Blog Forman and Field

Follow the link below to listen to Lance chatting to Peter White on last Friday’s You and Yours program for Radio 4. Peter came to visit us recently to take a tour round the smokehouse and our new restaurant Formans London in particular. They talked about the new premises but also revisited the story of our Olympic relocation and compulsory puchase battle.

Click here to listen: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b00l36gv (available until Friday 3rd July

I always struggle to think of good ideas for birthday gifts and other special occasions. To be honest, I just don’t have time to shop, and I’m sure many of you are the same.

For that reason I am delighted to introduce The Handpicked Collection who are offering Forman & Field customers a £5 Gift Voucher for orders over £30 placed up the end of August. To claim your gift voucher click on the voucher below, choose what you want to buy and then enter HP12 into the Voucher Code box at the checkout.

All the products are selected by a panel of “influential trendsetters” – have no fear, I’m not one of them! – so the quality is excellent.

Lance had the pleasure of talking to Robert Elms live on BBC Radio London as part of his ‘Made in London’ feature this week. They discussed the history of Formans and salmon smoking in the East End, as well as our relocation to our new home on Fish Island.

Until the 22nd of June you can hear the interview in full via the BBC iPlayer, click on the link below and scroll through the programe to around 2 hours 7 minutes to listen.

Click here: Robert_Elms_15_06_2009

Forman & Field supplier Carroll’s Heritage Potatoes will feature on the climax of the fiercely contested series between the nations finest chefs at 8pm tonight. Ross Kemp hosts a home coming banquet for the British troops returning from Afghanistan. The theme of the meal is “A Taste of Home”, and it will be a memorable feast!

The gathering is held at Halton House, Buckinghamshire where chef Kenny Atkinson will be representing the North East and cooking a starter of beef and carrot salad with horseradish and Shetland Black crisps made with potatoes from Forman & Field supplier Carroll’s Heritage.

Watch the show at 8pm on BBC2 tonight.

We were really pleased to host a session of the Drawing London Group at our smokery restaurant Formans last week. There’s a great review of it and some cracking sketches of the view from our from our balcony on Katherine Tyrrell’s blog, have a read by clicking HERE.

We had a sizzling review of our bacon in the Observer Food Monthly recently. 5 stars and beating competition from M&S, Waitrose and Tesco’s.

Forman & Field Bacon

“Pretty damned good. I haven’t had bacon like this for a while. Hickory-smoked, sweet and porky. And a nice thick cut. Lovely.” Tom Conran

Read the review in full by CLICKING HERE

The best bacon in the country could be yours too CLICK HERE!

There have been some interesting stories relating to organic food of late.

On the 20th of April The Telegraph broke the story that the supermarket yoghurt brand ‘Rachel’s Organic’ was dropping the ‘O’ word from its name. Apparently sales of organic produce have been dropping off since the second half of 2008.

The Telegraph 20th April 2009

Then The Times followed up the same story with more of a general hunch that the 4 x 4 brigade were abandoning organic flagships like Daylesford and joining the bargain hunter queues at their local Aldi instead.

The Times May 10th 2009

We’ve never been particularly big on organic, although we’re rather partial to Neal’s Yard’s organic creme fraiche and we’d never say no to one of Popina’s glorious organic tarts. The movement was originally about eating high quality, natural food with minimal additives. Our problem with it is that it has become a rulebook the supermarkets could bend to charge more for food that was no better. What’s more, the small producers who make the best, most natural food often can’t afford the investment in systems and production techniques necessary to meet the criteria.

Organic Creme Fraiche

I’ll give you two examples. At the Denham Estate they rear rare breed White Park cattle in an ancient apple orchard, surely the most idyllic farming environment imaginable. They were unable to gain organic status for the herd because in order to keep the cattle in the orchard they need to use some harmless herbicide to stop the thistles taking over and rendering it useless for livestock. It’s the same sort of ridiculous logic that means the only organic fish are farmed and not wild. I ask you, which of the two is more in keeping with what consumers want when they spend extra on the organic label?

Shoppers who want to put better food on their plates may well be turning away from organic but our experience is not that those people are heading down market but that they are instead buying food from small producers who embody everything the organic movement was originally meant to be, whether or not it says so on the label.

If you’re on our mailing list you’ll be receiving your June Specials this week, tailored specially to you with your own offers and favourite foods. If you haven’t signed up yet just click here and fill in your details to ensure you don’t miss out. Online our Summer BBQ and Picnic departments are open for business and will be full of the best produce.

New Season Asparagus

NEW SEASON FRESH VEGETABLES

If you’ve been disappointed by the bland, poly-tunnel forced stuff that’s knocking around the isles at the moment, restore your faith with The Goodmans’ Asparagus. It’s slowly grown on their family farm, freshly picked for you and utterly delicious with our Hollandaise Sauce.

You may not have tried Elephant Garlic but we’d heartily recommend it. It has a mild, sweet flavour with a hint of garlic and is wonderful when roasted.

Epicure are the first of the new season of potatoes from Lucy and Anthony Carroll’s Heritage Potatoes - Observer Food Monthly’s Producer of the Year 2009. Steam or boil and don’t skimp on the butter.

Our own Chef Lloyd and pie maker extraordinaire Simple Simon have both been inspired by the Med for their new recipes this month. If you’re looking for a simple supper for two you’ll not go wrong with Lloyd’s rich and creamy Roasted Red Pepper and Thyme Soup, nor Simple Simon’s Mediterranean Vegetable Pie with Feta.

Salmon Brochettes in Chapel Down Beer Batter

A FISHMONGERS, A BUTCHERS AND A DELICATESSEN

In a perfect world every high street would boast a full set of traditional food stores. If you’re not lucky enough to live in such a utopia, or you’d just prefer to save the stress, cost and the carbon guilt of a trek to the shops, we’ll be happy to bring the best food available right to your door.

Our long-standing relationship with Scottish netsmen means we secure the pick of the new season Fresh Wild Scottish Salmon and the best price possible. In the last week we’ve been fortunate to receive some truly exceptional fish from Loch Ness and have been offering them at 30% cheaper than elsewhere, call 0208 5252 352 for more details and to order.

Chef Lloyd combines the convenience of a ready meal with first rate British ingredients and top restaurant standard cooking. This month may we recommend Salmon Brochettes in Chapel Down Beer Batter, Dry Cured Ham and Leek Pie Filling and Free Range Creedy Carver Duck Breast with Enoki Mushrooms and Plum Sauce.

We’re also rather excited about the barbecue season and will be celebrating with Spatchcocked Poussin with Garlic & Herb Butter and The Denham Estate’s Rare Breed Beef or Venison Sausages.

Baked Strawberry and Coconut Tart

NEW - THE PATISSERIE SPECIALS

We love a steamed pud as much as the next Georgie Porgie but there’s something magical about a delicate tart made with summer fruits. The new season of strawberries is upon us, their ever so slightly tart sweetness works a treat in Lloyd’s Baked Strawberry and Coconut Tart. Popina stick to a classic English combination in their Gooseberry & Elderflower Tart, all enveloped in a creamy custard filling.Either of this month’s tarts will go hand in hand with Neal’s Yard’s fabulous Creme Fraiche.

We think we’ve finally found a rival to L’Artisan du Chocolat in London Chocolatier Paul Wayne Gregory. He’s a regular winner at the highly respected Academy of Chocolate Awards and this Pure Indulgence selection demonstrates why he is a worthy winner. It’s the best we’ve tasted in years.

We had the pleasure of hosting a recent Wine Guild of the United Kingdom event, here are some pictures from the day. If you would like to recreate the menu, just click on the the links underneath the images.

Citrus Salmon Canapes awaiting the first guests

Click here to order Citrus Salmon Canapes

Starter of Lond Cure smoked salmon with buckwheat blinis and traditional accompaniments

Click here to order Smoked Salmon with Buckwheat Blinis

The view from tables across to the new 2012 Olympics stadium

Wine Guild members enjoying their lunch

Main course of Halibut with artichokes, served on herb mash

Click here to order Halibut with Artichokes & Citrus

Click here to order Herb Mash

And finally... Steamed sponge puddings with Tate & Lyle golden syrup, served in golden syrup tins

Click here to order Steamed Sponge Puddings with Golden Syrup

There’s an awful lot of bacon on the market. If you’re a pig farmer you’re in a race against shelflife, you’ve got just a few days from slaughter to get your porkers sold to customers. For many farmers that’s why bacon and ham production becomes attractive. The loin and belly can be preserved as streaky and back bacon, the back legs for hams and that’s most of the animal taken care of and good to be stored for several weeks at least. The more salt and sugar you can get in to your pork the longer it will keep generally, if you can get more water into it in the form of brine then the weight increases and you’ve got more meat to sell.

None of the above makes for very exciting food on your plate, who wants to eat bacon that’s borne of nothing more than extending shelflife and adding weight? Surely what you want is something borne of a passion to make amazing food, to take a  piece of good fresh pork and through careful butchery and painstaking curing make it into something amazing.

Andrew, Christine and Will Smith (that’s Andrew there) have been rearing their own free range pigs to the highest standards of welfare for the last 20 years. They prepare a variety of traditional butcher’s counter products including staggeringly good Dry Cured Honey Roast Hams and the best bacon we’ve ever tasted. We’re delighted to include their bacon on our menu, it’s succulent with the right amount of fat to it, has a deep flavour from the quality of pork they use and real texture from the traditional dry cure.

Click here to order the best bacon there is.