Countyfood
Turn over for six pages of recipes, news and reviews
Tourism businesses get a taste for local food
M
ore than 100 people from Monmouthshire and Powys tourism businesses attended a Meet the Producer event in Brecon where
organisers ensured there was plenty to tempt their taste buds. Organised to encourage both countys’ business-
es to make local food and drink a strong feature of their menus and retail sales, the event included a tutored tasting of Welsh Perry, Cider and Wine with Tom Innes of Irma Fingal in Monmouth as well as a masterclass on Welsh cheeses and a talk by Mike Morgan from Llansantffraed Court Hotel, near Abergavenny, discussing the benefits of offer- ing food breaks for visitors. There was also the chance to stroll around pro-
ducers’ stalls and taste a wide range of local honey, breads, cakes, chutneys, smoked foods and talk to the producers themselves. Exhibitors included Monmouthshire producers Brookes Wye Valley Dairy Company, Springfield Cider, Usk River Chut- neys, Burren Bread Company, Usk Valley Apiaries, Wye Valley Apiaries and Chef in the Freezer. Demonstrations from chefs included Penny
Lewis, who runs the cookery school The Culinary Cottage, at Pandy, near Abergavenny. Sandy Greenslade, lead food officer with
adventa, Monmouthshire’s rural development programme, organised the event in conjunction with The Brecon Beacons National Park Authority, Medrwn and Mid Wales Local Food Talks.
Chefs go to Hay for a chat about food
The heat was turned up on four of Wales’ best known culinary faces when they took to the stage to discuss their cooking at the 2011 Telegraph Hay Festival.
Monmouthshire’s Shaun Hill, of the Walnut Tree near Abergavenny, (pictured)
and James Sommerin, of the Crown at Whitebrook, near Monmouth, chatted about their kitchen credentials in a series of conversations at the
Elmley Foundation Theatre, under the auspices of the Welsh Government’s Wales the True Taste brand. The other two chefs were Simon Wright,True Taste Champion 2010-11, food writer, broadcaster and partner in Carmarthenshire restaurant Y Polyn, and
Bryn Williams, chef-patron of London restaurant, Odette’s, who discussed his cooking with QI gastronome John Mitchinson.
Tintern wine scoops top award
A wine from the Parva Farm Vineyard, Tintern, has scooped a silver award in the International Wine Challenge. The Tintern Parva Bacchus
L–R Mike Morgan from Llansantffraed Court Hotel, near Abergavenny, Penny Lewis, from The Culinary Cottage, at Pandy and Sandy Greenslade, lead food officer with adventa. Photo: Nanette Hepburn
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2009 took the award in what is one of the world’s most prestigious competitions in the wine world. It was the only Welsh-produced wine to gain an award in this year’s competition, with Parva Farm Vineyard’s owners Colin and Judith Dudley delighted with the recognition. Theirs is one of the oldest commercial vineyards in Wales, with plantings dating back to 1979. The 31-year-old Bacchus grape has been a big success
with customers and the Dudleys said it must have struck the right note with judges also.
It is a German grape variety which has produced wonderful wines when grown in Britain. It is aromatic with hints of elderflower. This is the second time in less than a year that the vineyard earned major recognition. In last June’s English
and Welsh Wine of the Year 2010, it scooped a silver medal and four bronze medals, with the Bacchus 2009 gaining a highly commended. The vineyard is situated in the Wye Valley overlooking the village of Tintern and its abbey and is open for visitors all year round.
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