Devon Stands Out in World Cheese Awards

Devon's cheese-makers have scooped top awards and again gained major recognition at this year's World Cheese Awards, hosted in Newport, South Wales.

The biggest 'cheese-only' competition in the world received a record-breaking 4,434 entries from 42 countries, as artisan cheeses were delivered by boat, truck, train and plane. 

The entries were blind-tasted by the most astute palates of cheese experts, food writers and buyers to determine if they were worthy of a Bronze, Silver, Gold or Super Gold award.

Rising to the top of the 4,000 entries, Ticklemore's Devon Blue from Totnes came eighth in the world, outperforming each and every every other blue cheese, securing a phenomenal Super Gold status. This is a clear signal for an outstanding cheese that has met rigorous judging criteria for a flawless product.

Sharpham Dairy won Gold for its Ticklemore cheese, which is a goat's milk cheese with a firm flinty texture featuring hints of lemon and herbs. Also, their Camembert cheese created to celebrate Sharpham Dairy's 40th anniversary last year, won a Silver award. 

Sharpham Dairy's Ticklemore also recently won its category of 'Best Hard Cheese' in the Great British Food Awards, which represent the very best of modern British foods. The category was judged by Adrian Boswell, the Senior Buyer of Fresh Food at Selfridges.

Greg Parsons from Sharpham Dairy says, “All of these awards are testament to the hard work and dedication which goes into making our high-quality products. From the farmers who care for our cows and goats, to the drivers who deliver our products and everyone else in between. World Cheese Awards receive thousands of entries from every corner of the globe, so to achieve recognition for our quality products is high praise indeed.”

In mid-Devon, Quicke's Cheese achieved five accolades at the World Cheese Awards for their cheddars, including Silver for Lady Prue Clothbound Cheese, Elderflower Clothbound Cheese and Buttery Clothbound Cheddar. 

Proudly creating slow-food, Quicke's herds graze on land nurtured by the Quicke family for in excess of half a millennia.

The truckles of cheese are bound in cloth and left to mature for months or even years in some instances. Their cheddar recipes go back generations and the secret to such a complex flavour is their precious starter which has been slowly developing for over half a century.

Mary Quicke MBE says, “We're delighted to return with such high recognition for five of our cheeses and for Devon to shine so brightly. The World Cheese Awards unites our industry in celebrating the full spectrum of flavours, textures and colours. The alchemy of transforming milk into cheese never ceases to amaze me, which is why working with such an alive product is a genuine thrill.”

John Farrand, who is the MD of the Guild of Fine Food, organisers of the World Cheese Awards, said: "What a finale! This year's World Cheese Awards has been a fantastic and huge success and Wales has been the perfect canvas for this colourful event."

A selection box from Devon's finest cheese-makers is available to order. The Essential Devon Cheese Board features five artisan cheeses, including:

Sharpham Brie

Quicke's Mature Cheddar

Ticklemore Devon Blue

Plus a 'Grader's Choice' from both Sharpham and Quickes

Customers will receive five pieces (circa 300g each) of artisan cheese individually wrapped along with tasting notes for each, all boxed up and ready to go.

The Essential Devon Cheese Board costs £25 and is available for home delivery from www.sharphamcheese.co.uk.

This sounds like an excellent Christmas gift for the dedicated foodies in your life. And also for your own Christmas cheeseboard.  

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Just V Show

I was able to attend the Just V Show at the Birmingham NEC at the weekend. 

It was great! I was able to meet people who I have previously worked with (Hello Warburtons, Hello Glebe Farm, hello Juvela Bread!) and to meet new people who where there to promote their businesses, many of them small, new businesses.

I ended up spending maybe more money than I actually intended, but it was a good day and it was cool to meet so many great and passionate people, lots of people were so thrilled to be able to buy gluten and allergen free foods, ingredients, chocolates, sweets, etc., for them and their children. I was able to purchase some items for my wife who is diagnosed with coeliac disease.

Over the next several days I will make posts on That's Food and Drink (and sister blog, That's Health) featuring the people I was able to meet.

Guys, thanks for the taste samples! 

https://www.justvshow.co.uk/birmingham/2022

(Image courtesy of Mittmac and Pixabay)

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Milk Muddle at the Dairy? And Sharpham Dairy Invent New Sharpham Rushmore Cheese!

Multi-award winning artisanal cheese maker Sharpham Dairy, is launching a brand new cheese. The new Sharpham Rushmore is a combination of two of its most popular cheeses, crumbly and delicate Ticklemore goat's cheese and the semi-hard Rustic cow's cheese, creating a slightly crumbly but velvety texture. It is available for £10.70 for 450g from www.sharphamcheese.co.uk. 

Sharpham Rushmore was serendipitously created when their goat's milk was mistakenly poured into the same tank as some cow's milk. 

Determined that they would not countenance any waste whatsoever, they decided that it was necessary to make some cheese with the milks that had become accidentally mixed. 

The team of cheesemakers continued to produce cheese with the mixed milk to see what it would taste like. Absolutely delighted with how the new cheese tasted they decided to call their newest invention-cum-discovery Sharpham Rushmore. 

So pleased were they with the resultant new cheese that they decided to package it up and trial it at the Powderham Food Festival 2021 to gauge the public's reaction. 

Of course, it was an instant hit, and Sharpham Rushmore was declared to be a triumph and the team knew they must make more of this fortuitous accidental cheese. 

So, what does it taste like? It has a refreshing acidity, Rushmore is rich and creamy in flavour with some subtle floral sweetness and a mice, lingering finish.

How can you serve it? It's a delicious conversation starter enjoyed on its own, or will be delicious as part of a cheeseboard, perhaps in a salad or crumbled over a ratatouille. 

It's said to be a sensation if paired with light-bodied, aromatic white and rose wines, like such a  sauvignon blanc or perhaps a well-chilled sparkling wine from Devon. (My personal favourite would be with a very hoppy West Coast IPA, but then I think a very hoppy West coast IPA is a perfect accompaniment for just about anything!)  

Greg Parsons from Sharpham Cheese, says: “When our farmer admitted he'd made a mistake in mixing the milks, we were intrigued to see what the results would taste like. 

Afterall, as Thomas Edison said, 'Just because something doesn't do what you planned it to do, doesn't mean it's useless.' Many of the best cheeses have been made by a happy accident, and this new addition has been ever so well-received. We're thrilled and delighted to bring Rushmore to the market.” 

Cheese writer Patrick McGuigan, commented: “Crumbly like a Caerphilly but with a fudgy breakdown under the white rind, it's super rich and double creamy but with a refreshing tang of acidity. You don't see many mixed milk cheeses in the UK so this is quite an exciting new cheese!” 

He continued, “It's very nice on a cracker with Kampot fermented green peppercorns and a blob of apple and cider chutney. Creamy, sweet and spice - nice!”

As the UK's first cheese dairy to achieve a B Corp certification, Sharpham Dairy believes that cheese should be a force for good. They pride themselves on meeting the highest environmental impact standards, and the new Sharpham Rushmore was borne from their ethos of wasting as little as possible. Sharpham Dairy deliveries arrived packaged in recyclable and compostable packaging.

The full range of goats', cows' and sheeps' milk cheeses, as well as Sharpham Dairy's brand new crackers and chutneys are available from good cheesemongers and delis, and online. Visit www.sharphamcheese.co.uk / @SharphamCheese on social media. 

As an aside, we at That's Food and Drink think Sharpham Rushmore will be an excellent addition to your Christmas cheeseboard this year.

NICE Wine? Nice gear!

London-based wine startup, NICE (www.nice-drinks.co.uk), makes great tasting wine from wineries they adore. 

The female-led team is innovating with formats, making wine more inclusive and, hopefully, less intimidating, less scary and less stress-inducing. And they aim to bringing a fresh outlook to the industry. 

So, whether you're after a perfectly portioned canned wine for a train journey, or some boxed wine for your Christmas celebrations, they make it for whenever you want it. Because they're NICE like that!

November 2022 sees NICE collaborate with London-based elevated contemporary workwear brand M.C. Overalls (www.mcoveralls.com) to create a funky two-piece NICE tracksuit (£120, or £80 for a sweatshirt and £70 for joggers).

2022 has been Rosé's year and this winter is all about staying warm and cosy, now the weather's got a definite chill in the air, it's time to twin with your favourite tipple and hunker down to stay warm and cosy!

M.C. Overalls create clothes that have an enduring style and quality that work hard. The new, Limited Edition NICE Sweatshirt and Joggers are of a high quality, deliberately comfy and of course, only available in pink. 

Featuring NICE branding on both sweatshirt and joggers, the tracksuits will be your chill set, winter walk set, cinema set, snuggling up set, whenever or whatever set.

A spokeswoman said: "NICE is all about putting you first, quite a new thing for wine, allowing everyone to have easy access to the NICEst possible ways to wine. The NICE team lives by the mantra 'to lead and never follow' and if that means disrupting the wine industry with a fresh approach, then that's what they'll do!"

Ready to buy now from NICE Drinks https://nice-drinks.co.uk/pages/tracksuit.

Actually, we think these garments would make a pretty nifty Christmas present. So long as you also included some NICE wine to go with them!

THE WINE

NICE Sauvignon Blanc (11.5% ABV)

Dry, crisp, with a wink of peach: a classic French white from the Cotes de Gascogne region

NICE Pale Rosé (12% ABV)

A crisp, dry and proudly pale rosé from just outside Montpellier

NICE Malbec (13.5% ABV)

Juicy, darkly fruity and smoothly Argentinian, this medium bodied wine hails from Mendoza in the foothills of the Andes

WINE, IN A CAN – Available from Sainsburys, Amazon and Ocado

NICE put their favourite Sauvignon Blanc, Pale Rosé and Argentinian Malbec in 250ml cans (RRP £3). It's wine without intimidation. It's wine on your terms. It's wine for whenever. Each of the wines is vegan and the cans are light, fast-chilling and 100% recyclable, forever. Prefer to shop indie? NICE is the fastest growing canned wine brand in the UK and the largest independent brand in still canned wine, find it at over 4000 outlets around the country.

NICE BOXED WINE – Available from Amazon & Ocado

Find the NICE trio in a new Boxed Wine format (RRP £21.50); equal to three bottles, nine cans, or 18 small glasses of wine, which lasts longer in a box (as it won't oxidise and go iffy) staying fresh for six weeks after opening. Just unleash the tap for your quick-one-wine, cosy-wine, whatever tickles your fancy wine. The box and bag are fully recyclable, so pop it in the recycling and give it the chance of a brand-new life.

Find NICE at Sainsbury's, Ocado, Amazon and WHSmith, as well as sports stadiums, music venues, airlines, theatres, cinemas and restaurants; you can also expect to catch NICE at over 100 festivals each summer.

Great news! Mandira Sarkar of Mandira's Kitchen Wins Surrey Business Award

Mandira Sarkar, who is the founder of Mandira's Kitchen based at Silent Pool in Albury, has been named Businessperson of the Year 2022 in the prestigious Surrey Business Awards.

The business, based in a 400 year old outbuilding overlooking the idyllic Silent Pool produces authentic Indian cuisine, cookery lessons and catering for events of all sizes.  

It's already been a busy year with Mandira's Kitchen food attracting the attention of Nigella Lawson, the Countryfile team and culminating in a feature on Channel 4's Aldi, The Next Best Thing.

The award was presented to Mandira at a prestigious and glitzy black-tie event which took place on third November at G Live Guildford, recognising the achievements and resilience of the county's business community.

British actress, writer and comedian Jo Caulfield hosted the ceremony, which brought together some of the most successful companies, and their leaders, in Surrey.

Mandira was in excellent good company, with strong competition from across a wide range of sectors including technology, pharmaceutical, retail, law and marketing.

Maarten Hoffmann, who i s the MD of Platinum Media Group and organiser of the awards said:“ The Surrey Business Awards celebrate all the remarkable businesses in our region, plus all the people who work for them!  

“Everyone should be justifiably proud of their achievements, and it's these businesses which are putting Surrey on the map, adding weight to the county's burgeoning reputation for innovation, creativity and excellence.”

Although the award has her name on it, Mandira insists it's very much been a team effort.

'I think any good company should be judged on the company it keeps, and to have prevailed over such outstanding fellow nominees makes this award even more remarkable, and special," said Mandira.

She went on to say: "The Mandira's Kitchen team is almost exclusively female and we work hard as a collective, covering for each other and sharing skills. The award will take pride of place in our shop, I would like to thank everyone involved with Mandira's Kitchen, our hugely loyal customers and brilliant suppliers. 

"Thanks also to Platinum Media for staging such a well-organised event, and for giving us a reason to put our posh frocks on!"

https://www.mandiraskitchen.com

That's Food and Drink would like to add our congratulations to Mandira and her team for winning this well-deserved award.

Just in time for Christmas. New Zealand Pōkeno Whisky

From the farthest corner of the world comes an exciting and utterly authentic newcomer to the global whisky stage. 

Launching with a trio of bold, creative single malts made uniquely from only New Zealand ingredients, Pōkeno (pronounced Paw-Que-No) is the latest brand to be available from UK Spirits Distributor of the Year, Mangrove Global.

Pōkeno whisky honours the pure spirit of Aotearoa (New Zealand) by using only volcanic spring water from the North Island distillery's surrounding volcanic hills and family-farmed barley from New Zealand's rich, fertile South Island. The lovingly-crafted result is a range of bold, creative full-bodied single malts that capture the essence of this extraordinary, remote and beautiful land.

Pōkeno is what founder Matt Johns refers to as his "passion project." With in excess of  a quarter century of experience in the global whisky industry behind him, he, together with his wife Celine, set out nearly a decade ago with a vision to achieve two things: to create some of the world's finest single malts using only New Zealand ingredients; and in doing so, to put New Zealand on the map as a whiskyproducing nation.

This vision ultimately led them to Pōkeno, a small rural town which is an hour's drive south of the country's biggest city, Auckland.

“For us as craft distillers, Pōkeno is an absolute hidden treasure,” explains Matt. “Not only do we have the privilege of using the pure spring water that has been drawn over centuries from the surrounding volcanic hills, but these same hills work with the sub-tropical climate to create conditions that accelerate the spirit's maturation and flavour development in the barrel. In Pōkeno, the angels don't like to wait for their share!”

The state-of-the-art distillery is in line with some of the best and most established around the globe. But without the same volume pressures that big brand producers face, Matt says he and head distiller Rohan McGowan are enjoying the freedom to ferment for longer, distil more slowly and experiment to extract the maximum body and flavour from their New Zealand barley.

“As an independent distillery, and a small team passionate about our craft, we're entirely driven by quality, not volume; on doing things our way, not the easy way, with no compromise on any part of the process at all,” says Matt.

“Over the last few years there's been a growing appreciation of the role fermentation and distillation plays in the development of body and flavour before the spirit is barrelled. With our focus on quality over volume, we're able to ferment for a minimum of 72 hours and then double distil incredibly slowly, maximising copper contact through the process to refine our profile and then ensure that only the purest spirit is taken for maturation.”

Mangrove Global's Nick Gillett says: “We really thrilled to be adding this delicious brand to our portfolio. The three malts are really in a class of their own. As world whiskies are growing massively in popularity it's really a very natural step to include Pōkeno single malts into our increasing portfolio of world whiskies from places as diverse as Mexico, Denmark and Australia.”

To honour the quality of the spirit, 80% of Pōkeno single malt is matured in first fill casks, leaving the barrel to enhance rather than dominate the flavour profile of each whisky. While they may carry their own localised geographic marker with the Pōkeno name, Matt says the new single malts capture the pure spirit of Aotearoa.

“Unlike anywhere else in the world, the New Zealand spirit is forged through a unique marriage of culture and landscape, which creates a sense of place that Kiwis take with them wherever they go in the world,” he says.

“From the outset, we have been guided by a commitment to honouring this pure New Zealand spirit and are delighted that we can now invite whisky lovers from around the world to dare to discover different.”

Do you have a whiskey or whisky aficionado you will be looking to buy a bottle or two this Christmas?  Then we think New Zealand Pōkeno Whisky will be an admirable choice. 

www.mangroveuk.com

www.pokenowhisky.co.nz

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