Treacle Market: Apple Juice and Curry

The Treacle market organisers once again invited us to attend the Sunday market at the end of October to demonstrate how surplus apples and windfalls can be converted into excellent apple juice.

We had a great site just in front of the church, and despite the continuous rain, it was a really good day with lots of visitors and lots of interest in Food4Macc and Food4MaccDirect. Huge thanks to all the volunteers who braved the weather and made it a great success. 

Yvonne had made a fantastic vegetable curry which was was consumed with Ruth’s excellent Naan bread.
With the aid of a large mincer to chop the apples and a hand-operated press, we converted more than 120lb of apples into fresh apple juice. and had about 350 people tasting it - and everyone who tried it thought it was excellent!

Visit to Walk Mill

On Saturday 13 Food4MaccDirect members went on a Tour of the Walk Mill Flour Mill.  

 Their own grown wheat variety 'Solstace' is harvested, dried, cleaned, sieved and stored in large sealed containers. The grain is brought to the mill and lifted into a 1 metre cube holding box on the first floor, from where it is distributed to the grinding mill.

Outside the miller closed the sluice gate, preventing the millstream from bypassing the water wheel.

Once the level had risen by about 30cm, water was released onto the under-shot wheel and the mechanism began to turn the 2 large french granite grind stones and grain was fed between them with an intriguing shaker mechanism

 

The resulting wholegrain flour passes back downstairs where it is bagged or seived to remove the husks or "bran"  and produce "strong white" flour.  We were surprised to see that about 40% of the wholemeal flour is removed as bran - for which there is little use.
Alternatively flakes of malted wheat grain (grains that are wetted, germinated, converting some starches to sugars, and then dried) are added to convert white flour into 'Malted Flour' or baking powder is added to make 'Self Raising'.
The Mill can be working up to 12 hours a day, seven days a week and a half hour grind produces a 25kg bag of flour.

You can see more about the mill including a video clip of the process in action here

You can buy Walk Mill flour through Food4Macc Direct here
or try baking your own bread with our Baking Club

Food4Macc 2nd Show of Produce

There were over a hundred entries to judge at this year's produce show

Giving the judges quite a challenge to reach decsions in just one hour.

 

So contestants were given a tour of the farm animals that are cared for by the students at All Hallows.

Food4Macc Direct Bread Club in the News

 

Click on the image to read how Macc Express reporter Chris Slater fared at the Bread Club.

For more details see the Bread Club Flyer

Bourne's Cheese Visit

In 1931 Bourne's were one of 153 cheese makers in Cheshire.

Today they are the only one left. So we were very privileged to see the cheese making process here and have John Bourne himself explain it to us.

 Above, you can see the curd being passed through a mincing machine prior to being poured into the cloth lined moulds, before being taken for pressing.

After the tour we were treated to a cheese tasting, which included their soft "Camembourne", Cheshire Blue, and a ginger cheese designed to complement Christmas cake.
You can learn more about Bourne's and cheese making in general at their website, but note that it has not been updated for some time.

Visit to L'Endroit Honey, Congleton.

Today (Sunday 5th Aug) as one of the F4MD member events we were able to visit Eli from L'Endroit Restaurant in Congleton and his bees who make the L'Endroit honey on our produce list.
He has 65 hives, 6 of which are in Congleton and the others spread over 19 locations. 

We donned our protective clothing and started off near the restaurant where he has his young 'Nursery Bees' then walked just 5 mins away to see the other group of mature hives. As you got nearer you could hear the hum of thousands of busy bees.

The pics show the filled honeycomb which is very heavy and the queen bee with a blue marker on it. The queen can live for up to 5 years but during the summer the worker bees only live for 6 weeks and in winter, 6 months. The queens are pedigree and often sent through the post if purchased.
Last year Eli was able to produce approx. 2.3 tonnes of honey which is about 6000 jars! When the honey is harvested there is always plenty left behind for the bees to have, approx 25kg over winter. We all really enjoyed the visit and none of us were stung!

Teggs Nose Bilberry Pick

F4M were invited to join Ranger Martin James who took a group of nearly 40 people around Teggs Nose pointing out the Bilberry berries and the best sites where the berries can be found. It was easy to spot them once you knew what you were looking for. The black bilberries are quite small (a bit smaller than a blackcurrant) and taste a bit like blackberries. 

It takes a while to pick them, I picked 450g in about 1 hour and a half! See picture. They can be used in pies or for making jam. We met other pickers and one man who had made his own Bilberry 'comb' for faster picking. There are more pictures and events listed on the ranger blog via www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/rangers . We hope to join up with them again next year.