Chris Wildman, James Wilson, Julian Hotchkiss and Tim Lee

One of the aims of REAL Food and Farming and The Dales Kitchen is to get people to use local produce whenever possible and we were happy to join up with REAL to help put together a cookery theatre at this year’s Kilnsey Show.

We were joined in the theatre by James Wilson and Julian Hotchkiss from Fresh Radio who along with Chris Wildman of Paganum Produce helped Tim Lee a Chinese chef to explain the secrets of Chinese restaurant cuisine. Despite the fact that Tim speaks little English, the guys did a sterling job in explaining what he was doing. For those of you who missed the show or couldn’t quite follow, the E-Pan Chinese Restaurant, where Tim is the chef have made the recipe available on their website.

Paganum supplied the Yorkshire Dales lamb for the recipe and it was great to see local food being used in a Chinese dish.

The REAL team did a fantastic job in organising the event and particular praise for the smooth running of the cookery theatre should go to Julia Hutchinson.

Ian and Chris from The Dales Kitchen will be guests on Fresh Radio this morning as part of a week of features about local food ahead of next weeks REAL Food and Farming event at Kilnsey Show.

Tags: Fresh Radio, Kilnsey Show, REAL Food & Farming

I called in to James Ingle’s Farm Shop in Carleton near Skipton last week, as I was passing and had heard about James from a number of people locally, including a friend who does much of the family shopping there.

James who is only 21 opened in April and stocks local produce such as  goats cheese and milk from Yellison Farm at Carleton, smoked fish from Bleikers smoke house at Glasshouses and meat from Steven Crabtree’s farm on the Bolton Abbey estate.

James, whose hero is Yorkshire-born chef Marco Pierre White, studied agriculture and farming at the Royal Agricultural College in Gloucestershire and three months training at the Darina Allen’s Ballymaloe Cookery School in Ireland.

James says he believes there is great scope for opening other traditional-style farm shops in Dales villages.

“I would like to open two or three more to provide a hub for village life and help keep communities alive and stop them becoming like ghost towns,” he said.

It’s great to see someone of James’ age making a go of it and also being so passionate about good seasonal produce.

Tags: Bolton Abbey, Carleton, Cross Hills, Darina Allen, James Ingle, Marco Pierre White, Skipton, Yorkshire Dales

Yellison Farm Goats Cheese picked up two awards at the Great Yorkshire Show this year for the second year running.

The artisan cheese producers from Carleton, Near Skipton were delighted with their awards and continue to produce pasteurised whole Goat’s milk and a variety of semi hard, soft, and spreadable goat’s cheese. All suitable for Vegetarians.

Check out their blog, with recipes and advice.

Tags: Carleton, Cheese, Goat, Goat's milk cheese, Great Yorkshire Show, Skipton

Bruce Elsworth, Executive chef at the Angel Inn, Hetton will be one of the region’s talented chef’s giving cookery demonstrations at this year’s Kilnsey show in September.

The demonstrations will be held in the cookery theatre as part of the REAL Food and Farming event at the show and will showcase local food producers and local chefs.

For more on the event, visit the REAL Food and Farming website.

Tags: Angel Inn, Bruce Elsworth, Chef, Hetton, Kilnsey, local food

Are your family meals legendry?
Have your family recipes been passed down from generation to generation?
Do you think you have the best home cooked food out there?

If the answer is YES then this is the cooking competition for you…

UKTV Food are looking for 2 family members who are desperate to show that their family’s food is as good as it gets; nutritious, delicious, mouth watering, home cooked food that keeps you coming back for more…

for an application form and more information, write to ryan.stowell@shine.tv
or apply on line at www.applyfortv.com/cookoff

REAL Food and Farming is an organisation working to raise awareness of the importance of the Uplands and in so doing draw attention to some of the problems that face those who live and work in them. By showing the public the truly wonderful diversity of activities that take place in the Dales uplands and the food and drink that is produced here, they hope to make a difference. REAL encourages people to buy from local producers when possible, visit local attractions and take care of the environment.

As a way of getting the message out to the community and the general public, REAL hold a showcase event at the anual Kilnsey Show, featuring a Children’s Area, a Farmers’ Market and a Cookery Theatre. It is hoped that this year’s event will be as well attended as previous years and the emphasis will be on local food.

If you would like to be involved in any way, either as an exhibitor or a volunteer, please drop us an email and we’ll send more details.

Tags: Agriculture, Farm, Farmers Market, Food and Drink, Food industry, local food, Sustainable agriculture, Yorkshire Dales

Celebrity chef Rosemary Shrager is to headline the cookery demonstrations at the 2009 Great Yorkshire Show. Within days of her team’s win in ITV’s “Taste the Nation” competition, Rosemary has agreed to stage cookery demonstrations on the first two days of the farming extravaganza. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Great Yorkshire Show, Harrogate, Rosemary Shrager, Rudding Park, Stephanie Moon

The third annual Skipton Beer Festival, organised by Keighley & Craven CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale), will take place in the Town Hall from Thursday 23rd to Saturday 25th April. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Beer Festival, CAMRA, Skipton

2nd, 3rd & 4th May 2009 – Leyburn, Wensleydale.

Weaving together the three fundamental elements that make the Dales Festival of Food and Drink a success – Food, Farming and Fun – the 2009 event already has a real buzz about it.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Dales Festival of Food and Drink, Food Festival, Leyburn, Wensleydale