Where only the very best will do in food

May 9 2008 by Francesca Craggs, The Journal

IN the not too distant past, organic food was expensive and difficult to find. Supermarkets didn’t stock it and if you heard of a farm selling organic produce, it often involved a long journey to unfamiliar rural areas. Eating organically was reserved for the determined, and well off, few.

Times have changed. A huge increase in environmental awareness, as well as the continuing debate on GM foods, has led to an increased demand for organic food.

One of the major changes to the availability of organic foods is the growth of the organic box scheme. The boxes contain locally grown, organic produce delivered direct to your door. No more dragging heavy bags from the supermarket, impulse buys and a bin full of packaging.

And most people would be surprised to find out just exactly what you can get delivered now. Meat lovers can enjoy organic meat and poultry boxes, as well as eggs, milk, cream, cheese, yoghurt, fruit and bread. G and S Organics is a small, family-run business on a 33-acre farm in Longframlington. Launched three years ago by Lee Gray and Beth Sutherland, the couple grow vegetables and some fruit and sell these through their organic box scheme. They also keep pigs, chickens, sheep and a few cattle.

They source from a wide range of farms that produce some of the finest organic food that the countryside of North Northumberland can offer and their pork, lamb, beef, chicken, eggs, and vegetables are all produced to high organic standards.

Ridley’s Fish and Game are probably the only small independent traditional fishmongers, game and food producers left in the North East. Established in 1991, the business is renowned for its quality and service.

It specialises in local day-caught fish, but also sells a fine selection of national and international fish and seafood. It stocks Craster kippers and smoked salmon, as well as Swallows of Seahouses smoked cod and haddock. All game is seasonal from local estates and prepared in-house at the game larder. The food is additive free and made to own-recipes. All milk is from Pedigree Dairy in Slaley and the free range eggs are from Kearsly Farm at Ingoe. Vegetables are brought locally and used seasonally in all of its dishes which are produced fresh for sale in its outlets and Belsay Post Office, where special orders can be taken.

Deep in the heart of Northumberland is the North East’s only organic flour mill. Gilchesters Organics’ mill at Stamfordham gently stone grinds rare breed grains into some of the finest flour that you can buy. The Gilchesters process is special from start to finish. The rare breed grain is grown in pure, unadulterated soil, free from pesticides, herbicides, fungicides and agrochemicals. Only when the time is absolutely right is the grain harvested and then the mill goes to work slowly and gently unlocking the goodness, ensuring a better gluten structure and leaving the concentrations of vitamins intact.

Gilchesters only mills what it grows itself, so it can promise total traceability from seed, to soil, to stone grinding.

Northumbrian Quality Meats bases its trading philosophy on a simple basis – successful partnerships built on trust and respect. The business is a producer of the finest Organic Aberdeen Angus beef and Organic Scottish Blackface sheep. On its home farm, the process starts with its terminal sire bull (Rawburn Duke of Roxburgh). This bull was purchased from one of the top breeders in the country and is from American blood lines. He was selected for the eating quality of his progeny rather than growth. All aspects of best practice of production are addressed. This includes genetic eating quality of the beef, animal husbandry on the farm, diet and growth rates of animals, slaughtering and processing, and individual maturation to customers’ requirements.

“Low on mileage yet high on taste” is the ethos at the Blagdon Farm Shop. It offers a wide range of delicious produce direct from the farm. From free range and rare breed meat to the fresh seasonal vegetables, all food comes from just a few fields away.

The Blagdon Farm Shop knows exactly how its food is produced and reared and everything is fully traceable. It aims to provide its customers with the freshest seasonal produce possible. Its kitchen offers a delicious range of prepared food, handmade in small batches by its dedicated team of chefs who use the best Blagdon and other local ingredients wherever possible. The shop was recently awarded the prestigious Best Farm Shop Butchers in the Country title.

A new shopping experience awaits those who shop at Meldon Park Kitchen Garden. The shop there is located in the old potting sheds of the historic walled garden. The shop stocks a range of quality local, regional, national and international food and drink. There is also a range of garden gifts and paraphernalia, as well as seasonal produce grown in the garden.

Food Local Food delivers once a week all your weekly groceries, in a 30-mile radius of Morpeth. Suppliers include Wallington Farm Shop, the Cake Root Company, Hunter Farm for its Goats Brie, and with new lines from Ridley’s Fish and Game. Look out for new season’s asparagus from Tritlington and the best sausage selection you can find. www.foodlocalfood.com

At Durham Indoor Market, you’ll be amazed at the range and quality of goods, from haberdashery and quilting materials to handmade quality leather shoes. It also houses one of the North East’s few walk-in Cigar Humidors.

You’ll also find 10 quality food outlets offering a superb range of produce. Its food traders are long established family businesses.

Stallholders include Ian, from IK Fish, voted Durham City’s best small retailer and overall Retailer of the Year in 2007, and Stephen and Alison, of Teesdale Game, which stocks a wide range of poultry, game and over 120 varieties of English and continental cheeses. You can enjoy locally sourced meat and homemade pies from Pipers the Butchers, established in 1890, while Stuart at the Gourmet House has a deli with loads of local produce, a good range of Fairtrade products and a variety of curry sauces. The Country Barn farm and coffee shop in Widdrington Village offers spectacular views of Druridge Bay. Whether you’re after a light lunch, afternoon tea or a bowl of soup to warm you up, everything is homemade. Even the coffee served in the coffee shop has been specially blended by Pumphreys. The Gift Shop, located upstairs in the coffee shop, is brimming with ideas for every occasion.

Co-owner Sarah Annett said: “The farm shop boasts a fully-stocked butchery counter with succulent, tender beef and lamb from our own farm. Our free-range chickens are supplied from Thornbeck – they are a Rick Stein gold label award-winning bird with fabulous taste.

“You’ll go a long way to get better pork. Tom Burn, from Hunting Hall in Beal, supplies us with rare breed pork that even gives crackling on the pork chops. We also use the rare breed pork to make all our own sausages, including the ever popular Country Barn Sizzler with peaches and Shropshire blue cheese.”

Donald Gilberts traditional butchers in Gosforth Shopping Centre select the finest local quality meats. From TV chefs’ recipes to dinner parties, their aim is to provide the very best.

Recently signed up to the ever growing www.etownuk.com, you will soon be able to shop online at Donald Gilberts, where you can select from Northumberland lamb, dry cured bacon from Broom Mill Farm and gold label free range poultry from Thornbeck Farm. Donald Gilberts’ butcher Steve Gilroy says that by using local farms, they ensure low food miles and support for local farmers.

George Payne Butchers, of Brunton Park, Gosforth, remains one of the region’s best-known traditional independent family butchers.

Only the very best will suffice for Payne’s, whose keynote aim is to source the highest quality locally-fed and reared meat products, particularly rare breed beef, lamb and pork.

George Payne said: “We have taken every step possible to cement relationships with local meat producers on our doorstep in Northumberland by forging pioneering field-to-table partnerships. This provides total control to both supplier and buyer, allowing us to hand-pick only the finest quality meat products from recognised British breeds and prepare them carefully in readiness for consumption.

“Sourcing our meat direct from the farm gives us a much greater degree of hands-on control over the whole process, coupled with full traceability. Importantly, it also minimises the stress on animals. It’s all about keeping down food miles and helping to rebuild and renew local economies and communities by encouraging people to produce and purchase food locally.”