. SeaGrown Four miles out to sea, off the shores of Scarborough, a little foodie revolution is happening, as SeaGrown pioneers what the future of British seaweed looks like. Owners Wave (who was formerly in the Navy) and Laura (a professor whose field of interest includes oceans and the climate) have “brought their knowledge together to show how brilliant seaweed is for sustainability and the environment,” says SeaGrown’s Jo Holborn. “It’s a powerhouse,” she continues. “The only challenge in Europe is you could never really do it at scale, but they’ve devised a system to do it off-shore.” The brand grows three types of kelp, which find their way into savoury, umami- rich natural seaweed seasonings in original, piri piri and lemon and herb flavours and more – ideal for bringing a touch of salinity to everything from fish and chips to pasta dishes. With the local fishing industry in decline, SeaGrown is seeking to help fishermen and women convert into the burgeoning offshore seaweed industry, and is doing its bit for the planet too. “Seaweed doesn’t need land to grow,” says Jo, “and it takes up 20 times more carbon than trees.” The farm, she adds, teems with wildlife, with studies ongoing into the biodiversity they’ve been able to foster there. Puckett’s Pickles Sarah Puckett uses as many Yorkshire-grown and British in gredients as she can get her hands on in her pickles and preserves, which are all the more flavoursome for the inclusion of freshly roa sted and ground spices. Inspired by her great great grandmothers, who would cook with the myriad weird and wonderful ingredients their seafaring husbands returned home with, Sarah set up the business 11 years ago, with just two sturdy pots and wooden spoons. Today her creations, including her great grandmother’s Carrot & Cardamom Chutney, or her own recipe Pea & Mint Ketchup, can be found on the shelves at retailers including Selfridges. “They’re popular, I think, because they are literally just fruit and vegetables with nothing artificial added. We make them in small batches and everything is really fresh. A cust omer favourite is the Puckalilli (based on her grandmother’s recip e). “And my favourite at the moment is the Gooseberry & Oran ge Blossom Jam, it’s just so lovely in the morning with Greek y oghurt.” Cryer & Stott Made in Sheffield, Henderson’s Relish is one of Yorkshire’s most recognisable exports. Combined with Yorkshire Red cheese, it forms Sheffield Forge – a bestseller for cheesemonger and fine food purveyor Cryer & Stott, whose range is steeped in Yorkshire flavours and history. Owners Clare and Richard Holmes started 26 years ago with a provisions stall in Wakefield market, before turning their hand to creating their own range of unique speciality cheeses. “We decided to do a cheese for Wakefield first,” Clare says, “and we came up with Rhuby Gold, which was a sheep’s milk cheese with rhubarb through the middle – a bit like a Victoria sandwich. We did that for a few years and found that sheep’s milk was seasonal. When we wanted to sell a lot of it we couldn’t, so we came up with Rhuby Crumble, which is cow’s milk cheese with rhubarb and vanilla through it.” The variety of cheese is extensive, and includes Lillibet (a blue made to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee), Wave (with Scarborough seaweed), Yorkshire Cask (with wholegrain mustard and Yorkshire beer) and King Charles (Scottish Cheddar with truffled mushroom in a nod to the king’s favourite dish, mushroom risotto). The Yorkshire Pasta Company Having tried authentic Italian pasta and discovering just how much it differed from what supermarkets had to offer, The Yorkshire Pasta Company founder Kathryn Bumby set off on a three-week journey from Tuscany to Rome, visiting restaurants, factories and makers to understand the secret to great pasta then launching the award-winning business in 2019. “I just really fell in love with pasta,” she says. “Ours, rather than being made over two hours in a big factory, is made over two full days and dried overnight on wooden racks. It’s a bit like bread and beer. You get so much flavour from the wheat.” The range, which includes family favourites such as penne, contains just flour and water. “The key to its texture is, rather than making the shapes with plastic moulds, we use bronze. When you stir in your sauce it cuddles and clings to it. It’s amazing,” Kathryn adds. She’s proud of the brand’s sustainable credentials, too. “Ours is made with Yorkshire flour, using solar energy, and sold in paper packaging with beautiful illustrations on the outside to show what’s in the pack.” Feedback has been brilliant. “We even have a massive following of Italians who tell us they send it back home!”