The move has been well received by producers and highlights the possibility of a nationally recognised ‘locally made’ logo to inform buyers that a product has been made nearby.

The ‘Made in Northamptonshire’ mark was unveiled by the county’s food networking group in January 2012. “The desire to buy from and support local producers has never been stronger but it’s often hard to know where a product comes from,” said Rachel Mallows of The Mallows Company, who set up the Northants food networking group in 2011 and is the driving force behind the new mark.

To use the logo, local producers must be members of the Made in Northants Group. Membership is free following approval by The Mallows Company.

Jonathan Chaplin from Flore-based apple juice company The Village Orchard, said: “This will be a great way of showing potential buyers that they’re supporting local business.” Meanwhile, John Evans who runs Whittlebury Brewery near Towcester said: “The logo does just what it needs to – it says Northamptonshire, says local and most importantly says quality.”

John Evans of Whittlebury Brewery will be using the new logo

Other ‘locally made’ food marks exist in the UK – the Colne-U-Copia (Colne Valley) and Pembrokeshire Produce logos, for example – but their presence is scattered and producer take-up inconsistent. A Leicestershire Produce label scheme was initiated in 2005 but didn’t get off the ground.

In 2011, European Parliament proposed a European logo for local food and drink to aid consumer choice, with a suggested definition of ‘local’ as products made within 30-50km. Suggested benefits of such a scheme included “lower emissions due to shorter supply chains and promotion of local jobs.”

The possibility of a nationwide ‘locally made’ logo or brand has been mooted at food conferences run by rural communities support group The Plunkett Foundation. “The idea of a national local food brand seems to split the local food sector,” said Plunkett head of communcations Mike Perry.

Should there be a national ‘locally made mark’? Email editorial@greatfoodmag.co.uk

The vision, masterminded by Leicestershire brewer and property owner Everards, represents a welcome blast of warmth amid icy economic conditions, and would create up to 300 jobs.

At the heart of the plan is a state-of-the-art craft brewery and new offices for Everards, which owns all the land in question at Soar Valley Park, Enderby. There would also be a multi-purpose visitor centre and space for large food festivals. The park would be spread over around 13 acres.

Other like-minded food and drink producers would share the site.

Artist’s impression of the new brewery

“This is our vision of the future,” said Stephen Gould, managing director of Everards. “We want to create a new craft brewery and work with other food and drink businesses to build a thriving hub that enhances the region’s excellent food and drink credentials.”

Everards’ vision is in keeping – albeit on a larger scale – with its other recent schemes, Project William and Project Artisan, in which the family-owned brewery has worked closely with small craft breweries and artisan food producers to forge symbiotic business relationships.

“At the park I foresee more established food and drink companies joining us,” said Stephen. “Projects William and Artisan have proven that our business will be successful if we can attract and work alongside talented people, even if they are not direct employees of Everards.”

Everards website

If you can, track it down before it flowers as it’s a little brighter and less bitter on the palate. Wild garlic leaves are great put straight into a cheese sandwich, or indeed just rolled around cheese.

Wild garlic ‘pesto’ is a wonderful way to eat this stuff. First, pick your garlic. Shaded woodland, where you might have seen snowdrops and would anticipate seeing bluebells, is a good place to start.

Late February is the very earliest you’ll find it. By late May it’s all over. In the Midlands, early April is prime time (the flowers are edible and very pretty too, just pop them on top of a salad).

No matter how hard you try, you will pick up a few slugs, spiders and creepy crawlies while gathering. Washing your harvest will take much longer then picking it, so don’t get too carried away.

Wild garlic pesto

* Carrier bag full of wild garlic leaves
* Walnuts, not that many
* Rocket and/or a little basil (optional)
* Parmesan
* Olive oil, quite a bit
* Lemon juice
* Salt and pepper

1 Blitz it all together, tasting all the time. It will take more oil than you think, at least as much as the weight of garlic (and rocket if used), and probably half as much again. Taste, adjust, taste, adjust.

2 Jar it up in sterile jars, with a liberal spurt of oil on the top. It’ll easily keep for a couple of weeks in the fridge, probably longer (I’ve had it last a year, but that is slightly extreme). Use it just as you would ordinary pesto. It is poky stuff and to be used with some caution until you have the measure of it.

Visit Matt Gregory’s blog

The farm’s i-Grow website enables you to rent land, plant veg and herbs of your choice, harvest them and have them delivered with just a few mouse clicks.

Each plot is 3m x 2m and gives you eight rows of vegetables. Once you have selected your plot online, you choose your veg – for example, in March and April you could select to plant beetroot, broad beans or baby carrots. Abbey Parks then sows these for you and manages the land. When the crop is ready it will be delivered to you.

Harry Lowth of Abbey Park Farms, who came up with the idea of i-Grow

Renting a 6m2 allotment for one year costs £125, including seeds, planting, harvesting and delivery. The website is at www.abbeyparks.co.uk/allotments

Visit the i-Grow website

First Tues of each month
Lucy Cufflin’s Cookery Book Club, Waterstones, Leicester
Starts 12.30pm; free entry; 0116 2700885
Click here for link

FEB 25-26, 2012
World Marmalade Awards, Dalemain Mansion
Click here for link

MAR 7-10
Leicester Beer Festival
The Charotar Patidar Samaj, Leicester; £3.50; 5pm-11pm Weds, 11am-11pm Thurs & Fri, 11am-10pm Sat
Click here for link

MAR 11, 2012
The Great British Mustard Bash, Scalford Hall near Melton Mowbray
£5 per car; 10am to 4pm
Click here for link

MAR 16-18, 2012
Edible Garden Show, Stoneleigh Park, Coventry
10am-5pm all days; £12 in advance; 0844 3388001
Click here for link

MAR 29
Getting the Best Out of Your Herb Garden, Doddington Hall & Gardens, Lincs
£18; 10am-12.30pm; 0845 6121253
Click here for link

MAR 29
Easter Baking, Welbeck Farm Shop, Welbeck, Notts
Evening with Shelly Preston; £10 per person; booking essential; 01909 511218

MAR 31
Easter Chocolate at Shires Cookery School, East Haddon, Northants
Day course starting at 9.30am; £95 for the day
Click here for link

MAR 31 & APR 1
‘Lemony Lemons’ preserving classes, Burley on the Hill near Oakham, Rutland
With Rosemary Jameson; £85; 01572 720720
Click here for link

MAR 31-APR 1
Spring Food Fest at Thoresby Courtyard, Notts
10am-4pm both days; free; 0115 975 6979
Click here for link

APR 12
Bread Baking for Little ‘Uns (using flour milled on site), Green’s Windmill, Nottingham
Booking essential; ages 3-6; 0115 9156878
Click here for link

APR 13-14
Coventry Beer Festival, Coventry Rugby Ground
£3; 12 noon-4pm and 6pm-11pm; 02476 673680
Click here for link

APR 21-22
East of England Food Festival, Knebworth
£8; 10am-5pm; 0800 141 2823
Click here for link

APR 25
British Pie Awards, St Mary’s Church, Melton Mowbray, Leics
Click here for link

THROUGHOUT SPRING
Chocolate Making at Chocolate Alchemy, Loughborough, Leics
£35; phone to book; 07943 876 578
Click here for link

Every effort has been made to ensure listings are accurate but Great Food can’t take any responsibility for errors or last-minute changes. Please check with event organisers before setting off.

Forget the old ten minutes of ache-inducing kneading – science has shown that time is more important than effort. Just give the dough three very short, light kneads on an oiled worktop, just ten seconds for each. This gives a brilliant crumb texture for little effort.

Using oil rather than flour stops it sticking to your hands, and avoids extra unmeasured flour drying the dough out. Use a good ale like Everards’ Beacon, and for flour try the excellent stoneground flours from Claybrooke Watermill.

Dan Lepard (left) with Claybrooke Mill’s head miller Spencer Craven

1 Stir water, ale and honey together in a mixing bowl, sprinkle in the yeast and stir well. Add flours and salt, mix well to a soft rough mass, then cover the bowl and leave for 10 minutes. This pause gives the flour time to absorb the moisture and helps the stretchy gluten develop.

2 Lightly oil a 30cm patch of worktop, knead the dough gently for about 10 seconds then return it to the bowl, cover, and leave for 10 minutes. Repeat this light kneading sequence twice more at 10-minute intervals, then cover the dough and leave for an hour.

3 Flour worktop, shape dough into a ball, place it seam side down on a floured tray, then cover and leave to rise for an hour. Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan (Gas 7) and place a dish containing boiling water on the lowest shelf to help colour the crust.

4 Cut a cross in the top of the dough with a sharp blade, place the loaf in the oven with a good 10cm gap between it and your dish below, and bake for about 45 minutes until richly coloured. Then move the baked loaf to a wire rack to cool.

Dan Lepard’s new book Short & Sweet is out now.

Take me to Dan Lepard’s website.

To subscribe (and also join Great Food Club for free) for £17.50, click here.

To buy Issue 10 and have it delivered to your door for £3.20, click here.

Graham, a retired architect from Stamford, said: “I enjoy creating the front covers for Great Food magazine. It’s reignited my love for painting.”

If you’d like to discuss possible projects or commissions with Graham, call him on 01780 482012 or email jillandgraham@tiscali.co.uk

Click here to download the brochure and entry form.

Click here to download the exhibitor form.

When?
March 11, 2012

What?
The UK’s first festival celebrating mustard and everything that goes with it.

Where?
Scalford Hall near Melton Mowbray, former home of Colonel Colman, founder of Colman’s Mustard.

Why?
Because Britain needs a mustard festival.

Further info:
The Great British Mustard Bash was conceived by Rosemary Jameson, founder member of Guild of Jam and Preserve Makers and owner of Jam Jar Shop;  it is sponsored by Great Food magazine.

For further details, please contact Rosemary: mustard@jamjarshop.com

I think it’s the best part of the preserving year – it’s hectic and a race against the clock to get enough marmalade made for the whole year from the short season of Seville oranges (December to February).

Some people part-process the oranges and freeze the resulting pulp to use throughout the year, but I have never done this myself. I like the fact that the clock’s ticking: it’s a short session when the whole kitchen gets sticky and every surface is covered with jars.

I’ve only once made marmalade from ‘raw’ oranges – that was when I was 15. It was enough to put me off for life. Since that first batch I’ve always cooked the fruit first, which makes it much easier to cut the peel into the size you prefer and gives a beautifully rich, intense flavour. The peel is firm but tender from the double cooking – none of those nasty rubbery bits!

There are so many delicious variations for marmalade – we get asked for a ginger recipe all the time. You can add a little of what you fancy – whisky or brandy, black treacle for Dundee marmalade, or try making it from limes or tangerines.

Marmalade has been around in some form since well before Tudor times. Originally, the Portuguese word ‘marmalada’ referred to a sticky paste made from fruit, usually quince, and sugar. The word, or a form of it, still exists in most of Europe today, but we know from our holidays abroad that when ordering marmalada we will actually be served jam, as it still describes the type of confection, not a particular preserve. We need to add the name of the fruit to be sure of receiving exactly what we are expecting.

——–

Gammon glaze

1 To make a brilliant glaze for a cooked gammon or bacon joint, mix three to four tablespoons of chunky marmalade (home-made, of course!) with two tablespoons of soft brown sugar and one teaspoon of mustard. I use my own wholegrain, but any will be OK.

2 Remove the rind from the cooked joint and spread the mixture over the surface, pressing down as well as you can.

3 Stand the joint on a wire grill over a roasting tin and bake for around 20-30 minutes in a medium oven, basting frequently. My son sometimes uses plum jam instead of marmalade, but that’s for the autumn.

——–

Pancake Day

Pancake Day is coming, so when you’ve made your marmalade, why not use some of it to make a delicious pouring sauce for pancakes?

1 Melt 175ml marmalade in 175ml water over a low heat, stirring until smooth.

2 Add two tablespoons of butter and stir again until evenly combined.

3 Serve warm with a stack of pancakes.

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Rosemary Jameson owns Jam Jar Shop and Jam On The Hill.