The Taste of Britain. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

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      The cultivated plum has been known in Britain since Roman times. Plums continued to be grown in Britain through the medieval period, with new varieties being introduced in the fifteenth century (Roach, 1985). The development of specifically British varieties is noticed under Dittisham Plum, above, and Cambridge Gage, below. The eighteenth-century varieties, including Fotheringham, Coe’s Golden Drop (much used as a parent for good quality, late-season dessert plums), Magnum Bonum, Damascenes, and Gage were delicious and valuable, but it is the work of the Victorian nurserymen that has had most lasting significance. They raised several varieties still grown today, including Early Rivers and Czar. Several local varieties, including Aylesbury Prune, were also widely grown for drying. One of the few local seedlings which has become important in recent years is Marjories, which was discovered growing in Berkshire in 1912.

      However, the Victoria plum is the most popular in modern Britain. It was a chance seedling from Alderton in Sussex found in 1840. Development took place in a nursery at Brixton, south London. It soon became established as a commercial variety in the main orcharding areas of southern England. It was used for crossing in experiments to produce new breeds in the early 1900s, especially by the Laxton brothers; although several were introduced, they have failed to maintain a place in commercial production.

      Victorias now provide the majority of dessert plums, most of those for commerce grown in Kent. It is also the most ubiquitous breed in English gardens: it is easier and less sensitive than most comparable varieties. Jane Grigson (1982) wrote tellingly of their dangerously bland flavour: ‘Victorias are for canning. Victorias are for plums and custard, that crowning moment of the school, hospital, prison and boarding house midday meal: I reflect that Mr Bird invented his powder round about the time that Victoria plums were beginning their career.’

      TECHNIQUE:

      Plums require shelter from frost and a soil which holds moisture well. Old orchards are on strong rootstocks, giving large trees. Dwarf rootstocks, planted in rows about 6 metres apart are now favoured. Some varieties require pollinators, although Victoria is a variety which is largely self-fertile. Provided the soil is correct, and the land sheltered from frost, plums do well in Kent and its region. After the first 2 years, little maintenance beyond light pruning is carried out.

      REGION OF PRODUCTION:

      SOUTH EAST ENGLAND, KENT.

      Carolina Cheese

      DESCRIPTION:

      A PRESSED SHEEP’S MILK CHEESE. DIMENSIONS: TRUCKLES APPROXIMATELY 8CM HIGH, 5CM DIAMETER OR 14CM HIGH, 14CM DIAMETER. WEIGHT: ABOUT 750G (SMALL); 2-2.7KG (LARGE). COLOUR: ALMOST WHITE. FLAVOUR: WELL-ROUNDED, WITH A MILD SHEEP NOTE.

      HISTORY:

      An ancient origin is claimed for the recipe from which these cheeses were evolved: the monks of a Cistercian abbey near Chard, Somerset. This is not impossible; there are parallels in the north of England, where Wensleydale and related cheeses almost certainly owe their origin to monastic dairy skills.

      In its current form, Carolina was developed by John Norman in the Chard area; the name was taken from a field name of land he farmed. In the early 1970s, he began to make a sheep’s milk cheese, continuing until ill health prevailed. Ten years later the current maker, Harold Woolley, bought the recipe and transferred production to Kent, where the cheese has been made ever since. He has since evolved 2 similar cheeses—Cecilia (plain and smoked) and Nepicar.

      TECHNIQUE:

      Carolina, Cecilia and Nepicar are all made from sheep’s milk, mostly from Friesland-Romney sheep on permanent pasture. For Carolina, a home-produced starter is incubated overnight and added to the warm milk the next morning followed, about 45 minutes later, by vegetarian rennet. The milk is left for another 45 minutes for the curd to set. The curd is cut, then stirred gently by hand for about 30 minutes, allowed to settle and drained. The curd is cut in blocks and stacked for an hour to drain further. The curd is milled, salted and packed into cloth-lined moulds. The cheeses are pressed individually for 24 hours, being turned once; then they are removed from the moulds, the cloths removed, the cheeses returned to the moulds and pressed a further 24 hours. On removal from the moulds, they are brined for a day. They are matured for 60 days.

      Nepicar is made to the same recipe and method, using milk pasteurized by a high-temperature, short-term process, and the cheeses are matured for 90 days. Cecilia is made to a similar recipe, with slight differences in times and temperatures; it is dry-salted rather than brined, and matured in oak barrels over a bed of hops. Frozen milk is stored for use when the sheep stop milking in September.

      REGION OF PRODUCTION:

      SOUTH EAST ENGLAND, KENT.

      Wellington Cheese

      DESCRIPTION:

      HARD, PRESSED, UNPASTEURIZED COW’S MILK CHEESE IN ROUNDS ABOUT 18CM DIAMETER, 7CM HIGH; A SMALLER ONE IS MADE FOR CHRISTMAS. WEIGHT: 2.5-3KG (LARGE); 750G (SMALL). COLOUR: A RICH YELLOW WITH A NATURAL GREY-BROWN MOTTLED RIND. FLAVOUR AND TEXTURE: RICH CREAMY TEXTURE, VERY SMOOTH; SWEET.

      HISTORY:

      There is no great history of cheese-making in Berkshire, though Reading University has latterly been a centre for research into dairying. Work carried out by the university led to the development of the recipe for Smallholder Cheese in 1911. It was specifically intended as a recipe for those wishing to make a hard cheese on a limited scale. It enjoyed some success with home cheese-makers, still being made at the end of the 1950s. In the mid-1980s, the maker of Wellington, Anne Wigmore (a microbiologist at the dairy research institute at the university) took the Smallholder recipe and developed it for use with milk from a Guernsey herd kept at Stratfield Saye, the nearby estate belonging to the Duke of Wellington.

      TECHNIQUE:

      Unpasteurized milk from one designated herd of Guernsey cattle is used. The Smallholder recipe is along the following lines. The milk is heated to 32°C, starter added, followed by vegetarian rennet about 30 minutes later; the top layer is stirred to ensure the cream is mixed in, then left 40 minutes. The curd is cut 3 ways and allowed to settle. The heat is increased to 38°C over 30 minutes, the curd stirred continuously, then the whey is drained off. The curd is cut into strips and stacked and re-stacked until the correct acidity has developed. Milling is into pieces the size of a nutmeg; the curd is salted during this process, then filled into moulds. Pressing is for about 24 hours, the cheese removed from the mould once (at an early stage) and reversed. The cheeses are unmoulded and matured 6 months in the cellars at Stratfield Saye.

      Anne Wigmore’s interest in cheese-making has also led to the development of Spenwood (named after the Berkshire village of Spencer’s Wood, where the work was carried out) and Wigmore, both based on sheep’s milk; and Waterloo, a soft cow’s milk cheese.

      REGION OF PRODUCTION:

      SOUTH EAST ENGLAND, BERKSHIRE.

      Jellied Eels

      DESCRIPTION:

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