free.. free.. friarielli!!!

"Mamma Mia!" cried queueing  customers at Haverfordwest Farmer's Market. The word had spread fast and the county's cognoscenti came flocking. Live and direct from Naples, Campania, this cult vegetable is now being cultivated in Manorbier, Pembrokeshire by the Bean's at Springfields.

 

It may look like Sprouting Brocolli, but Friarielli ("free are ree ELLY"... there you go!) have got a real punch to them. This is a medieval vegetable from Southern Italy, the geographical origin of most of our modern brassicas.. the cauliflowers, brocolli, calabrese.  Not bred for it's looks and hybridised beyond recognition, this is proper veg. Don't take our word for it.. let you tongue and your tummy tell you!

Bursting with green goodness, the big juicy leaves and succulent stems all cook together to a delicious vegetable.. never before seen in the United Kingdom. They're peppery and rich with a bitterish tang. The name comes from an old word for "frying" and typically in Naples they'll be sweated down in a pan with some sausages; they comliment a strong meaty taste fantastically well. In fact, one of Naples favourite pizza toppings is sausage and friarielli! That comes from the top, as they invented the pizza!

We've been eating them at home for weeks now. Dad chucked the seed in when he reseeded the bulb ground, as an experiment really. In just a few weeks they were up and thriving in the Pembrokeshire milds.

Mum says they've got a real "crave-factor", one of those things thats giving you just what you need as the winter draws in.  Yummy in  packets of  pasta.. like ravioli,  with a  strongish cheese. It would be nice in a lasagne and would be wonderful in risotto.. but just as good on its own, boiled or steamed..

The first crop is still going, but will end in a week or so. If the rain dies a bit some more will be sown for an early spring harvest.

Update on Monday, January 22, 2007 at 09:22PM by green bean

I thought the crop would be well finished by now, but its still coming. There's a new spurt of growth and quite a few of the heads picked have now got side shoots too.

 

I only had time to pick half the field on saturday but got more than a hundred bundles and took them to the riverside market in Cardiff for my second week there.  It's getting around and as well as returning customers, others are coming saying a freind has recomended it. Great! Paddy's mum (remember the gutted trout over on greenbean radio) was herself a bit upset I didnt have any at Haverfordwest last week. They've been enjoying the spicy leaves in their sandwiches all winter now. One lady was delighted to find something to substitute the mustard greens she's missed since her neighbour's tunnel cover blew off and was incredibled to hear this is grown outside. As was the hallowed Marche chef Franco Tarruschio who did a jig for joy and bought me out (last 3 bunches) ... onlookers came by after saying "do you know who that was?". He buys the similar cime di rapa, flown in from Puglia because you just can't find it in the UK. He's promised to buy everything i can get to Abergavenny. If only Stokes were still buying from us, it would be feasible.. but it's such a long way. Anyway, food for thought.

 

The market in Cardiff is a joy. It's great to sell to customers of a younger generation, who despite it being a fantastic market are few and far between in Haverfordwest. Also it's not stricly a farmer's market, the emphasis being on good food, with lots of stalls doing veggie burgers (with an egg on top!), samosas, all sorts; the somali community have a presence.. must try some of their food next week. It's run by and frequented by a cosmopolitan crowd, plenty of theatre types, even a clown! 

Perhaps most amazing wasa visit from Elin Morris, someone i knew.. indeed one of the first people i can remember. A few years older than me, living on the farm up the road when we lived in Llandeiniol, we used to play. She and her brother taught me my first swear words! "oh dammo!"

Update on Tuesday, February 27, 2007 at 11:20AM by green bean

Well, the friarielli crop has finally come to the end.  All thats left now is flowering heads and enough gleanings for a couple of meals here at springfields a week. The sheep have started lambing this week and soon they will be turned out into the friarielli field to enjoy the pasture to graze the grass that hasnt been disturbed since august last year.

Meanwhile there are signs that the new sowing is begining to germinate, if it continues to be mild then we can expect a short crop in april or may: wahey!!

It's been a real hit at the market, here's a recipe that Anne Taruschio sent me after she and her husband carried away bundles.

Orecciette or Spaghetti with Friarielli and Chickpeas.

1lb Friarielli, trimmed of any hard stalks and roughly chopped

1 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

6 Cloves Garlic, thinly sliced

1/4 Teaspoon red chilli flakes

1 x 15 oz can of Chickpeas, rinsed and drained

Freshly ground Black Pepper

12 oz Spaghetti

Parmesan

Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil. Boil the trimmed friarielli for a few minutes, drain well and reserve. Cook the spaghetti in the same water until al dente.

In a large non-stick frying pan, heat the oil over a gentle heat. Add the garlic and chilli and cook stirring for a minute or two. Add the friarielli and chickpeas, season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, for a few minutes until the mixture is warmed through. Add the drained spaghetti to the friarielli and mix in thoroughly.

Serve with a drizzle of the finest extra virgin oil and shavings of parmesan.

At the last minute, a little tomato concasse can be added to the dish just before serving.

(dear readers: what in food heaven is tomato concasse?)

Peas in our Thyme

Graffiti captured on the steps of "All-Souls church, Regent Street January 3rd 2007. Author Unknown.

Minutes later GreenBean was in the Radio 4 studios at Broadcasting House, sitting in on the studio recording of The Food Program.

Guests Anna Del Conte and Colin Tudge discussed the Fat-Ox festival in Carru, Piedmont with presenter Simon Parkes.

You can listen again here 

GreenBean joined Simon the week before Christmas as he gave a course on radio journalism to the 3rd Year  UNISG students at Pollenzo.

Wales @ Terra Madre

There was a time, not so very long ago, that sticking the word Welsh on a food label was a sort of curse. An unappetising by-word for a crumbling, inefficient economy stuck primitively in the over-sheeped hills. These days, changes are afoot and the only thing that's crumbling is zingy fresh, prize-winning Caerphilly cheese.

True; Welsh food culture ran to the hills in the face of post-war industrial agriculture. The mountainous terrain, the sometimes-poor soil and the infamous climate made it difficult to compete with the hedgerow flattening agri-giants of lowland Britain. With consumers valuing food produced with integrity and character, the family farms and rural businesses are now sitting on a gastronomic treasure chest. It's that same challenging climate and rural landscape that is turning out to be the trump card. Its the intense concentration of diversity and particularity that now make eating Welsh so exciting.

The new Welsh food scene, though, as well as being embedded in its glorious natural resources and cultural history, is also an expression of a vibrant, diverse and innovative society. The Welsh delegates who came to Terra Madre in October represented a spectrum of food producers and cooks who are together cultivating a future for food in Wales. Diversification of traditional farms, notably in the livestock and dairy sector has created a wave of distinct products from Welsh-Black beef slowly raised in the Cambrian mountain pastures to lamb weaned on to the Dyfi estuary salt marsh herbs, excellent cheeses from the teifi valley and super-rich buffalo milk ice-cream from Llanon. But diversification hasn't just happened at the farm level. One of the side-effects of traditional family farms going out of business has been an influx of cross-shifting alternative thinkers. Though in the last decade organic marketing co-ops have signalled the importance of mainstream organic production, Wales has been a sort of test bed for alternative, small scale food producers for several decades. These are the people who are keeping horticulture up-to the minute in Pembrokeshire, creating extraordinary cheese from the green pasture fed herds, putting Wales on the international honey map and raising organic, free range poultry.

The result of upheaval and decades of toil perhaps, but its this dynamic which gives Wales its current vitality. Haverfordwest Farmer's Market won the national award this year. It won it because of the diversity and integrity displayed with the juxtaposition of excellent value from; let's say, traditional organic meat butchered on the farm together with innovative young talent nurturing rare tomatoes and peaches in walled gardens, shellfish from the Pembrokeshire National Park coastline alongside farmed trout, and organic cheese beside this mornings milk bottled on the farm. This story is on a roll and the cooks and chefs who cater for locals and tourists are picking up on it. Chefs like Gareth Johns from Machynlleth, and Robert Schopp from Narberth are taking full advantage of the local ingredients and adding their creative flair in their respective Italo-Cymraeg and Hispano-Cymraeg Kitchens. As food festivals like Abergavenny, Narberth, Cardigan and Aberystwyth gather popularity and Slow Food convivium events build awareness and networks of producers and co-producers, the message that Wales has a rich offering from its farms and cooks is gaining volume.

Building the network in the food community and receiving a reassuring affirmation from interacting with 6500 other delegates that Terra Madre and Slow Food really contribute to this success. As Gareth Johns said: “the great thing about coming here has been to find that we are not alone”, and you get the feeling that he meant in Wales as well as in the world. Another Welsh delegate said she will go home with so many stories, but most important is what she feels and that is after all these hard years, to be proud of being a producer.

visit the Terra Madre Blog too...

procrastinating!!

this guy is insane.. but very very funny.. i especially like his treatment of onions check out mr cook's other videos .... and the death of the milkman visit a biscuit factory... v.old film

Catalonia is not Spain 2

Up for review... i'd love any comments/feedback

oh and a totally vacuous profile of Adria.. 

And i love this: "molecular gastronomy does not exist" 

Catalonia is not Spain

 
 

PIC: Gastrognome

Although this region sports a donkey logo on its cars rather than the Spanish bull, It's no stubborn mule. Catalonia just recently passed a referendum to make this Mediterranean, Pyrenean North East corner of Spain independent. Its a vibrant, dynamic, multicultural, hard-working place. In seeking it's own identity Catalonia embraces a globalising world with flair, and looks ambitiously to the future.

Barcelona celebrated the referendum vote in style on the night of San Juan, an all-night midsummers beach-party. 100's of thousands of revellers danced under a firework sky until dawn on the spectacular seafront, welcoming a new season and a new freedom. The city, extensively redeveloped around the time of the 1992 Olympics is one of Europe's most popular destinations. Visitors attracted to the fine architecture, fabulous beaches and cultural vibe also enjoy a tremendous food experience. The streets and walkways of Barcelona are packed with bars and restaurants offering a phenomenal gastronomic adventure. Through the eyes of a gastronomer, exploring the region, looking into the products, finding out about and tasting dishes, the true spirit of Catalonia is revealed.

The food producers here are not hanging around, this is where you'll find state of the art olive groves and marketing initiatives that build on the cultural capital behind local cured meat products. Something about the spirit of success here combines beautifully the best of the old with that of the new. The municipal markets have been the most recent target for progressive post-modernisation. Rather than left to crumble and be re-valued and gentrified by the property market, they are the focus for local economic development. Barcelona's 39 municipal produce market buildings are systematically being transformed into dynamic artisinal yet highly competitive spaces. It seems as though the discussion that has led to the regions autonomy and development has embodied the activities of the 21^st century. Embedded in what it feels and knows from the past but playfully, confidently inviting new perspectives: be they cultural or technological. Real markets bursting with colourful fresh produce combined with innovation and creativity bring an exciting dimension to the Catalan menu.

Typical of busy, historical Mediterranean port towns, a diversity of flavours and recipes has for ever arrived with migrants and traders and invaders, established themselves and mutated into particular specialities. Look out for familiar flavours and compare the salt-cod bunyols with Venetian baccalau, the coca to the Neapolitan pizza and the picados against Genovese pesto. Not to simplify: arguably Catalan cuisine, when it sticks to its roots, has maintained into modernity perhaps most accurately its medieval use of nuts, spices and combinations of sweet and savoury. While orthodoxy has it's place, post-modern Catalonia is forging into new territory by working with its heritage and re-interpreting the ingredients and dishes to meet the needs of a new society. Tapas is a super example. It's origins simply a piece of bread to “top” an evening glass of wine; stop the flies, stave off hunger. It's complications and varieties come from all over Spain; in a particular dish, a set of flavours; meat, cheese, olives, fruit, vegetables, with or without bread. Now, it's the perfect vehicle for a chef to show off and grab the tourists in the evening into one of the thousands of tapas bars and restaurants. Tapas is a format.. a medium for culinary creativity. And neither is it frowned upon to be using thoroughly exotic ingredients and combinations so the boundary between tapas and sushi, for example, becomes blurred. For the consumer you take it as far as you want, one can be a snack with a drink, or a dozen-shared: a full degustatory menu, and typically in the same establishment.

Contemporary Catalan cuisine is not an idea without its drivers. The historical pedigree for cultural absorbency is reflected in an emergent avant guard cuisine. Chefs like Ferran Adria are “de-constructing” the language and practice of cuisine. His workspace is as much chemistry laboratory and media studio as kitchen. The motives though, for boiling local products in liquid nitrogen and de-stabilising our sense of familiarity and comfort, recognise that gastronomy belongs to everybody and a new language is required that doesn't exclude the ordinary person. Adria's polemic creates a reference point, the discourse is established as we write. But most importantly, and this is the cunning, is that it sets a practical example. “Cooking isn't art, it's cooking, “ he says, “the complicity of eating.. a food creation... engaging all the senses and the body... makes it closer to us than the arts.” What the avant gard do and say is resonating with the vibe. It's talking to the middle class plaza tables and the socialist garage-band student bars and gives the ubiquitous patatas bravas experience an irresistible vibrancy.

Innovation is one thing, but what's it all for? This is not novelty for the sake of it, it's at the core of Catalonia's uniqueness. The voice of ordinary and infinitely various people is institutionalised in Catalonia. Barcelona's redevelopment, with its magnificent buildings and public spaces values the individual as much as it gives incentive for economic investment. Celebrating and giving space to marginalised people is a way of life. As well as the living street-food culture seen with tapas, the region's sparkling wine, Cava, is a great example of this modern food culture being people-centred and lively. Elsewhere in Europe, fizzy pop producers might well construct protective legends of status and tradition around their products. Here wine-makers showing you around the disgorgement cellars won't forget the legacy and knowledge that goes into the bottle, but will sooner toast your happy visit rather than linger self-consciously on the rim of the glass. The important thing is to load the crates on the bus and get down to that beach party... That's where the life is.