Blog Forman and Field

At last it’s time to release our new Easter menu, it feels like it’s been a long winter!

Celebrate longer, sunnier (don’t blink or you’ll miss it) days, an abundance of bank holidays and have a right royal feast!

Our menu includes a fabulous new range of Easter hampers, seasonal meat and fish dishes and of course more sweet treats and chocolate than you can shake a dark chocolate-salted caramel-popping-candy-lolly-stick at!

Our latest newsletter gives the highlights here: http://icont.ac/Gjd

Or just go to our special Easter section online and have a look for yourself, happy Easter everyone!

Easter’s almost here at last, that means we have a bundle of new Spring produce to unveil in the next week or so. Make sure you’re signed up to receive our email newsletters if you’d like to be in on the online preview. Pop your email address in the box just to the left of this post and we’ll be sure you’re the first in line.

Easter Hampers

Boneless Quails

Easter cakes...

... more Easter cakes...

Chocolate, Hazelnut and Popping Candy Golf Balls - Yes, Chocolate, Hazelnut and Popping Candy Golf Balls!

And of course, the world's best Easter Eggs!

We’re great believers in eating British pink veal but we still get the odd enquiry from customers as to how ethical it is.

There’s a world of difference between the way that our veal is raised and the old fashioned ‘crate’ systems that were used on the continent in the past. In fact, that practice was long ago banned throughout the EU so such concerns are way out of date.

The reality is that in order to produce milk, cows need to be kept in calf. Dairy cows don’t produce good beef so what happens to all the bull calves that can’t be reared on to join the dairy herd? In most farms they are shot by a vet shortly after birth and sent for pet food, some ‘lucky’ ones are exported to the continent where veal demand is higher.

Our solution is to rear on those bull calves to 6 months in a high welfare system, then to slaughter them for their delicate, delicious pink veal.  We work with a farmers co-op in the Lake District who supply us with excellent quality meat from the highest welfare standards.

Try our veal and you’ll be participating in making good use of an unavoidable by product of the dairy industry and at the same time enjoying a real delicacy.

This is an old article but well worth a read - http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/news/the-ethics-of-eating-the-appeal-of-veal-414318.html

There’s no better way to cook veal than the classic Italian tomato and veal shin ‘Osso Buco‘ stew.

We were delighted to read a glowing indorsement of our legendary Gloucester Old Spot Rare Breed Pork Pie in The Independent’s 10 best pork pies taste test yesterday.

“Named after the rare breed of pig used for the filling, the Old Spot is a cracker. The coarse pork meat is luscious and the Gloucester bacon that’s added to the filling gives it extra depth of flavour.”

Celebrate National Pie Week with a top class porker – order here http://www.formanandfield.com/handmade-traditional-pies-p-74.html

A right royal feast – our Royal Wedding Hamper

It’s not every year a future king gets married so we’ve decided to enter into the celebratory spirit by offering a Royal Wedding Hamper worthy of the occasion.

Bringing together a hand-picked selection of the finest foodstuffs His Royal Highness’s loyal subjects can muster, the Forman & Field Royal Wedding Hamper contains such epicurean delights as Royal Fillet of London Cure Smoked Salmon, Palace Earl Grey Tea, a homemade Victoria Sandwich cake and a sensational sparkling wine from Sussex.

It would make an ideal gift for Kate and William’s bridal list, or anyone marrying this year for that matter, and a wonderful showpiece for street parties across the shires. Although not strictly speaking a picnic hamper, it would also help soothe the hunger pangs of royal revelers lining the streets of Westminster on Friday 29^th April 2011.

The salmon – Royal Fillet of London Cure Smoked Salmon

H. Forman & Son has been producing London’s finest smoked salmon since 1905 when Edward VII was on the throne. Today, it’s the only smoked salmon producer in the capital, with a state-of-the-art smokehouse in East London overlooking the 2012 Olympic Stadium. Royal Fillet is, essentially, the finest part of the salmon – think fillet of beef – lightly smoked in a kiln with smoke produced by burning oak logs. It’s one of the world’s great delicacies, and melts like butter in an aristocrat’s mouth. Delicious cold in sashimi-style chunks but we think Kate would probably sear it in a hot pan for a minute and serve it thinly sliced with a fresh green salad on the side.

The bubbly – Nyetimber Classic Cuvee

English sparkling wines are as good as the finest champagnes these days thanks to a warmer climate in the South of England and a remarkably similar terroir. Nyetimber Estate is the largest vineyard in the UK and sets the standards for British winemaking. It’s the only estate to make premium sparkling wine exclusively from estate grown grapes. The Classic Cuvee is a blend of white Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, produced by the traditional method champenoise which involves secondary fermentation, and is aged in bottle for at least three years. Could this stunningly good fizz feature on the wedding breakfast menu? Who knows? All we’ll say is, Rule Britannia.

The pie – Mrs King’s Pork Pie

What else but a pork pie of impeccable heritage to gladden the nation after a miserable debt-ridden year or two. Mrs King – no relation, as far as we know – makes the finest Melton Mowbray pork pies we’ve ever tasted. Absolute stonkers. With authentic collapsed sides, crisp hot water pastry and fresh pork seasoned to perfection. A pie to set before a king, if ever there was one.

The ham – Alderton Ham

Made in small batches on the edge of the Royal Forest of Sherwood in Nottinghamshire, Alderton Ham is, quite simply, the best ham you will ever taste. Moist, succulent, full of flavour, it’s made from English free range pork legs which are first steamed then roasted with a traditional marmalade glaze. Irresistible, just like our future queen.

The cheese – Colston Bassett Stilton

If there was a king of cheeses it would have to be Stilton and, of the select band of high quality producers, Colston Bassett stands out. It’s creamier than a queen’s complexion and smoother than an ermine robe thanks to a production process that has barely changed in 100 years. The dairy still uses milk from local farms and the curd is always ladled by hand. It’s a labour of love.

The cake – Victoria Sandwich

Named after William’s great-great-great-great grandmother, the Victoria Sandwich is a cake worthy of Britain’s longest reigning monarch. The recipe dates back to Mrs Beeton and probably further. It’s the quintessential afternoon tea cake and our feather-light sponge, hand made in the Forman & Field kitchen with free range eggs then filled with vanilla and brandy butter cream plus a generous layer of finest blueberry compote, is as seductive as a comely courtesan.

The tea – Palace Earl Grey Tea

How could one contemplate a party without tea? Palace Earl Grey is a delicious, classically flavoured black tea with a sophisticated, aromatic taste, a blend of only the finest China black tea and natural oil of bergamot pressed from real bergamot citrus fruits. The ultimate royal palate cleanser.

The chocolates – Poire William Liqueur Chocolate Truffles

Sublime handmade dark chocolates infused with an intoxicating punch of Poire William liqueur. A sparkling match. A couple will help calm the nerves before waving to the crowds in The Mall. May you enjoy many more.

The Royal Wedding Hamper will be available to order  for delivery throughout the British Isles from March onwards, priced at £119.95 plus delivery.

The faces of London 2012 took a look around our smokery last week. It was certainly a first for us serving Forman’s smoked salmon to cartoon characters… we’re fairly sure it was a first for Mandeville and Wenlock too!