Blog entries

Chocolate with benefits

Ruth — Tue, 15 May 2012 23:00:00 +0100

I recently met these two ladies, Kim and Lea, who started Vita Choc

They are two local Mums who share a passion for chocolate, but wanted to create something their families could enjoy that would have hidden benefits. They are both holistic therapists and had noticed how many of their clients were ...

Our First Food Festival

Ruth — Mon, 14 May 2012 19:55:09 +0100

Well it's been a week, but I just wanted to mark our first Food Festival here in the blog!

It was a rainy Bank Holiday Monday, but people still came and supported us, which was wonderful. Thank you!!I was so busy in the shop that I didn't have time to take any photos, but a big thanks go to Brett Cowie from Your Thai Chef, who not only managed to do wonderful cooking demos for us on the da...

Cracotti

Ruth — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 23:00:00 +0100

We received our first delivery of Cracotti this week and I am not disappointed. These are savoury crackers that are double baked like biscotti and then thinly sliced so that they compliment and don't overwhelm cheese. They come in 3 flavours - cranberry and hazelnut, fig and olive and pecan and sundried berries.

Over the last couple of weeks things have been really hotting up in the organisation of our Local Food Festival. We now have 4 local chefs doing live cooking demonstrations on the day assisted by our own amateur chef Paul! We also have around 10 excellent local food producers who will sell their produce on the day and not one but two live bands playing! I...

The Cocoa Mistress

Ruth — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 21:01:46 +0100

I met Claire, who is The Cocoa Mistress in the shop today. She popped over with some chocolate samples (it's a hard life I have to suffer in the name of bringing Cobham delicious food!)

Claire started her business in December 2011, just after The Larder opened in fact and it has been going from strength to strength ever since. Based in Orpington in Kent she has outgrown her home kitchen and had to convert an outhouse she luckily had in her garden. Not bad in 4 month...

Cotswold Gold

Ruth — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 20:40:17 +0100

We recently got in our first delivery of Cotswold Gold extra virgin rapeseed oil. I discovered their company when I was browsing through the Great Taste Award guide and it caught my eye as I was on the look out for some really great rapeseed oil - why? Well, rapeseed oil is

- high in Omegas 3,6 and 9

-high in Vitamin E

- it has less than half the saturated fat of olive oil

- it only has 0.1% cholesterol

- it can be used for everything from frying to salad dr...

Fresh local meat

Ruth — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 00:00:00 +0100

From today I am pleased to say we will be stocking fresh locally sourced meat! We are working with Wakelings in Godalming, who will deliver to us a couple of times a week to start with. They are also happy to take orders for special cuts if you are looking for something we don't normally stock, just give me a call or drop me an email and I will be happy to arrange it.

On a weekly basis we will be stocking Aberdeen Angus beef from Lydling Farm in Shac...

We love pizza!

Ruth — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 14:06:01 +0100

If you asked my family their favourite food there would be a resounding vote for pizza! Much to my personal dismay as I do like to feed them a lot more vegetables than the average pizza offers. However that was before I discovered the Northern Dough Co.

I came across them through my in-laws as they visited their stand at the BBC Good Food Show last autumn. They entered their dough into the Producers Bursary Awards, a competition to win a free stand and it gives you ...

Fruity vinegars

Ruth — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 12:27:45 +0100

The fruit vinegars from Naomi Darbishire at Agnes Rose we have in the shop look beautiful and taste great. The images on the labels are painted by her father Stephen, who is a well known Lake District artist.Each batch is made by hand and you can really taste the time and care that has gone into them. The name Agnes Rose is a combination of her family home Agnes Gill and her Grandmother's home Rosewood, both places she learnt to cook and appreciate good food.

...

Peace of Cake

Ruth — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 12:04:59 +0100

I get a lot of customers in the shop who are allergic to gluten, so I was really pleased to find Peace of Cake bakery in London when I was browsing the Great Taste Award's brochure last week.

The bakery was started by Guiti Jamshidi who on discovering she had coeliac disease was really disappointed by the cakes and biscuits available. She decided there was nothing for it than to start baking them herself. Several award later she now runs a successful bakery . A...

Gooey chocolate tart or eve's pudding?

Ruth — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0100

We had our first delivery of desserts from Lodge Farm Kitchen this week and I have to say they look very tempting nestled in our freezer!

I love Lodge Farm because Louisa Stout who runs it is trying to do exactly what we are looking for in food at The Larder. She uses old fashioned cooking techniques, fresh ingredients locally sourced and tries to leave as small an imprint on the planet in the process as she can. Plus of course her desserts are delicious!

...

Love Bendylegs

Ruth — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0100

I met Jo Watkins from the Gower Coast in Wales at a food show in London last year. I entered a draw to win a bucket of her "bendylegs" granola and a couple of months later it arrived on my doorstep. I have been a fan ever since!

Jo first discovered granola whilst in Australia and was impressed by their breakfast culture where the first meal of the day is considered one of the most important. On moving to Mumbles near Swansea she decided to have a go at making her ow...

Born to be yummy

Ruth — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0100

No not me sadly! My latest discovery for a tasty snack!

Born to be yummy is a business started by Clare Panchoo, who as a nutritionist was irritated to discover the lack of healthy lunchbox snacks available to buy for her own children.

She has produced a selection of 4 cakes, each of which come in packs of 5. They have at least a third less sugar than you would expect, seventy percent less saturated fat and never have any added salt or artificial...

Hot chocolate straight from the cacao bean

Ruth — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 12:41:54 +0100

Yesterday I was lucky enough to have Anjali from Choclatl in the shop to give me a tasting. She makes pure hot chocolate straight from the cacao bean.

She explained to me that most hot chocolates are extremely processed. Often containing cocoa mass, lecithin, hydrogenated fat, palm oil, whey powder, salt, anti-caking agent etc etc... not good.

However her hot chocolate contains simply raw cacao and raw cane sugar. Simply done and simply tasty! T...

Drumroll....

Ruth — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0100

Yes we made it, as of today we now have our own shiny new Facebook page here at The Larder. You can find us here www.facebook.com/thelardercobham .

Please do pop along and have a look. We will be uploading interesting snippets about our suppliers, fascinating foodie facts and of course our latest offers. Why not use it to let us know about any interesting food you come across, or let us know what you are currently enjoying tickling your tastebuds with! Recipes welcome too...

Local Food Festival

Ruth — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0100

I'm very excited at the moment as we have decided to hold a local food festival here in the garden on Monday 7th May (the bank holiday.)

I have a number of local suppliers in mind that I am hoping to invite along to do tastings and sell their wares, but if you have any suggestions I would love to hear them, so do drop me a line on thelarder@themedicinegarden.com .

We are in the planning stage at the moment, so I will keep you posted as more deta...

Do you dukkah?

Ruth — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0100

I recently discovered dukkah and am pleased to announce that my first batch arrived in store today. It is very popular in Australia and was recommended by a lovely british couple who have moved over there, but were back in Cobham for Christmas. It is a growing trend here in the UK though.

For those of you who haven't come across it yet dukkah is a mix of nuts, seeds and spices which are toasted and then ground into a coarse mix. The best way I have found to eat it is with...

Do ewe like sheep's cheese?

Ruth — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0100

Spenwood from Village Maid Cheese has become a firm favourite for customers of The Larder.Many people are branching out from traditional cow's milk cheeses and trying some sheep's milk for a change.

I thought it might be interesting to see how much people know about it.

Did you know-

1/ It is named after Spencers Wood,the Berkshire village it originated in

2/ It is made from unpasteurised ewe's milk and matured for around 6 month...

Supermarkets

Ruth — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 13:19:20 +0100

I have just been reading a recent article about the top 5 things the author finds really annoying about supermarkets. They are -

1/ Wonky trolleys

2/ Lack of choice of which store is available locally

3/ Self service hell

4/ Car park rage

5/ Not finding what you want.

If you share some of those feelings then why not drop by The Larder instead? We can't replace everything you could buy in the local Waitrose or Sainsbury's but we guarantee...

The perfect scrambled egg

Ruth — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 12:07:07 +0100

Did any of you see How to cook like Heston last night on Channel 4? He has stepped out of his commercial kitchen into a domestic one and last night focussed on how to cook the perfect egg.

I was reminded of this when Hazel from Simon's Eggs arrived with her lovely large free range egg delivery this morning. I especially liked this recipe for the perfect creamy scrambled eggs which requires 7 large free range eggs. However as it includes not only whole milk, but...