- Food Lovers Club

Britain on your Plate

Loving British Food? We do. For British Food Fortnight on it’s 25th anniversary, we raise a ‘condementary jar’ to #lovebritishfood. For a relatively small island, floating in a choppy sea, Britain has, and we enjoy, an amazingly good and wonderfully varied larder. If you love good food, you’ll love this.


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The Best of British

 

A very British celebration of very good food.

We make no secret of the fact that we rather like British food.

Actually, like may be underselling it. We’re positively adore the stuff.

And why wouldn’t we?

For a small island, Britain has an astonishingly good larder. We have seas full of wonderful things with claws, shells and fins; fields populated by magnificently well-kept cows, pigs and sheep; hens scratching about in the sunshine; orchards groaning with fruit; vegetable growers producing the most wonderful seasonal treasures; cheesemakers’ creations making you weak at the knees; and charcutiers quietly proving that Britain can cure, smoke and preserve with the best of them.

So, for British Food Fortnight and its 25th anniversary, we’re raising a jar to #LoveBritishFood.

Let’s start on the coast, where fishing crews head out into waters that can be anything but friendly, bringing home the finest seafood. Crab, lobster, mussels, oysters, scallops and a magnificent haul of fish – British waters offer a veritable treasure chest of wonders.Then there are our farmers.

British beef, pork and lamb are the result of generations of knowledge, outstanding animal husbandry, and a true understanding of the land.[Meet the girls from Clarence Court – happy ladies for happy eggs.]

Our free-range hens and poultry deserve their place at the table too, alongside the growers who coax potatoes, peas, carrots, berries, apples, rhubarb and countless other goodies from British soil.And then, of course, cheese.

Cheddar, Stilton, Red Leicester, Wensleydale, Lancashire, Caerphilly and all those wonderful little artisan cheeses, invented specifically to make us forget that we were only going to have one small piece after supper.Britain’s cheesemaking heritage is extraordinary.

Have you grown to love British charcuterie?

Bring it on.

Our producers are taking traditional curing and preserving skills and giving them a thoroughly modern British swagger.The results are delicious, distinctive and more than capable of holding their own on any cheeseboard, sharing platter or suspiciously large Sunday-night snack.

This is what we love about British food.

It isn’t fussy. It doesn’t need a passport. It simply needs good ingredients, people who know what they’re doing, and someone hungry enough to appreciate the result.

Here at Stokes, we believe a good sauce should make good food even better, not disguise or confuse it.

If ‘traditional methods’ weren’t good enough, we had to challenge convention, put a twist on the classics, step beyond the ‘mere ordinary’ to create ‘extraordinary’.By developing precious home-grown recipes; sourcing only the finest ingredients; and helping our kitchen teams with technology and technique, we achieved the difference.

So, here’s to 25 years of British Food Fortnight. To the farmers, fishermen, growers, producers, cheesemakers, butchers, charcutiers and everyone else who puts wonderful food on our tables.

And here’s to Britain itself. We’re a nation that may occasionally struggle with the weather, the trains and the ability to agree ‘cream first or jam’ on a scone … but when it comes to good food, we’ve got rather a lot to shout about.

Now, where’s the sauce?We’ve got everything covered.

The Food Lovers Bundle

Add real flavour to everything you cook and eat through Autumn. As a Food Lover, this is made for you. Or, as a gift for the Food Lovers in your life.

Make this the tastiest Autumn ever – ORDER HERE.

We have put together a pack for foodies, full of our favourite real food sauces! 9 of some of our most popular sauces, to make your dining extra special and your dishes extra tasty!

And, it qualifies for FREE DELIVERY!

Autumn Suppers

 

With ingredients like this and the help of a sensible, simple recipe, you’ll be serving this hearty feast this weekend.

Walk the dog to wake up the hunger while it bubbles oh so slowly in the oven for 3 hours. Then, return, mash the spuds, and dish up what we’re calling a Really Good Beef Stew – RECIPE HERE.As we move into Autumn, we move away from new or salad potatoes and into the Maris Piper world of baked and mashed spuds. With a Slow Cooked Beef Pie like this, we add a good spoonful of our Creamed Horseradish to the buttery mash.

Wow, it’s good.

As for the pie, the long, slow cooking of  the beef ensures the tenderest tastiest filling for this delicious pie. Adding our Real Brown Sauce gives the gravy a wonderful depth of flavour, sweet with dates and aromatic with Persian spices. Enjoy the RECIPE HERE.It would normally take you 3 hours or so to get the benefit of a deeply flavoursome Confit Duck Cassoulet. Worth the wait if someone else is cooking it, but here’s the quick way with our friends at Gressingham having done all the hard work first.

Just 45 minutes is all it takes to serve up the biggest flavours of the weekend thanks to Andy’s stunning RECIPE HERE.More mash, more gravy, more happy faces. Served with a vibrant collection of fresh British veg, there’s everything to adore on this plate.

Instead of a pastry crust on the pie, chef has had an epiphany. Crumble – it’s a Beef Crumble. What’s  more, its a cheesy crumble. You just have to try this RECIPE HERE.Take it up a notch with something rather special. It’s in season and frighteningly easy to deal with. Pan Roast Venison Haunch is a real Autumn  treat.

Recent years have seen an increasing regularity of venison on restaurant menus. Chefs favour its rich, deep taste and the impressive sauces that go with the meat. And, with its health profile – low in fat and cholesterol, yet high in protein – people are starting to recognise that this is an easy and delicious option to cook at home. It really is easy – RECIPE HERE – give it a go.

How very and deliciously British.

Roast Roast Baby

 

The Perfect Roast – a British classic with British Beef.

A couple of roasting tips from our friends at Ladies in Beef:Place the meat in the centre of the oven for even cooking. The ideal temperature is 180-190C / Gas Mark 4 to 5. Timing:

  • Rare: 20 minutes per 450g (1lb) + 20 mins
  • Medium: 25 minutes per 450g (1lb) +25 mins
  • Well Done: 30 minutes per 450g (1lb) + 30 mins.

Let the joint rest for 15 to 20 minutes to let the meat fibres relax.

Perhaps the easiest cuts to handle in the kitchen if you don’t have a great deal of experience are topside, silverside and top rump.

On the side:Our Classic English Mustard – A smooth and strong mustard but without the ‘burn’. If you like mustard, we think (actually, we know) you’ll love this!

Mustard is well-known for its culinary importance as a piquant ingredient, warming and spicing all manner of food. And, dolloped on the side of the plate, it’s the condiment that complements.

Try stirring a little delicious joy into your gravy too.Creamed Horseradish Sauce– A gentle deliciously smooth creamed horseradish sauce that lets you enjoy its full flavour and won’t bring tears to your eyes. A tasty and truly elegant alternative. Made with horseradish root and single cream.

You’ll find all of our condiments on the shelves – HERE.

All you need for your Sunday Roast – and more. SHOP HERE.