With all the advice these days about what you should/shouldnât eat, I have decided that âa little of what you fancy does you goodâ. With this in mind, Iâve chosen 3 âlocal food heroesâ who deliver just that.
First up is Angelaâs Pantry.
If you like your treats sweet and spicy these are for you. All her products are made with the finest ingredients, some of the recipes dating back to the 12th century. Her speciality is cooking with ginger, which has been a luxury since Roman times.
She makes a delicious ginger cake, layered with stem ginger, also Golden Gingerbread, less spicy, which can be cut into various shapes, with the younger customers in mind.
Her chocolate brownies are light and deliciously rich, her almond cake moist and tasty.
Angelaâs Pantry
Radcliffe
www.angelaspantry.com
Joseph Holt- What springs to mind? Old-fashioned Northern boozers perhaps?
Not so, for 2 or 3 years ago Holtsâ recognized a need to update their products and approach, in line with current drinking trends. They introduced a fine range of bottled ales, from the dry and hoppy to the dark and semi-sweet. There is something for everyone; their city centre pub, The Ape and Apple, whose clientele ranges from suited after-work drinkers to punters reading the Racing Post, and the younger crowd on a night out, is a great example of this.
Rumour has it that the head brewer is working on a juniper-flavoured beer- anyone for a gin and tonic?
Holts Brewery
Manchester
www.joseph-holt.com
Over in Bolton, Openshaws have been supplying top quality fish and seafood to the trade since 1893. However, not many people know that they also have a fine range of meat and game, including ready-prepared quail, and a variety of smoked salmon, some cured with such diverse flavours as beetroot, or whisky. With this in mind, new managing director Jeremy Fitton is keen to expand and promote this side of the business.
Customers can receive daily notification of available specials and in some cases the order can be on the plate within 9 hours of it being taken. When I visited, they had a startling array- a magnificent Kingfish, known as the Spanish mackerel, down to the tiniest, tastiest clams and razor clams, enjoying something of a revival among chefs at the moment.
I tasted the smoked salmon selection, including the aforementioned beetroot; all of it impressed, together with Morecambe Bay shrimps- a taste of my childhood.
Openshaws
Fishermanâs Wharf
Bolton
www.openshawsfish.com
Traditional Lancashire dishes abound, most based on cheap cuts of meat, and Lancashire Hotpot is no exception, with oysters being used to pad out the dish when meat was too expensive.
But there is a new breed of âlambâ? around today- 3- year old air dried mutton, produced by Andrew Sharp in Cumbria.
Sharp belongs to a co-op of small farmers rearing sheep and cattle, bred for their taste and quality.
I tried the air dried mutton which won a category in the North West Fine Foods awards 2007, together with the air dried beef, and found them to be truly exceptional.
All cuts of meat, including the charcuterie can be prepared to order and there are tips and recipes for anyone looking for a fresh idea.
Andrew Sharp
www.Farmersharp.co.uk
Travelling south along the M6 from the hills of Cumbria you reach the fertile pastures of Cheshire. Here, since 1986, Cheshire Farm have been making quality Ice cream, with such diverse flavours as Vanilla with pod, licorice and blackcurrant, and the silver medal winner rhubarb and stem ginger.The good pasture means that the milk and cream used is of the highest quality, and all the colours and flavourings are natural.
Based in Tattenhall, the farm is open to the public, and with tea rooms, childrenâs area and all that Ice cream, it canât fail to tickle your taste-buds!
www.cheshirefarmicecream.co.uk