|
||
|
 |
|
|
||
|
|
|
QBUTCHER NEWSLETTER JULY 2008 This month marks the start of the main holiday season and we wish all of you a good break away from the normal routine. We’re pleased to announce that there is now some new season’s saltmarsh lamb available. Our first supply will be from Edward Hull’s flock on Foulness Island. We were extremely pleased with the quality last year and I am sure it will be just as good this time. It has been a fitful start to the barbecue season (no change there I suppose), but we have been selling plenty of our home made burgers, ribs and kebabs. Have you tried our fruity lamb burgers yet? We use only fresh English lamb with a blend of herbs, fruit and fresh eggs, (a delicious change from beef) and can be fried or grilled as well as barbecued. The AWT burger is proving particularly popular and is suitable for those who like a little more zing from their burger. If you would like something different, we can offer you venison steaks, kebabs, spatchcock Poussin, chicken thigh cordon bleu and marinated steaks and chops. These are not always in stock so please telephone to check their availability or order them before coming in. By popular request we are re-introducing the wonderful apple juice from Watergull Orchards in Cambridgeshire. There are several varieties to try, and apart from tasting good, it means we are supporting the apple producers of this country. They are £2.85 per bottle or 2 bottles for £5.50. The ever popular Pipe of Port now supply us with Pork & Plum and Trawler (fish) pies to add to the range of Steak & kidney & mushroom and Chicken & Chestnut which we already stock. In the cheese cabinet we are now stocking herb and garlic Roulé, Pecorino, Taleggio, Cornish Yarg, feta for salads and halloumi for the barbecue. If you are not familiar with any of them, please feel free to ask to try them (or any cheese) before you buy. We have just taken delivery of a really good organic olive oil (Strakka) from Cyprus, which comes complete with its own pourer. It is ideal for summer (?) salads and marinades. Also, don’t forget the excellent sweet chilli sauces which give a boost when used as either a dip or an accompaniment to sausages, cold meats, etc. Finally, remember to live well, eat well and stay well! PS We are still collecting old spectacles for charity. QBUTCHER NEWSLETTER JUNE 2008 Flaming June (allegedly), is upon us already, where does the time go? This newsletter is a little early again, the reason being that I am a bit short of time over the next week or so and wanted to make sure that I had it organised in good time. I will be having some days off during the month. This will be the first time that Andy has been left to run the shop without me for more than the odd day or two, so please be very gentle with him! It would be very helpful if you could give him a few days notice of any special or larger orders so that he can get himself properly prepared and you get the service that you are entitled to expect. There will be days when Robert will be assisting him so he won’t be totally bereft of help. He also has a couple of volunteers lined up for any emergency that may crop up! This month also contains the very important occasion of FATHER’S DAY (June 15). I thought that I had better make mention of it just in case it got forgotten. We shall be maturing extra steaks for that weekend as, traditionally, most fathers like to choose them. The new season’s lamb is now under way with a regular supply from the farmer that we use in Warwickshire. The quality is terrific, but because the flavour is more delicate at this time of year I would suggest cooking it unadulterated, with just a little mint, rosemary or lavender to accompany it. We are also hoping that the saltmarsh lamb will be available in the not too distant future. If we are lucky enough to get some pleasant hot weather we shall be preparing various meats for the barbecue. We have started producing some different burger style products for your delectation. Along with our ever popular beef burger, last year’s successful launch of the AWT steak burger and the fruity lamb burger, we have recently produced a pork and apple burger and a mixed meat kofte kebab (which looks like a small burger). Those that have already tried them have reported back favourably so I hope that more of you will give them a try. There are also some marinated boneless pork belly pieces in a square shape (magic squares according to Andy) which can be cooked like ribs but have no bone. We have also introduced a couple of new marinades to liven up the taste buds. If we are lucky enough to have a hot summer, be prepared to call in and find the cabinet with less produce in it than you are used to seeing. Due to increasing costs and the need to conserve energy we will not be running the cabinets as often as in the past. NB This does not mean that we are selling up (a recent rumour) or closing down (another recent rumour), but merely trying to effect better housekeeping. Whenever we are present we will be happy to serve you even if the cupboard looks bare. Here’s hoping for some sunshine! QBUTCHER NEWSLETTER MAY 2008 Thank you for all the very complimentary comments made about my appearance on the BBC Look East regional news. It was a very interesting and enjoyable experience. There are plenty of opportunities to cheat at cooking without compromising quality, but I think Delia was much mistaken in using inferior tinned meat for spaghetti bolognaise. However, it certainly got her a lot of publicity, which is what she would have wanted. Incidentally, for those of you who missed the news that day, you can view the piece by visiting our website and clicking on the link above. Throughout the month of May, the Guild of Q Butchers is running a promotion with Morphy Richards offering the opportunity to win one of 50 slow cookers. It is free to enter, all you need to do is to send your name and address, and our name and address to the Guild’s office in Scotland. All the recipe leaflets have the address on them and there are 5 different ones to collect. Andy and I visited Food & Drink Expo in Birmingham in April and saw some new product ranges that may be of interest to you. We have now taken delivery of these new products and hope that you will feel encouraged to try them for yourselves. They include things like Garlic Jam, Watercress Sauce, Apple & Sage Jelly and a new range of sauces to accompany pasta. In addition we have 3 new hand baked sweet biscuits, Vanilla & Cream, Coconut & Lime and Ginger & Lemon, delicious! There were some lovely cheeses which we tasted as well and we have got some in stock now. Among them are Cornish Yarg, Barbers Cheddar (still made with a natural culture to begin the cheese making process) and Taleggio, a really delicious and creamy cheese from Italy. Now back in stock is the very popular and pungent Stinking Bishop. We have added to our usual range of olives but if you have a particular favourite you would like us to stock please mention it and if we can source it we will be pleased to get some for you. We have also added Biltong to our range. This is made by a South African couple on Canvey Island and is made from Australian Beef and South African spices. There are different shapes and sizes available and they are already proving to be quite popular as a tasty, different type of snack. As the barbecue season approaches, we will be looking at some new marinades to use on our top quality meats. If there are any flavours that you like and would want us to have available, please let Andy or me know. As summer approaches we begin to think of those long, light evenings sitting around in the garden with family and friends sharing good food and wine, and hope that it won’t be just a dream! Finally, there are two Bank Holidays in the month of May, so I need to remind you that we will be closed on the Tuesdays following the Bank Holiday Mondays. QBUTCHER NEWSLETTER APR 2008 It feels as if spring is in the air. I hope it isn’t a tease and that there is still some bad weather awaiting us. If it continues as it is we will soon be preparing ourselves for the first barbecue weekend of the season. We will endeavour to produce some new products for you to try, whilst continuing with the favourites of previous summers. You can be assured that whatever you buy it will be made from the finest produce. We do not buy in inferior meats just to use on the barbecue. All our barbecue products are made from the same high quality produce that we supply throughout the year. Possibly before the first barbecue (but possibly not), will be the celebration of St George’s Day on April 23. I don’t know about you but I am all for celebrating whatever the occasion, so I shall be having roast beef and Yorkshire pudding with roast potatoes (done in goose fat of course), with a few vegetables. I should drink some traditional English beer with it but suspect that I will possibly open a good bottle of red wine which, unfortunately, we can’t produce in this country. I have put my order in for my beef already so you need to do the same if you would like a rib or two! On the subject of beef, I have decided to publicise a service that we have had available for some time but rarely mention. That of having your beef matured on a bespoke basis. As most of you know, we mature our beef for a minimum of two weeks before selling it, and, in the case of steaks, more often than not they are matured for three or four weeks. However, some of you who know about these things, would like to buy beef that has been dry matured for longer. We are very happy to mature whole ribs, rumps or loins of beef for a time that you specify. If you are interested in availing yourself of this service, please speak to Andy or myself and we will be pleased to explain the arrangements to you. Andy and I will be attending the FoodexMeatex Exhibition in Birmingham this April and will be looking for ideas and products to try to keep the taste buds interested for the next year or so. Having a small shop can mean that one’s vision can be a little restricted, so I feel that attending exhibitions such as this offers us an opportunity to meet fellow industry people and also look out for innovations and trends for the future. So it’s work, not a jolly! (I think that we would probably choose somewhere more exotic than Birmingham for a jolly (no offence to the brummies of course))! If you have any ideas for future projects or different products you would like to be able to purchase from us, please let us know and we will certainly give them consideration. Despite all the doom and despondency that’s about at the present, I hope that you all have a pleasant Easter. QBUTCHER NEWSLETTER MAR 2008 Mothering Sunday is early this year, as indeed, is Easter. Sunday 2nd March for the former and 23rd is Easter Sunday. Kellybronze turkeys will be available for Easter, but only to order, so please let us know very soon if you do require one. I have been told by my lamb supplier that he has managed to secure a supply of spring lamb early this year and I have some on order. I am hopeful that we shall be able to stock them consistently from now on, but one can never be sure about it. There is only one breed of lamb that is able to produce this early and that is the Dorset breed. The farmer at Bicknacre has crossed them with the Texel breed which has a very good confirmation, so they should be well worth the extra money that they cost. Once again if you wish to have some reserved either for Mothering Sunday or Easter please let us know. The Hereford Red rare breed beef has been very well received and so we have some more on order which will be ready for consumption around about Eastertime. The usual suggestion applies! Since Jamie Oliver’s latest TV series started we have noticed an increase in the number of customers enquiring about the provenance of their food. This is a really pleasing trend. We have made it our policy for many years to know the source of our meat and poultry, and it is very encouraging that more people than ever are beginning to be concerned about the food that they consume. We shall be pleased to answer any questions that you may have about any of the meat and poultry that we supply. I had another exciting and new experience for me in February, when I sailed from Gravesend to HMS Belfast on one of Her Majesty’s fishery patrol vessels, HMS Tyne. The Worshipful Company of Butchers (WCB) has affiliations with the three main services. HMS Tyne is our affiliation with the Navy, and as she was visiting London the WCB was invited to select about 30 liverymen to join the ship at Gravesend for the journey to London. I was very fortunate to be selected. We were, naturally, treated very well. We were given a tour of the ship and a presentation explaining the role that they have in protecting the seas around our coast. It was fascinating. On arrival in London we were joined by the Mayor of Southwark and other dignitaries and were given a cocktail reception. All most enjoyable! One of the best experiences was sailing under a raised Tower Bridge at dusk. Coincidentally, the Captain of HMS Tyne had at one time been a midshipman navigator on the Wilton, which is now the home of the Essex Yacht Club! The lighter mornings and evenings are very welcome and lead us to hope that spring is not too far away. The crocuses on the green opposite are looking wonderful and the daffodils are now beginning to appear, very encouraging. I wish a Happy Easter to you all. QBUTCHER NEWSLETTER FEB 2008 As you can observe on the back of this month’s newsletter, we are offering you the chance to get a free DVD on how to cook the perfect steak. I suspect that the majority of you that buy steak on a regular basis from us know very well how to cook a perfect steak. However, we thought that it was an opportunity to assist those of a nervous disposition into seeing a tried and trusted method of cooking a steak. I found it a very interesting DVD and, although I don’t cook my steaks in exactly the same way as shown, I will try it myself in the near future. The main point is, of course, to use a steak that is in the peak of condition. That means that it should have been matured for a minimum of two weeks and preferably three or more. Most of the steaks that we sell will have been matured for at least three weeks. If you wish to avail yourself of the offer, please do so sooner rather than later as I only have a certain number of DVDs available and will be unable to obtain any more. Also for the same reason we are restricting the offer to one DVD per household. This is an ideal opportunity for a romantic Valentines Day meal. While on the subject of beef, we will be sourcing some rare breed Hereford Red beef from the Little Braxted Hall Estate. The farm where they are raised is part of a conservation scheme supporting a wide range of wildlife. The meadows that the cattle graze contain many wild flowers, herbs and vetches. If you would be interested in trying some, please let us know. Once we have matured it I shall certainly be trying some for myself. We also have a new source for mutton. This is from the farm of Humphrey Mills at Steeple Bumpstead. The stock is Texel, which is a breed that has a very good confirmation. It has a wonderful flavour and is well worth a try in my opinion. The first reports from those who have tried it are excellent. If you need an easy lamb meal, we can now offer you lean marinated, diced lamb (in an oven-proof tray if required). Just put it in the oven at about 180 degrees for 40-50 minutes and by the time the rice or potatoes are ready you will have a really tasty dinner. Naturally you could also serve it with other vegetables. As an addition to our free range and barn chicken, we are also now stocking Freedom Food chickens as monitored by the RSPCA. These are obtained from the same family company that supplies our Suffolk barn chicken, but these are raised in barns containing perches, bales and toys! They are delicious and well worth a try. The producer is marketing them as St George chicken, and they carry a label to that effect. Have you checked the website lately? We are always looking for ways to improve it and would appreciate your input if there is anything you would like to see on there. Please let us know. That’s all for now folks! Eat well and keep fit! QBUTCHER NEWSLETTER JAN 2008 I hope that you all had a very Happy Christmas and that all the produce matched up to the expectations. It is always a concern that everything we sell is as good as it can be. We take great pride in supplying you with everything in perfect condition for the festivities and we hope to have succeeded. If, however, you were dissatisfied (for whatever reason), do please let us know as your feedback is very important to us. We constantly strive for perfection, so should anything not be quite right, we need to know in order that we may be able to put it right next time. We have once again been very pleased with the quality of the meat and other produce that we have sourced over the last year, and will endeavour to maintain the standard expected of us. We shall continue to investigate other producers who may be able to improve on those that we currently use although this will be no easy task. We receive good support from our current suppliers and they are very receptive to our (and therefore, your) requirements. We managed to visit several of them during the past year and those that we were unable to get to we will try to visit this year. At the beginning of December I was privileged to have taken part in one of the oldest ceremonies in the city of London. Around about 1340 the Butcher’s Company agreed to provide the Lord Mayor of London with a decorated Boar’s head in recognition of the permission given to throw waste products into the River Fleet that then flowed into the Thames. The parade was led by the Company Beadle, followed by the Master, Clerk and members of the Court of the Company in full regalia, and then the members of the army unit that had prepared the decorated Boar’s Head. We left from the Butchers’ Hall and processed to the Mansion House escorted by two mounted police and three police motorcycle outriders, who prevented the traffic from using the roads while we did. (I was pleased about the value of the health and safety guidelines on this occasion). We were received at the Mansion House by the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress, Alderman David Lewis and his wife. The Master of the Company John Tuckwell gave a short address to the assembled company with a response from the Lord Mayor. We were then plied with a fizzy drink and, following the carving of the Boar’s Head, a slice of the same. It was a marvellous experience. It was also a delight to meet not only the Lord Mayor, but also some members of the army that represent our country in very dangerous parts of the world. January 25th is the Burns’ Night celebration and we shall be obtaining some genuine haggis from north of the border. If you are planning a special meal for the occasion please let us know in good time of your likely requirements. A beautiful set of ribs needs to be matured for three weeks, which doesn’t give us much time to arrange deliveries, so if you need a rib, it is imperative that you let me know ASAP. Our charity pig collection over the last year has been very good. All the little bits of small change soon add up (and so do the large ones as well, of course). The collection during last year amounted to £350 for which we received a certificate in thanks. We have, therefore, decided to continue to support the locally based charity Myotubular Trust. For further information you can access their website www.myotubulartrust.com or read the explanatory leaflet in the shop. Once again, thank you all for your support during the past year, we will endeavour to continue to provide you with the best produce that we can. Chris, Andy and I take this opportunity to wish you all a happy, healthy and peaceful New Year. QBUTCHER NEWSLETTER December 2007 Well, here we are again, another December Newsletter. I must say that it feels like Christmas comes around once every six months now. I suppose that it’s because I am (in the words of my grandson) "a old boy"! Such is life. Many of you will have noticed a new face in the shop (well it isn’t that new, but it is newer than mine). I am extremely pleased to announce that Andy has joined us on a full time basis. Andy first worked for me as a washing-up boy in my Southend shop quite a few years ago. He was with me for about 7 years until I decided to return to having one shop instead of three. Andy went his own way for several years and at one time had his own business before selling up and trying something different. Fortunately he was looking for a change when I was in a position to offer him the opportunity to return to working for me and was delighted when he accepted. He is looking forward to meeting you all and helping you with your requirements. As usual at this time I have to urge you to place your order for your Christmas fare. It doesn’t matter how mundane your requirements may seem, (or that you perceive that we always have everything in stock), please order it to avoid disappointment. We believe in providing the best quality that we are able to source, but, we do not over order. Our Order Forms are available now and to avoid disappointment I would suggest that you return them to us by Saturday 8th December. The most important items to order are Kellybronze turkeys; free range Essex geese and ducks; three bird roasts; and fully matured Scotch rib of beef and sirloin. We also stock dry cured bacon joints and rashers from Suffolk and the ever popular free range Blythburgh and Gloucester Old Spot pork. We should be having Essex venison from the Mark’s Hall Estate at Coggeshall, which we will be able to supply as joints, steaks and Gold Award winning sausages; also pheasants, partridges, rabbits and hares. Just mention if there is anything else in the game department that you would like us to try and source for you. I would also recommend that you notify us of your requirements for the New Year. Early in November we went to visit the supplier where we source our geese, free range chickens, game, pork and bacon. He had organised a "meet the producers" day with a hog roast and a three bird roast to try, both absolutely delicious. We met Edward Hull who farms on Foulness and I selected some of his saltmarsh lambs to try and these are now in stock (how local can we get)! He also raises saltmarsh beef and I am thinking that I may try some in the New Year. Please let me know if you would be interested. I have put the festive period opening times on the back of this newsletter for your information. We wish you all the compliments of the season. Have a wonderful Christmas and a healthy and peaceful New Year. As usual, if you need any advice or assistance don’t hesitate to contact us by telephone on 01702 710 133, email info@Qbutcher.com, our website www.Qbutcher.com or, preferably, call in to see us personally. Cooking methods and recipes are always available on the website. QBUTCHER NEWSLETTER NOV 2007 Crikey, I return home from my summer break and it’s the November Newsletter! I just don’t understand. Anyway, we return refreshed and raring to go (well almost). The last day of October is Hallowe’en, and although it is not as big an occasion here as it is stateside, there is more interest in it now than ever before. Whether you consider it to be a "good thing" or not is debatable. The same applies for November the fifth, (bonfire night, as I used to know it)! The celebration is a little more subdued now that the health and safety aspect is so prominent, but I know from past experience that I am not the only one to celebrate anything at the drop of a hat. Birthdays, anniversaries, special occasions, waking up in the morning, all very good reasons to break open the Champagne! We will be making extra sausages and burgers for those of you that are having a party and if required we would be happy to make kebabs or marinate some ribs for you. Following on from November 5 is another transatlantic favourite, "Thanksgiving". In recent years we have taken some instructions from families with a connection with our former colonies who have asked me to supply them with a turkey. This, of course, we are very happy to do, so please don’t hesitate to ask. The date this year is 22 November. The game season is now with us (a sure sign of a change in the weather). We have obtained some excellent venison from the Mark’s Hall estate (not far from Marks Tey and well worth a visit) as well as pheasant, partridge, grouse, mallard, teal and rabbit. We won’t have all of them necessarily, but just ask when you come in and we’ll let you know what we have in stock. If there is something specific that you would like, please speak to us in advance and we will do our best to obtain it for you. It’s the time of the year when people start mentioning their plans for the Christmas celebrations. As usual we shall be having our Christmas Order Forms available the weekend following November 5. We shall of course be stocking the Kellybronze turkey as usual, but from my information they may well be in shorter supply this year due to the increasing demand for this high quality turkey. I would urge you to let me know as soon as you know what you will be requiring and we will do our best to fulfil your order. We are trial stocking the excellent magazine called "delicious", it has lots of interesting articles and recipes and is very good value at £3.10. This month’s issue also includes a free Seafood Cookbook, very useful for the odd meat free meal! Looking forward to seeing you soon, eat well and healthily. QBUTCHER NEWSLETTER OCT 2007 I have issued the October issue of the newsletter a little early for the obvious reason that we won't be here to distribute it for the first two weeks! It is a first for us to actually close for two weeks and I hope that it doesn't inconvenience you too much. If it does "sorry!!" I bet you wondered what I was going to write then didn't you? I am not that sort of a chap. Anyway, I must say that Chrissie and I are both looking forward to spending some time (and money) with our daughter and son-in-law. The telephone and email are very good, but are no substitute for being able to give them a big hug. We shall of course be thinking of you all back in Blighty and will drink a toast to your health now and again. As I mentioned in the September issue, we shall be making a few changes to our opening hours because of the changed circumstances. As from October we shall be closed on Mondays. This was quite normal for butchers when I first joined the trade, so I suppose that you could say that I am reverting to type. Once again we hope that by giving plenty of notice it will not prove too inconvenient. After a discussion with Chrissie, I was informed that I am banned from working seven days a week, and who am I to argue? At the moment everything appears to be working out OK, but, your input is valued and we would appreciate your comments about our new arrangements. None of the changes are set in stone and we will review them on a regular basis for some time. As many of you are aware, the Guild of Q Butchers of which we are members, have the annual Smithfield Awards. This is an opportunity for the members to have existing and new products assessed by experts for quality, presentation and of course taste. We have been very successful in the past with several of our products achieving the Gold standard. This year, unfortunately, it takes place while we are on holiday, and therefore, we are unable to put any products in to be assessed. This is disappointing as we had a couple of new products that we wished to have evaluated. However, we shall have to let you, the customer, decide whether they are good enough, as of course you are the only judges that really matter! The week we re-open after the holiday is British Sausage week, and we will (hopefully) be producing plenty of lovely sausages for you to have that week. For those of you that particularly like sausages, there are a couple of websites especially for sausage lovers, (www.sausagelinks.co.uk, and www.sausagefans.com) and, if you think any of our sausages are worthier of a wider audience, they request for consumers to recommend their particular favourites. Just a thought! At the end of the month is Hallowe'en, so if you are planning a get together please let me know in good time what your requirements will be so that we can get ourselves organised. Bonfire night follows on very swiftly after that and the same request applies. A recent project has been the re-vamping of our website www.Qbutcher.com. We are trying to make it even more user friendly, by providing easier to access cooking instructions and recipes. We are all stuck for ideas on what to have for dinner sometimes and I thought that it would be a good idea if you could just log on to the website and gather an idea or two from there. We will be updating it on a more regular basis with details of local and national promotions and generally keep you all more informed. Perhaps you could let me know if there are any specific features that you would find helpful, and tell me your opinions of whether you find the website useful or not. There has been quite a lot written in the press recently about the shortage of animal feed. This is naturally going to lead to an increase in prices in the near future, but we will do our best to keep them to a minimum. However, it is very important that the farmers receive sufficient income to maintain their stock, so any increase is essential to keep a continuity of supply for the future. I think that that's enough waffling for now. Thank you for your continued support. I look forward to seeing you all again on my return. QBUTCHER NEWSLETTER SEP 2007 I thought that our country was supposed to be turning into a desert region with all this climate change and global warming! So much for the scare mongers. I wouldn’t mind a bit of global warming right now, perhaps there will be an Indian summer. There will be some changes in the shop over the next few months. After almost 28 years Paul has left the company. Chrissie and I thank him for his service during that time and wish him well for the future. As we were not expecting his departure we had booked a trip to visit our daughter and son-in-law in Toronto. This, therefore, necessitates us closing the shop for the period and we hope that it doesn’t inconvenience you too much. We will be open as usual until Saturday 29th September and will then be closed for the period until we re-open for business on Tuesday 16th October. I may have to change our opening hours at some time but will give plenty of notice of any changes that I decide are necessary. We will continue to supply the very best produce that we are able to source and give you all the best service we can provide. There will, however, inevitably, be occasions on which there will be a longer wait than normal when we are busy. We would both appreciate and thank you for your patience should you find yourself in that position. After the farce that has passed itself of as summer, we now look forward to the cooler weather as autumn approaches. There is more activity in the food world at this time of year. At the beginning of the month are the Organic Food Fair in Bristol and the Speciality and Fine Food Fair in London. Both of these are trade affairs, but the result of the successful products shown there could be noticeable over the next year. The last week in the month and the first week in October have been designated British Food Fortnight (this doesn’t include Scotland as they decided to hold theirs two weeks earlier for some reason)! It is important to a lot of people now to try and source their food more locally, and "food miles" is a commonly heard term. I think that the quality of the product is equally important as these issues and so we will continue to source our products to get the best quality we can, and if that is obtainable more locally, then so much the better. Steve Jones’s pies are selling very well (much to Steve’s delight), so I suspect that we will continue to stock them for the foreseeable future. While I was "testing" one of the chicken and chestnut pies, my grandson thought that he should help me. He hadn’t eaten one of Mr Jones’s specials before (he is only six), but it got the thumbs up of approval from him. In fact, I practically had to fight him off for what was left on my plate. A couple of days later when he was going to have dinner with us, the request was for another pie, so praise indeed. As the dinner party season is about to start, I will be preparing a few special items each week which may help with the meal planning. Lamb is particularly good at the moment and the salt marsh lamb is proving very popular. I will have some French trimmed racks available, but don’t forget to telephone me as soon as you decide if you want some as they don’t last long in the cabinet before being snapped up. Lamb noisettes are also proving popular and can be cooked as a small joint or as individual portions. If you require something special please just speak to me in advance so that I can advise you. Thank you to everyone who puts their change in the little charity pig on the counter. With your donations plus the profits from our special carrier bags, we sent a cheque for £350.00 to the Myotubular Trust charity. Old spectacles are also still welcome! QBUTCHER NEWSLETTER AUG 2007 "I don't believe it!" as Victor Meldrew would say. Where has our summer gone? I sincerely hope that last April wasn't it for the year. That would be somewhat depressing, wouldn't it? Let us just hope that we get a few weeks of sunshine before the evenings start drawing in too quickly. As usual at this time of year there are no special promotions going on as so many of you are on holiday for most of the month. We shall of course endeavour to keep up with the game as far as the weather is concerned so that should the sun decide to shine we have enough barbecue products ready for you. Obviously we can't guarantee to have everything available at very short notice, but, we will do our best. Of course, if you give us a few days notice, then most things are possible. We have usually got mature steaks ready for cooking (Porterhouse, Rump, Rib eye and Fillet), although there may be an occasion, when, because we need to mature them for a minimum of 14 days, we may be out of one of them. The usual mantra does apply; if you know that you are going to need a particular cut, let us know a few days in advance and the likelihood is that you won't be disappointed. All our kebabs are made by hand, and therefore, take us some time to produce, so please let us know large orders in advance. We can offer you a variety of top quality marinades, both for the kebabs, and for the ribs. We have also started producing an addition to the burger range. By way of a change, we have started making a fruity lamb burger. It's a blend of our superb English lamb, to which we add sultanas and raisins, plus some herbs and fresh eggs to help with the binding process (and improve the taste)! We have been making them for a few weeks now and have received very positive feedback. We generally have some in the freezer so just ask next time you are in and give them a try. Mr Jones's pies are proving extremely popular, so much so, that we keep selling out. They are delivered 3 or 4 times a week, so we don't want to buy too many at a time, but we have even sold out of the ones we keep in the freezer for emergencies! We shall obviously continue to stock them for the foreseeable future. I have been noting the shopping patterns over the last three or four months, and it appears that you have all decided that you prefer a longer lie-in in the morning, and want to get home sooner rather than later in the afternoon. As a result of that, from 6 August, we shall revise our official opening times during the week, by, from Monday to Thursday starting at 08.30 and closing at 17.00. Friday will remain 08.00 until 17.30, Saturday will remain unchanged, from 08.00 until 14.00. These are of course minimum opening hours and, as usual, if the blinds are out it means that we are on the premises! If that is the case then we shall be very pleased to serve you. Don't hesitate to knock on the door if it is locked, it just means that we are either in the freezer or organising the cooking in the kitchen. Anyway, we will see how it goes; just let us know if you feel that we need to revert to the original times. At the end of the month is the August Bank Holiday weekend, and we are always very busy with barbecues and family parties, so don't forget to let us know of any special requirements. Don't forget, for the summer salads, we have dry cured ham, specially selected properly roasted Scotch beef, Prosciutto, salami, a lovely selection of Italian olives and anti pasto, feta stuffed peppers, and feta and halloumi cheeses. In the meantime, enjoy the well earned summer break and keep eating well and healthily. QBUTCHER NEWSLETTER JULY 2007 What a forlorn hope for a flaming June. I can certainly think of a more suitable adjective to describe it! However we are now entering the second half of the year and let’s hope we get a bit of nicer weather now we have moved into summer. On the supposition that nothing much will change as far as the weather is concerned, we have now started stocking home made pies from the fantastic Pipe of Port. In this new venture, Steve Jones and his associates are making the two most popular pies that they serve at the restaurant, namely the Steak & Kidney and the Chicken & Chestnut. They are also making pre-cooked, ready to serve sauces, gravies, rice and mash. We shall be trialling these products over the next month or so to see whether there is sufficient demand for us to stock them on a regular basis. Those of you that have eaten at the Pipe (probably most of you), know the quality of these products and those supplied to us will be made to the same high standard. With all the recent publicity surrounding the welfare of chickens, I arranged for the Q Guild group of which I am chairman, to visit our chicken supplier in Suffolk. We were given a comprehensive tour of the production unit and also a visit to one of their farms to see the how the chickens were kept. The farm that we visited was run in an exemplary manner. After the necessary health precautions of masks, protective clothing and a dip of the boots in disinfectant, we were allowed into the chicken sheds. There was plenty of room for us to walk around, and the birds did not appear to be phased by our entry at all. All of them appeared to be very content, with plenty of scampering about and contented clucking. I am very pleased to continue using this supplier for our regular non free range chicken. I hope that later in the month I will be able to visit the farm that supplies us with some of our other products. I will keep you posted on the result. If you have any questions or queries regarding where the products we sell are sourced, please feel free to ask us at anytime. Knowledge of the provenance of what we consume is very important and we do our best to ensure that whatever we sell is from reputable suppliers whose standards are as high as ours. We always strive to ensure that we are supplying the products that you, our customers, require. If you feel that there is an area where we do not achieve this, do please let us know and we will endeavour to accommodate your request. Your satisfaction is our priority! Don’t forget that we stock a range of jams and marmalades from a very good Suffolk manufacturer and that we have many unusual food items that you may wish to try including saffron and vanilla pods. Eat well and stay healthy. QBUTCHER NEWSLETTER JUNE 2007 Let’s hope for a flaming June. It was a perishing cold and wet May and very disappointing, especially for those on holiday or with time off. So much for the start of the barbecue season! Let’s hope that there are better days ahead. The Guild of Q butchers has a great supporter in celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson (as you may have noticed on the website, I had my photo taken with him at the Butchers’ Hall in London), and he has developed for us a special recipe for a beef burger. It is a blend of various herbs and spices with a touch of chilli and garlic and is absolutely delicious. We have started making them now, so please give them a try and let me know your opinion. We will be making them freshly every week and then storing some in the freezer. If you wish us to reserve some for you, please, just give us a call. This month sees the very important occasion of FATHER’S DAY. I thought that I had better make mention of it just in case it got forgotten. We shall be maturing extra steaks for that weekend as, traditionally, most fathers choose them. The new season’s lamb is now under way with a regular supply from the farmer that we use in Warwickshire. The quality is terrific, but because the flavour is more delicate at this time of year I would suggest cooking it unadulterated, with just a little mint, rosemary or lavender to accompany it. I went on another business trip last month, this one was organised by Paul Kelly (star of the TV screen and turkey producer supreme)! It was a mystery trip, and I and 20 or so other butchers and turkey buyers (including Jimmy Doherty from Jimmy’s Farm) were to turn up at Stansted airport and then find out where we were going! It turned out to be Austria. We visited a small independent butcher who had a slaughterhouse attached to his shop, but there was only a door separating it from the living accommodation. I don’t think that that would suit me, but his family seemed happy with the arrangement. We also visited a mountain farm approximately 4000 feet up where the farmer and his wife kept about 12 cows and a goat from which they produced the most wonderful cheese. The rest of the trip was about having meaningful, trade orientated discussions over a meal and a drink or two. Well that’s my memory of it anyway! I was lucky to go as I had been ill the week before with the chest virus doing the rounds and had had to take to my sick bed for the first time in a dozen years. My thanks are due to Paul for holding the fort during those two diversions and also for the help from Chrissie. Get those barbecues ready for the sunshine. Toodle pip! QBUTCHER NEWSLETTER MAY 2007 Chrissie and I had a very interesting visit to Paris as we fully expected. Rungis wholesale market was incredible. It is the largest fresh food market in the world covering some 180,000 hectares. Needless to say we didn’t walk all the way around it. The range of fresh produce available was very impressive. It included all the species of meat with the exception of horse which surprised me. Apparently the French do not eat as much horse as they used to especially the younger generation. There were separate units for fresh fish and seafood, offal, cheese and an enormous amount of fresh flowers. There were also eleven bank branches and offices for transport, insurance, imports, etc. and cafes and bars. It was quite an eye opener, which was just as well having had a three o’clock call to go there! We were received very well at the Paris butchery school where we were treated as important English visitors and given a champagne reception and a delightful meal with a 2000 claret to accompany it. It was very satisfying. Now we must get back to business. This first weekend in the month is traditionally the first for barbecuing, but the weather has been so good up to now that we are already well under way. However, judging the likely requirements is not easy, so if you are planning a get together please let us know in good time. Those of you that are not barbecue minded may like to try some of the new season’s saltmarsh lamb from Romney. It seems to be available more readily now so hopefully we shall be able to supply it on a regular basis again. The Warwickshire lamb is a little slower coming forward but the quality has remained superb, so I am still very happy to supply it to you. The Guild of Q Butchers has got together with Antony Worrall Thompson and he has supplied us with his own recipe for producing beef burgers which we shall be making ‘in house’. Depending on your reaction to it, we may produce them on a regular basis. The decision will be yours. With the warmer weather I expect more of you will be electing to eat salads once or twice a week. We shall continue to sell our finest quality scotch roast beef and also Suffolk hams and a selection of other tasty meats ie. Parma ham, pancetta, Ox tongue, roast turkey, kassler, salami and pates. We are also stocking several top quality olives and a selection of antipasto and stuffed peppers all of which help to lift a mundane salad. A fine selection of English and continental cheeses can add interest as well, especially the feta and Buffalo mozzarella. If there is anything that we can do to help you please don’t hesitate to call. Contact numbers are on the front. Eat well and healthily with our top quality produce. QBUTCHER NEWSLETTER APR 2007 Easter is upon us and so I hope that you have ordered any special meal requirements. It is a very difficult holiday to gauge as far as planning for your needs. We have a good supply of well matured Scotch Beef, sirloin, ribs and topside for joints, and fillet, porterhouse, rump and ribeye for steaks. I think that there will be enough for all unless something untoward occurs. I am hoping to have some spring lamb very soon and I am hopeful that it will be saltmarsh. Please ask me if you require some. We shall be having a selection of poultry including Kellybronze turkey, free range chicken and ducks, and some Guinea Fowl and poussin to order. The pork is particularly good at the moment (both the Blythburgh free range and the Gloucester Old Spot) and is proving very popular (as are the sausages that we produce from them). This also applies to the free range dry cured bacon which is sourced from the same supplier. Once Easter has passed we shall rapidly approach St Georges Day. As it falls on a Monday this year, perhaps not so many of you will have a roasting joint to celebrate but maybe have a juicy steak instead. We will be able to facilitate fully matured steaks for you so that you are able to celebrate in style. As a way of marking the accent on English food, I thought that it would be an idea to stock some of the more interesting English cheeses. Like many foods over the last couple of decades, the quality of cheese deteriorated on the basis of being made for the supermarkets. Now, however there are more food orientated producers who are refusing to cut corners. I feel that we should be supporting them, and we will be stocking some delightful cheeses made by people who are totally committed to quality. These include Westcombe cheddar from Somerset, Simon Jones’s Lincolnshire Poacher, Sparkenhoe Red Leicester from Jo and David Clarke, Colin Anstey’s Worcester White, Fowlers Sage Derby and Cornish Organic Brie from Trevarrian, plus one or two others. Tasters will be available so please ask to try before you buy. Next up is the May Bank Holiday, which may be the first big BBQ weekend of the year (weather permitting of course). Your favourite products will be available; kebabs, sausages, ribs, chicken and burgers etc. but also some different products for you to try. Incidentally, Chrissie and I are going to visit the world famous Rungis Market in Paris in the middle of the month and will be hoping to pick up some ideas over there. We are travelling with some colleagues from the Guild of Q Butchers and we will also be visiting the Chamber of Commerce and the Paris Butchery School (where we shall dine). I guess somebody has to do it! I hope on our return to able to tickle your taste buds with some new ideas. Au revoir mes amis. Bon chance. QBUTCHER NEWSLETTER MAR 2007 Greetings to you all, I hope that this communication finds you well and looking forward to the better weather and lighter evenings. It’s almost barbecue time! (I’m only joking, honest). The really special day for March is Mothering Sunday on the 18th, so let’s hope for a beautiful spring day with lots of treats for all the mum’s out there, (are you paying attention, gentlemen)? Once again we shall be having plenty of good meat should you be preparing a meal at home. Although it is too early for spring lamb, the Warwickshire lamb we use from Mr Webb’s farm is consistently good and I have no reason to suppose that it won’t continue to be so. We always let it mature for a week or so to improve the flavour, tenderness and succulence of the meat so please give us due notice if you would like a leg, whether on the bone, boneless or especially if you would like it with a stuffing as well. There will be some excellent matured beef available, but, as I continually remind you, it has to be bought in at least two weeks in advance and once we have sold out there is nothing we can do. So please, if you require prime rib, let us know in good time. We shall be endeavouring to make sure that we have some Gloucester Old Spot pork available as well, but if not, we shall be having the superb Blythburgh Free Range Pork from Jimmy Butler’s Farm. This is not to be confused with Jimmy Doherty of Jimmy’s Farm fame. (I must apologise for those of you that watch Jimmy’s Farm, for the shock of seeing me filling my face with food on a recent episode. Jimmy invited Chris and I to attend when a group of Dutch farmers were over here on a return visit from when we visited them a couple of years ago). I have been asked about the bird flu problem and how it is affecting our trade. Well, I am sure that you all know that we do not (and never have) stocked or sold Bernard Matthews turkey products. We only use three turkey producers, Paul Kelly, Howard Blackwell and Julian Mann, and none of them have ever had any problems whatever. Our Suffolk chickens are from Haughley and are quite a distance from the Matthews production units. I am certain that you can buy our poultry with confidence. We shall be offering turkeys for Easter, but it will be necessary to reserve one if required as we will not be buying any ‘on spec’ this year, only to order. Last March we did a successful promotion on coffee beans, and have decided to repeat it this year. So, when you order 125g of beans we will give you 150g for the same price! We will, of course, be happy to grind them for you as well. As a reminder, we are still able to accept any old spectacles for charity. Eat well, toodle pip!! QBUTCHER NEWSLETTER FEB 2007 The mornings and evenings are lighter, the crocuses and daffodils are beginning to appear on the green opposite the shop, so we hope that Spring is not too far away. I hope that those of you who take a winter break have enjoyed the snow if you are skiers or the sun if you prefer the warmth. This month is the month of romance (if you are that way inclined), and Valentine’s Day has become a special day in the calendar. Trying to book a restaurant that evening is very difficult, and if you haven’t done so by now you may already be too late. I much prefer to eat at home on these occasions, as the food is obviously much better than eating out and there is always the advantage of being able to drink a better quality wine. We shall be preparing some special products for this occasion, namely an easy-carve leg of lamb stuffed with lamb, apricot and ginger and also pork tenderloin stuffed with pork, apple, cranberry and chopped herbs. As these are special products, they will need to be ordered in advance, so please contact us by Monday 12th if you require one of them. The types of stuffing are only a suggestion, if you would prefer a different one, please tell us when ordering. As usual we will, of course, be maturing plenty of steaks, as these are always the most popular meal on this occasion. If you require them to be peppered or marinated just let us have a few days notice and we will be pleased to organise it for you. We can offer the same service for pork or lamb steaks as well. By popular request we have now obtained some more mutton. This comes from Home Farm at Colne, so is local produce. If you require a specific cut please let us know quickly, as we don’t know whether we will be able to get any more. We have also restocked with venison, having sold out at Christmas and been unable to obtain the right quality until now. We shall be having all cuts available but once again if you have a specific requirement please let us know. Our contact numbers are on the front of the newsletter, so if you need any help or advice please don’t hesitate to call. QBUTCHER NEWSLETTER JAN 2007 I hope that you all had a very Happy Christmas and that all the produce matched up to the expectations. It is always a considerable concern that everything is as good as it can be. We take great pride in supplying you with everything in perfect condition for the festivities and we hope to have succeeded. If, however, there was a problem with anything or something did not meet with your satisfaction (for whatever reason), do please let us know as your feedback is very important to us. We constantly strive for perfection, so when things aren’t quite right, we need to know in order that we may put it right next time. Last year was a good year for us, as far as awards were concerned, picking up several Gold Awards, at both the Barbecue Competition and evaluation and also later in the year in the Guild of Q Butchers’ Smithfield Award’s products evaluation/assessment. We hope to be able to continue the good work this year. We were particularly pleased with the successes of our sausage range as this is a very important part of our business. We will be looking to try some new recipes soon to keep the taste buds interested! Please feel free to let us know if there is a particular style of sausage that you would like us to make and we will do our best to find a suitable recipe. Customer support is essential to us if we are to survive in the very difficult trading circumstances that exist for us. The affect that the major supermarkets have on small businesses is well documented, and for a small business to survive it needs supporting. I do not believe a business should succeed just because it is small, it still needs to provide for the customers requirements. However, if you feel that as a business we are worth supporting, perhaps you could encourage others to use us on a more regular basis. We have been very pleased with the quality of the meat and other produce that we have sourced over the last year, and will endeavour to maintain the standard expected of us. We shall still continue to investigate other producers who may be able to improve on those that we currently use although this will be no easy task. We receive good support from our current suppliers and they are very receptive to our (and therefore, your) requirements. I managed to visit several of them during the past year and those that I was unable to get to I will try to visit this year. January 25th is the Burns’ Night celebration and we shall be obtaining some genuine haggis from north of the border. If you are planning a special meal for the occasion please let us know in good time of your likely requirements. A beautiful set of ribs needs to be matured for three weeks, which doesn’t give us much time to arrange deliveries, so if you need a rib, it is imperative that you let me know ASAP. Our charity pig collection over the last year has been very good. All the little bits of small change soon add up (and so do the large ones as well, of course). We have decided to support a very good friend of mine’s appeal this year and have chosen Myotubular Trust. For further information you can access their website www.myotubulartrust.com or read the explanatory leaflet in the shop. I will let you know shortly the value of the donation. We will, however, be continuing our efforts to support this charity. Once again, thank you all for your support during the last year, we will endeavour to continue to provide you with the best produce that we can. Chris, Paul and I take this opportunity to wish you all a happy, healthy and peaceful New Year. QBUTCHER NEWSLETTER DEC 2006 Welcome to the December edition of the newsletter. Let me take this opportunity to wish you all the compliments of this festive season. We really did well at the Guild of Q Butcher Smithfield Awards this year. We received four Gold Awards, for Traditional Pork Sausage, Venison Sausage, Beef Burger and Festive Pork Roast and Silver Awards for Country Herb Pork Sausage, Pork Burger Cordon Bleu and Lamb Sausage with Redcurrant. The presentation was made by Ed Baines of BBC's Saturday Kitchen and Ready Steady Cook fame (photo on the website soon). It was a delightful occasion. As usual at this time I have to urge you to place your order for any requirements for the Christmas menu. It doesn't matter how mundane it may seem, (or that you perceive that we always have it), please order it to avoid disappointment. We believe in providing the best quality that we are able to source, but, we do not over order. If you haven't as yet completed an order form, now is the time to do it. The most important items to order are Kellybronze turkeys; free range Essex geese and ducks; three bird roasts; and fully matured Scotch rib of beef and sirloin. We also stock dry cured bacon joints and rashers from Suffolk; the ever popular free range Blythburgh pork and, as seems likely, there will be some Gloucester Old Spot pork available, so do mention it if you would like some for Christmas or the New Year. We should be having Essex venison, which we will be able to supply as joints, steaks and Gold Award winning sausages; also pheasants, partridges, rabbits and hares. Just mention if there is anything else in the game department that you would like us to try and source for you. I'm sorry about harping on, but there is nothing worse for us, than a regular customer being disappointed at this time of year so please order as early as you can. We have a range of Baytree Company products in very attractive jars which make ideal gifts; also the essential Goose Fat and other accompaniments. We have new carrier bags available. Environmentally and eco-friendly, they are cream cotton and cost just £2.00 each. We are donating all the profits from these to the children's charity known as the Myotubular Trust. Our opening hours for the Christmas week are our usual times, save for Saturday when we shall be open until 17.30 and Christmas Eve, when the door opens at 08.00 (not before (this is the only day of the year that we stick rigidly to this rule)) and closes at 13.00. We shall be closed then until Thursday 28th. We will also be closed from Sunday 31st December until Tuesday 2nd January and re-open 3rd January as usual. Thank you for your custom and support during the last year, have a wonderful Christmas. As usual, if you need any advice or assistance don't hesitate to contact us by telephone on 01702 710 133, email info@Qbutcher.com, our website www.Qbutcher.com or, preferably, call in to see us personally. There is also a recipe on the website each month if you need an idea for a meal. QBUTCHER NEWSLETTER NOV 2006 Welcome to the November edition of the newsletter. I find it hard to believe that it is November already, especially as the weather has been so wonderful. I think that I could be in favour of global warming! British Sausage Week was the last week in October but I am extending it into November as it is a traditional time for bangers! We have different varieties suitable for breakfast, lunch or dinner, so try some soon. We shall also have our superb beef burgers available, and are happy to make kebabs for you if you are having a party. Just let us know. With this newsletter we will be issuing a Christmas Order Form. If you haven’t received one and would like one, please ask. The reason for the order forms is to try to make a reasonable estimate of what may be required. We shall be using the Kellybronze turkeys from Paul Kelly at Bicknacre as usual), but there is not an indefinite supply and the weights can be varied. (Incidentally, we shall be getting a few in for Thanksgiving as well, but please order one if you would like one). We shall do our very best to select as near as possible to the weight that you order, but cannot guarantee it. What we can guarantee is that if you order a turkey, you will get one. Geese are becoming more popular every year, so early ordering is advised for them. Last year we received a few requests for three bird roasts, so this year I am getting organised early for those of you that fancy a little luxury for the Christmas celebrations. They will be made using free range goose, chicken and pheasant with a pork and apricot stuffing. Please note that these will be frozen and you will need to allow time to defrost thoroughly. Beef needs to be matured for at least two weeks and preferably three to four and therefore our buying is organised in November. If you require a rib of beef or piece of sirloin, please order it to be sure that you get what you want. I hope that we shall still be able to source the Romney saltmarsh lamb and the Gloucester Old Spot pork, but as these are out of the ordinary run of supplies I won’t be sure until nearer the time. We are now stocking most of the popular game types, venison, pheasant, partridge, rabbit, hare and pigeon. If there is something else that you would like, please ask and we will do our best to obtain it. We also now have in stock some more Essex mutton. It proved very popular earlier this year and now that the weather is a little cooler, I think that the time is right to start using it again. We recently entered some of our products into the annual Smithfield Awards product evaluation organised by the Guild of Q butchers, of which as you are no doubt aware, we are members. The Awards lunch is being held at the prestigious city of London venue, Butcher’s Hall. Celebrity chef Ed Baines will be presenting the awards and I am looking forward to meeting him. I think that he may well have something for me, but I can’t tell you yet. We are still pleased to receive any spectacles if you have them. As usual, if you need any advice or assistance don’t hesitate to contact us by telephone on 01702 710 133, email info@qbutcher.com, our website www.Qbutcher.com or, preferably, call in to see us personally. "That’s all folks" QBUTCHER NEWSLETTER OCT 2006 We had a very interesting day last month. I was contacted by a representative of Insite (a government funded organisation which is promoting art, culture and tourism in Essex). They had organised the Essex Food Challenge for primary school children. Teams of two competed by cooking a two course meal, one main and one dessert. The finalists were the Birch School at Colchester and the Moreton School at Ongar. Twin girls (Eloise and Grace) represented the Moreton School, and having decided to cook pork tenderloin needed to source it. They found our website and decided to buy from us. On the day of the cook off, they turned up with their headmistress Mrs Bard (a good name for a teacher I thought), a couple of PR people, award winning photographer, James Fletcher and Mark Baumann of Baumann’s Brasserie Coggeshall who was overseeing their purchases, and then the cook off, at his restaurant in the evening. Whilst they were at the shop, I demonstrated how to make sausages. Both the girls, (and Mark Baumann), then had a try themselves with excellent results considering they were all attempting it for the first time. It was great fun and James took some excellent photos which I will put on our website in due course. I went to the evening cook off and it was very tense! The kitchen was hectic, but as there were children in it, there was fortunately no Gordon Ramsay to yell at them just Mark giving them the necessary guidance. Steve Scruton of BBC Essex was the MC for the evening and his colleague Ian Wyatt was also present as Eloise and Grace were due to be interviewed on his Saturday morning programme on 16 September. Honours were even on the night and both teams were presented with hampers by Wilkin & Sons of Tiptree and honorary chef medallions by Mark Baumann. It was a most enjoyable evening and delightful to see primary school children being educated in sourcing and cooking local produce. Well done to everyone who was involved in the organisation of the event. Autumn - the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness- as Keats wrote. It is a wonderful season, with the cooler nights, and, if we are lucky, sunny and pleasant days. The darker evenings usually mean a return to some of the more flavoursome food ie. casseroles, pies, puddings, etc. We have now got some very good venison which is very suitable for rich casserole-style dishes. Other candidates are leg of beef, oxtail, cubed pork, chicken and lamb shanks. There is a lovely recipe for lamb shanks in the small tuck-in brochure that is in store now, but if you are not fortunate enough to get one in the shop, I have put it on our website as this month’s recipe. I hope that you have all been doing your best to support British producers during British Food Fortnight. We try to source as much produce as we are able from small producers, but it is in the hands of the consumer as to how successful they will be. Small producers and small retailers are really struggling against the power of the major supermarkets and it is only the consumer who can help by supporting them more. The main reason for the demise of small businesses is that shoppers choose not to use them. It is no use bemoaning the fact that there are more and more cafes, bars and restaurants replacing retail shops, the shops wouldn’t need to close or sell up if people actually used them regularly rather than just now and again. Well, that has got that off my chest! At the end of the month it will be British Sausage Week, and with the Hallowe’en Night and Bonfire Night celebrations around that time we shall be having plenty of sausages for you to buy. If you are having a "bit of a do" around that time please give us advanced notice of your possible requirements. Many of you have noticed another friendly face in the shop now and again. It belongs to Robert Munt who has recently sold his businesses in Grays and Pitsea and is giving us a hand from time to time. Robert‘s businesses were in the Guild of Q butchers like ours is and he will be very pleased to give you the benefit of his advice and experience if you need guidance. Please don’t be afraid to ask. He doesn’t bite! Eat well and keep well. "That’s all folks" QBUTCHER NEWSLETTER SEP 2006 September can be a wonderful month with plenty of sun and pleasantly warm days. Hopefully, that is what we will get. As far as food is concerned, I would imagine that the gardeners amongst you have been, and will continue to be, reaping the benefits of all the work that you have put in, and be picking lots of lovely fruit and vegetables. There is nothing like home grown for flavour and satisfaction. It is so much better than that which has travelled half way or more around the world to get here. We shall of course endeavour to supply you with the meat necessary to complement such quality produce. From 23 September until the 8 October is designated British Food Fortnight, and is intended to highlight the fine range of produce for which our country has a wonderful reputation. We always try to find something new for this occasion and this year is no exception. We ordered some new lines in advance, but they have already been delivered and are available now. They look seriously attractive (unlike the shop staff!) and those that have already been tried, taste wonderful too! They are from a company based in the West Country and I have already decided to order some more from their range. There are several very attractively shaped jars that would make ideal gifts for the person who has everything, or, that you would like to reward in some small way. I am also hoping to attend the Speciality Fine Food Fair at Olympia this month to look for some more new ideas. Beef supplies at the moment are proving a little tricky. There is always a period of a couple of months around about now when this happens and hopefully things will return to normal soon. Unfortunately, the problem is exacerbated by the restrictions presently placed on some meat imports and this causes a knock-on effect. There doesn’t appear to be any problems with the lamb or pork, but I don’t want to tempt providence! We will continue to use the local suppliers that have been selecting us the excellent produce that we are now used to receiving. The Blythburgh Pork has been especially well received and now that the cooler weather is with us I suspect that the demand for it will increase. Therefore, please, remember to give us advance notice if you will be requiring a large joint etc. for the weekend, so that we don’t disappoint you. The award winning products that we created for the barbecue are also suitable for roasting in the oven, so we will continue to make them. We will obviously not produce quite as many, so do let us have a little notice if you require some. Veal is enjoying a bit of a renaissance and is receiving more publicity of late. We stock the very best Dutch veal. We order it the week previous to delivery but only receive one delivery a week. We try to stock most of the cuts most of the time but, because of the relatively small demand, we buy it fresh then prepare and freeze it so that we nearly always have some. As usual please give us a call if you would like a specific cut. Contact details are on the front of the newsletter. TTFN. QBUTCHER NEWSLETTER AUG 2006 Whew, a proper summer at last. There have been a few complaints of it being too hot, but we really shouldn’t moan as it makes a nice change. I’m not mentioning sport this month, after last month’s terrible performances. Football was dreadful, rugby was appalling, cricket wasn’t much better, Wimbledon was as per usual and then no British golfer troubled the Americans. At least the sun was shining! If it continues as it has lately, we shall be producing plenty of barbecue products. Our Gold Award winning products (Lavender Lamb and Porco Pancetta) have proved very popular and we shall continue to make some every week. I am also trying one or two new products which I hope will be suitable for barbecuing and I will let you know their progress. The steak burgers are selling well, and we are also now making turkey burgers, because some of you mentioned a preference for a burger made using white meat. Our new range of kebab marinades, have met with approval. The most popular of the new ones being the Greek Passion (what’s in a name? I hear you ask). It goes particularly well with chicken or lamb, but can be used on other meats as well. It is not spicy, but has a lovely blend of Mediterranean type herbs. It’s well worth a try! Don’t forget if you don’t fancy cooking, we sell a range of very good quality cold meats; Suffolk ham, free range dry cured smoked Suffolk ham, our own cooked Scotch roast beef, our own cooked Essex turkey breast, pressed ox tongue, also, Parma ham, salami, chorizo, and pate. We have a good range of fine quality cheeses, including Parmigiano, several cheddars, also goat’s, sheep and Buffalo varieties. We stock Spanish Mahon, Manchego and Majerero, French Comte and brie and Corsican Feta (a must for those lovely summer salads with olives and peppers). We have added a few new products on the shelves recently; green and black olive tapenade, Jerk seasoning, Coconut Rundown Sauce, sweet potato marmalade (particularly delicious), and authentic Thai curry sauces. Don’t forget that we stock Cambridgeshire Apple Juice (direct from the supplier). There is a choice of dry, medium/dry, medium and sweet, with lovely apple varieties such as Bramley, Cox, Grenadier, Jonagold, Crispin, Laxton Fortune and Worcester. We also have available; Spanish saffron, vanilla pods, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and various flavours of very good stocks and a range of sauces to accompany most meats. Remember to call us in advance for any occasion when you know in advance what you will require so that it can be reserved for you. I suspect plenty of you will be off on holiday now, so I wish everyone a very pleasant summer break. We all deserve to spoil ourselves at least once a year. Thanks once again for all the pairs of spectacles, it is very much appreciated. We shall continue to collect them. Toodle pip! QBUTCHER NEWSLETTER JULY 2006
Welcome to the July edition of the Newsletter, I hope that you are finding the content of the newsletter of interest. Whether you do or not, I would appreciate your input. Is there enough information or not? If not, what would you like to be included? Please let me know. It is going to be a very busy month for sports fans, with the start of the football World Cup, the Wimbledon Tennis Championships and also Test cricket. I seem to think that quick and easy meals will be the order of the day. To that end we shall be trying to tempt you with some tasty meals that can be prepared in advance and then just heated up, something that can be cooked and served fairly quickly or a cold collation from the deli section. The weather being totally unreliable, it might be a good idea to have a couple of casseroles prepared in advance and then frozen for future use! These can then be heated up and served with a baked jacket potato, creamy mash or just some lovely fresh crusty bread, and, if accompanied by a glass of decent red wine, any sport should be quite enjoyable and entertaining. Sausage and mash is usually well received and we will have a selection of sausages to suit most tastes. Pasta and rice dishes are also quickly and easily prepared and we have a variety of products which could be suitable. We shall be preparing different varieties of meatball which are particularly suited to this type of meal. Pork, lamb, beef and poultry will all be available at some time, but please let us know if there is a particular type that you would like so that we can prepare them for you. We will also be producing some different varieties of burgers and grills for either barbecuing, frying or grilling. The steak burgers are proving very popular throughout the year but it is always good to have a different flavour now and again to keep the taste buds working. We have got some new ideas from a recent meeting that I attended and shall be looking forward to the response from the people that matter, ie you! New deli lines this month are buffalo milk mozzarella pearls and bocconcini. These are sold loose so that you can buy as many or as few as you need and can be used in salads, on pizzas or in cooking pasta bake a la Jamie Oliver. We have a selection of Italian olives which are of excellent quality and are great to nibble at when the hunger pangs kick in whilst the sport is still being played! Also we shall be having a range of ready prepared potatoes which are suitable for use cold in a salad or heated up and served with barbecue food. There will be herb and garlic and also Bombay style. Your observations once you have tried them will be most welcome. Our 2 new barbecue products have been very well received (thankfully), and we will continue to produce some each week, but please order them if you know that you will need some. Finally, thank you to all the people that brought in old spectacles, we will continue to collect them if you find some more at a later date. Come on England!!
Good health and happy eating. The products are called “Lavender Lamb” and “Porco Pancetta”. We shall be producing these products for the barbecue season, but it will be important to let us know in advance if you would like to try them, as we will only produce as many as we think we may need. The Lavender Lamb is a piece of lean, boneless English lamb from the leg or rump. It is seasoned and then marinated in olive oil, lavender and rosemary. We recommend that it is cooked whole (approx. 350g-600g in weight) and it shouldn’t be overcooked. If you have a cooking thermometer it should be cooked to an internal temperature of between 60°C-65°C and not more than 72°C. Remove from the heat, leave to stand for about 5-10 minutes then cut into slices and serve. The Porco Pancetta, consists of pork tenderloin, pesto sauce, pancetta and sausage meat. This, too, should be cooked in the piece, but to a temperature of not less than 72°C. Remove from the heat, leave to stand for 5-10 minutes and then cut into slices and serve. As the weather may not be conducive to barbecuing, both of these new products are suitable for cooking in the oven. I hope that you will try them and let me know your opinion. I like to introduce a new sausage each month and this month is no exception. I got the idea when I was visiting the Elite Butchers of NI a couple of months ago, although it contains no Guinness! It is Pork with Stilton and Walnut and is made from our fresh, free range Suffolk pork from Blythburgh, and Colston Bassett Blue Stilton. I think that you will agree that they are an unbeatable combination of top quality ingredients. And now for something completely different! Have you any spectacles that you no longer require? My friend Kim, who is an optician, is raising money and awareness of the need for optical help in third world countries. The charity, called Vision Aid Overseas, collects, sorts and distributes spectacles to those areas. If you do have any unwanted spectacles cluttering up the house, please fetch them in and I will deliver them to her. Good health and happy eating. QBUTCHER NEWSLETTER APR
2006 After a quiet start, there are three big weekends in a row this month. They are Easter, St George's Day and the May Bank Holiday weekend. Easter is an unpredictable holiday as far as both weather and trade are concerned. Obviously the first somewhat defines the second. How to cope with the vagaries of the weather makes it very difficult for us to estimate what you, and therefore we, require. As far as beef is concerned we have a fairly good stock now, because we mature it for two weeks (and preferably three) before selling it. This means that there is not an endless supply, so that if you know that you are going to require a rib of beef, please let us know by filling in an order form as soon as possible. This also applies to turkeys, ducks, large chickens and anything else for your special meal. I know it gets boring when I keep on about ordering, but the disappointment I see every now and again is not something I enjoy. So please let us know well in advance. Now that we are at last beginning to celebrate St Georges Day, the same situation arises with regard to the wonderful Roast Beef of Olde England (even though ours is from Scotland), so if you are planning a get together for that weekend you could have steak for Saturday evening and roast beef for the Sunday, perhaps? I am hoping that the spring lamb will be available soon, but with the poor weather so far this year they may be a little later than usual. We shall of course do our best to get some as soon as possible. The following weekend is the May Bank Holiday and has become a new tradition as the first big BBQ weekend of the year (weather permitting of course). We shall be offering your favourite products like kebabs, sausages, ribs, chicken and burgers etc. but also some different products this year, some we already know about and some we are still trying out. We will however be having a new sausage available from next week, which was voted 'Britain's Best Sausage' in the 2005 Meat Industry Awards of the year, and is pork with caramelised onions. Why not try them with a little of one of the chilli sauces that we sell. The
mutton we sold seems to have been very well received and we now have
some more in stock. Also we are getting some more of the
recipe leaflets, so call in and pick one up when you are next
shopping and give one of the recipes a
try. The crocuses have appeared on the green opposite our shop which, hopefully, is a sign that spring may not be too far away. Let us hope so. There are two or three opportunities for special meals this month. We have the Saints days of St. David and St. Patrick (1st and 17th respectively) and the all important Mothering Sunday on 26th of the month. If there are any special requirements, please let us know in good time. We shall be preparing the beef to be fully matured and ready for cooking, but early ordering is recommended. There has been a lot in the press recently about a return to eating mutton. This meat does of course need a little more attention and longer cooking, but you will be rewarded by the wonderful flavour of mature meat. I have sourced a supply from the north of the county and if you would like to try some please ask. I will be able to supply you with a recipe idea if needed, or you can have a look through the book by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall for some ideas. Those of you who visit us regularly will know of the different items that we stock. Amongst them are coffee beans from the Nairobi Coffee and Tea Co Ltd. This is superb coffee and we carry 8 or 9 varieties of pure or blended styles including decaffeinated Columbian. To encourage you to give them a try, for the month of March, when you buy 125gr of any type we will give you 150gr, which is an extra 20%, free of charge. I have re-introduced Lincolnshire Poacher into the cheese counter. This is a superb cheddar type cheese made by Simon Jones and is wonderful. I have also added a couple of new goat's cheeses as they are becoming more popular. Gevrik from Cornwall and an unpasteurised French cheese called Soignon. Both are at the milder end of the taste spectrum. Finally, don't forget the usual mantra, if you know in advance of something you require, to avoid disappointment, please let us know. Happy
eating! The certificates were presented by celebrity chef Nick Nairn (one of the chef's that appear on Ready Steady Cook).
We achieved 2 Gold awards, one for the Gloucester Old Spot Sausages and one for the Pork Sausage with Chives. 3 Silver Awards, for our Traditional Pork Sausage, Venison Sausage and Venison Burger, and 2 Bronze Awards for our Scotch Beef Burger and Scotch Cooked Roast Beef. Chris and I travelled to London and had a splendid lunch that preceded the presentation. All in all it was a great result for us and justification for our insistence on quality. We both appreciated Paul holding the fort for us especially as he had made a substantial contribution to the making of the winning products. Nick has also sent us a recipe for coconut beef with crispy noodles, which we have placed on the website and we are very grateful for him sending it to us. There is also a link to his website on the links page. Moving on, this is the month for romantics, and we shall be having lots of lovely mature steaks (with ready made sauces available if required) for the important day (14 February for the men reading this), also Valentine Pork or Lamb Steaks to order. If you would like something more adventurous, just give us a ring and we can discuss your requirements. February can be a cold and dismal month, but we will try and brighten it up a little by having a promotion for mince. It is very versatile and can be used in so many different recipes. However, it is a very quick, easy and nourishing meal when served with pasta, so our special offer is that when you purchase any specie of mince (minimum 500g) we will offer you a bag of spaghetti or pasta shapes for just 55p instead of the usual 99p. We have also very recently stocked a brand new product from the company that supplies us with the sweet chilli sauces (Orange, Ginger, Garlic, Coriander, Lemon Grass and Pineapple). They are Thai Curry sauces made from the finest ingredients. There are three varieties, Red, Green and Yellow. They are not too hot, (hopefully), but each jar serves 2-3 people depending on personal preferences and is just added to the meat variety of your choice. Don't hesitate to contact us if you have any special requests or questions. Contact numbers are on the front of the Newsletter. January 2006 As usual,
if you need any advice or assistance don't hesitate to contact us by
telephone on 01702 710 133, email info@Qbutcher.com, our website
www.Qbutcher.com or,
preferably, call in to see us personally. Welcome to the December edition of the newsletter. Let me take this opportunity to wish you all the compliments of this festive season. As usual at this time I have to urge you to place your order for anything that you particularly fancy for the Christmas menu. It doesn't matter how mundane it may seem, (or that you perceive that we always have it), please order it to avoid disappointment. We do not enjoy saying that we have sold out of products, but we believe in quality, and as such, we do not over order. If you haven't as yet completed an order form, now is the time to do it. The most important items to order are Kellybronze turkeys, free range Essex geese and ducks and fully matured Scotch rib of beef and sirloin. We also stock dry cured bacon joints and rashers from Norfolk, which are Freedom Food monitored by the RSPCA. It seems that there will be some Gloucester Old Spot pork available, so do mention it if you would like some for Christmas or the New Year. We should be having Essex venison, which we will be able to supply as joints, steaks and sausages and also pheasants, partridges, rabbits and hares. Just mention if there is anything else in the game department that you would like us to try and source for you. However, as I mentioned earlier, for the most important meal of the year for the majority of us, whatever you particularly require, that is what you should order. I'm sorry about harping on, but there is nothing worse for us, than a regular customer being disappointed at this time of year. We have recently stocked a few new ranges of items on our shelves, which may be of interest as gifts for the person who has just about everything. There is award winning olive oil with a pourer attached, a range of Polish forest fruit compot/puree, sweet chilli sauces from Suffolk, a couple of chutneys suitable for diabetics, sweet potato marmalade, red onion marmalade and quite a few more for your delectation. We also stock superb Goose Fat on a regular basis. Our opening hours for the Christmas week are our usual times, save for Christmas Eve, when we do not open the door until 08.00 and finish at 13.00. We shall be closed then until Thursday 29th. Thank you for your custom and support during the last year, have a wonderful Christmas. As usual, if you need any advice or assistance don't hesitate to contact us by telephone on 01702 710 133, email info@Qbutcher.com, our website www.Qbutcher.com or, preferably, call in to see us personally. There is also a recipe on the website each month if you need an idea for a meal.
Welcome to the November edition of the newsletter. I find it hard to believe that it is November already! I'm not a great fan of the Halloween celebrations,
but I am all in favour of Bonfire Night. The fireworks these
days are very impressive and well worth watching. British
Sausage Week was the last week in October but I am extending it into
November as it is a traditional time for bangers! We shall be
producing the usual favourites with some new varieties. Why
not take the opportunity to sample a different type. We have
varieties suitable for breakfast, lunch or dinner, so let the
tasting commence. We are now stocking most of the popular game types, venison, pheasant, partridge, rabbit and pigeon. If there is something else that you would like, please ask and we will do our best to obtain it. In the deli section we are now stocking the cheese recommended by 'Wallace & Gromit', namely Stinking Bishop. It does smell quite ripe but is actually a very smooth, creamy soft texture and is quite mild and delicious. The reason for the odd name is that the rind is washed in the perry of the Stinking Bishop pear. Just ask for a taster next time you visit us. We also stock three very good Spanish cheeses, Mahon which has a very mature flavour. Sheep milk Manchego and goat milk Majerero. For those who are unable to have cow's milk cheese, these two are a super alternative. As usual, if you need any advice or assistance don't hesitate to contact us by telephone on 01702 710 133, email info@Qbutcher.com, our website www.Qbutcher.com or, preferably, call in to see us personally. There is also a recipe on the website each month if you need an idea for a meal.
Welcome to the October edition of the newsletter. There is a definite autumnal feel around now, and that means a return to COMFORT food. (Well it does for me anyway). A weekend joint now seems the best option after all those lovely summer barbecues, salads and other lighter meals. All the meat species are eating very well at the moment and are reasonably plentiful in supply, though of course we appreciate a little notice for any of them if you have decided early in the week exactly what you require. As a change however, we are now getting into the game season. We are already stocking partridge, pigeon, venison and rabbit, and will be getting the first of the pheasant in as soon as we can. We have also found a supplier of free range Guinea Fowl and first reports are that they are very good. We continue to stock the Essex free range chickens and they are proving very popular, especially since the Dispatches programme a few weeks ago on Channel 4 exposed some decidedly unsavoury practices in the production of the supermarket birds. It is a fact of life that you get what you pay for and we will not cut any corners where quality is concerned. Another popular change around now is the return of the cooked weekend breakfast. In the summer we were able to source another supplier for our bacon. The company is based in Norfolk and supplies us with free range dry cured bacon with the Freedom Foods label, which means that it is monitored for quality and husbandry by the RSPCA. We have the full range of Back and Streaky rashers, also Gammon joints all available as smoked or unsmoked. I have been very impressed with the consistency of the quality and hope that you will be as well. At the end of the month is British Sausage Week and we will be making extra supplies of your favourite sausages and introducing some new varieties eg. Pork & Apple, Pork & Tomato and Pork with Blue Stilton. Come and have a try of something different and tickle the taste buds. As usual, if you need any advice or assistance don't hesitate to contact us by telephone on 01702 710 133, email info@Qbutcher.com, our website www.Qbutcher.com or, preferably, call in to see us personally.
Welcome to the September edition of the newsletter. I cannot believe how quickly the time has gone this year. However, we have had a splendid few weeks to end the school holidays. I hope that those of you that went away had a good break and have returned refreshed. From September 18 until October 3 has been designated British Food Fortnight and we shall be supporting that by continuing to sell as much locally sourced meat as possible. All our pork is from Essex farms, some lamb from Warwickshire with the saltmarsh lamb from Essex. Our free range chickens are from Essex and our barn chickens from Suffolk. Our bacon is all dry cured, some from Suffolk and free range freedom food registered from Norfolk. All our beef is sourced from Scotland, some from Inverurie and some from Saltcoats. We also stock a range of jams, marmalades, jellies, sauces and other comestibles from companies registered with the Taste of Anglia organisation. We stock sweet chilli sauces made by Modern Thai Foods, a small company based in Suffolk. These are only some of the products that we sell, come and have a good look around for yourself, I'm sure that there will be something to tempt you! |
