food – Dealing with Dough

How to be self-sufficient

January 5, 2018January 5, 2018 Hugo Harrison3 Comments

Screen Shot 2018-01-05 at 01.41.36.png — The beginnings of marmalade.

Self-sufficiency is a funny thing. At one time I imagine we all provided for ourselves; our belongings, food, clothing and shelter all a product of our own doing. Through time, however, we have become increasingly dependent on others to live. All of our food, for example, can now be sourced in one 4,000 square foot building. Fresh, dried, and frozen ingredients from all over the world to cater for our every want and desire, whenever we like.

For the most part, this is a wonderful thing – time we would have spent hunting and gathering can now be spent learning, traveling, starting families and forging careers. On the flip side, this disconnect from the natural order of things is, in my view, damaging our bodies and the environment we live in (PREACH!).

Screen Shot 2018-01-05 at 01.23.57.png — Homemade butter – definitely worth it(?).

In 2018 I want to get closer to the food I eat, and i’m going to show you how you can, too. I’m not going off grid or moving into the mountains – but I want to revisit processes, techniques and ingredients that, for whatever reason, have slipped from our day-to-day repertoire. NOTE: I’ll still be visiting shops and the farmer’s market – this isn’t about complete self-sufficiency, it’s about providing yourself with delicious, homemade food.

I’ll post new recipes and videos to give you simple, affordable ideas for a taste of that #homesteadlife. No artificial ingredients or unnecessary packaging, just gorgeous food you’ll want to make again and again.

So let’s hear it, what do you want to see? Want to know how to make your own bread and ditch the supermarket stuff? An easy recipe for homemade bacon? The simplest guide to making your own cheese? Comment below or message me on Instagram or Twitter.

Are we losing our taste for gooseberries?

February 1, 2017March 18, 2017 Hugo HarrisonLeave a comment

When was the last time you tasted a gooseberry? The encounter may well have been short and sour – you could even be one of a growing number of people whose first experience of a gooseberry is their last. In the not-too-distant future, however, these encounters (pleasurable or not) could be few and far between.

In August 2015, The Telegraph reported that ‘the death of the British gooseberry is nigh’ – but how close are we to the extinction of this heritage fruit from the British isles?

19469903044_f65d5dfab7_o — A basket of gooseberries.

Piers Pool’s fruit farm, High House, is one of the few places left in the country that you can pick your own (PYO) gooseberries. ‘Their status somehow has changed,’ he said, ‘from being a sort-of staple to something that is a little bit more select and sought-after’.

The Suffolk farm has been growing gooseberries on a small-scale for 15 years. Before that, when Piers’ father ran the farm, the gooseberry field was nearly five times larger, spread over two and a half acres. ‘When we used to open [the field] for pick your own there would be cars parked all the way up that road and the public would come in here and clear the lot in one weekend – it was just unbelievable.’

Piers now sells an 100th of that quantity over the entire six week gooseberry season, but what is driving this fall in popularity? ‘Gooseberries, like rhubarb, are not something you can just buy and put in your mouth like you can with strawberries or raspberries,’ Piers said. ‘I think our cooking habits and our eating habits have changed, and now I think people aren’t so keen on the things that you actually have to cook and do something with.’

There is, according to Piers, still a small and steady demand for them as a ‘seasonal rarity’, but their short shelf life and limited availability make it difficult for the majority of consumers to buy them. On paper at least, there is very little incentive for farmers to invest in this small, grape-like fruit – so why grow them at all?

‘The sort of fruit farm that we are, we like to grow a little bit of everything,’ explained Piers. High House can also boast a number of apple and pear varieties, cherries, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries and a rarer relative of the latter – loganberries.

‘They’re not particularly difficult [to grow],’ Piers admitted, ‘but you’ve got to pay attention to detail…the biggest difference in growing gooseberries over the last few years is that pigeons are a massive problem.

‘We’ve had to start netting the gooseberries to keep [the pigeons] off, otherwise we would lose the whole crop.’ This intervention is only driving the cost of production higher, something that is not ideal for growers and buyers alike. Will Piers continue to grow gooseberries? ‘As long as the demand, albeit on small scale, is there.’

Sandows grows out of London

April 23, 2015April 30, 2015 Hugo HarrisonLeave a comment

Cold brew coffee. Source: Sandows London.

As of this week (22/04) the iconic British cold brew, Sandows London, will be available to purchase outside of the capital.

Three locations across the country will stock the drink; Water Lane Coffeehouse in Canterbury, The Pear Cafe in Bristol and Hoxton North in Harrogate. Nationwide distribution is available through Turners Fine Foods, also. Australian-born Hugh Duffie is one half of the increasingly popular London brand. “It’s going to be awesome to finally be available outside of London,” he said, “After a successful year last year, it feels great to kind of grow out of it [London].”

Sandows cold brew at Water Lane Coffee, Canterbury. Source: DWD. — Sandows cold brew at Water Lane Coffeehouse, Canterbury. Source: DWD.

Admittedly, the word ‘successful’ is a modest representation of the last 12 months that Hugh and his business partner, Luke Suddards, have had. In February they launched an equity-based crowd funding campaign via Crowdcube, reaching 124% of their target £100,000 in just 53 hours. Hugh explained that in just 48 hours they had sent out over 100 copies of their business plan: “It was a crazy couple of days, and a bit of a strain on our internet! What was most surreal was that some people were investing without even seeing our business plan, I mean that’s just awesome.”

Most recently Luke & Hugh launched a tasty collaboration with Fourpure Brewery. The coffee pale ale, Morning Moon, was premiered at Fourpure Brewery HQ last Saturday (18/04), selling over 50 litres in just four hours. Their exploration into the boundaries of cold brew will continue at this years London Coffee Festival, where they will be serving both the nitrogenated version of their cold brew (currently available on draught at White Lyan, Hoxton Road) as well as cold brew G&Ts.

The Sandows bar. Source: Sandows London.

To see a full Sandows stocklist, click here. For tickets to this years London Coffee Festival, click here.

Sandows London Twitter feed.

Sandows London Instagram feed.

Student suppers.

November 24, 2014November 24, 2014 Hugo HarrisonLeave a comment

My Instagram feed seems to be a magnet for comments from my Dad, which usually run along the lines of: “remember you’re a student,” but can escalate as far as “Celeriac gratin!? You’re a f**king student!”. Just recently, after plunging nearly all of my income into a new project (blog post to follow soon), I began to realise – I am a student.

If the meals I make were movies, as a director I am a Steven Spielberg/Quentin Tarantino hybrid. I don’t cook regularly, but when I do I tend to spend a lot of money (not just on ingredients but utensils I will probably never use again), I create mess, occasionally there is blood – but the soundtrack is good.

Student suppers are my low-budget, independent films starring actors you’ve either never heard of, or that you believed to be dead. They are films that are initially made out of necessity but do occasionally win an award, which is what is most important.

Over the coming months I will be posting low-budget meals that are not only quick but delicious. If you have any suggestions, questions, or would simply like advice on low-cost cooking, please get in touch.

H x