Ever wondered what black tomatoes taste like? Or what is the difference between buffalo milk and sheep’s milk, or the flavour of a York Ham which has been air-dried? These were some of the things which those lucky enough to get places at this year’s taste workshops were able to find out.
Thanks to Liz Merryweather who organised a total of twelve tasting workshops (two of the most popular, on cheese and chocolate respectively, were repeated) we were treated to a wonderful series of tasting opportunities. Subjects included unusual tomatoes, cured meats, beer, black pudding, Presidium cheddars and perrys, rare breed beef, and honey. I managed to go to three workshops, helping out at the tomato one. Jo Campbell who gardens near Thirsk, made the meeting room at the Guildhall look like an image from a glossy magazine with a fabulous display of the flowers and unusual vegetables she grows. The tomatoes for tasting ranged from ‘Marmande’, the huge squashy ones more usually seen in Provencal markets, to the tiny ‘Mexican Midget’, and included yellow and black (actually very dark red-green) varieties along the way. The 20 tasters voted ‘Vicky’, a small oval tomato their favourite for eating raw: good flavour, sweet but with enough acidity to make it interesting, features which made up for the slightly tough skin. Many thanks to Jo, who must have had anxious moments wondering if the tomato crop would actually ripen sufficiently well for the workshop.
Despite being a milk refusnik, I was curious enough about dairy products to go along to the milk and yoghurt workshop. Even the tiny sips I took of the samples (cow, goat, sheep and buffalo) showed me that there is quite a difference between the milk from the different animals … sheep milk creamy and thick, buffalo sweetish, the goat slightly nutty. I enjoyed the yogurt and butter samples more though!
The third workshop I was present at was that featuring cured meat from Scott’s butchers in York. Will Anderson, who has owned the business for a couple of years brought along a delicious selection of meats cured in different ways. These included a Parma style ham, pressed beef cured in the traditional English way (mellow and spicy), pastrami, bresaola, and a Wiltshire cure ham (mild and sweet). All delicious in their own way, and markedly different in flavour. Most interesting were the two York hams made with legs from the same pig, one air-dried and the other, clove-studded and cooked in the usual way, salty and intense.
Thanks to Liz Merryweather and Michael Hjort who between them organised the producers and the venues; to all SF members who volunteered to help out; and to the producers and experts themselves who gave up their time to come and talk. They were:
Laura Mason
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