Food & Drink

Exeter to Celebrate Best of Local Food and Drink at Gate to Plate Festival

Exeter is set to host a celebration of the region's finest food and drink producers when the Exeter Gate to Plate Food Festival comes to Sidwell Street on Sunday 4 October.

The free, family-friendly event will bring together more than 70 food and drink makers from across Devon and the surrounding area, with most producers based within a 30-mile radius of Exeter.

Visitors can expect a wide variety of local produce including artisan bakers, farmers, brewers, orchardists, coffee roasters, delicatessens, sweet treats and an array of street food vendors.

The festival...

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Polytunnel Potential for Bicton College

Motivated by rising food and fuel costs and concerns over Genetic Modified crops, Bicton College has taken the ‘food fight’ into its own hands.

From melons, aubergines and grapes, to lemongrass and the highly profitable Thai Basil, Bicton College horticulturalists and volunteers are determined to produce high quality, chemical free fruit and veg.

Andrea Rye, a Horticulture Instructor at Bicton College is proud to promote natural growing. “We don’t use any chemicals in our growing and encourage natural growth so our food tastes just as it should and we are working towards...

Local vineyards excited about 2013 harvest

It may not be a bumper but local vineyards are excited about a good 2013 harvest.

" We've got good crops on most varieties" says Yearlstone's vineyad manager Roger White. " The sparkling wine grapes are dripping bunches and even our cool climate reds are well laden. Yearlstone is expecting around 10 tons from it's own grapes, compared to a target of 15.

" Vines go in two year cycles so last year's washout reduced the potential , " says Roger. " But not only will local vineyards be able to restock empty cellars but the hot...

Great community spirit at the 51st Upottery Flower and Vegetable Show

The Show is now over 50 years old and the excitement on show day is still evident the minute the hall opens. There are 97 classes to enter with 18 cups to win, including the peoples choice for adults and children. There were some new trophies this year in memory of local residents who have passed away including the Paul Palmer photo frame for best photograph, and the Ruby Cooke Cup. Ruby was a committee member for 50 years and always entered the cookery and flower classes.

Here is this years list of winners, TROPHY WINNERS FOR 2013

1. Gould Cup for most points in flower...

Wild Beef’s sustainable farming celebrated in national ‘Thoughtful Eating’ campaign

Ethical Devonshire farmers Wild Beef have been featured in a series of mini documentaries celebrating home-grown British ingredients; just one of a handful of producers featured for raising the bar in their industry and for creating food according to their ethos; ‘Food as Nature Intended.’

The series ‘On the Road to Thoughtful Eating’ is the latest food initiative by Hemsley + Hemsley, the London-based sisters renowned for turning healthy food into an art. The documentaries are currently available on the Hemsley + Hemsley website and YouTube.

In a bid to unravel the essence...

Food for free with River Cottage’s John Wright

On Monday 9 September John Wright, renowned mycologist and wild food fanatic of River Cottage fame, will give a talk on wild foraging – what to see, where and when to find it and how best to cook it.

John will be joining the EDDC Countryside team at the Axe Estuary Wetlands from 6.30 to 8.30pm.

John has written three River Cottage foraging handbooks – Mushrooms, The Edible Seashore and Hedgerows. This autumn his fourth handbook, Booze will be released. He is passionate about making beer, wine and other boozy treats from all sorts of ingredients to be found growing wild in...

Savour an 'Indian Summer' with BBQ recipes from Denley's Essence of India

We’ve all got our fingers crossed for a sunny Bank Holiday this weekend, and the extra day off means only one thing – barbecue time! And while there’s no denying the satisfaction to be had from keeping it simple with sausages and burgers, with a little preparation you can produce an alfresco feast that will really impress your guests. Here, Jamil Miah, the curry expert behind Topsham’s award-winning Denley’s Essence of India Restaurant & Curry School, shares his favourite BBQ recipes.

Denley’s BBQ marinade for chicken Ingredients: 10 skinless chicken drumsticks 1½-2 tsp garlic...

Healthy and hot... Introducing Rapeseed Chilli Oil

With the forecast set for more warm weather over the next few weeks, it's still the perfect time to enjoy eating fresh, delicious dishes outside. Add a splash of South Devon Chilli Farm's new Cold Pressed Rapeseed Chilli Oil, which has been made with rapeseed oil from the award-winning Bell & Loxton, to give your food a spicy, tasty new twist. South Devon Chilli Farm's Cold Pressed Rapeseed Chilli Oil, which comes in an elegant 250ml glass bottle, is currently available both online at www.sdcf.co.uk and in a wide range of deli's and independent stores (RRP £4.65). A blend of South...

Exeter’s historic waterside wine cellars to become new micro brewery

St Austell Brewery, one of the South West’s leading breweries, is planning to invest £1.5million in transforming a derelict 19th century warehouse on Exeter’s vibrant quayside into a brand new pub-restaurant and micro-brewery.

The building, in Commercial Road on The Quay, has been bought leasehold from Exeter City Council by Cornwall’s premier independent brewery, and will be dramatically renovated to create a new venue for the city.

St Austell Brewery is currently revising a planning application for the stone building and hopes to begin renovation works in early 2014, with...

Healey's to host Big Apple Cyder Festival

100 cyders and 100 acts will star in a new festival in September. The Big Apple is a brand new three day event held at Healey’s Cyder Farm, near Perranporth, from Friday 27 to Sunday 29 September 2013. A celebration of the West Country’s cyders and great music, tickets include a tractor ride through the orchards of this working farm and four cyder samples. Commercial director, Joe Healey, said: “September is the perfect time to hold a cyder festival, especially this year as we are looking forward to a bumper harvest. “Festival goers will be able to watch our apples being harvested, then...

Back British farming to put more British food on more British plates

In a year when British farming has received phenomenal backing from consumers, the NFU is urging the public to help turn around a decline in self-sufficiency that means the UK produces just 62 per cent of its own food.

Starkly, our current self-sufficiency rate means that today, August 14, is the day when British food supplies would run out if all the food produced in Britain in a year was stored and eaten from January 1. The NFU is determined to reverse this trend and is launching a Charter looking for the public, politicians and food industry to sign, pledging their support....

Food & Drink

Exeter to Celebrate Best of Local Food and Drink at Gate to Plate Festival

Polytunnel Potential for Bicton College

Local vineyards excited about 2013 harvest

Great community spirit at the 51st Upottery Flower and Vegetable Show

Wild Beef’s sustainable farming celebrated in national ‘Thoughtful Eating’ campaign

Food for free with River Cottage’s John Wright

Savour an 'Indian Summer' with BBQ recipes from Denley's Essence of India

Healthy and hot... Introducing Rapeseed Chilli Oil

Exeter’s historic waterside wine cellars to become new micro brewery

Healey's to host Big Apple Cyder Festival

Back British farming to put more British food on more British plates

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