WHEN Cirencester-based Rave Coffee got together with Lacock’s Coco Chemistry the result was destined to be delicious – a treat for sophisticated chocolate lovers – a big, blonde, crunchy, caffeinated Easter egg that you won’t want to share with the children (or anyone else!) Over the years, Rave has developed a reputation for its exciting…
THE Royal Bath and West show ground hosts the Bath & West Food & Drink Festival over the weekend 21st and 22nd March, as well as the 30th anniversary British & Irish Cheese Awards, on Friday 20th. Featuring talks, markets, demos, tours and more, the third annual Food & Drink Festival will be staged around…
GELATO from Bridport, sausages from Wimborne, elderflower liqueur from Kingsbury Episcopi and hogget from Gillingham are among the outstanding West Country products to be awarded the top three stars n this year4’s Great Taste Awards, run by the Guild of Fine Food at Gillingham. They are among the 1.9% of the total record entry of…
WHEN we were young, salt came in an instantly recognisable tin, with a cute little pouring “beak” and a drawing of a child chasing a chicken and pouring salt on it. Nowadays, a tin like the one illustrated here is a collector’s item! Salt has been an essential in the human diet since the earliest…
A £65,000 crowd-funding campaign has been launched by Greg and Nicky Parsons of Devon of Devon cheesemaker Sharpham Dairy, to enable their business near Totnes to invest in renewable energy and water recycling. The campaign, called Curd Is The Word, offers cheese-centered rewards that people can bid for, ranging from £20 to £2,000. As well…
PHILIPPA Davis, a Shaftesbury-based chef and food-writer, has a new six-part food and travel television series, available on Prime Video, celebrating the wonderful food and drink of Dorset. A Taste of Dorset takes Philippa all over the county – from Cranborne Chase to the Devon border, meeting some of the outstanding producers who have made…
AN aged raw sheep’s milk, Queijo de Ovelha Amanteigado from the Portuguese maker Quinto do Pomar, has been crowned world champion at the 2024 World Cheese Awards. The washed rind cheese from Serra da Gardunha is a soft, buttery ivory-coloured cheese with a mild flavour. It is made with vegetarian rennet that comes from a…
ONE of Somerset’s finest traditional unpasteurised farmhouse Cheddar makers, Keen’s, based at Moorhayes Farm near Wincanton, has been named as the first People’s Cheese Champion, after three rounds of public voting in a new award organised by campaigning group The Real Cheese Project. Keen’s Extra Mature Cheddar was one of four finalists, voted in the…
A LOT of Hollywood and television stars seem to be drawn to the world of spirits – Ryan Reynolds, Brad Pitt and Emma Watson all have their own gin brands, and Outlander star Sam Heughan has a malt whisky. Now former Top Gear presenter James May has launched his own gin, made in Wiltshire, where…
THE spectacular late 19th century Grand Hall at Battersea Arts Centre provided an atmospheric and spacious setting for this year’s Golden Fork Awards, the climax of the Guild of Fine Food’s Great Taste Awards. And there was a great success for the West Country with the New Forest-based Lyburn Cheese winning the Golden Fork for…