Blog Forman and Field

Sainsbury’s announced three athletics events to take place this summer entitled The Summer Series. Two events will be held in Birmingham culminating in a three day athletics event in the London Olympic Park.

Team GB members Robbie Grabbarz, Hannah Cockcroft and Josie Pearson made the announcement from a sunny roof terrace here at Forman’s Fish Island.

Robbie Grabbarz, Hannah Cockcroft and Josie Pearson with Sainsbury’s Staff members.

GB Athletics Chair Ed Warner, Sainsbury’s CEO Justin King, Sport Minister Hugh Robertson.

Forman’s makes its big screen debut next week with the release of Papadopoulos & Sons, a family comedy charting the fall and rise of a taramasalata baron filmed in part at our Fish Island HQ! The film features our factory, offices and hospitality venue above our factory where an awards dinner is hosted. See below for how to book discounted tickets and a special offer on our own handmade taramasalata to celebrate the launch of the film.

Following his ruin in the latest banking crisis, a self-made taramasalata millionaire reluctantly reunites with his estranged, freewheeling brother to re-open the abandoned fish and chip shop they shared in their youth. The film has already won the Audience Favourite Award at both the Palm Springs and Thessaloniki Film Festivals.

Click here to watch the trailer

cineworld screenings – book tickets at 10% off
The film will be shown exclusively at Cineworld cinemas from April 5th, tickets booked via the following link with be at 10% off so do go and see it if you get the chance. Click here to book tickets online (from April 2nd)

taramasalata special offer – also 10% off! 

Harry Papadopoulos may have cornered the fictional market in taramasalata but our freshly made version is the real thing! It was the FT’s top pick in a recent taste test and to celebrate the film launch we are knocking 10% off.

Click here to order taramasalata

Today Which? report that 6 in 10 consumers have changed their shopping habits in the wake of the horsemeat scandal. Let’s hope this is good news for small food producers and quality retailers. If consumers lose faith in cheap and nasty, laboratory-made food peddled by some of the supermarkets and mass caterers then they should turn to people they can trust.

The pictures of fenced-in laboratory food producers involved in the horsemeat scandal were surely enough to put most people off their supermarket lasagne but where to turn to now? Cooking for yourself from scratch with ingredients bought from known sources is unbeatable, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with a buying a really well made dish prepared for you every once in a while. There are local shops, butchers, delis, farm shops and dare we say it home delivery specialists all over the country who consumers can turn to for quality.

To inspire confidence producers should be able to open their doors and proudly show customers where their food comes from, here are a three ways you can get to know Forman & Field produce more personally.

1. Come visit us at our next Open Day. It’s on Saturday 23^rd March, click here for all the details.
2. Watch this video of our salmon smokery at work, just another day in the life. Click here to watch!
3. Meet our producers. We’re assembling a collection of stories and photos from our lovely producers around the country. Click here to read the latest.

We’re delighted to announce our next open day will be taking place here on Fish Island (London E3) on the last Saturday before Easter.

Featuring

• Tours around the home of the world’s oldest Scottish salmon smoker, H. Forman & Son

• Demonstrations and talks from speciality producers

• Formans Restaurant, street food stalls and bar

• Family fun and games in the food laboratory

• Food stalls from artisan producers selling gourmet British produce to take home and giving tastings:

Cheese Cellar – Artisan British cheeses
Chef’s Connection – Fresh produce supplier to the best
G-Desserts – Dainty and delicious cupcakes in jars
Goodwood Home Farm – Bacon, cheese and beer
H. Forman & Son – Our own smoked salmon
Lallapolosa – Confections and cakes
Paul Wayne Gregory – Leading chocolatier with incredible chocolate eggs
Pugh’s Piglets – The finest porchetta this side of the Alps
Redchurch Brewery – Craft beer from East London
Simply Delicious Cakes – Simnel Cakes from Shropshire
The Country Victualler – The famous Alderton Ham

….more to be confirmed…

RSVP
Entry is free but places are limited.

Contact us on 0203 601 5464 or info@formanandfield.com to reserve yours.

Families and friends are welcome.

With Mothering Sunday fast approaching, you may well be looking for ideas to help make Mother’s Day special this year – but you might also be interested to know how Mother’s Day itself was made over the years. Here are some ideas for delicious, epicurean gifts for mum and a look back at how the day itself was made.

The history of Mother’s Day
All roads lead to Rome and the history of Mother’s Day in the UK can be traced as far back as the Romans. Their three-day spring festival of Hilaria seems to lay the foundation of a spring celebration of mothers. The festival included parades, games and masquerades, all of which honoured the maternal goddess Cybelle.

By the 1600s Mothering Sunday had departed from its Roman origins quite significantly. Now literally a moveable feast held on the fourth Sunday in Lent – as it still is today – this day was a time when servants and maids working away from their families were given a day off to visit their home or ‘mother church’. As they walked back home along the country lanes, children would pick wild flowers to give to their mothers as Mother’s Day presents, or they took their mums the traditional Mother’s Day gift of Simnel cake.

Mother’s Day gifts have long been associated with feasts and sweet treats because Mothering Sunday was also known as Refreshment Sunday: a day when the fasting rules of Lent could be relaxed.

By the 1900s this tradition was dying out. It was reintroduced in its modern guise to the UK by American servicemen based here during the Second World War. Their host families provided surrogate mother figures, who they honoured with the sort of gifts they would have given their ‘moms’ back home. British sons and daughters caught on to the idea and the rest is history.

Mother’s Day gift ideas
Keeping with the tradition of fine foods for Mothering Sunday, here are some classic with gourmet British mum gifts.
How about a breakfast in bed hamper to spoil your mum this year? Our breakfast hampers offer the perfect Mother’s Day breakfast: a small but perfectly formed treat to start their special day. The finest smoked salmon, delicate crispbreads, a decadent bottle of English sparkling wine, delicious jam and delightful coffee roasted and ground in deepest Suffolk. A complete breakfast in bed set in a welcoming breakfast basket.

Other Mother’s Day food gifts include sweet treats like marvellously melting macaroons, tempting truffles, pretty petit fours and charming chocolates. These are purely indulgent gifts for mums indeed.

Ideal for a visit later in the day is the Afternoon tea hamper. In this we have captured the great British tradition of afternoon tea and placed it in a presentation wicker box. Let her decide what to have with her Earl Grey from a range of artisanal teatime treats.

Mother’s Day treats
However you decide to treat your mother this Mothering Sunday, make sure you treat her well. No gift to your mother can ever equal her gift of life to you.

Much as we all love to dine out, there is still nothing that can beat the warmth of a meal shared with friends at home on a cold, crisp winter’s night. The atmosphere is relaxed, the comfort greater and the conversation a little less restrained as a result.

The great myth that dining in is a chore conveniently forgets the hassles and cost of babysitters, taxis, tipping, booking and those petty squabbles over the bill. Dining in is a pleasure, and our range of complete menu deals and fine selection of gourmet ready-prepared meals make it easier than ever. With top-quality meals delivered directly to you, all you actually have to worry about is providing conversation as memorable as the food itself.

At the best dinner parties the conversation should sparkle like the wine and flow just as freely.
Tom Stoppard

May we suggest…

With our complete gourmet meals delivered, you can dine in with style and convenience. May we suggest a menu for four that will tantalise the taste buds and allow four people to wine and dine in style for less than £14 a head. Enjoy the finest gourmet food delivery in London and treat your guests to this wonderful, warming winter’s feast.

• Broccoli, Stilton and Chervil Soup will take the chill out of the coldest nights
• The home comforts continue with our exceptional Fish Pies, brimming with fresh Dover Sole, salmon, smoked haddock, mussels and prawns nestling in a veloute cream sauce.
• A glass or two of the award-winning British Ortega white wine from the Biddenden vineyards in Kent should help the conversation to flow
• Traditional Bread and Butter Pudding laced with Bailey’s will leave a satisfied glow around the table.

At a dinner party one should eat wisely but not too well, and talk well but not too wisely.
W Somerset Maugham   

Create your own

With a selection of special starters, mouth-watering mains, delicious desserts and fine wines to choose from, you are warmly invited to create your own seasonal menu. When you order food online from our selection of dinner party favourites, you can opt for:

• Starters such as our innovative Tartare Shots
• Mains like the succulent Three Bird Roast
• Sweet treats ranging from the impossibly light Valrhona Chocolate & Salted Caramel Parfait to our deliciously decadent Petits Fours

There are plenty more dinner party menu ideas just waiting to inspire you to host a stylish meal at home.

After a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one’s own relations.
Oscar Wilde

Forget the guests

Of course with Valentine’s night fast approaching your next special meal at home may not require any extra guests. For the incurable romantics a meal at home can work its magic just as well as a romantic night out. For lovers this year we suggest you say it with seafood. Succulent scallops with a sexy, citrusy dressing help set the mood. Delectable Plaice Parcels stuffed with a heavenly lobster and salmon mousse and served with a creamy lobster sauce help up the ante. Finally, smooth, seductive macaroons will seal the deal. Irresistible.

My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four. Unless there are three other people.
Orson Welles

Why not treat yourself to a meal in this February, however many guests there may or may not be?

Dear Forman & Field customer, please allow us to introduce Timmy’s Pies..

Tim, the pie man

This West London pie company started from the humble beginnings of a Chelsea market stall. They only use free-range British meat in their pies and bake to a seasonal menu, to take advantage of the fantastic game, fruit and veg the UK has to offer. The rule is: if it’s not tasty, it’s not going in.

Timmy’s Pies came into existence in the summer of 2010, when pie-thusiast Tim Wilkes, having completed a PhD in biology, abandoned any serious career pursuits to indulge his passion for pie making. He gathered up a small team of like-minded cooks, and together they set out to reach new levels in pie perfection.

You can enjoy Timmy’s Pies cold, with a nice salad and a dab of piccalilli, or better still hot, served with mash and a splash of gravy. If you want to know more, or if you just fancy a chat, go find them on twitter @timmys_pies. If there’s one thing they love as much as a good pie, it’s a really good natter.

You’ll find our full selection of Timmy’s Pies if you click here. Available for express next day deliver-pie if you order by 10am!

All our beef is 100% beef, our salmon100% salmon, our pork 100% pork. You get the gist.

We all know good food doesn’t come cheap. Now we know too that cheap food may not only be bad, it may not even be the product it claims on the label. The pressure to reduce costs ever further inevitably leads to bad practice. It’s a national scandal, and rightly so.

But it takes more than money to guarantee quality. For that we work with trustworthy, artisan producers who we know personally. Then we taste, test and monitor to make sure that their food consistently achieves the high standards we expect.

We believe our food is truly the best that money can buy and you, our valued customers, should expect nothing less.  No short cuts, just the best cuts and that’s what we will deliver you.

Lance Forman

We’ve been furiously tasting and testing – tough job, we know – , packaging and photographing and we’re just about ready to unveil our new collection for Easter 2013. Highlights include 3 new complete menus for all your bank holiday entertaining needs, a taster package of produce from the famous Goodwood Estate Home Farm and of course chocolate. We will introduce you to new producers from around the country alongside new seasonal specialities from Forman & Field favourites.

If you are a regular customer we will send you a printed catalogue in the post soon. Or following the link below to our online Easter shop – more products to be added very soon!

CLICK ME TO SHOP EASTER

Forman’s Fish Platter

Prawn & Tarragon Tart

Saddle of English Lamb with Bolney Estate Lychgate Red

Hot Cross Bun & Butter Pudding

Triple Chocolate Mousse with Espresso Crumble