Wales Farmer 24 FOOD


Milk pitchesin for aplace at the touchline


EATINGin


Justthe thing to butter you up


July 2012


With food writer Jake Whitson


WHYwe ever let buttermilk fade into obscurity is acomplete mys- tery to me. Whether it’sthe traditional


By Farmer reporter AN


award-winning


Pembrokeshire dairy com- pany and aleading sports nutrition firm have joined forces to launch aunique


sports nutrition drink. Daionic ProNutrition Shake


waslaunched at the BodyPower Expo at the NEC in Birmingham in May. The drink is the result of an


exciting collaboration between Trioni Ltd and leading sports nutrition experts,Rhymney- based


ProAthlete


Supplementation Ltd (PAS). Packed with protein, Daionic


is alreadyanessential part of training forsporting stars such as Sam Warburton, Nathan Cleverlyand Jamie Roberts. Daionic contains moreprotein


than anyother sports nutrition drink. The secret of the high pro- tein content lies in the fact Daionic is made from organic milk with added whey protein – making it the onlysports nutri- tion product of its kind. Dairy farmer,Laurence Harris,


Sporting Partners: Laurence Harris (right) and Jon Williams (left) launch Daionic Pro Nutrition Shake.


founder and managing director of Trioni, based near Boncath, said: “Weare delighted to be launching Daionic. Anumber of studies have shown milk to be the most effective rehydration drink, and coupled with extranutrients we believe we have created a refreshing and replenishing prod- uct, which is ideal forthose who enjoyawide range of sporting activity.” He added: “It also comple-


ments Daioni, our flagship range of flavoured organic milk drinks, which areahealthyand nutri- tious alternative to fizzy drinks.


Daionic is the natural next step forTrioni, as it builds on the suc- cess of Daioni which has proved so popular with elite sports teams including Chelsea FC and the Scarlets.” PASisapartnership between


Welsh RugbyUnion national squad nutritionist JonWilliams, and gold medal winning sprinter Darren Campbell; and counts numerous top-flight sportspeople and teams among its clients. JonWilliams said: “Daionic


has been formulated to meet the needs of today’sathletes in terms of providing the appropriate


intakeofprotein (36g) and car- bohydrates. “It is this ratio which makes


Daionic perfect to use anytime of daytomeet protein requirements forhardtraining athletes.” Currentlycelebrating its 10th


anniversary,Trioni started as a farmdiversification venture, tap- ping into the expanding organic food and drink marketfor Welsh dairy products. Since then the family-run com-


panyhas gone from strength to strength and Trioni nowbottles morethan twomillion litres of milk per year.


M&S launches its small select range


MARKS &Spencer is launching anew range of speciality meat and poultry sourced from small- scale British farms,with several exclusive products not previously availableonthe UK high street before. The range has been created to champion lesser-known breeds with the highest welfarestan- dards,and includes cou nu (naked neck) free-range corn-fed chicken, the first British free- range guinea fowl, the first British Oakham poussin, the only free-range Gloucester Old Spot


porkfromthe world’slargest pure-bred herd, ayear-round spe- ciality lamb offer and special reserveAberdeen Angus steak Steve McLean, M&S head of


agriculture, said: “Weknowour customers liketobuy British and arekeen to try lesser known vari- eties of meatofpoultry,sowe’re reallyexcited to be launching this range –itsupports British farm- ers,and givesour customers some delicious newoptions to enjoyfor dinner.” The newguinea fowl will be the first time free-range guinea


fowl has been reared in the UK. Likewise the exclusive Oakham poussin will be the first British born and bred poussins to be sold by amajor retailer. Fedonaspecial high cereal


diet designed to allowthe flavour to develop with asucculent tex- ture, these tender birds areagreat alternative to chicken. M&S poultry specialist Mark


Ranson, said: ‘‘This is areally exciting step forwards forBritish poultry farming –itmeans our customers can enjoyadelicious variety of poultry thathas been


reared to the highest welfare standards.’’ The newrange of speciality


lamb will mean M&S nowhas a year-round offer of British lamb. All ambs aretraditionallyreared and come from small-scale family farms based around the UK. Steve McLean added: “We’ve


spent years scouring the country to find the best tasting meatand poultry,and we arereallyproud to be working with some truly innovative farmers to deliverdeli- cious products thatwehope our customers will enjoy.”


For the latest Wales farming news: walesfarmer.co.uk


kind –simply the rich, pastel- cream coloured liquid left behind after churning cream into butter –orthe modern, cultured, yoghurt-y kind (which Ithink is also very good), buttermilk is a wonderful ingredient to have around, one that will enhance your cooking no end, and Ithink it’shigh time that it retook its place as astaple in the Welsh diet.


Aquick look through any


British cookery book of suffi- cient age will quickly have you wondering howweever learned to live without it –Icannot think of acake or pastry that isn’t at least three times as good when made with buttermilk rather than plain milk. Buttermilk adds savouriness,


body, and asubtle sour,yeasty note where milk cannot. Books about pre-warWales


abound with references to llaeth enwyn, and in the Wales of old it was, along with oats, and bacon, one of the most important foods forrural people.


The following recipe is my ver-


sion of classic Welsh crempog – made with buttermilk, theyare as good as pancakes get. Iwould advise that if youget hold of cul- tured buttermilk youshould sim- ply keep it going so that you never need to go without again – when youare almost out of it, simply add it to some milk, mix it well, and leave it to thicken in a warm place forone or twodays, in the same manner as youwould when making yoghurt. In this waycultured butter-


milk can be kept going indefinite- ly.Alternatively,you can make old fashioned buttermilk by churning cream into butter.This is easier than youmay imagine, and some cream (especially from Channel Island breeds) is so rich that it will spontaneously sepa- rate into butter and buttermilk on trying to whip it! However most cream takes a


little work: either put it in the food processor and blitz until separated, or add it to ajar about twice too big and shake vigorous- ly (in takes some time!) until the butter and buttermilk separate. Butter made from good cream in this wayisexceptional.


Crempog


120g plain flour or 60g plain flour and 60g fine wholemeal flour 1tsp baking powder 1⁄2 tsp baking soda 2tbsp sugar 300ml buttermilk 2tbsp melted butter 1egg Alittle extra butter or vegetable oil, for frying


1. First get your largest frying pan preheating over alow flame. 2. Meanwhile sift together the flour,baking powder and baking soda.


3. Whisk together the sugar,buttermilk, melted butter and egg in a separate bowl and then whisk the dry and the wet ingredients togeth- er.The buttermilk will react with the baking powder and soda, mak- ing the mixture frothystraight away–unlike crêpe batter,this mix- ture needs to be cooked immediately.


4. Turn up the heat under your pan just alittle, add aknob of butter or adash of oil and swirl it around so that the pan is coated.


5. Add ascant ladle of the batter to the pan foreach pancake, cook- ing each pancake forafew minutes on one side before flipping it and cooking foracouple minutes more on the other.Theyshould be gold- en brownand crispyonthe outside, fluffy within.


6. Stack them up on aplate somewhere warm while youcook the rest.


● Ilovethese simply topped with butter and golden syrup,orthe American way, with maple syrup and bacon. The very best waytoeat these, however,iswith wild bilberries, heated through very gently in a saucepan with alittle sugar and lemon juice.


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