The Cacao Pod

Cocoa is one of the most valuable and sought after commodities in the world, that ranks third after sugar and coffee. Chocolate comes from a pod that grows out of the trunk of the cacao tree. These trees are only grown in the rain forest, which has rich soil, humidity and shade. Rainforest's have existed for the last 40 million years, but now only cover just two percent of the earths surface. These forests are also home to forty percent of all species of animals and plants. 

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Photographer: Tips

The fruit from the cacao tree is an oval-shaped pod, about the size of a rugby ball. It can grow as long as 35cm and weigh up to 1 Kilo. When ripe, the pods can be a variety of colours.  Red, green, orange or purple. 

The pods are carefully cut open after they have been picked. There are up to 45 beans inside, encased in a gooey white pulp. The beans and the pulp are removed by hand and the beans are placed in wooden boxes, lined with banana leaves. They are then covered with more banana leaves and left for 5 days to ferment. When the beans are not fermented they can be used for cheaper chocolate blends, as their poor taste can be disguised by further processing.

After fermentation, the beans are spread out on mats to dry in the sun, which takes about one week during sunny weather. The dried beans must contain less than seven to eight percent moisture, which prevents mould from growing during storage. The shrunken dried beans are hard and have become a medium dark brown colour. The chocolate flavour is now in place and the beans are ready to be shipped to the factory.

At the chocolate factory the beans are de-stoned and cleaned. To release the nibs from the shells, the beans are blasted with heat and streams of air are then used to force them open. Roasting them at over 100C develops the rich flavour and colour that is characteristic of cocoa. The roasted nibs are then ground to produce a cocoa mass or cocoa liquor. It's this mass that is transformed into chocolate by further processing with the addition of other ingredients. The liquor can be processed into cocoa solids and cocoa butter. White chocolate is derived from cocoa butter with no solids. Cocoa solids, is the term used to describe the total amount of cocoa-derived material in a finished chocolate. The percentage of cocoa solids declared on the packaging refers to a combination of cocoa mass and cocoa butter. 

Chocolate has been used for food for thousands of years, and it was the Maya and the Aztecs who were the first to make a drink from it. Today, without the Fair trade contract and the premium price that is commanded for cacao, farmers wouldn't have a stable economic future. 


  



  

Bill O'Fare....Typsy Laird

Not only are the Scots well known for their sweet tooth, they are also well known for their whisky. Typsy Laird is the Scottish version of English trifle, made with Drambuie or Whisky. Trifle means thick cream flavoured with sugar. The first known recipe for this was published in the late 16th century. Years later, custard was poured over the alcohol soaked bread. The inclusion of jelly is a more recent variation.

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Photographer: Peter Dawes

Scotch whiskies are generally distilled twice, some three times and some up to twenty times. Each clan's whisky has a unique flavour and is the sign of the clan's prestige and power. After the English malt tax of 1725, most of Scotland's distillation was either shut down or forced underground. Scottish distillers operated out of homemade stills. At one time it was thought that over half of Scotland's whisky output was illegal. Today, whisky is produced in a number of distilleries around the country. The five main regions are Highland, Lowland, Speyside, Islay and Cambeltown. The Scot's also enjoy scrumptious desserts with fresh raspberries.

Serves 4

1 packet of sponge fingers or sponge cake
275ml / 10 fl oz Drambuie or Whisky 
250g / 9oz fresh raspberries
1 packet jelly
425ml / 15 fl oz custard
570ml 1 pint double cream

1- Put the sponge fingers in the glasses or in a large glass bowl.
2- Pour the alcohol over the sponge fingers.
3- Melt the jelly and add the fruit to it, then pour over the sponge fingers.
4- Leave to cool and set.
5- Pour the cooled custard on top of the jelly and leave to set.
6- Top the trifle with whipped cream.

Cook's tip
Keep the trifle covered in the fridge and serve chilled, and please don't leave out the fruit. This is an uncomplicated recipe and the flavours will have a chance to blend well, if left to chill overnight. Follow with A Tassie O'Coffee!

Bill O'Fare...Haggis, wi Champit Tatties Bashed Neeps

Haggis, the quintessential Scottish food, is actually a type of sausage that has been a part of the Scottish staple diet for centuries. It is made from the offal of mutton and lamb, spiced and mixed with oatmeal. It is then packed into a sheep's stomach ready for boiling. Haggis today is sold already cooked, ready for further cooking and reheating.

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Photographer: Peter Cassidy

Scottish mutton and lamb are famous for their flavour and quality. Traditionally every part of the animal was used and there are many breeds of sheep in Scotland. They mostly graze on the heather clad hills in summer and feed on hay and turnips in winter. The sheep's diets differ depending on the areas that they are produced. Shetland sheep have a diet of seaweed and heather. The salt that is carried onto their pasture also gives them a unique, slightly gamey flavour.

Potatoes in Scotland are known as tatties and mashed turnips are known as bashed neeps. Potatoes were an important crop and also became a staple food. They were cheap and filling and were sold from carts in Scottish cities in the 19th century. Turnips were introduced into Scotland in the 18th century. Many Scottish dishes use turnips and they became the traditional accompaniment to haggis.

Serves 4

450g / 1 lb potatoes

450g / 1 lb turnips

50g / 2 oz butter

50ml / 2 fl oz milk

5ml / 1 tspn freshly grated nutmeg

salt and ground black pepper

1- Peel the potatoes and turnips and cut them into evenly sized small chunks.

2- Place the chopped vegetables in a pan and cover them with cold water.

3- Bring them to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes,until cooked.

4- Melt the butter with the milk in a separate pan.

5- Drain the vegetables and return them to the pan.

6- Mash the potato and the turnip and then add the milk and butter.

7- Add the nutmeg and season to taste. Serve immediately with your haggis.

Cook's Tip

This can be also used on top of shepherds pie in place of just potatoes.

Bill O'Fare......Cock-a-Leekie Soup

This is a Scottish Soup, made from chicken stock and leeks, also called Scotland's National Soup. It originated in France as a chicken and onion soup, in the 16th century. The original recipe added prunes, to increase the nutritional value of the broth.

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Photographer: Peter Cassidy

Serves 4

1kg / 2lbs 4oz fresh whole chicken

5 leeks, washed and chopped

salt and ground black pepper

15 prunes, pitted

chopped fresh parsley to garnish

1- Put the whole chicken in a pot with enough water to cover the chicken.

2- Cover the pot and let simmer gently for 1 hour, until the chicken falls off the bone.

3- Remove the chicken from the stock.

4- Remove the chicken flesh from the bones, shredding it slightly.

5- Skim off any white scum that has come to the surface and strain the stock into a fresh pot.

6- Add the leeks and continue cooking for 20 minutes.

7- Season to taste and add the chicken and the prunes. 

8- Heat through gently and serve. Garnish with chopped parsley.

Cook's Tip

If you prefer a smooth texture, a food processor can be used to puree the soup.

Burns Supper

Since Rabbie Burns immortalised haggis in a poem, "Burns Suppers" have been a part of Scottish Culture. Every January 25th we commemorate our beloved bard, as a tribute to his death in 1796. This ritual was started by some of his friends and remains unchanged today.

The evening begins with the "Selkirk Grace"

"Some hae meat and cannot eat,
 Some cannot eat that want it,
 But we hae meat and we can eat,
 Sae let the lord thankit"

Everyone is asked to stand to receive the haggis, while the chef carrying the haggis, is lead to the top table by a piper. The guests clap slowly, then a famous Burns poem called 
"To A Haggis" is read out. 

"Fair fa' honest, sonsie face,
 Great chieftan o the puddin'-race!
 Aboon then a' ye tak your place,
 Painch, tripe, or thairm:
 Weel are ye wordy of a grace
 As lang's my arm.

 The groaning trencher there ye fill,
 Your hurdles like a distant hill,
 Your pin was help to mend a mill
 In time o need,
 While thro your pores the dews distil
 Like amber bead.

 His knife see rustic labour dight,
 An cut you up wi ready slight,
 (this is when the haggis is cut open)
 Trenching your gushing entrails bright,
 Like onie ditch,
 And then, O what a glorious sight,
 Warm-reekin, rich!

 Then, hom for hom, they stretch an strive:
 Deil tak the hindmost, on the drive,
 Till a' their weel-swall'd kytes belyve
 Are bent like drums;
 The auld Guidman, maist like to rive,
 'Bethankit' hums.

 Is there that owre his French ragout,
 Or olio that was staw a sow,
 Or fricassee wad mak her spew
 Wi perfect sconner,
 Looks down wi sneering, scomfu view
 On sic a dinner?

 Poor devil! see him owre his trash,
 As feckless as a wither'd rash,
 His spindle shank a guid whip-lash,
 His nieve a nit:
 Thro bloody flood or filed to dash,
 O how unfit!

 But mark the rustic, haggis-fed,
 The trembling earth resounds his tread,
 Clap in his walie nieve a blade,
 He'll make it whissle;
 An legs an arms, an heads wull sned,
 Like taps o thrissle.

 Ye Pow'rs, wha mak mankind your care,
 And dish them out their bill o fare,
 Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware
 That jaups in luggies:
 But, if ye wish her gratefu prayer,
 Gie her a Haggis!

The guest speaker then toasts the haggis with a glass of Whiskey, and the Bill O'Fare begins.
After Dinner a short speech is given, in Burns immortal memory. Originally, ladies would have prepared the food, so a toast to the Lasses is given, to the female guests. The evening concludes with various songs and poems and finally everyone links hand to sing "Auld Lang Syne".

Your Milkman, is a click away.

The milkman is in the heart of your community, rain or shine. However, the number of dairy farmers in the UK has halved, over the last 15 years. Supermarkets sell milk as a loss leader to get customers into their stores, and pay less for milk than the cost of milk production.

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Photographer: Mark Johnson

"Cadbury's Dairy Milk" use with about 170 million litres of British Milk each year. They pay above the UK market rate for their milk and also carry a Fair Trade label for the cocoa they purchase.

Milk production in the UK follows a seasonal trend, peaking in May, after the calving season. Cows produce milk according to their calving cycle, the weather and the grass. Only half of the 13 billion litres/year of milk produced in the UK is turned into liquid milk. The other half is used for dairy products, such as cheese, butter, yoghurt and cream.

Milk is distinguishable by it's fat content. Whole/full fat milk contains 3.5% fat, semi-skimmed milk contains 1.7% fat and skimmed milk contains 0.1% to 0.3% fat. Lowering the fat content in your milk intake does not  effect the calcium content, but low fat contains less energy. Milk also contains vitamins and minerals that are essential to healthy bones and teeth. Cutting milk, due to lactose intolerance is common, but researchers report that many individuals who think they are milk intolerant, actually are not. Some dairy products such as yoghurts and cheese have naturally lower lactose content than milk. Some milk products such as chocolate milk may be better than plain milk. Several lactose reduced dairy foods are also now available to the consumer.

Cows produce up to 600 litres of methane gas each day, which gets expelled into the atmosphere. This is equivalent to 1% of the UK's greenhouse gas emissions. So ways of feeding cows are being deployed to cut these cow emissions. Research suggests that methane emissions can be cut by at least 20% and that cow slurry can be used to generate heat and power by brewing the slurry to power turbines. This process of renewable energy turns out a nitrogen rich dry matter, which is an ideal fertiliser.

To reduce the environmental footprint of dairy products, one supermarket chain has installed night blinds on their fridges, which cuts energy by 70%. Attaching a weir guard to the lower edge of the fridge, can also keep more cool air in it for longer.

To promote the industry, relationships between farmers, milk buyers and retailers are key for everyone in the supply chain. Dairy products can now be ordered online from your local milkman. They can also deliver speciality milks, smoothies, eggs, cream, yoghurts, butter and cheese. By buying products such as desserts, yoghurts, ice cream, custards, condensed milk and milk powders that are made in the UK (ie.not manufactured abroad), you will also be helping our dairy farmers.

British Farming

Farming in Britain has changed dramatically since the second world war. Arable, pastoral, horticulture, market gardening and viticulture, still only provide around 60% of Britain's food. With machinery, we can now run a huge farm with few people. However, farmers must still survive the world markets, the weather and the economy.

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Photographer: Matthew Davison

Inflation is driven by the cost of raw commodities on the global markets. Economists warn that shoppers will face a 10% rise in their grocery bills this year.  Half a dozen eggs will cost £2, bread will increase by 10p and chicken will increase by 50p. The 1970's cookbook "Frugal Food" by Delia Smith, is to be re-launched this year, her publisher has announced. 

The challenge is to produce more food of our own and to protect our own economy, so when there is an increase in commodities on the global food markets, such as wheat, we are not paying for it. 

Farming has to change as the population rises, but how can we produce more food? We must use the land we have more efficiently, through mixed farming. We need to become more self reliant, with more skilled farmers and smaller farms, reducing our environmental footprint. 

Crofting is a unique social system in which small scale food production and care of the environment play an important role. Living and working a small agricultural holding, is a way of life that is linked to the land. Most crofters have other occupations contributing to their livelihoods and the rural economy. Crofting embodies the principles of sustainability, diversification, co-operation, entrepreneurialism and the community. People share one common vision for the common good. Crofting today, is the result of a hard fight, won by previous generations of crofters.

The Red Tractor Organisation, maintains, develops and promotes standards throughout the entire food industry in the UK. For the consumer, the Red Tractor logo, is a single reference point that assures them of the standards that their food is produced and that the product has come from the UK.  

Today, farming is about looking after a business, diversifying and spreading the risk and the need to educate the public to where our food is coming from. 

Locally Grown

Happy New Year 2013

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Photographer: Graham Franks

After the overindulgence of the Christmas season, fruit and vegetables should be at the top of everyone's shopping list for 2013. Fresh fruit and vegetables have the highest health benefits and the lowest environmental impact and buying fresh, means buying local. The easiest way, is to buy it straight from the producers themselves, cutting out the middle men. There are delivery box schemes, local food fairs, on line producers, shops offering home delivery, country markets and farm shops. 

To combat poor diets and rising obesity levels, we need to encourage everyone to eat 5 A DAY and to enjoy a wide variety of affordable quality "fresh produce". On average, the UK consumer only eats 2.5 servings of fruit and vegetables a day. 

Due to our climate, the UK imports around 60% of our fruit and vegetables, providing consumers with produce outside of the UK growing season. Defra's definition of "Locally in Season" is food that is grown outdoors, during the natural growing/production period, for the country or region where it is produced. This applies to seasonal food produced both in the UK and overseas. It should also mean, be consumed locally to where it is grown. An increase in domestic production of fresh produce is essential to influence the UK Government's policy for sustainable food, as set out by Food 2030. UK growers have an opportunity to increase the sustainable production of indigenous crops, which are suited to our climate.

Reports confirm that imported fresh produce and greenhouse vegetables, still have a far lower ecological footprint that we imagine though, in comparison with other food sectors. The fresh produce industry is also putting measures in place to reduce excess packaging, increase recycling and reducing food waste.

The Eat in Colour Campaign and the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme, has helped increase the consumption of fresh produce and provided tips and advice for people of all ages to enjoy eating fresh fruit and vegetables, as part of a healthy diet. However, the Government needs to help consumers make ethical choices on sustainable healthy food and to encourage greater consumption of fresh produce.

Health, Wealth and Happiness to all for 2013!