COMMUNITY groups and charities keen to plant or extend community orchards this spring can apply for help from Somerset-based Thatchers Cider. The Somerset cider-maker’s Community Orchard Project is being launched this month, with 250 apple trees to be donated to groups either undertaking new planting this year, or looking to extend a community orchard they…
THE ever-inventive Marcus Fergusson at Feltham’s Farm near Wincanton has produced an enticing addition to his range: a bloomy, white-rind organic cheese called Gert Lush, which came out just in time for Christmas and New Year cheeseboards. As any Somerset person knows, “Gert Lush” is a dialect phrase meaning “really lovely” (lovely as in attractive),…
THE Trethowan brothers, who make award-winning farmhouse Cheddar and Caerphilly at Hewish in north Somerset, have won the Best British Cheese award at this year’s World Cheese Awards, held at Oviedo in Spain, during the Asturias Paraíso Natural International Cheese Festival. Overall, the Trethowans’ Gorwydd Caerphilly took seventh place. The World Champion was a soft…
SOMERSET cider-maker Thatchers, which has more than 500 acres of orchards and the largest and most diverse collection of apples used in cider making, is working with the University of Bristol on a project using DNA fingerprinting techniques to identify apple tree varieties. With many old and heritage varieties of apple trees beginning to disappear,…
THE 2021 World Cheese Awards, taking place in Oviedo, Spain, on Wednesday 3rd November, have received more than 4,000 entries from a record-breaking 45 countries. They include not only the great cheese-making nations, France, Spain, Italy, England and Switzerland, but also India, Guatemala, Japan, Colombia, Israel and Ukraine. The 33rd annual awards are taking place…
WEST Dorset artisan charcuterie producers Capreolus have once again received a list of two and three stars in this year’s Great Taste Awards, including the prestigious three stars for Wild Venison Chorizo and Dorset Soft Salami. David and Karen Richards, who have been creating delicious artisan charcuterie since 2009, also received three two-star awards for…
THREE outstanding meat products from the South West have received the coveted three stars in the newly announced 2021 Great Taste Awards. The world’s leading food award scheme attracts entries from around the world. This year 14,113 different products, from 108 countries, were judged at the Gillingham HQ of organisers the Guild of Fine Food,…
WEST Dorset charcuterie specialists Capreoleus have added to their long list of awards by taking a gold double in this year’s Taste of the West Awards, the Special Edition Pannage Ham, a slowly matured, air-dried ham using rare bread pigs from the New Forest, and Venison and Green Peppercorn Salami. David and Karen Richards have…
ONE of the country’s best-known and tastiest sea salts, the long-established Maldon Salt has a striking new look. The introduction of the new look comes with a call to chefs, home cooks and foodies to “Seize the seasoning”. The contemporary new design, with its trademarked diamond pattern, will start to appear on supermarket shelves from…
THE Global Cheese Awards, part of the annual Frome Agricultural and Cheese Show, which has been held every year since 1861 (apart from 2020), will be back, on 11th September, with a new cheese section aimed specifically at artisan producers. The pandemic stopped both the show and the Global Cheese Awards as well as damaging…