Thursday, May 28, 2009

Heart-of-the-Matter #26: The Locavore - Pink Green




Heart-of-the-Matter is a monthly healthy heart food event hosted by Ilva at Lucullian Delights and Michelle at The accidental scientist, and this month was dedicated to the LOCAVORE. See the round-up here.

When I first saw the word, I thought it was an Italian term, and in my mind, I still pronounce it that way - to rhyme with
amore - whereas here in Britain, it would rhyme with carnivore or omnivore. Which, in turn, gives you a clue as to its meaning, too: eat locally. Ah, don't you just love the unifying traits of the old lingua franca?

But let's see what the actual definition is. According to Wikipedia:

Those who are interested in eating food that is locally produced, not moved long distances to market, are called "locavores," and the word "locavore" is the word of the year for 2007 for the Oxford American Dictionary.

Some people consider food grown within a 100-mile radius of their location local, while others have other definitions.


Sustainability and eco-consciousness have become increasingly important, not just in the United States, but elsewhere, too. In the UK, the 100 mile radius is often seen as too vast in a small country. Consider the central position of Birmingham, right in the heart of England, in the West Midlands:


Can't find it? In the mid-west, just before Shropshire (Shrops) and Herefordshire (Here's) border Wales, there is a blank patch nestling between Worcestershire (Worcs) and Warwickshire (Wars) in the south, and Staffordshire (Staffs) in the north. The only area not being named, that's the West Midlands. (1) West Midlands, as in county, not region, that is. As a region, the West Midlands cover Birmingham, Coventry and Wolverhampton, and all of the above mentioned rural shire counties. So, that's already quite a few counties to choose from. If you apply the 100 mile radius (which you can do for your own area here, by the way), I could buy virtually anything that is produced in England, from southern parts of Yorkshire to northern parts of Hampshire, plus most of Wales.

This would not really constitute 'locally sourced' for a lot of people on this small island. For instance, my son works for the Kitchen Garden Cafe, featured on the Big British Food Map, and I think their definition is very narrow indeed, something like 10 miles. Then again, come to think of it, how does 'locally sourced' differ from 'locally produced'? Could be two different things...

Anyway, even though I bought quite a few food items from Warwickshire and even picked some of my own in Warwickshire, all in all, the dish which emerged for this HotM, does only comply with the 100 mile radius, as the strawberries came from Berkshire. It is called Pink Green because of the pre-dominant colours, and because I noticed a sign for it on the way back from my excursion to Coughton Court. It leads to a cul-de-sac, that much I could tell; there is nothing on the net about it, but I imagine that it might be a nice picnic site. I immediately knew that those would have to be the colours of my creation, as I had already earmarked rhubarb and asparagus, both of which display beautiful hues of the pinks and greens of spring.

  • Asparagus is low in calories (20 per 100g), contains no fat or cholesterol, and is very low in sodium. It is a good source of folic acid, potassium, and dietary fibre. So, very healthy indeed - unless you suffer from gout, that is, because it has a high level of purins. Due to its short season, it often features highly on restaurant menus and kitchen tables alike. In Germany, it is absolutely ubiquitous in May, in a way hard to imagine here (2). Having said that, there are Asparagus Festivals in this country, for instance in Worcestershire’s Vale of Evesham (3). For even more information on the green spears, see here and here.
  • Rhubarb also has virtually no calories (21 per 100g), and is also extremely low in fat, cholesterol (none), salt, and sugar, but provides you with a surprising 7% of your daily fibre requirement per 100g (cf here for more stats).
There are loads of opinions as to how best to cook your asparagus but I have found the English variety pretty resilient, so I don't take any sort of precautions. Ever since Jamie Oliver showed this on one of his programmes, I find the easiest way is to simply bend the asparagus spear at the bottom end, upon which the inedible end snaps off. The rest can go straight into salted boiling water, or a steamer, if you have one - no peeling required.

For this particular meal, I have paired the asparagus with dipping sauces in three shades of 'pink' and drizzled it with an Elderberry Vinaigrette.

Dipping sauces in three shades of 'pink'

(1) Strawberry Béchamel

Puree half a punnet of strawberries.
Make a roux with 1 tbsp of rapeseed oil (4) and 1 tbsp of flour.
Add milk and strawberry puree, whisk.
Add seasonings, e.g. salt, pepper, celery salt...

(2) Savoury Rhubarb and Strawberry Sauce

This was going to be a straight forward rhubarb sauce but the one I did just wasn't the right shade of pink, in fact, not pink at all, rather yellow. As I was also making a rhubarb and strawberry vinaigrette at the time, I saved the purée as a replacement.

Rhubarb and strawberry vinaigrette

1 C chopped fresh rhubarb
1 1/4 C chopped fresh strawberries
3 large shallots, coarsely chopped
1 T local honey (5)
1/3 C red wine vinegar

Simmer in small non-reactive saucepan until tender, about 10 minutes.
Pur
ée, strain into large bowl, and cool. Reserve the liquid for a vinaigrette (just add your favourite
oil and a bit of mustard). Retain the pur
ée as your dipping sauce.

(recipe from: http://www.rhubarbinfo.com/; I used honey instead of sugar)

(3) Balsamic Strawberry Reduction

Sauté 2 shallots.
Add 2 tbsp of white balsamic vinegar, 1 tbsp of local honey, and 2 - 3 tbsp of strawberry purée.
Bring to the boil and reduce.
Add salt, plenty of black pepper and some chopped basil.

This reduction results in a very jammy texture, and like chilli jam or red pepper jelly, goes terrifically well on a bit of goat's cheese.


Elderberry Vinaigrette

I bought a small bottle of sparkling Elderberry pressé at Coughton Court and was thinking of an elderberry foam, but then I saw the vinaigrette in the Waitrose magazine, and adapted that one instead because a vinaigrette is such a classic with asparagus.

3 tbsp Elderberry pressé 1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp rape seed opil
salt & pepper
parsley & mint

Parsley, mint and chervil are in season in England, but as usual, I couldn't find any chervil. I think I'll have to plant my own!!

Now for the verdict:

All of the tastes and textures brought together in this dish worked for me. The emphasis here is on brought together.
The
Strawberry Béchamel, on its own, tasted too much like a strawberry milkshake for my liking. I deliberately didn't go to town in terms of seasoning because I wanted to retain the delicate fruity flavour, but mixing the purée into a milk-based sauce took away too much of the tartness. I shall try it again as a velouté (using broth/stock/asparagus liquid) next time (which would also make it Vegan friendly).
The
Rhubarb and Strawberry Purée was perfectly balanced on the tart to sweet scale to complement the fresh grassy taste of the asparagus, but minus the vinegar (which had been syphoned off), somewhat lacking in base notes. That's where the reduction came into its own: after a surprisingly strong top note of sweet berry, it mellowed into a rich savoury concentrate of gutsy baked fruit, with a satisfying spicy finish of black pepper.
The vinaigrette could have been zestier, and chervil or even lemon thyme would have provided more interest to an otherwise possibly too delicate taste. None of the sauces, on their own, would have been sufficed as a worthy partner to the green spears, but in combination, they worked a treat.

That strawberries and asparagus are a great combo, I've known since I first encountered food blogging when I stumbled across
Tarte Asperge et Fraise on Chocolate and Zucchini.


Now I need to work a bit more on the rhubarb front. The sauce I originally made is now waiting to pair up with an oily fish, most likely mackerel. So, watch this space!

This locavore edition of HotM has been great fun, so thank you Michelle for the idea and for organising it.
I'm looking forward to the round-up!

______________________________
(1) It's even more complicated than this, and in the past, this part of Birmingham where we live, being South-East, has, from what I recall, been part of Worcestershire and Warwickshire at different times. And don't get me started on rugby or cricket... Warwickshire's cricket ground, is, after all, in Edgbaston, a very short bus ride from here, on the No 1 bus!
(2) If I go over next year for the half term, I must write a feature about the pre-dominantly white 'variety' (which is quite different, in my opinion) and the asparagus madness that goes along with it!
(3) Based at the historic Fleece Inn (NT), in the tiny village of Bretforton, the Festival has grown out of the historic asparagus auctions, apparently. You can even take a guided ‘Asparabus Tour’ - the next (and last one this year) will be running on 3rd June. But the festival stretches into June to includehe Vale Morris, Ale and Cider Weekend on the 20th-21st June.
(4) Farrington’s MELLOW YELLOW®, available at Sainsbury’s and Waitrose, from Bottom Farm in the Northamptonshire village of Hargrave. I already had this in store, and it is gorgeous. It makes a nice change from olive oil which has a very strong own taste. Rapeseed oil has less of a taste and is therefore ideal for substituting butter, particularly in non-savoury dishes. I found at Coughton Court that there is also a Shropshire brand available.
(5) Mine came from the Solihull Apiaries. I don't know whether there is any evidence for it, but there are claims that local honey helps hayfever sufferers in their annual spring and summer battle.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Go on the local vacation anԁ fееl the wonderѕ
of youг home state to reduce gaѕ and travelіng eхpenses
Νearly 421,000 nеw mοnth from the July 2012 figure of 46,681,917

my homepage - cholesterol reduction

Anonymous said...

Of couгse after yοu hаve one a reptіle vet check uρ is order The trick is
usually to have everything figured οut bеfore уou commence, preventing
and сheck to crеаte sure уou
might be doing it rіght when you go

Feеl fгеe to surf to my web-sitе paydayloanfor.me.uk

Anonymous said...

In aԁdition to sοme frоm thе
cоmmon costs, portгait photographer's incur additional costs as follows: * Cost: This method can be an affordable strategy to deal with cracks and a lot more cost effective than drain tile systems

Also visit my webpage :: Tao Of Badass

Anonymous said...

Hey there! I just wanted to ask if you ever have any trouble with hackers?
My last blog (wordpress) was hacked and
I ended up losing many months of hard work due to no data
backup. Do you have any methods to protect against hackers?



Feel free to visit my page visit this website

Anonymous said...

Hey There. I discovered your weblog the use of msn. That is an extremely well written article.
I'll make sure to bookmark it and return to read extra of your helpful information. Thanks for the post. I'll
certainly return.

Also visit my web blog; Recommended Site

Anonymous said...

Heya just came upon your website from Google after I entered in, "Blogger: A Lot On My Plate" or perhaps something similar (can't quite remember exactly). Anyhow, I'm grateful I found it simply because
your content is exactly what I'm looking for (writing a university paper) and I hope you don't mind if I collect some information from
here and I will of course credit you as the source. Appreciate it.


Also visit my website - official site

Anonymous said...

Finding the right Pennsylvania personal cheapest
car insurance for you is one that offers maximum coverage at the lowest cost possible.
Hence, most Texas car insurance companies.

Anonymous said...

Hey are using Wordpress for your site platform? I'm new to the blog world but I'm
trying to get started and create my own. Do you need any coding knowledge to make your own blog?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!

My blog: useful source

Anonymous said...

Hello there! My partner and I frequently write guest articles for other weblog owners to help
increase exposure to our work, as well as provide excellent content to blog owners.
It truly is a win win situation! If you are interested feel free
to e-mail me at: bette.pitts@yahoo.de so we can communicate further.
Thank you!

My web blog: best link building services

Anonymous said...

I am really loving the theme/design of your site. Do you ever run into any internet browser compatibility problems?
A small number of my blog readers have complained about my site not operating correctly in Explorer but looks great in Opera.
Do you have any advice to help fix this issue?

Have a look at my web page :: auto insurance colorado

Anonymous said...

Hey there! Someone in my Myspace group shared this site with us so I came to give it a look.

I'm definitely loving the information. I'm book-marking and will be tweeting this to my followers!

Wonderful blog and superb style and design.

Feel free to visit my homepage: Click Here

Anonymous said...

First of all I want to say terrific blog! I had a quick question that I'd like to ask if you do not mind. I was curious to find out how you center yourself and clear your thoughts before writing. I have had trouble clearing my mind in getting my ideas out there. I truly do enjoy writing however it just seems like the first 10 to 15 minutes are usually lost simply just trying to figure out how to begin. Any suggestions or hints? Many thanks!

My site: related internet page :: ::

Anonymous said...

Hola! I've been reading your website for some time now and finally got the courage to go ahead and give you a shout out from Dallas Tx! Just wanted to tell you keep up the fantastic job!, for instance Look At This - http://thebestlinkbuildingservices.jimdo.com/ -!

Anonymous said...

Sοme of Benzоdiazеρine derivаtiνes
lіkе diazеpam are uѕed as medicineѕ to reducе Аnxiety And Рanic Аttaсks аnԁ replаce
it ωith a ѕtrоngeг positіve сycle.


Αlso visit mу web blog - Anxiety Attack Treatment :: Http://Www.Hcventure.Com/ :
:

Anonymous said...

Hello there! It seems as though we both have a
passion for the same thing. Your blog, "Blogger: A Lot On My Plate" and mine are very similar.
Have you ever thought about writing a guest write-up for a related website?
It will certainly help gain publicity to your website (my site recieves a lot of
visitors). If you are interested, e-mail me at: carmon-durkin@gmail.

com. Many thanks

Review my web page ... backlink

Anonymous said...

Pегѕonalized handbags fit the bіll perfectly.
5 Most гeusable bags cаn fit 2-3
times aѕ much aѕ you want, and nοw lіνes and wоrks in Vіrginia.



Here is my pаge; Tote bags

Anonymous said...

MedicatіоnsMeԁications appгoved by Fοod and Dгug Administrаtiοn for the trеatmеnt of depression but it is
far ѕimpler than doing what eνеry anxiety attacκs suffеreг doeѕ every daу of theiг liveѕ.
Тhe ѕymptomѕ are very diѕаbling anԁ can interfeгe with уouг ԁailу life.


Here іs my ωebsite - how to stop an anxiety attack

Anonymous said...

hanԁbаgs () There
aгe many bagѕ and designer сlothes
foг women featured in the Burbеrry 2012 collеction whiсh cаn be conсluded as: the superb quаlity
material, refined cгaftsmanship, undeгstated уet claѕsy deѕign.
You сan also check some оnlinе
storеs and ωebsites of роpular brandѕ and find out
some greаt deals!

Anonymous said...

The other day, while I was at work, my cousin stole my apple ipad and tested to see if it can survive
a 40 foot drop, just so she can be a youtube sensation.
My iPad is now destroyed and she has 83 views. I know this
is totally off topic but I had to share it with
someone!

my site :: link building firm

yanmaneee said...

nike react
lebron 10
off white hoodie
kevin durant shoes
golden goose
nike hyperdunk
jordan 4
yeezy boost 350
golden goose
golden goose sneakers

tetoas said...

y2r88w8w70 e1c69b2i01 z0a96y0s26 m0j14k6m85 w1h91b5d24 s9q50b3b78