St George’s Day-English Food Is Not a Joke
British food and British Ingredients have gone through a complete metamorphous in the last 10-15 years. Great award winning restaurants have sprung up all over the country.
The country is awash with farmers markets selling quality grown and produced ingredients to a very savvy British public. These markets are more than just a place to buy great food; they are vibrant social gatherings where foodies can swap information and ideas.

With in 7 miles of were I live there’s a goat farm producing cheeses & free range chicken eggs, a farmer who raises Barbury ducks, another farmer who raises award winning Black Aberdeen Angus Beef, free-range pork and lamb, lots of asparagus between now and early June and that is followed closely by the short but sweet English Strawberry season, the scent of the strawberries during picking can sometime be smelt from the road. New varieties of cheeses being produced locally such as Worcester Gold, Elgar and Hereford hop.

Throughout the year there is now an almost endless amount food festivals both national and local that celebrate the cornucopia of home grown ingredients. Offering opportunities to UK Foodies to relearn about historical foods of Britain and enjoy and sample the new foods of these sceptered isles such as a Balti’s a type of Indian cooking proudly born in Birmingham.

So if you still think you know about British Food………..maybe its time you paid us a visit!!!

British food and drink exports have broken previous trading records and reached an all time high in 2006, according to figures released today (20 April) by market development consultancy, Food from Britain (FF. Finishing the year at £10.5billion, food and drink exports have increased by 5.8% in the last 12 months alone, exceeding the previous highest level of £10.1 billion achieved a decade ago.

P.s Strangely enough this habit of bashing British Food in the US is repeated in the UK were US restaurants are portrayed as places where you can only get huge portions of mediocre food. Having lived for 13 years in the US and now back in the UK for the last 13 years I have found that most of the people criticizing either have never visited the other country or they are basing their opinion on an experience from years ago. I think the other problem that perpetuates this stereo-typing is most visitors don’t seek out good places to eat they just go to the tourist traps.

With St George’s Day about 2 weeks away I thought I’d make my next recipe very, very British. Bakewell Tart is a well-known English dessert though out the country but what you may not know is its origins are quite different. Created in the Derbyshire town of Bakewell in the 19th century. The original dish had a puff pastry crust instead of a short crust pastry of the version most of us are familiar with. The other big difference is the texture of the filling which in this recipe is eggier and lighter making this Bakewell dessert the number one in my book.

Ingredients
350g (14oz) puff pastry
75g (3oz) unsalted butter
90g (3 ½ oz) caster sugar
5 large eggs
125g (4 ½ oz ground almonds)
Few drops of almond essence
4 Tbsp seedless raspberry jam
125g (4 ½ oz) fresh raspberries

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 190 C if fan assisted or 200 C if the oven has no fan (gas mark 6).
2. Lightly butter a 10 inch quiche dish and roll the pastry out until it is about 4mm thick.
3. Once you have lined your dish with the pastry don’t trim and of the excess.
4. Gently spread the raspberry jam over the base of the pastry then use ¾ of the fresh raspberries and crush them gently with a dessertspoon.
5. Cream the sugar with the butter and almond essence until white and fluffy.
6. Gradually add one beaten egg at a time, then add a little of the ground almonds, beating on a medium to low speed.
7. Continue to altenate between the eggs and ground almonds until you have mix them all in.
8. Pour the mix into the pastry case then use a palette knife to gently spread evenly.
9. Now use a very sharp knife to trim off the excess pastry and crimp the edges.
10. Bake in the centre shelf of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the filling is set and lightly brown.

To Serve
Dust lightly with icing sugar and decorate with the remaining raspberries.
Serve warm with custard or single cream- or cold as a cake.

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