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Posted Friday, 16 March 2012  /  Written by The Twig  /  Post a Comment

How It Should Be (HiSbe) is a community interest company helping people and businesses make ethical, informed choices about their food. Check out the HiSbe website for ethical eating tips and their latest video (which, features none other than your favourite seasonal food website). Now that's definitely How it Should Be.

Posted Monday, 16 January 2012  /  Written by The Twig  /  Post a Comment

Although the problems of food waste have been well documented in recent years, the scale of it is still staggering. Apparently, wastage for the UK alone now amounts to something like 20 million tonnes annually. Whether it’s fresh fish thrown back into the sea, vegetables ignored for being too ugly, or unusual cuts of meat simply discarded, the amount of produce that doesn't make it onto our dinner plates and into our mouths is pretty amazing. Chef Tom Hunt is one of the people trying to do something about it with his pop up restaurant concept, Forgotten Feast.

Tom knows a thing or two about food. He began his career with Ben and Jake Hodges (formerly of The River Cafe). He then worked as head chef at Aqua Italia in Bristol and then on to Dorset where he worked alongside Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Gill Meller as sous chef and food demonstrator for River Cottage HQ. A respectable pedigree in quality, seasonal and ethical eating if ever there was one.

The Forgotten Feast was launched in Autumn 2011 in partnership with the food charity FareShare. Their first event was specifically focused on highlighting another cause that the Well Seasoned team are passionate about - the incredible wastage of fish that happens as a consequence of EU quotas. Using fish and foods that would otherwise have been discarded, Tom's menu included Forgotten Fish Stew with Cured Pigs Head Bacon & Thames Crayfish and Glut Salad of Miss-fits Chargrilled Courgettes & Baby Leeks with Tarragon. As you can see, Forgotten Feast aim to show that using forgotten ingredients doesn't mean you can't have high-end dining.

Forgotten Feast are now looking for people and businesses that may be interested in supplying food, venues and educational speakers for future events. The next event is at the Friends of the Earth 40th birthday party at the end of January, followed by an official launch on Valentines night. After those events there will be regular events throughout the year. If you or somebody you know would like to help fight food waste, follow Tom on twitter (@tomsfeast) or check out his website www.tomsfeast.com

Posted Monday, 16 January 2012  /  Written by The Twig  /  Post a Comment

The Twig really enjoyed his radio appearance on BBC Oxford over the weekend. In a six minute slot we managed to cover cheese, pheasant, rhubarb and cupcakes! If you missed the show you can catch it again HERE for the next week or so (our bit starts at 1h 24m).

Posted Friday, 13 January 2012  /  Written by The Twig  /  Post a Comment

In case you missed the Latest News section on our frontpage, this Sunday lunchtime we'll be talking about seasonal food on BBC Radio Oxford. Tune in to the Bill Buckley show from 1pm to listen (we should be on from around 1.20pm). Click the logo to open the BBC iPlayer and listen live.

Posted Thursday, 12 January 2012  /  Written by The Twig  /  Post a Comment

2011 was Year of the Allotment. Well, alright, not officially, but it certainly saw one of the biggest surges in allotment ownership applications for many years. The climate of austerity combined with various publicity campaigns and the renewed interest that the whole country has seen in local, seasonal food, means that tens of thousands of people have decided to put their names on their local waiting list. In some parts of London the lists are said to be more than 40 years long.

Many allotments, in addition to private patches, provide space for community food projects to grow produce while educating local people on the delights of 'growing your own'. If you're a London resident and keen to get a bit of experience or just fancy getting your hands dirty, how about lending hand for the Big Dig? Capital Growth is hoping to mobilise thousands of volunteers across London to help community food-growing spaces prepare for the new growing season. The dates are Friday, 16th and Saturday, 17th March 2012. Check out the Big Dig website for more details. 

Posted Wednesday, 11 January 2012  /  Written by The Twig  /  Post a Comment

We were delighted when, at the very end of 2011 it was announced that the last battery hen in the UK had been rehoused. This followed decades of campaigning from animal welfare groups and, ultimately, an EU wide ban on keeping laying hens in battery cages. The new position still isn't ideal. In the UK we still keep chickens in small cages but they are now "enriched" (with litter, perches and claw-shortening devices) and larger. Disappointingly though, it seems that several countries in the EU, despite being subject to the same legislation, are not yet complying with the ban. The British Egg Industry Council claims that more than a third of EU cage egg production will break the new rules, with more than 80 million hens still being kept in illegal cages in 2012. So there's more work to be done but at least the changes are coming and thr UK is leading the way.

Back in 2009 one of our first ever Well Seasoned adventures (and one of the very first posts on our old blog) was a day spent with campaigners from Compassion in World Farming collecting signatures for their petition against battery cages. We're really pleased and proud to have played a small part in that campaign and delighted to now be seeing the fruits of those labours.

If you'd like to help to rehouse or sponsor an ex-battery hen, try getting in get in touch with the British Hen Welfare Trust, the charity that that re-homes battery hens and educates the public about how they can make a difference to hen welfare.

Here's to a free range future.

Posted Friday, 16 December 2011  /  Written by The Twig  /  Post a Comment

Christmas is, of course, the biggest of our seasonal feasts, but is everything you think you know about our 'traditional' festive food right? We had a really good natter earlier in the week with our friends at Emerald Street and they've written a great newsletter featuring Well Seasoned and Christmas food. You can read it HERE.

(If you like what you see and fancy doing a little bit for chariddy in the season of goodwill, sign up to receive future editions of the newsletter and The Stylist magazine, Emerald Street's parent publication, will donate £1 to Look Good... Feel Better, a charity which offers make-up and skincare workshops to women undergoing cancer treatment.)

Posted Monday, 10 October 2011  /  Written by The Twig  /  Post a Comment

We had a great time at the Pumpkin Festival this weekend, selling (and selling out!) our Autumn Pesto. More details to follow on the blog in due course but, in the meantime, you can see a selection of our photos from the day on our Facebook page.

Posted Friday, 19 August 2011  /  Written by The Twig  /  Post a Comment

You may recall that, last year, we supported the Game-to-Eat campaign which promotes eating game throughout the UK. As the new season kicks off, we have received an update from the campaign which contains some great figures:

• Over the last ten years (during which the campaign invested some £1.5m) game sales have increased 92%.
• The UK game market is now worth £75m.
• Last season the GtoE campaign reached 55.6m people

So, a success in anyone's book. To find out more, take a look at the campaign's new website www.gametoeat.co.uk which contains news and recipe ideas.

The campaign's 2011 recipe booklet, featuring original recipes from 'sleb chef Valentine Warner can be downloaded HERE for free. We didn't have to be asked twice to try Tandoori Partridge with Naan. Delicious.

Posted Wednesday, 13 July 2011  /  Written by The Twig  /  1 Comment(s)

What mixed fortunes the humble European eel (Anguilla anguilla) has had. Back in the olden days they were largely left alone, seen as a commoners' fish. A slimy beast that skulks around at night, hoovering up dead things from the river bed is hardly a meal fit for a king. But then someone discovered that they actually taste rather good. Now they are critically endangered.

In the 1990's eel, especially smoked, became all the rage and could be found on every swanky restaurant menu. They were easily obtainable and their delicate easy-to-prepare flesh was a hit with chefs and diners alike. Unfortunately, disaster then struck and eel stocks began plummeting. This particular fish stock crisis isn't exclusively caused by over-eating (or at least there's little evidence to suggest it is) but there is a good chance that it is man made - habitat loss, contamination, barriers to migration and transfer of diseases have all been cited as contributing to their significant decline. Whatever the cause, the problem is now an extremely serious one.

How has it all happened so quickly? Well, it has something to do with the eel's unique and complex lifestyle. There is one single European eel stock and nearly every eel in the world returns to one place, the Sargasso Sea, to breed. Hatching into baby eels, or elvers, the offspring then travel back across oceans and up into our fresh water rivers, facing perils at pretty much every turn, whether it be hungry predators or flood barriers. So, if we impact on the Sargasso population we really are depleting an entire species. The stock is now at a historical low which, scientists generally agree, leaves the eel population dangerously close to collapse. The International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) has repeatedly called for an urgent recovery plan to be put in place and the Marine Conservation Society currently rates the eel as a "5"; as their website puts it bluntly "Avoid all European eel."

Dai Frances at Severn & Wye Valley smokery is a rare example of a retailer who knows he's on both sides of the fence. He wants to sell smoked fish, including ideally eel, to a public that enjoys it, but is fully aware that if we continue to deplete the stocks, it won't be long before there are none left. Step up Severn & Wye's educational and restocking programme, "Eels in Schools".

In order to highlight the barriers and obstacles that the elvers face, Severn & Wye promote the Eels in Schools scheme. In 2010 just two schools took part. In 2011 that number had mushroomed to twelve with additional tanks being taken by chef MattTebbutt at his restaurant the Foxhunter at Nantaderry, Billingsgate fish school in London and Feng Sushi restaurant at Royal Festival Hall, London. The idea is that the schools and restaurants raise the elvers until they are of a size suitable to be released back into the wild, providing an educational and entertainment resource at the same time.

This year's tanks have now been in place for many weeks and all the elvers will be released over the Summer months. Last month, comedian and farmer Ade Edmondson, who was filming for a food programme on eels, took part in a return of elvers to the wild and numerous celeb chefs including Brian Turner, Valentine Warner and the Hairy Bikers are now backing the scheme by taking part in similar releases. Severn & Wye hopes to use the scheme to contribute three live elvers to the Eels in Schools scheme every time a Severn & Wye Smokery product is eaten. The smokery is also a member of the Sustainable Eel Group, setting standards for sustainable eel fishing in Europe.

If you'd like to know more about the scheme or to speak to Dai about a tank in your school, you can drop him a line at dai.francis@severnandwye.co.uk You can also download a copy of the Eels in Schools leaflet HERE.

Posted Thursday, 30 June 2011  /  Written by The Twig  /  Post a Comment

2011 has been a good year for fish sustainability in the UK. Public consciousness has gone through the roof and it looks like the EU will soon (finally) be acting to do something about fish discards.

As you may have seen, one of Well Seasoned's seasonal competitions is to win a DVD of The End of the Line, the award-winning film that can claim a lot of the credit for kick-starting the groundswell. After production of The End of the Line finished, a number of the film makers were so moved by what they had discovered that they formed The Blue Marine Foundation, a UK charity aimed at increasing the global marine reserves from 1% to 10% of our oceans within the next 10 years.

Last week we were lucky enough to get an exclusive interview with (the appropriately named) Marina Vaughan, director of the charity. Click HERE to read what she had to say.

Posted Thursday, 5 May 2011  /  Written by The Twig  /  Post a Comment

We are surprised, delighted and humbled in equal measures to announce that the Well Seasoned website has been shortlisted for the Observer Ethical Awards "best blog" of 2011. Known as the Green Oscars, the Observer awards recognise organisations, individuals and young people whose work makes ethical living more accessible and achievable. Naturally we're stunned even to be considered and we couldn't have done it without a loyal following who contribute so much to our musings, as well as spreading the seasonal word so effectively. So, if you're reading this, a genuine, heartfelt thank you. The judging panel is a real Who's Who of the green world including luminaries such as Brian Cox, Colin Firth, Deborah Meaden, Ben Fogle and Gordon Roddick. The winner will be announced at the awards ceremony in June which, obviously, we'll be attending with knobs on.

Read more on the awards and the shortlist HERE.

Posted Wednesday, 8 December 2010  /  Written by A, P & T  /  Post a Comment

Our friends at the National Taste of Game Fortnight ran a very successful campaign in November to raise awareness of the versatility and benefits of game. We're big fans of game at Well Seasoned and firmly of the opinion that the country should be eating more of it as low fat and free range food. If you've never eaten venison or always wondered what pheasant tastes like, then give it a go this season (the game season generally runs throughout the autumn and into winter, but check our meat and game seasonality chart for more detailed info). We've got two absolutely cracking ways to use venison and pheasant in our winter recipe section so get your game on and get cooking!

Here's a summary of the event, which this year was supported by some of the countries' best Indian restaurants.

"National Taste of Game Fortnight ran from 6th – 20th November and was part of BASC’s ongoing Game’s On game promotion campaign. Game meat has seen an explosion in popularity in recent years.

A taste of the countryside was brought to the capital during a three day game tasting event, when a deer carcass was prepared and cooked by restaurateur and broadcaster Mike Robinson at the world-renowned Borough Market. Game with a Tandoori twist was served up during the event by chefs from restaurants including the Cinnamon Club, Cinnamon Kitchen, Moti Mahal and Vatika in London and Massala in Cobham.

The National Taste of Game event was extended this year from a week-long event to a fortnight-long event because it has proved to be so popular and events were held across the UK.

The campaign was given a touch of spice with the launch of National Taste of Game Fortnight, India. BASC has been encouraging Indian restaurants to put game meat on the menu as part of the campaign, which ran alongside National Taste of Game Fortnight.

This year, BASC joined up with Harrods and independent supermarket chain Booths to promote game meat. Ten thousand Harrods-branded BASC recipe leaflets were printed to be given out at the iconic London store’s famous food hall and 25,000 recipe leaflets were available to customers at Booths stores during National Taste of Game Fortnight.

Northern Ireland Environment Minister Edwin Poots and Jim Shannon MP presented braces of pheasant to two of the Province’s top chefs.

A game and ale tasting evening was held at Burton-on-Trent’s National Brewery Centre.

A Game’s On beer was on sale at the Yew Tree Inn in Bunbury, Cheshire, during the fortnight and more than 60 local game dealers and food and drink artisan producers showcased their wares at the Yew Tree Inn Cheshire Food & Drink Festival. A number of Cheshire-based chefs put on game cookery demonstrations and gave advice on game preparation.

More than 40 people tried a taste of game with the Devon Wildfowling and Conservation Association when they hosted a game evening at the Globe Hotel, Fore Street, Topsham, Devon.

Simon Hamlyn, BASC’s director of operations, said: "The response to this year’s National Taste of Game event has been absolutely phenomenal. We have encouraged many more people to enjoy eating game which is fantastic. Game meat is fabulous. It is delicious, wild and extremely versatile and it can be locally sourced. We will continue to build on our efforts to get even more people eating game."

BASC has been promoting game as a healthy, sustainable and highly nutritious food since the mid 1960s. The Game’s On campaign began in 2005. More information and numerous tasty game recipes can be found at www.gameson.org.uk"  

Keep it seasonal!

Posted Tuesday, 16 November 2010  /  Written by A, P & T  /  Post a Comment

Time for a short progress report on the campaign? We think so. 

As you can probably tell, we're still getting to grips with the new website. You might have seen a few things come and go - for which, apologies but we are very nearly there. Technical glitches aside, we're really pleased with the campaign's progress. We've now got hundreds of regular seasonal foodie contributors sending us recipes, photos and competition entries. Do keep them coming. We've got some great prizes for the competitions and more on the way. We'll be uploading lots of the pictures shortly so if you've sent us something, keep an eye our on the galleries.

The seasonal Twitter collective has now topped 5,000 which is brilliant - we have a really friendly network of some of the finest foodies in the country all tweeting the local, seasonal message. 

On our travels we've been speaking with seasonal producers all round the UK from wild boar farmers in Scotland to cobnut growers in Hampshire and everywhere in between. Some trip reports to follow in due course but there's no doubt that the producers, like us, have witnessed a surge in demand for quality, local and seasonal produce so it seems more and more people are buying in to the seasonal way of life. Keep an eye out for details of our next WS event in London. We can't say much yet but details coming soon!

As you've hopefully seen, we sent our first issue of our newsletter The Bramble at the start of the month and are already busy writing the December one. If you haven't received it, you can sign up for future issues here. 

Very excitingly, our all-conquering, super-snazzy seasonality charts are nearly finished. We hope you'll love them - we certainly do. We're producing charts for Fruit, Veg, Herbs, Hedgerows, Fish, Meat and Game so you'll be able to use them to find out when pretty much anything is in season and if you print them off they'll add a real splash of colour to any boring white fridge. Keep an eye out on our What's Good Now? page and if you want to be among the very first to get them, make sure you're following us on Twitter and Facebook.

Now we've mastered (or at least we're no longer being beaten by) the blog, you can expect to see us on here more often. Let us know what you're up to on the seasonal side of things and keep all of those campaign contributions coming in.

Until next time, keep it seasonal!