GUIDE TO SUPPLIERS HARVEY & BROCKLESS harveyandbrockless.co.uk
With a 20-year track record of sourcing higherend Continental meats, Harvey & Brockless has also been a major supporter of the burgeoning British charcuterie sector, with many of leading producers featured in its catalogue. Now the London-based distributor has developed its own Salt&Cure brand to encompass an “extensive collection of exceptional cured meats” from both sides of the Channel. Producers supplying H&B under this banner include London’s own Cobble Lane, with a range of fermented sausages including a French-style saucisson spiced with white and black pepper, ginger and garlic. Dorset’s Capreolus Fine Foods has developed a Dorset Merghez exclusively for Salt&Cure. Made with mutton spiced with harissa, it can be eaten raw or used in cooking. Continental suppliers in the range include Lovison, located north east of Venice, with specialities such as the four-month-aged Sopressa Punta di Coltello.
GWELLA gwella1@outlook.com First spotted by FFD on the shelves of Bodnant Welsh Food Centre in the Conwy valley, Gwella is a diversification project by the Thomas family, who rear sheep and lamb on a 200acre farm near Aberystwyth. Bryn and Lowri Thomas have turned an amateur interest in meat-curing into a business, launching three cooked, cured and sliced products – lamb, mutton and beef – with support from the Welsh Government-backed Menter a Busnes mentoring scheme. All are packaged in striking sleeves designed by Formation Creative of Machynlleth.
Guide to British & Continental Charcuterie 2017-18
LISDUFF BACON lisdufffoods.ie Successes in the Irish Food Awards (Blas na hEireann) and the UK’s National Meat Products Competition are testament to the quality of Lisduff Fine Foods’ black and white puddings, which are available in deli-friendly mixed packs of portionsize pieces. The puddings are just part of a range of added-value meats from this Co Tipperary business, founded by fifth generation butcher Robert Tormey, including dry cured bacon, bacon joints and turkey rashers. The company is now actively looking for a UK distributor.
>
ISLE OF WIGHT BILTONG (GREEF’S BEEF BILTONG) isleofwightbiltong.co.uk Nick Greeff began making his own biltong after moving to the Isle of Wight in 2011, when he realised he could not live without his Zimbabwean family’s natural biltong. He continues to use the traditional methods passed down the generations which he learned from an early age on his family’s ranch. Using British beef, Nick cures his meat using malt vinegar and sea salt to create an “addictive” chewy texture. The beef biltong is available in 30g packs with flavours such as Oupa’s original, oak-smoked, sweet chilli, garlic and black pepper. 26
KE NAKO BILTONG facebook.com/ KeNakoBiltong Launched in Northern Ireland, Ke Nako (meaning “it’s time” in Afrikaans) specialises in biltong snacks while developing other traditional South African cured products including Droewors sausages. Partners Ilse van Staden and Alanagh Chipperfield cure organic beef in red wine vinegar with a blend of salt, black pepper, coriander seeds, nutmeg and cloves, then air-dry it. The company is now marketing its biltong to delis and farm shops in Northern Ireland and online with a look towards expanding into other regions.
KENT COLLECTION kentcateringltd.co.uk Pigeon & red wine salami and Kent-cured pork hind are the two latest offerings from smokehouse and charcuterie Kent Collection. The salami is made using local wood pigeon breast with a blend of Kent Collection’s orchard-reared pork and a full-bodied red wine. The company says its hind is made using the large muscle at the top of the pork leg and is produced in the same way as the Italian Culatello (king of the hams). Based in Cranbrook, the producers use speciallyreared pork fed on brewers’ grain from local breweries. Its dry-cured hams are aged for up to 18 months.
LISHMAN’S OF ILKLEY lishmansbutchers.co.uk Inspired by a trip to Tuscany, butcher David Lishman, invested in a salami curing cabinet to rapidly build his craft and passion for salami. The charcutier now has a tried-and-tested range of home-cured salamis and cured meats, blending local outdoor-reared Yorkshire pigs and traditional Tuscan artisan techniques. The company says it only uses the best Yorkshire pork and high-quality ingredients to create a range of cured meats. Its range of salamis include pork & fennel, chorizo, beef pepperoni, a smoked salami and a pork, hazelnut & cider salami. The charcuterie range is available in whole pieces or retail packs.
A supplement to Fine Food Digest