Matthew Cotswold Flour Celebrates Real Bread Week 18th - 26th February 2023

Matthews Cotswold Flour, Britain's leading speciality producer of quality flours, is eagerly looking forward to Real Bread Week (18th-26th February 2023) and is hoping to share the love for real bread with an even wider audience than ever before. Here are some things that you should try this Real Bread Week.

Test out the theory that baking is a great form of relaxation and mindfulness

Get the whole family, including kids of all ages, involved in making bread

Compare the ingredients in your home-baked loaf to those listed on your shop bought loaf (and see how healthy and cost-effective your home-baking is by comparison)

Try adding grains or swapping in a speciality flour to add new flavours and extra nutritional value to your bread

Pick up a loaf from your local artisan baker and appreciate their expert craftsmanship

Try a new recipe such as this one for a delicious Cotswold Crunch Bloomer

Join an online baking community like the Cotswold Flour Baking Club for inspiration, recipes, discounts, competitions and baking support

Bertie Matthews, MD of Matthews Cotswold Flour explains: “Real Bread Week is the annual, international celebration of additive-free loaves and the people who bake them. 

"Real bread is bread made using just the four key ingredients of flour, water, yeast and salt. This is a great opportunity to celebrate these natural ingredients, the fantastic bread that can be made using them and the artisans and home bakers creating amazing loaves all over the country."

Bertie goes on to say: “Making Real Bread is really such a very rewarding activity. It's an incredibly positive and creative experience, which many find extremely relaxing and therapeutic. It can also be a fun-filled challenge for the entire family, including kids of any age. It's a really wonderful opportunity for everyone to learn what actually goes into making bread and a cost-effective way of avoiding the cocktail of additives that turn up in industrial loaf products. By experimenting with healthier grains, you can add exciting flavours and improve the nutritional value of your loaf, too.”

He finishes: “Over the past few years we've worked very closely with our customers to respond to their needs and offer them the widest range of specialist flours on the market. 

"We provide the nation's artisan and home bakers with a huge range of unique grains and blends in an unparalleled choice of flours that produce a huge variety of fabulous tasting, nutritious bakes and we're keen to inspire and encourage the next generation of home bakers, too. Anyone interested in learning more about making bread really should join our Baking Club which is a fantastic site for gaining and sharing knowledge, ideas and recipes and throughout Real Bread Week we will be posting blogs and running competitions on this site.”

Matthews Cotswold Flour is a family business that's been trading grain and milling flour in the heart of the Cotswolds since the 1800s. Matthews Cotswold Flour is committed to supporting regenerative food sources, developing an unparalleled range of top quality, award-winning, products and inspiring, educating and partnering with the nation's artisan and home bakers. For more information visit www.cotswoldflour.com or follow @CotswoldFlour on Instagram or Facebook.

Inspirational Valentine's Day Cocktails

Salcombe Gin - 'Seabird'

This deliciously delightful 'Seabird' cocktail which features Salcombe Gin's multi-award winning flagship gin 'Start Point', is the perfect option for two.

Ingredients 

100ml Salcombe Gin 'Start Point'

100ml fresh red grapefruit juice

25ml lime juice

25ml agave syrup

Garnish

Red grapefruit peel

'Seamist' liquid garnish

Method

Prepare your garnish before juicing the red grapefruit.

Add the gin, grapefruit juice, lime juice and agave syrup to a Boston shaker filled with plenty of ice and shake vigorously for 10 seconds.

Double strain into two chilled Nick & Nora glasses.

Garnish with red grapefruit peel on the side of the glass and 5 sprays of 'Seamist' liquid garnish.

Luscombe - Devon Spritz

Ingredients

25ml Devon Cove Vodka

50ml Luscombe Damascene Rose Bubbly

Top with The Uncommon's Bubbly White Wine  

Garnish

Grapefruit slice

Suggested glass

Goblet or wine glass

Method

Combine a single shot of Devon Cove Vodka with a double of Luscombe's Damascene Rose Bubbly, into a wine or Champagne glass

Top with The Uncommon's Bubbly White Wine

Garnish with love (and a thin slice of grapefruit)

If you fancy being a little adventurous, squeeze a grapefruit peel over the top of the drink to express its natural oils and give this drink a delightful added citrus layer

https://www.salcombegin.com/

If your olive oil doesn't look right, don't worry! It's a bit cold, says Filippo Berio!

Filippo Berio, the UK's favourite and beloved olive oil brand for over 40 years, is reassuring any of it customers who are worried about the appearance of olive oil. Because it's just reacting to the current cold UK temperatures.

As the UK experiences colder weather, you may notice a change in the appearance of your olive oil. This is a natural occurrence and doesn't adversely impact on the quality, shelf life, or flavour of the oil in any way at all.

At temperatures below 7°C, olive oil may appear to be a bit cloudy, or perhaps even small white lumps may appear in the oil. Whilst it's easy to perhaps mistake this for mould, don't worry! It's just a reaction to the cold temperature and is totally normal. The oil may also become thicker in consistency.

Filippo Berio wants to reassure customers the olive oil will return to its normal appearance once it's warmed up to room temperature, and it is stored correctly away from heat and direct sunlight.

Filippo Berio UK managing director, Walter Zanré, says: “We want to reassure our customers the quality of your Filippo Berio olive oil has not been compromised, and it's safe to continue using it as normal. Enjoy your favourite dishes with the same great taste and health benefits as always.”

https://www.filippoberio.co.uk

Red Velvet Cake with Clotted Cream Frosting

This sumptuous red velvet cake with its rich clotted cream topping is perfect for impressing those you love. What better way to say 'I love you' than with a cake? Recipe by Trewithen Dairy.

Ingredients

150ml Vegetable Oil

250g Plain Flour

2tbsp Cocoa Powder

2tsp Baking Powder

1tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

250g Light Brown Soft Sugar

½ tsp Salt

200ml Buttermilk

1tsp Real Vanilla Extract

1tsp Red Food Colouring Paste

2 Eggs

400g Trewithen Dairy Cornish Clotted Cream

Handful of Red Berries to decorate

Method

Preheat the oven to 160c fan. Grease a 12 inch heart shaped tin. Have a smaller oven-proof tin at the ready to bake any excess batter.

Sieve the dry ingredients together in a large bowl and combine well. In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, buttermilk, 50ml water and red colouring paste until completely emulsified. Add the eggs and combine thoroughly. The mixture will be vivid red!

Pour the cake batter into the heart-shaped tin. If you have any excess batter, pour it into a smaller tin - you can use this to add cake crumbs to decorate the cake. Bake the smaller tin for 15 minutes and the larger heart-shaped cake for 20 minutes - or until a skewer comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes in the tin before turning out onto a wire rack.

Crumble the smaller excess batter cake into fine crumbs to use for decoration.

When the cake has cooled, place it on your favourite serving plate. Gently smooth the Cornish clotted cream over the top of the sponge, swirling the topping as you go.

Decorate the top with cake crumbs, berries and red fruit.

Trewithen Dairy has been recognised as a 'champion' food producer of the West Country by the Taste of the West judging panel for 2022, for both their salted butter and traditional Cornish clotted cream. 

Trewithen Dairy is owned and run by the Clarke family, who have owned Greymare Farm in the Glynn Valley since 1976 and started crafting dairy products there in March 1994. As the business has grown, so has their family. It's not just the Clarke family that do all they can to make their delicious Cornish dairy products what they are, it's their colleagues, farmers and of course, customers too.

https://www.trewithendairy.co.uk

Super 8 Beers. They are super and superior

Super 8 Beers are super and superior.

They brew a wide range of beers but, and this is a fairly unique point, all of their beers are at the top of their game. So to speak.

I am a devotee of IPA beers and I have to say that the Super 8 version of IPA is probably one of the better types of IPA that I have tried over the past 30 years when I first became aware of this type of beer.

Originally brewed in England for export to India it was heavily hopped in order to ensure it was able to withstand the long and punishing sea journeys of the 19th Century.

Super 8 states: "IPA is the abbreviation for the India Pale Ale beer category: amber-coloured beers with more hops."

At 6% ABV it is a fairly strong IPA, but the intense hoppiness of this beer cannot be overstated. It's delicious. My wife is not really a fan of IPA style beers, but even she was somewhat converted to the joys of Super 8 IPA.

However, my wife was much more keen to try the Super 8 Blanche white beer, as this is one of her favourite styles of beer. That and Guinness, both at opposite ends of the beer spectrum, but both equally good beer styles in their own, unique ways. 

Super 8 says: "Our white beer has a creamy head and a refreshing aftertaste. But in between it surprises you with a liberal portion of freshly ground coriander and orange zest. A spicy flavour boost for those who like their Blanche a little more piquant."

I actually really loved the nice notes in the beer from the freshly ground coriander and the orange zest, as did my wife.

It's not quite as strong as their IPA, being 5.1% ABV, but we both agreed that it was strong enough.

On to Super 8 Export. It's 4.8% ABV which is a relatively light alcohol content, especially when compared to its Super 8 companions.

However, Super 8 Export is an incredibly drinkable light-blond lager beer. I must admit that my first taste of lager was the sip I was allowed to sneak from my father's lager which was way back in the 1960s. My late father was a rare breed back then. Lager was not a common style of beer in Britain then. He had developed his taste for lager whilst working as a tour guide to Switzerland in the post war era.

Like Super 8, the lager that was generally available then was, in the main, bottled, rather than being on draught.

How does Super 8 lager compare to the bottled lager of the 1960s? Extremely well indeed! It's nicely hoppy and very moreish indeed!

Last, but certainly by no means least, is Super 8 Flandrien. Wow! It's a delightful blond beer which is chock full of fantastic flavours a melange of several types of hops, coriander, oak and vanilla. 

It's a strong beer (6.4% ABV) but it's a drink that deserves respect because it's deceptively easy to drink. 

My wife is a diagnosed coeliac and was very pleased that Super 8 beers are guaranteed to be gluten free.

We've told you about the Super 8 beers, but who brews them? They are brewed by a fiercely independent family brewery in Belgium, the Haacht Brewery. 

And they produce and sell a wide range of other beers, too. Plus wines, hard seltzers, coffees, waters and sodas, syrups and premium mixers, too. 

You can learn more here https://haacht.com.

Soda Folk

Who are the Soda Folk? They are folk who make some very, very good soda indeed, here in the UK.

They guarantee that there are no unnatural things in their drinks. No artificial colours, no artificial preservatives and no artificial sweeteners.  

And as the are guaranteed to be suitable for vegans they can be used to help celebrate Veganuary, too!

Also, and this will be music to the ears of people who suffer from coeliac disease, they are also guaranteed to be gluten free.

They are American style soda drinks, they are not over-carbonated so are nicely refreshing.

What flavours are there? Cream Soda, Blueberry Muffin Soda, Cherry Soda and Root Beer Soda. I absolutely love root beer and Soda Folk Root Beer is one of the better root beers that I have tried in many years. Possibly because they employ only genuine Canadian maple syrup in the recipe? Yes. Probably.

There's also a reduced sugar version of the Root Beer flavour and the Cream Soda flavour, if that's what you desire.

But there's more, too. Soda Folk are really good folk and they have a Good Deeds Charity that they contribute to. And each can features genuine, real life heroes, good folk who have made a difference in their communities and impacted the lives of those around them for the better.

To learn how to order your cans, to work with Soda Folk or to become a stockist please visit them at 

https://www.sodafolk.com.

An apology from That's Food and Drink

We are sorry that posts on That's Food and Drink have been lacking over the last several days, thus interfering with our coverage of Veganuary, but my wife and I who helps me run That's Food and Drink and sister sites including That's Christmas, have both come down with COVID, again.

We do owe some people emails, apologies if we haven't replied but we are both feeling a little better and hopefully all features that are due will be posted on the site by the end of the week.

(Image courtesy of Mareefe and Pixabay.)

Scotland's 'Best Seafood Establishment' launches new 'pocket-friendly' menu

Scotland's 'Best Seafood Establishment' of the year has launched a brand new 'pocket-friendly' menu designed to help foodies beat off the winter blues.

On selected days in January and February, East Coast Restaurant in Musselburgh on the outskirts of Edinburgh will be serving up a series of seafood classics and heart-warming comfort foods for cost-conscious diners.

East Coast, crowned the 'Best Seafood Establishment' in Scotland at the recent Food Awards Scotland, is challenging customers to see who can set the bar for the number of free refills on bowls of mussels every Wednesday. 

The restaurant's new 'Mussel Wednesday' offer is allowing diners to enjoy even more mussels for their money with free unlimited refills on every main portion. East Coast sources its mussels daily from Shetland.

East Coast is also introducing a weekly 'Thursday Club', when evening diners can enjoy 20% off their entire food bill featuring some of the restaurant's most popular dishes, including its 'Harbour Bowl' of calamari, beer battered king prawns, tiger prawns and battered catch of the day.

And each week, every Saturday and Sunday between 4pm and 5pm will be 'Oyster Happy Hour' at East Coast, when seafood lovers can savour one of nature's most delicious treasures for just £1.50 per shuck. East Coast sources the freshest Scottish oysters daily from Cumbrae and Loch Fyne.

Owned by Carlo and Katia Crolla, East Coast is the next chapter for the Crolla family, who have been serving the honest folk of Musselburgh from its venue on North High Street for nearly 50 years.

Carlo Crolla, owner of East Coast in Musselburgh, said: “To help people beat the winter blues this January and February, we're really very excited to be launching our new 'pocket-friendly' menu of offers, including seafood classics and heart-warming comfort food for cost-conscious diners.

“From unlimited re-fills of mussels on Wednesdays, to Oyster Happy Hour at the weekend, and 20% off your entire food bill on Thursdays, we've got a range of offers featuring some of our most popular dishes, designed to suit everyone.

“As the cost-of-living crisis continues to bite, we'd like to thank all our loyal customers who continue support our local, independent and family-run restaurant and takeaway.”

'Best Seafood Establishment' in Scotland is the latest accolade for East Coast, which continues to gain recognition as one of Scotland's best seafood restaurants.

East Coast was voted 'Seafood Restaurant of the Year 2022 – East Lothian Customer Service Excellence Award 2022' in the Scottish Enterprise Awards, as well as 'LUXlife Food & Drink' award for 'Fish & Chip Takeaway of the Year 2022 – Edinburgh & The Lothians'.

In 2022, East Coast Fish & Chips Takeaway was also named the best in Scotland and one of the top 10 in the UK by The Sunday Times. With an estimated 10,500 chippies across the UK, The Sunday Times singled out East Coast Fish and Chips takeaway for the nation's list of top 10 chippies and the only fish and chip shop in Scotland to make the shortlist.

East Coast also won the accolade of one of the 50 best fish and chips shops in the UK for the third year running in 2022 by leading trade publication, Fry Magazine. East Coast is the only chippy in Edinburgh and the Lothians to make Fry Magazine's prestigious list.

For more information on East Coast and to book a table for the restaurant's new 'pocket-friendly' menu, call 0131 665 2079 or visit https://eastcoastrestaurant.co.uk. Terms and conditions apply.

People can also follow East Coast on social media, including Facebook https://www.facebook.com/EastCoastMusselburgh and Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eastcoastmusselburgh

Alternative Burns Night courtesy of Spearhead Whisky

Loch Lomond Distillery's Spearhead single grain Scotch whisky is paying tribute to Rabbie Burns by organising the Spearhead Alternative Burns night with a range of events in bars and pubs across the UK, but predominantly in Scotland. 

With special cocktail menus, live music and entertainment, Spearhead is offering a contemporary Burns Night offering.

Linking up with many bars Spearhead will lead the drinks offering with cocktails and serves appropriate for a Burns Night celebration - see below for what is happening in each bar. Spearhead is distributed in the UK by Mangrove Global.

Spearhead is bold and sweeter in style, similar to a Bourbon. It is crafted at Loch Lomond's distillery in Alexandria, and distilled using a continuous Coffey style still, allowing for a lighter spirit to be created.  The spirit is aged in ex-bourbon barrels before finishing in a combination of fire and infrared-toasted virgin American oak barrels.

Here's a list of the venues participating in the Spearhead Alternative Burns night:

Lower Third – London: A gig with a DJ and a Scottish singer

Acme Fire Cult – London – specials menu with food pairings

Alley cats – Chapel Allerton – Scottish tunes playing all night, spearhead cocktail menu and Scottish food

Sylvan – Glasgow: Cocktail menu and possible music

Fierce – Edinburgh: Cocktail menu and possible music

Lunar – Glasgow: Cocktail menu and possible music

99 – Aberdeen: Cocktail menu and possible music

The Church – Birmingham: Cocktail menu and Scottish menu

Tom Thumb – Newquay: cocktail menu and live music

The Rock Inn – Porthcawl: Cocktail menu and Scottish piper

The Hideout – Bath: cocktail menu and live music

Lost in Leith – Edinburgh: Live music and cocktail menu

Beehive Inn – Edinburgh: Live music and cocktail menu

Summerhall Drinks Lab – Edinburgh: Alternative poetry (Kate Ailes) and cocktail menu

Northern Monk – Manchester: Live music and cocktails

Tonne – Leicester: Cocktails and quiz and Scottish food

What's different about Spearhead whisky?

"The innovative infrared barrels allow for an exact level of toast that extracts natural properties in the barrel, releasing a range of flavours from the wood that are then caramelized to give a complex range of sweet notes. 

"Using a combination of traditionally fire toasted and infrared toasted barrels, the result is ultra-smooth, with a depth and complexity to the flavour. Loch Lomond Distillery is currently the only distillery in Scotland to use infrared barrels to finish whisky.

"Displayed in a striking Bourbon-style bottle, Spearhead offers notes of vanilla pod, blackberries and dark chocolate, making it a deliciously light neat dram, or an exciting base for longer serves. Spearhead is an ideal expression for those who enjoy American and Irish Whiskey and are keen to venture into the world of Scotch."

https://www.lochlomondwhiskies.com

Share the Love This Valentine's Day With Devon Hampers

For those you cherish, or even if you need a little self-love, for this Valentine's Day order a hamper from Devon Hampers nicely filled with food and drink lovingly produced in the heart of the West Country. There are so many to choose from, so here are four favourites.

Prosecco and Truffles Cream Tea Hamper £35 including delivery

A bottle of bubbles, decadent, handmade Devon truffles and the richest, creamiest clotted cream dolloped on a freshly baked scone and topped with the fruitiest Hogs Bottom jam are treats to that will be loved as much as that special person in your life loves you.

Charcuterie Style Picnic Hamper £80.50 including delivery

For those who prefer a savoury hamper on Valentine's Day, the Charcuterie Style Picnic Hamper is the perfect romantic feast, whether you wrap up warm and head outdoors, or enjoy your nibbles in front of the fire and dream of long, lazy summer days together.

This hamper is filled to the brim with delicious tastes and flavours for the perfect feast. There are award winning cheeses, Cornish Charcuterie, Devon-made chutney and crackers, nuts and olives, a slab of creamy Cornish salted butter, and artisan bread, baked in Devon, all to be enjoyed with a glass of Lyme Bay Sparkling Rose.

Cornish Lust Cream Liquor and Chocolates £39.95 including delivery

Devon Hampers Cornish Lust Cream Liquor and Chocolates Hamper is presented in the sweetest wooden heart-shaped tray. It's filled with delicious chocolate caramel love hearts, wrapped in red foil, and a bottle of the most decadent of drinks - Cornish Lust. 

This smooth and refreshing drink has a wine base blended with strawberries and fresh cream and is best served over ice, and accompanied with chocolate caramel love hearts of course - a perfect gift for your Valentine's.

Devon Love Hamper £58.95 including delivery

Send a little love from the West Country with this gorgeous hamper filled with delicious gifts carefully selected from Devon's finest artisan makers.

Relax and unwind with a bottle of pink bubbles from Lyme Bay winery, and enjoy while nibbling on the most sublime Willie's Strawberries and Cream Salted Caramel Pearls that come in a truly luxury chocolate box and handmade Devon fudge, made with love on the foothills of Dartmoor.

Sourcing only the very best and choicest produce from the West Country, Devon Hampers is the south west's leading hamper company giving the choice of over 100 hampers, delivered direct to your door, with a popular Create Your Own Hamper option too.

Vegan gluten free and low sugar options are available and there are a choice of three packages - classic cardboard box, printed box and a traditional wicker hamper.

Devon Hampers works with in excess of 30 local artisan suppliers and offers over 9,000 products to ensure it supports other thriving local businesses.

https://www.devonhampers.com