What to buy: Waitrose’s Whoopie Pies

If you had not noticed already, the American craze for ‘Whoopie Pies’ hit the UK food fashion well over a year ago. What are they? They came about as a way to use up leftover batter amongst Amish groups in New England. They almost look like mini Victoria Sandwich Cakes (though you can get different coloured sponges according to flavour), but the difference is the sponge has a slightly more biscuit texture and the butter creamed filling often consists of melted marshmallows.

I had my first try of these Yankee concoctions last year when M&S launched a range of pre-packaged ones. Overall out of the few I tried, none were particularly good and my verdict was that Whoopie Pies were simply overrated plain pieces of sponge with butter cream plonked in between. Just like the way I feel about the revival in cupcakes really.

Yet, this opinion was altered when I went into Waitrose last weekend. Seeing slightly large sized ones reduced down to 89p in the bakery counter and having never yet given Waitrose the chance to prove me wrong, I went ahead in sampling the toffee, and chocolate & cookie ones. I could not detect any toffee in the former. Still it was a lot fresher than those dull overpriced M&S ones had been. As for the chocolate & cookies one, I wanted more! It was a lot like consuming a cake version of Oreo biscuits, and my views on Whoopie Pies were forever erased. In fact, I think these will probably be emerging on my cravings list very soon!

The Walnut Tree Restaurant bids farewell to Gordon ‘Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares’

When my brother telephoned me to say we were going to The Walnut Tree in Wales for dinner on The Royal Wedding bank holiday, there was only one thing that could resonate through my head – ‘Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares’.

In actual fact The Walnut Tree at one time attracted people from all over the UK to sample Franco Taruschio’s impeccable Italian food. But when this highly esteemed chef hung up his apron to retire in 2001, it seemed from then onwards the Walnut Tree’s zenith had ultimately come to a halt. Despite guidance from celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay on his Kitchen Nightmares television programme, the new owners still proved to be ineffectual in running a successful dining business, and the banks shut down the place in 2007. Yet a year later and the restaurant confidently stepped out of its dark days of ignominy and reasserted its legendary status when renowned chef Shaun Hill took over.

If the experience of customers since Hill’s ownership were anything like mine, then one would have hardly guessed it had been through a period of hardship. The staff were obliging and the atmosphere was surprisingly unpretentious for a place that had been recently rated as best restaurant in Britain by the UK’s biggest online restaurant guide Gourmet Britain. I cannot say I was particularly impressed that a medium bottle of sparkling water was £4, but still it is the food that matters most. I started with a cheese soufflé accompanied by a leek and potato salad, and found myself infatuated by the dominant but consummate flavour of cheddar. Following on from this and I was wowed by how tender my steak for main course was – there was no need for a steak knife. Gorgonzola and potato croquettes accompanied it; both straightforward and unoriginal, but both functioned well with the core component. Finally I was then impressed, moderately, by the milk chocolate raspberry torte. Surprisingly it was very cocoa intense despite the fact milk chocolate does not possess a high cocoa content compared to its dark spouse, while the raspberries provided a tart contrast. Interestingly its texture was almost a mousse/parfait consistency. Somehow though, to my mind, its richness made it not quite 5*.

Overall, The Walnut Tree is certainly not Italian anymore. It is more or less classical French cuisine; therefore serving very simple, but made to the highest quality, food. The menu is without question very expensive, but one can barely find fault when it comes to the actual food. It seems the days of Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares are well and truly over.

The Ludlow Food Festival

It was only a few weeks ago that I went in with the new by taking a trip to see the young Ludlow Food Centre. Now I was going in with the old by attending the 15^th Ludlow Food Festival this year. Unlike the Food Centre situated outside, I had to venture into the centre of Ludlow to see the festival. The town has an agreeable archaic form to it with its black and white pubs, quaint shops, cafes and teashops. One could quite easily imagine their self in a Jane Austen or Charles Dickens novel whilst strolling down its cobbled lanes.

Alas, my view on the festival is not quite so optimistic. It was about 10 years ago that I last went. At that point in time very few were familiar with this culinary gala, or at least not on a national scale and you could amble around quite easily. I remember my eleven-year old self being fascinated by the quality of food sold. It probably had some influence in my education of gastronomy since I had never been to anything like this before. But that comes as no surprise when the Ludlow Food Festival was in fact the first of its kind in this country. Fast-forward to the future, and walking around the stalls is a nightmare. Hardly any samples are available, unlike in its early years, and it is a very effortless process to observe the huge proportion of vendors selling chutneys and pickles. I can appreciate that this festival is a chance for local producers to make sales, but really for about 75% of them to flog the same type of product is not only uninspiring for the visitor, but only makes competition harder for they themselves. Why could the organisers just not have allocated an x number of stalls to chutney and pickle producers, and selected which ones on a first come serve basis? They could then have given the spare stalls to manufacturers of other culinary substances. What is more, I was shocked to find how dull in taste the breads were from the bakery exhibitors.

The only creation I was really taken aback by was Welsh producer Condessa’s “Praline Welsh Cream Liquor”. It was a bit like sampling Baileys but with an after hint of the praline flavour. Since my father is very patriotic of his Welsh heritage, I thought I would find out a bit more for him on their website www.condessa.co.uk. Having been the liquor caterer at his 21^st Birthday, I discovered through my investigations that another fan of this firm is Prince William. And before you assume anything, no the prices are not extortionate just because the royals drink it - a 50cl bottle costs £13. Otherwise, I believe that the Ludlow Food Festival was once an ultimate pilgrimage for the foodie. Now I am sorry to say that it has become an overrated and touristy food exhibition, where produce in terms of diversity is just too unbearably insipid.

The Bell at Yarpole, Herefordshire

Yarpole is just like what you see on the British postcard of a village. Cottages and black and white houses opulently decorated with vibrant flowers, a timber framed church, an old red phone box and a pub. But Yarpole’s local The Bell is not just any pub – it is owned by Michelin-starred chef Claude Bosi’s brother Cedric. I guess you could say it is the cheap and nonchalant alternative to Bosi’s Hibiscus in Mayfair, London. But when I say ‘cheap’, I certainly do not mean this in the degrading sense. I have been to The Bell for lunch a number of times since the new owners took over and I can certainly say that the food deserves such positive words that it has received from reviews in the national newspapers. The menu as a whole can come across as very simple, and perhaps even uninspiring, fare. But once sampling the food, I think you will find that it delivers beyond this preconception.

Yesterday when I was treated to the delights of The Bell I was more than impressed by my Battered Haddock with Chips and Mushy Peas. In fact I would say that it was the most pre-eminent fish and chips I have had in a seriously long time, if not in my whole existence. The batter was fresh, un-greasy and crisp. The thick cut wedged chips were seasoned so perfectly, not over salty, that there actually was no need to even use any sauce with them (this is coming from someone who likes plenty of sauce). The mushy peas were pure, unlike the distasteful tinned version that so many fish and chip shops make the mistake of using. It may have cost £9.95, but when the average chippie now charges about £6 for an over greasy portion, I would much rather pay the additional £3.95 as an occasional treat. A Coffee and Chocolate Liégeois, an adaptation of the French’s sweetened coffee sauce, coffee ice cream and Chantilly cream dessert Café Liégeois, followed this. Not only was the sauce and dark chocolate ice cream intensely divine and non-sickly, the coffee ice cream made by local producers September, was more than just superb. For £5.25, this was an excellent bargain when you consider how chain restaurants often charge more or less the same price for their sweets, which are no where near as superior in quality. Overall The Bell is an outstanding pub for food, charming scenery and value.

Ludlow Food Centre

The Shropshire town Ludlow raises many images to my mind. Its castle is renowned by historians for serving as Edward IV’s Council of the Marches of Wales headquarters up until 1689, the place of Arthur Tudor’s (Prince of Wales) death in 1502 and where Queen Mary I was raised for much of her childhood. Today Ludlow also boats its elite status in the world of British gastronomy with its vast range of food shops, markets and award winning restaurants including La Bécasse owned by Michelin starred Chef Alan Murchison. I could therefore hardly decline the offer of a trip to the Ludlow Food Centre the other Saturday.

On entering the site, I was in admiration of its idyllic setting, with its cobbled buildings (excluding the modern infrastructure of the shop) and quaint pub surrounded by beautiful farmland. It meets what British rural architecture should be, and if it was the size of a village one could quite easily envisage it being a rival to the Cotswolds. My companions and I decided to have lunch at their Conservatory Barn Cafe. Indeed as the second word of its name hints, the venue is situated in a reconverted barn. Naturally, my expectations of the food standard were of it being at least reasonable, not only because of its location but, giving the various awards that this centre has achieved such as one of the “Top 50 Farm Food Shops” by The Telegraph and runner up in The Times’s “England’s Best Places to Eat Out” both in 2009.

Once sampling the Pork Pie Ploughman’s, my view was in fact quite the contrary. Besides the menu being rather too bland in my view, my meal was certainly not worth paying £6.95 for. The Shropshire Blue possessed its typical distinct salty flavour for sure, but there was nothing unique about this one, which is inexcusable whenever sampling produce in its home county. Not only did the pork pie lack any flavour, but it was also unforgivably dry. My mother occasionally purchases Sainsbury’s Melton Mowbray pork pies x 4 for £1.89 and even these are a cut above. Admittedly the sweet onion chutney served alongside was satisfactory and the portion size was generous, yet I find it difficult to give any additional praise to such an overpriced dish.

After a disappointing meal, I took a trip to the shop. This was pleasing I am glad to say. The choice in cuts of meat and types of fish were undeniably excellent. It is not often that you find a rib of beef or delicacies such as eel on offer, even in farm shops. We in the end purchased a chocolate cake, made on the premises. It did lack a chocolate filling in the middle and it was not the most superlative chocolate cake I have ever had. Nonetheless, I can say from a chocoholic’s point of view that it was most certainly not deficient in taste, besides the sponge being exceedingly moist. Frequently do I find that chocolate sponge cakes from shops are dry and have a detestable cheap sickly flavour. True, one would expect a farm shop cake to be of good quality, but surprisingly it cost no more than £3. When you compare this to somewhere that produces cakes of a similar quality such as Waitrose, which charges £1.50 on average for just a single slice of cake from their patisserie, I would say that this cake was exceptionally good value for money.

So it seems that Ludlow Food Centre’s lunches are a rip off, but their cakes are much the reverse, with a shop that has a delightful selection. Despite my cynical view of the former, surely we need food centres like this or at least supermarkets selling more of this local produce? With a country facing obesity and heart problems, this nation needs to revert back to the old times when people would purchase local farm produce instead of all this manufactured unhealthy foul tasting dustbin material. Increasing the amount we grow, not only supports local producers, but it would equate to a more sustainable environment. One where we do not heavily rely on imports by increasing pollution levels, through the use of airplanes, and leaving people of the third world to starve by wiping out their crops. I am not saying I am a true believer in organic food, and for me to claim that I buy only home goods would be total hypocrisy. Yet, could we all just not at least expand the amount of native crop we consume as an alternative to high dependence upon overseas yield? Indeed there is the possibility of solving future shortages through technology, but would you not rather devour a cake composed of the purest ingredients, not only because it unarguably tastes superior, than one consisting of numerous E numbers prone to causing several illnesses? I know which one I would prefer.