French Culinary Morsels

I hope everyone is tucked up warm now that the weather has turned.   Soon you will be tucking into parkin and thinking about a certain holiday coming up at the end of the year.

We have some exciting news at Yorkshire Appetite. We are delighted to announce the publication of our book, "French Food Adventures: Two Yorkshire Sisters Discover French Cuisine."  Yes, now available HERE  on Amazon

Back at the beginning of 2023 Jill, one of our Harrogate guides (and yes, my sister) and myself decided to embark upon a culinary adventure. Having spent some of our childhood driving round France with our parents experiencing the delights of camping on a budget, we decided to go on a road trip all around France. This time however, it would be different. No more of our mother’s standard lunches (cheese sandwiches, an apple and maybe a piece of fruit cake – it seldom varied), we would dine well.    

We had our route mapped out -essentially down the West side of France and back up the East side, in my trusty Citroen. We decided to experience as many food experiences as we could. Of course we checked out various eateries – ranging from the Michelin Starred to the Bouchon/Estaminet rustic restaurants - in search of the regional specialties. Food Tours were obviously there to be enjoyed too and we did try a fair few. We also visited food producers, both industrial and artisan, to discover the stories behind these favourite foods.

We love a food tour as you know and the particular mix of food, food history, culture and local history and how they all combine together. We sought to recreate this in a travelogue which looked at each region we visited  and examined the history, the gastronomic traditions and how you could experience them. Although Jill and I have lived apart for decades, it was great to reunite in this adventure and share our experiences and thoughts from the busy markets of Lyon to the fragrant lavender fields of Avignon, as well as from God’s own country.

In addition to serving as a helpful reference for French regional dishes, the book also pays homage to our late parents, Alan and Gwyneth, with whom we shared childhood camping holidays in France – our modest holiday eating habits rather in contrast to the abundant flavors we  enjoyed this time. With delicious recipes, useful travel advice, and personal stories tucked into each chapter, this book is the perfect travel partner for both foodies and adventurers. We hope that the book will please and inspire readers of all types, be they seasoned foodies, adventurers, or those who treasure family reunions.

To celebrate the publication of our adventures, we are hosting a book launch next Wednesday 23rd October, 6.30 pm at Starling Bar Café Kitchen in Harrogate.   We would love to see any of our supporters there at this informal gathering.   Please use this link to book yourself a place – it’s free!  

A toute l’heure or Ah’ll see thee there!

I hope you all enjoyed some gooseberries last month.   There is definitely a ‘back to school’ feeling this month as people return to their routines and settle down ready for the nights to draw in.   Before you do though, treat yourself to a food tour, no better time!   Or how about booking one for that work Christmas Party – something a little bit different! (Forgive me if it’s a bit early) Book here

This month we are celebrating cheese after Yorkshire Appetite has recently been to visit some top notch cheese emporiums.   Of course, we are big fans of The Cheeseboard in Commercial Street, Harrogate, a specialist cheese shop, guided by Gemma for the last 20 years. Gemma really knows her cheese, as do all of her delightful staff, and she always find some great local cheeses for our Harrogate Food Tour.

I finally got the chance recently to visit the Wensleydale Creamery at Hawes in the Yorkshire Dales. It’s a fantastic experience, reminding you of the wonderful Wallace and Gromit, as well as taking you through the cheese making process and offering tastes of the many different Wensleydale cheeses. There is also a top notch restaurant with a very cheesy menu to inspire you!

Recently we also found our way up to The Courtyard Diary , a cheesemongers nestling near the town of Settle in North Yorkshire. They are particularly welcoming and will advise on which particular treasures to try and buy.   We had come across the Courtyard Dairy during lockdown with a very enjoyable virtual cheese tasting so it was great to finally visit in person.

Some of you may have come across Mario Olianos, a Sardinian now living in Yorkshire who had a bet with this brother as to who could make the best cheese. Now made from local Yorkshire milk at his dairy in Otley, West Yorkshire, his Yorkshire Pecorino cheese is now the proud holder of several taste awards and is hugely popular. Don’t’ take my word for it, taste it.   You might be inspired to start your own cheese journey.

If you are inspired by any of these cheese experiences then Uniquely Local , a fantastic voucher website, enables you to gift your loved ones a unique experience such as a cheese making course. I, for one, am sorely tempted by that one. A great evening with friends plus some wine and cheese from a local cheesemonger would definitely suit as the days get shorter.

At Yorkshire Appetite, we love to see what foods are in season and how we might enjoy them. August is the time for gooseberries and while you may not think about enjoying a punnet of them in their raw form, you cannot deny they are a flavoursome fruit. A gooseberry bush is often happily enjoying itself in a Yorkshire garden along with their rhubarb cousins. These small, tart berries are known for their unique flavour and are very popular in desserts, jams and pies and, more recently, gin! Yorkshire has a long history of gooseberry cultivation with annual gooseberry shows and competitions held in the region. The gooseberry was one of the first fruits to be cultivated commercially and in their heyday there were hundreds of varieties.  However in 1905, the accidental introduction of a mildew disease from America wiped out many of the British specialities.

The first cultivation of gooseberries in England was recorded in 1276 but they didn’t become popular until the 19th century when ‘gooseberry clubs’ sprung up across the UK with their members competing to grow the heaviest fruit.  In 1845 there were 171 separate gooseberry shows and while that number has shrunk substantially of course gooseberry shows run by the clubs are still a thing.  In the Yorkshire hamlet of Eaton Bridge near Whitby, the Old Gooseberry Society holds an annual gooseberry competition, which has been active since 1823, with some very strict handwritten rules. The competition has only been cancelled twice in its history; once for the Foot and Mouth Outbreak in 2001 and once for the Pandemic in 2020.

Two dozen or so individual growers are invited to arrive with their gooseberries in the morning, most using egg trays to transport their prize hopefuls. One grower was left disappointed after arriving minutes after the midday cut-off point and faced disqualification. Rules are rules! One hundred berries were weighed in total. In 2022 Bryan Nellist’s white gooseberry won the growers’ prize by a fraction of a gram and results were decided in a ‘berry-off’ between his white gooseberry – of a variety known as Belmarsh – and its rival. Nellist had won his first title in the world of gooseberry competitions in 1997 and has broken several world records. The current world record was set in 2013 when the heaviest gooseberry weighed 64.49 grams – about the size of a large hen’s egg.

If you want to taste these little darlings this August, then we suggest:

Slingbys Gooseberry Gin   A blend of Harrogate's renowned aquifer water with pure grain spirit and local botanicals. Yorkshire gooseberries add a tangy sharpness balanced by fruity sweetness, all while preserving the citrus notes of their award-winning London Dry Gin.

Gooseberry and Elderflower Jam by Raydale Preserves   A delightful blend of tart gooseberries and fragrant elderflower, creating a unique spread that's both tangy and floral.  It's like capturing the essence of an English summer in a jar—bright, fresh, and just the right amount of sweetness.

Or have a go at your own with this recipe

Gooseberry and Elderflower Crumble

Two little goosegob facts before we go – their name; nothing to do with geese. It comes from the Old Norman ‘grosier’, which came from ‘groseille’, French for redcurrant. AND……‘gooseberry’ was one of many historic names for the devil and this is thought to be why a third person accompanying a romantic couple is known as a gooseberry.  Now you know and can amaze your friends!

What a summer we are having! One minute we are being drenched in rain (yes, we are

talking about the rather wet Ilkley Food Festival) and another having to slather on factor

50. Still, keeps us on our toes on the tours.

NEW VENUES IN YORK

Just one week after said wet festival, we were in York baking in the sunshine on the first

run through of our new route for the York Tour. We decided that we needed to

showcase more of York’s great independent venues and also give those of you who

would like to come back for more tastings, a chance to try these new venues. We

visited four venues where we had something to eat accompanied by something to drink

in each. Our guinea pigs for the tour were a lovely group from Ladies who Latte – a

business networking group in York - so thank you ladies, you were very good

companions and everyone seemed to enjoy the new tastes. From New Orleans to

Portugal via Syria plus cheese and wine of course (which country this week?), the

tastes were amazing.

We will be running the new route on selected dates – these will be identified on our

booking platform as York Tour: Savour the City. If you have been before and would like

to try the new route, do get in touch for suitable dates – we can accommodate!

FOODIE PARTICIPANTS WANTED

We have been approached by the University of Leeds regarding a research study as

they identified you beautiful people as their perfect participants, I will let them

explain…..

Choosing Food in Restaurants - Research Study

Are you someone who likes to eat out at restaurants in and around Yorkshire? If that sounds like

you, we would love to hear your views on what you like to see on menus and how you decide on

what foods to order. This study is being conducted by researchers at the University of

Leeds and we would be grateful if you could give an hour of your time to be part of an online

group discussion with other restaurant customers. This is an opportunity for you to be able to

share your experiences of eating out in restaurants and we will offer you a £10 online gift

voucher as a token of our gratitude. If you are interested, please register your interest by

clicking here , or scan the QR code below

If you would like more information, please contact Chris Jones, lead researcher,

at fscmj@leeds.ac.ac.uk .

RETIRED AND SEEKING INSPIRATION?

One of the things we love about our job as Food Ambassadors is meeting so many

great people who share their stories with us. Many of our visitors are retired or about to

 retire and lead such interesting lives that are very inspiring. Some of our guides are

themselves retired from previous professions yet still lead very busy lives with a range

of interesting roles. Yorkshire Appetite’s founder, Kay, has written a book on ‘Things to

do in Retirement’ and is looking for people who would be interested in receiving a free

pdf and reading it with the hope that when it is published in August, they would consider

reviewing it. If you are interested, please get in touch HERE

Muchas Gracias

Summer is here at last!     We thought it would never arrive but here it is. Unfortunately it wasn’t quite in time for the Ilkley Food and Drink Festival last week where I have to salute all the brave artisans, chefs, entertainers and ground staff who bravely carried on despite the deluge of rain in the afternoon.   There were some intrepid festival goers who stuck it out despite the mud and we managed to do one of our Taste Exploration Events before the rain set in.   This is a mini food tour where you get to sample 5 stalls at the festival and their flavours and our tour goers, a lovely local family, got to visit Spain, Mexico and the Caribbean, taste the delicate flavours of artisan marshmallow and the delights of the main bar. All for £25 which is incredible value! We’re doing another Taste Exploration Event at the Harrogate Food and Drink Festival on 29th and 30th June so book yourself in RIGHT HERE!  Luckily the sun came out on Sunday and everyone dried off, perked up and armed with wellies, just in case, came out in force. Our Goodie Box prize draw took place at the end of the Sunday and look out for the draw on our Instagram page shortly (what do you mean, you don’t follow us!).

Our new taste adventure this last month was a visit to an Ethiopian restaurant. A few people on the tours have recommended Ethiopian food to us before and having never tried it, I thought I would give it ago. With my daughter in tow, we found our way to the Abyssinia Café and Restaurant  in Harehills in Leeds.   While the exterior is quite unassuming, the inside was delightful as were our hosts. They were happy to recommend the right dish for me which a lamb stew while my daughter had the vegetarian option.   Out came a large plate with an injera on it and a pot with the stew in it which the owner then tipped into the middle of the injera.

An injera, what is that? Well, my friends, injera flatbread is made from teff flour which is the world’s tiniest grain and grown in East Central Africa. It is gluten free and is traditionally cooked on a clay plate over a fire although apparently today electric injera plates are commonplace and I suspect were more likely in Leeds than an open fire (I’m hoping). It’s a type of sourdough and when cooked, starts out looking like a crepe but then while the bottom remains smooth, the top develops pores and a slightly spongy texture. It is its own utensil and plate in one, you just tear bits off and use it to scoop up the stew. It had just the right level of spice for my delicate palate (wuss) and was absolutely delicious. My daughter was similarly impressed by her vegetarian offering.   We finished off with Ethiopian coffee which our host roasted in the traditional way and served to our table.

Recommend it highly.     Abysinnia Café and Restaurant, 12 Ashley Road, Harehills LS0 7AB

We’ll see you at the Harrogate Food and Drink Festival – come and say hello!

If you would like to try some delicious Indian food and find out a little more about Leeds, join us on our Indian Food Tour of Leeds on Saturday 25th May.   Test your Leeds knowledge; can you name ten famous people from Leeds?   Why is it called Leeds? Which favourite sweet was invented here?   More importantly though, we take you to four of the most excellent restaurants in the city centre where you will savour some truly delicious flavours. We start at 2.30 pm and I guarantee you will feel full at the end of it, the food is exquisite! Use the code LEEDS25 to get 10% off. Book here

We also have a little special addition to our offering. You may or may not know this about Harrogate but we do have rather a good selection of vintage shops and antique centres where you can find some unusual and interesting finds and often at a bargain price! Marieanne, one of our Food Ambassadors, runs her own Vintage and Antique jewellery business and at the weekends will be offering tours of the hidden gems of the town where you can uncover these treasures. The tour includes refreshments and a light lunch to give you the energy you need! Plus with the tour there is 10% off selected items.   See the details here.

This coming Monday Yorkshire Appetite are featuring on a live Linked In broadcast at 12 noon with Clockwork Eye Video Productions where we will be talking about the business and how we got started – nearly 8 years ago now!   It has been a long but very rewarding journey over the years and we have met so many absolutely fantastic people and there have been a LOT of Yorkshire Puddings eaten (other foods are available!). So if you would like to listen to what started us on this journey, tune in at 12 noon on any of the following links.

Facebook

Linked In

Youtube

Last weekend, we had a peek at what the summer could be like with everyone out in their summer dresses and shorts enjoying the sun.   Though it may have cooled slightly, we are still raring to go for the summer Food Festival season. We are appearing at the Ilkley Food and Drink Festival on the 15th and 16th June and the Harrogate Food and Drink Festival on the Stray on the 29th and 30th June. Not only do we have a stall – come along and say hi! – but we are also running a Food Tour of the festival. You know that feeling when there are so many delicious looking food stalls and vans that you don’t know what to go for. There’s always a bit of FOMO going on when you have made your choice – what if you should have gone for the other one? On our Taste Exploration you can try a selection of the foods on offer so you get a rounded view – and a good lunch – of the tastes of the festival. You can book on the day at the festival.   The tours are 1.5 hours long and run three times a day. Bargain price of £25.     Come along!

I hope you all had a lovely Mother’s Day and are now having a little R&R before Easter kicks in! We are looking ahead to the spring and summer season and hoping we will see you for another tour soon. The food on the Indian Food Tour in Leeds is going down a storm, full of aromatic flavours and we are offering a Spring Tour  in Otley.   Otley’s Tasting Tour is a little different to our other tours. As those of you who have visited this historic market town will know, it is small but beautifully proportioned!   While it may not have the same breadth of eateries as our other destinations, what it does have is a tradition and plethora of artisans – from gin makers and bakers to brewers and butchers – so the tour allows you to get into the heart of what Otley is about and learn about its market heritage. You will go on a journey of discovery around the town, trying tasty morsels then ending with a fantastic spread at one of the local independent brewers where you will see the brewing and be able to wash down the feast with something cold. Just one date at the moment so book th’ssen in here!

In early March we had a very exciting visit to The Grand Cookery School in York. The Grand is a wonderful hotel in York where they always make their guests feel like royalty. In 2019, they invested millions into creating a state-of-the-art teaching kitchen and opened up The Grand Cookery School. They have all sorts of courses ranging from two-hour express events to full day experiences and you can choose between a wide range of topics, including the more popular cuisines such as Italian and Indian, the newer trends such as street food and the techniques involved in bread making and patisserie.

I decided to try out a course and found myself with seven others in the kitchen on the Dim Sum making course. It is a half day course which means it lasts three hours. I have to say time flies by when you are having fun! Before I knew it, I was eating the results of the class with a nice glass of wine with my fellow cooks. Luke was our tutor for the day, and he was fantastic. He brought us up to the demonstration kitchen at the front and talked us through a demonstration of each step in the cooking process. He answered every question we had and kept the course in easy-to-follow sections, so we did not get overwhelmed with information. We would then go back to our stations and everything we needed was there to help us perform the cooking challenge. In total we made three dishes; bao buns filled them with nai wong bao custard as a sweet treat, sui mai parcels using wonton pastry and pork, and dim sum, of course - little dumplings similar to the Japanese gyoza or Nepalese momo   Mine looked splendid (though I say so myself).  

I would definitely say there was a range of cooking abilities on the course, but not once did anyone feel out of their depth. Luke was very encouraging, and we were all delighted by what we achieved by the end of the class. I discovered I am quite a messy cook (as my workstation and apron attested at the end of the class). We all sat down together and ate some of the Asian delights but there was plenty to take home as well for all the family to enjoy/laugh at.   See my results here.

We are delighted to collaborate with the Grand Cookery School so if you book through us you can get 10% off their courses.  Contact us with the link below to get your code.  Why not have a foodie trip to York and take in a course AND a tour. There’s a great adventure right there!  

I am interested in a course at The Grand Cookery School and would like my 10% code

We are looking for someone to join our team of Food Ambassadors taking tours around the fair city of York. It is flexible, part time and thoroughly enjoyable.   The requirements: to be good with people, reliable and able to think on your feet. We are able to offer hours to fit around other responsibilities and it is great fun. If you are interested, send me an email at kay@yorkshireappetite.com

Remember Mother’s Day is coming up and wouldn’t your mother love a tasty food experience!  She might even take you along. Not long to book – it’s coming up soon on 10th March – gift vouchers are available here.

For our food experience in January, we travelled a bit closer to home than the Canary Islands, just up t’road to Durham.   We have experienced Triple A Food Tours before in Newcastle so we knew we would be in for a treat.   We were lucky enough to have not one, but two guides to show us around this beautiful old city – Julie and her trainee.  Starting in the ancient market square, the first stop was a great community style café Northern Stores and Deli which combined the experiences of eating and socialising with shopping - can’t be bad. The café was very friendly and relaxed and you had the opportunity to browse their selection of housewares and if you liked the handmade wooden furniture we sat on, you could buy it. I chose a throne-like chair as fits my status (ha!) at the top of the table and our food was a tasty pattie of pork and black pudding in a bun. With a hot drink of our choice, it was a great start to the tour.

Our next port of call was the old market hall which has been there since 1851. Full of stalls with a variety of traders, we met the charismatic owner of Market Hall Wines.   Packed with every sort of drink you might want to try, our host treated us to some Percy Special Whisky and Cherry Brandy from the Alnwick Rum Company. I’m not a big lover of whisky (I know, hard to believe) but the cherry just took the edge off it and so the wee dram was very much appreciated.  This was followed by a glass of red wine chosen specially for us and lots of joyousness from the welcoming Mark.

Walking down into the lower part of the city, we crossed the River Wear with a good view of the unusual and quirky University Students Union building. Thousands of students grace this city every year and there are plenty of good value eateries to feed them. We were treated to Barro Comida.   We enjoyed Mexican sides and two types of tacos. The food was very tasty, and really quite spicy: luckily it was cooled by  the choice of a margarita or a refreshing hibiscus drink.

The Fusion Restaurant was next. The atmosphere couldn’t have been more different -  dark, elegant, and subdued lighting with flowers in the ceiling, it suited the experience well and the food here was really top quality. We were served a selection of tempura, stir fried veg, dumplings and a glass of wine.

Feeling really quite full and a little tipsy, we finished the tour at Marco Pierre White’s restaurant in the Indigo hotel – an elegant room in the historic Shire Hall. Of course, there was still room for dessert, as we all know that is a separate stomach for dessert (1).   A trio of little cakes; sponge with fruit, chocolate and little cheesecakes were superb and we washed them down with a delicate cup of tea.

Durham is not that far to go and it’s a lovely day out – plenty of food and definitely one of the booziest food tours I have been on (and it’s all included in the price so good value) and you get to wander around a charming old city. Thank you Amy.

You can see some images of our experience on our Instagram here.

1.                  There isn’t.

Happy New Year.   We hope you are all well after the festive season and ready to continue your food journey this year. There is a food experience for every month of the year so we will be sharing our experience of those we have experienced ourselves over the last year to give you inspiration.

It’s Valentine’s Day coming up so what better way to show your love than take your other half on a food tour – the way to the heart is through the stomach after all.   A little cheeky offer – 10% off all tours booked until end of March with the code LOVE24. Love IS a many splendored thing.

Our food experience over Christmas was very non traditional as we visited the island of Tenerife. Not really known as a gastronomic destination, we were pleasantly surprised to discover several Canarian specialities. The two I remember from my previous trips to these volcanic isles are the Papas Arrugadas (wrinkled potatoes) and Mojo , which comes in red or green varieties. New potatoes are boiled in salt water until it evaporates leaving them lovely and soft with a wrinkled appearance.  They are often eaten with the mojo - a sauce made with peppers and cilantro (coriander). You can try the green or the red or the ‘picante’ - the spicy variety!  

Unsurprisingly being an island in the Atlantic ocean, seafood is order of the day in the Canaries. Their Christmas is celebrated European style on the 24th December with a feast of great proportions and a huge array of seafood - lobster, langoustines, mussels and scallops were all on offer. Cooked simply but well with the addition of garlic, herbs and olive oil, all were so tender and fresh in their taste.   Bacalao encebollado (fresh cod with peppers, onions, garlic, oregano, thyme, smoked paprika, and white wine) epitomises the local cuisine and is really the Canarian perfect dish: with papas arrugadas and mojo of course.  

The islands have always acted as a link between Spain and the Americas and many islanders have emigrated to the New World over the last few hundred years.   Over recent years, however, many of their descendants have returned and you will find a South American influence very apparent in the cuisine.   A particular dish I was fond of was Conejo en salmorejo – rabbit marinated in herbs and spices - having long been a fan of the Spanish dish conejo al ajillo   (rabbit in garlic).

So when you’ve eaten your Canarian feast, what local beverages are on offer? Canarian wine of course.   We visited the Bodega Monje on slopes overlooking the ocean on the north coast of the island with Mount Teide poking up in the distance. The particular microclimate is ideal for the vines to produce a range of grapes including Listán negro and negromoll.   Unlike the windier islands like Lanzarote where the vines are planted individually and protected from the wind by their own tiny curved walls, these are grown more traditionally on the hillside. The wine heritage of the Monje family started in 1750 and followed them from Cuba to Tenerife. Now it’s an ideal place to have a tour around their cellars, discovering the techniques used over the centuries and how they have changed. Then, of course, you get to taste the wine on their terrace overlooking the wines and the ocean below. I wanted to try a wine pairing I had not tasted before so chose the rather unusual; two dessert wines paired with chocolates.   My two favourites food groups: wine and chocolate. The chocolates were their own product too being made with vinegar.  I was slightly worried when they told me that but I have to say, I tasted them and they did not taste like vinegar, thankfully.

If you go to the Canaries, try out these great dishes, embrace the seafood experience or try them yourself at home.   The recipes are easy to find online and you can see a video of our Christmas Eve feast on Instagram at Canarian Feast and our bodega visit at Bodega Monje