We paid a visit today to Bakewell in Derbyshire, about 45mins drive away. I wanted to go to The Original Farmer’s Market Shop to stock up on various gamey things, and also to lunch at the Tiroler Stuberl, an authentic Austrian coffee-house / deli somewhat incongruously situated in the rather touristy Peak District town. Much to my Austrian wife’s disappointment, it was closed for the week, so we repaired to a cafe more in keeping with the environs for bacon, egg and sausage sarnies all round.

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The BBC reports that fast food giant Burger King is to begin sourcing its foods from more ethical suppliers. Starting in the US and Canada, the burger chain says it aims to source 2% of its eggs from cage-free chicken suppliers, along with 10% of pork from free range pigs.

The numbers aren’t all that impressive - only 2% ?? - but it’s a start at least. (Hmm, next up - organic chicken McNuggets? Nah…)

Is there anything better than a plateful of fresh shellfish simply cooked? Maybe some quality rare sirloin comes close, and a good piece of lamb or mutton is hard to beat, but I think shellfish packs the biggest punch in terms of maximum flavour for minimum effort.

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The fishmonger had some wonderfully fresh Cornish sprats the other day, and with my usual lack of restraint I bought far more than I could actually eat. After having a couple of plates of them simply grilled with salt, pepper, and lemon juice (why get complicated with good ingredients?) I needed to find a way to use up the remainder, and decided to have a go at salting them.
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Despite the biting winds still blowing up here in the hills of north Derbyshire, it seems spring has sprung - I saw Jersey Royals in the greengrocers for the first time this year. Still being February, these were in all probability grown under glass, but even so it does seem a little early.

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Olive Magazine has released a list of the top 50 Most Decadent Foodies. The winner was the inestimable Keith Floyd, who was chosen for his ’spectacular failure to eat and drink with any kind of moderation’.

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Flavours of Lancashire by Malcolm Greenhalgh, Palatine Books, ISBN 1-874181-39-X

Lancashire may not immediately spring to mind as a gastronomic centre, despite the efforts of Michelin starred chefs Paul Heathcote and Nigel Haworth, but the county has a long tradition of simple, hearty food born of thrifty use of quality ingredients.

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The bad news about bird flu entering the UK has sparked off a debate about whether intensive farming is to blame, at least in part, for this latest food scare. Now I’m certainly no defender of Bernard Matthews or the terrible cruelty involved in factory farming, but I think that pointing the finger in this case is misleading and potentially even damaging.

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So I’ve decided to join the blogosphere (ugh, not a great word). Recipedia already has one-line definitions, full page entries, and food articles, so what’s going to be here?

I’m not sure yet. Opinions? Rants? News? Posts about other food sites? Maybe even just stuff about things I’ve seen or eaten recently that might be interesting to someone somewhere.

Let’s just see where it goes, eh?