YOU probably know that rice is grown in Europe – mainly in Italy. Carnaroli, arborio and vialone are three varieties of rice which are used for risotto and are readily available in good food shops and supermarkets. You might think that was “European rice” – but in fact European rice is something different, grown in…
PEOPLE who love goat’s milk cheese will need no introduction to Tor, one of the many fine cheeses made by Roger Longman of White Lake Cheese, based at Bagborough close to the Royal Bath & West showground near Shepton Mallet. Already a three-star Great Taste Award-winner, the ash-covered, pyramid-shaped Tor has just won the Best…
THE highlight of this year’s inaugural Bath & West Food and Drink Festival, at the show ground near Shepton Mallet over the weekend 23rd and 24th March, will be the British Cheese Awards. About 600 British cheeses will be judged on Friday 22nd, in the 20th annual edition of the awards, one of the largest…
THE south west’s farmers, producers and food purveyors will be celebrated at a major new event in the regional food calendar, the Bath & West Food and Drink Festival at the Royal Bath and West Showground near Shepton Mallet on 23rd and 24th March. On Friday 22nd, the site will also host the British Cheese…
THE recent second anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine was a sombre reminder of the trauma and horror that Urkainians have endured – and the continuing need to support the refugees who are living in this area. If most of us didn’t know much about Ukraine’s distinctive culture and history before the Russian onslaught,…
LUCA Silvestrini’s Protein dance company comes to Somerset and Dorset in March with the acclaimed contemporary dance theatre piece, May Contain Food, May Contain You. The local dates continue with Artsreach at West Lulworth village hall on Wednesday 13th and the Exchange at Sturminster Newton on Thursday 14th. Have you ever been swayed by the…
A CELEBRATION of the Dorset dialect poet, linguist and polymath William Barnes has become an annual fixture in the calendar of Dorset’s rural touring arts charity Artsreach and the Ridgeway Singers and Band. This year the event, Tea with William Barnes, will be at The Exchange at Sturminster Newton on Sunday 25th February at 3pm,…
NURSERIES in Gillingham, Wimborne, Wareham, Christchurch and Yeovil are among a group of 32 early education centres taking part in a new food project, introducing sustainable, nutritious and delicious wild meat to the menu at educational establishments nationally. . The wild meat introduced to the Tops Nurseries group includes venison and feathered game which has…
SAY “Wassail” to most people in the West Country and they picture January-cold orchards, raining or even snowing, with a bunch of cider-fuelled people, many with leaves in their hair, gathered round a bonfire, celebrating the ancient heritage of cider. An event at Bruton’s At The Chapel on Saturday 20th January provides an introduction to…
IT is one of the world’s most popular meats, but goat meat is not widely appreciated in this country. The Salisbury Plain-based business, The Gourmet Goat Farmer, is trying to change this. Goat meat is eaten by three-quarters of the global population and makes up 10 per cent of all meat consumption worldwide. The reason…