Food & Drink
“Give us this day our daily (loaf of) bread…” Sarah Lyon discovers that Marriages Flour can give you that extra incentive to get baking yourself as it helps produce such brilliant results
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arriage’s, The Master Millers of Chelmsford, produce a consistent, reliable flour. Hannah Marriage joined the family business in 2009 and is working alongside her father, George. “The story starts in 1824,” says Hannah. “I am the 6th generation of the family to become involved in the business. My great, great grandfather William and his twin brother Henry founded W & H Marriage & Sons Ltd in 1824. The Marriage family had been farmers and millers in Essex since about 1650. The boys’ father died when they were only 17 years old; however he wanted them to continue the family farming and milling tradition. In 1836 the brothers had the foresight to introduce steam power into the milling process – up until then the stones could turn only at the whim of wind and water, whereas steam gave a steady production in all weathers, so it really was a big innovation.” Hannah adds, “I love to make bread at home – I find it really relaxing and you can’t beat the taste and smell of freshly baked bread!” Ian Whymark from Marriage’s flour is extremely passionate about the ethos and history of the family business and explains, “Marriage’s produce a premium quality wheat flour in 1.5kg bags, as well as supplying traditional independent artisan and craft bakers. Marriage’s mill a broad range of white brown and wholemeal flours; stoneground wholemeal flour is a speciality. Modern machinery produces the majority of the flour but they still mill stoneground wholemeal flour using traditional, horizontal French burr stones.” Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall of River Cottage fame and new cookbook River Cottage, Everyday endorses this method of production and comments on the nutty flavour and special texture of the flour and the bread it produces. Long before organic farming was high profile, Sampson David Marriage (Hannah’s grandfather) became interested in organic production and his son George was instrumental in introducing organically certified flour varieties for Marriage’s in 1986. Ian sent me away with Marriage’s Strong Organic White and Organic Strong Wholemeal. Full of fibre, protein
and the nutrition of the wheat grain these flours make a soft, light and fluffy loaf of bread. “I have had the marvellous opportunity of living in a number of countries, all of which have their own special breads,” says Linda Hewett. “Probably, my biggest influence has come from growing up in the Isle of Man and more recently living in Norway. Before moving to Lincolnshire I lived in Suffolk for three years, bordering Essex, and knew of Marriage’s Flours before taking up serious baking. Since becoming a committed bread-head I have used and encouraged others to use Marriage’s flours: Finest Strong White, Organic Strong Stoneground Wholemeal and Canadian Very Strong White (makes the best croissants). The reason I like Marriage’s flour is simple; it’s because of its guaranteed quality. It is milled with great integrity, has a wholesome creamy colour to indicate the lack of bleaching agents and is carefully graded to maintain a high protein content.” “My passion is to teach people how to make bread, in such a way as to ensure success in their own home. Good flour is the most important ingredient to achieving amazing bread. Whilst there are some delicious and exciting flours being milled by local windmills – and I highly recommend all bread bakers to try all that they can – using Marriage’s for everyday bread does ensure success and it is readily available. From a practical and domestic point of view this makes home bread making more accessible and more likely to become a regular habit.”
Contacts W & H Marriage & Sons Ltd, Chelmer Mills, New Street, Chelmsford, CM1 1PN – Tel: 01245 354455, floursales@marriagesmillers. co.uk, http://www.flour.co.uk/ Local Suppliers of Marriage’s Flours for home baking and bread making: T&J Fine Foods Ltd, Stamford – Tel: 01780 767777, http://www.tandjfinefoods.com/ Silver Lane Whole Foods, 2 Silver Lane, Stamford, PE9 2BT Askers Bakers, 5a Red Lion Street, Stamford, PE9 1RP Yeast available to buy from Askers, Mill Lane, Stamford Marriage’s Flour, Online from http://www. ocado.com/ Stamford Cookery School & Bread making with Linda Hewett Wednesday, Oct 12 – 6pm -9pm and Wednesday, Nov 2 – 6pm -9pm To book contact Stamford Cookery School, Tel: 01780 752172 http://www. stamfordcookeryschool.co.uk/
RUTLAND & MARKET HARBOROUGH Living September 2011
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