Vinegar is Wonderful

I already told you about the tremendous flavour of Aspall Cyder in an earlier post. As I was so impressed by the flavour of Aspall's cyder, I wanted to learn more about it. I wanted to know how it's produced and what happens to the by-products. I found out that vinegar is one of such by-products and that Aspall offers 4 different kinds of vinegar. I had never tried vinegar before, but I heard that English people like to eat chips with vinegar. So I bought a bottle of Aspall's Apple Balsamic Vinegar and tried this local produce with chips.The result? I was astonished!

Aspall Apple Balsamic Vinegar

Brilliant Bacon, Brilliant Butcher!

I already told you that I really like beef from the Calcott Hall Farm in Essex. The beef has an outstanding quality as it is locally sourced and hung for 21 days. I was very impressed by the quality and the flavour of the beef, so I decided to try bacon, which is also produced at Calcott Hall Farm. I expected a really tasty and good bacon, but my expectations were absolutely exceeded. The bacon melted in my mouth and I am struggling with finding words to describe this tremendous piece of meat.

Brilliant Calcott Hall Bacon

Milk is not Milk!

I recently told you about the amazing cheese produced by Suffolk Farmhouse Cheeses. The reason I write this post now has to do with a question I was asking myself after I had eaten the Suffolk Gold cheese...

The question I was asking myself was: How can the cheese be so tremendous in its flavour? To answer this question, I went to Suffolk Farmhouse Cheeses and asked Jason, the owner of this small family-run business, what the reason of the great flavour was...

Happy Cows at Suffolk Farmhouse Cheeses

Delicious Smoked Fish from Suffolk

Have you ever tried smoked fish from Suffolk? If not, you missed something in your life! My parents came to visit me and I wanted to show them how beautiful England and especially East England was. We made a trip to Suffolk and ended our trip in Orford, where we visited the nice small church and the beautiful castle. 

My mother wanted to eat fish, as she doesn't eat a lot of fish in Germany, so we decided to go the Butley Orford Oysterage restaurant which is located between the castle and the church and which offers local produce. I asked the waitress what would be the best fish they offer, and she told me i should try smoked fish. After I tried it, I couldn't believe my gustative nerve, can you imagine why?

Smoked Fish

Scrumtious Oysters

To be honest, I didn't want to write about sea food because I'm not an expert in it, but then I went to Colchester with a couple of friends to visit this beautiful town in Essex. As this was an exhausting trip, a friend proposed to eat something which is produced or grown locally. We came up with Richard Haward's Oysters, which didn't really convince me, because I usually don't like things I haven't tried before. But after having tried the oysters, I am proud to say I'm a big fan of oysters now!

Awesome in taste - Oysters

Better than French Wine...

What is better than having a nice wine for dinner? Right, there is almost nothing comparable to a good wine. I usually prefer nice French wines because they have an outstanding quality, but then i heard of Carter's Vineyards in Colchester. A friend told me that they produce the best English wine and that i should really try it. So I went to Carter's Vineyard, bought a bottle of King Koel red wine and was impressed when I first tried it. Incredible flavour, this wine is better than any wine I ever drank before!

Magnificent Wine

Carter's Vineyards is a very small business, providing its customers with a good service, high standards and quality wines . It is run by Ben Bunting who is a vineyard enthusiast and puts a lot of effort in his business. His love and devotion is the reason for the company's brilliant reputation and his customers are always satisfied with his great wines. If you like wine, there is no way to circumvent Carter's Vineyards wine, especially the exciting King Koel, a red wine with complex flavours of redcurrants, raspberries and liquorice and gentle tannins from its eleven months ageing in French oak barrels. Besides, it has already won several awards, for example East Anglian Wine of the Year 2006, Founders Trophy 2006 and Gold Medal Winner 2006.

If you want to visit, call or buy a product of this local producer, I have provided the address, the telephone number and e-mail-address below:

 Carter's Vineyards

Green Lane, Boxted
Colchester
Essex
CO4 5TS

Tel: +44 (0) 1206271136
Email: enquiries@cartersvineyards.co.uk

 

A worldwide-known Salt...

Have you ever heard of Maldon Salt? I had heard of it before I came to England, but I hadn't known that it was a small family run business in Essex. Maldon Salt is a high quality, unique and prestigious produce which is still hand-harvested and known all over the world...

Maldon Salt

Golden Cheese for Everyone

When talking of local produce in the counties Essex and Suffolk, there is probably one thing which must not be missing - dairy products and especially cheese from Suffolk! Suffolk Farmhouse Cheeses have 2 main cheeses, the Suffolk Gold and the Suffolk Blue cheese and they both are untouchable in flavour...

 

Suffolk Gold Cheese

The best ham I've ever eaten...

If you are a meat fanatic as I am, I can really advise you to try Wicks Manor Farm's ham. This succulent ham has a great flavour and is available in different types, you can either have smoked or unsmoked ham or even honey roasted ham.

Tasty Ham

Since I tried this ham first, I've never tried any other ham, because in my eyes it is the best ham in the world! Wicks Manor Farm ham is butchered, cured and cooked on the farm in their ham room, which was especially built for this produce. The reason I love Wicks Manor Farm is that the pigs are born and bred on the farm and that they have plenty of space to live and enjoy their lives. Wicks Manor's pigs are happy, and that's why the ham is so delicious. The pigs are sent to a local abattoir before being returned to our licensed cutting plant on the farm. A short trip to the abattoir means the meat quality is fantastic. If you want to try ham, try Wicks Manor's ham and you won't be disappointed!


If you want to visit, call or buy a product of this local producer, I have provided the address, the telephone number and e-mail-address below:

Wicks Manor

Witham Road

Tolleshunt Major

Maldon

Essex CM9 8JU

Tel: 01621 860629

Email: fergushowie@wicksmanor.co.uk

Lovely, Marvellously - Honey!

As you all know I am a real enthusiast regarding local produce in Suffolk and Essex, that's why I really love Suffolk honey from the Maple Farm. This honey is referred to as "sweet Suffolk sunshine", it is smooth and pale and easily spreadable, which makes it a pleasure to eat. But why does it taste so tremendous? The reason is the farm's philosophy...

Tasty Beef from lovely Essex!

I recently tried beef from the Calcott Hall Farm in Essex - and it melted in my mouth like butter! To describe this beef in two words: absolutely brilliant. The beef is locally sourced and hung for 21 days before it is sold and because of this it has a distinctive and outstanding flavour.

Tasty Beef

Calcott Hall Farm in Essex is a family run business and besides having its own butchery they also grow a wide range of fruit and vegetables.They offer an outstanding quality and it is not really a surprise that they won the "Best Farm Shop" - Award in 2008/2009. I can entirely recommend Calcott Hall Farm. Their beef tastes absolutely fantastic and you can see the devotion they work with to satisfy your needs. Give it a try!

If you want to visit, call or buy a product of this local producer, I have provided the address, the telephone number and e-mail-address below:

Calcott Hall Farm

Ongar Road

Brentwood

Essex, CM15 9HS

Tel: 01277 264164

Email: info@calcotthall.com

Delicious Beer from Chelmsford

My first beer in Chelmsford a few of months ago was a Brewers Gold from the Crouch Vale Brewery. This local beer's taste is really delicious with its 4% and I really enjoyed drinking it, as it has wonderful aromas and flavour from carefully selected ingredients... 

Brewers Gold Beer

Aspall Cyder - a must for everyone...

Before I came to England, I had never heard of Cyder in my life. As I really love the Counties Essex and Suffolk and their local produce, I thought I should try Cyder which is locally produced. One of my friends recommended Aspall Suffolk Cyder because according to him this was the best Cyder he has ever drunk...

Aspall Suffolk Cyder