Ditty's Digest

Pre - Christmas 2011

Failte go Ditty's, Christmas is coming and the goose is getting fat...Recession or not, we are still going to have Christmas. Production in the bakery has been stepped up to meet all the orders that result from the added interest in food at this time of year. We supply a number of different hamper companies that pack our oatcakes, shortbreads, mince-pies and puddings along with other gifts in their hampers for people to send to family and friends as well as corporate givers. In addition, our own shops and those we supply on a daily basis nearby are stocking the usual range of mince-pies, cakes and puddings all bursting with rich vine fruit flavours. A favourite among these is the Shanemullagh 'Twice Baked' cake; this cake is one of Robert Ditty's creations and combines traditional recipes to produce a sweet, rich and nutty cake that is only made at the lead-up to Christmas. The cake is made in two parts, an amount of unfruited batter is held back to which is added golden syrup, brazil and hazel nuts, flaked and whole almonds and some lovely French alpine cherries to make a sticky Florentine mixture.This is added to the top of the cake after a first bake and is put back in the oven to finish off - hence the 'twice baked'  part of the name. There has to be a health warning with this cake!  It is definitely comfort food and can be habit forming - the combination of the sticky sweet and crunchy Florentine top with the soft buttery and fruity part of the rest of the cake is something to experience.

 

On the 15th November Robert Ditty and chef Bob McDonald gave a demonstration of honey based recipes to around fifty five people gathered under the auspices of Randalstown and District Beekeepers Association. The evening was a great success providing insights on how to make a number of dishes as well as giving an opportunity to try them out on the night and to buy what was left over to take home. The price of the ticket entry, the sale of the food and the proceeds of a raffle combined to make a total of over £850 - all of which will go to Northern Irish charity Gift International for horticultural and beekeeping projects in rural Kenya.

The cafe and shop in Castledawson is undergoing a 'makeover' at present with much of the shelving and shop stock being removed to make way for more tables and chairs to allow for an expansion of the cafe. From around sixteen, the cafe can now seat thirty people. New tables and chairs have been brought in and the decor has been changed to a contrasting but effective combination of battleship grey and acid green. Over recent months, Bob McDonald has been working with Amanda in the cafe kitchen and Robert to change the recipes involved in the savoury pies, pasties and slices. The new recipes have involved a stripping back to basic and simple, high quality ingredients that are allowed to make their own statements in terms of flavour and texture - complemented by Robert Ditty's light, flaky and tasty puff pastry! These are available in the cafe to eat in, or they can be bought 'over the counter' to take away. Coffee, tea and other drinks as well as sandwiches can be bought to eat in the cafe or to take away. Santa's sleigh is now on display in the cafe area loaded with produce representing the festive season.

Ditty's is a member of an organisation known as Good Food Ireland, in fact Robert Ditty was one of the founder members and sits on the steering committee. It was Good Food Ireland's annual conference on Tuesday 22nd November held in the Shelbourne Hotel, Dublin. At this event a number of producers, including Ditty's were invited to showcase their products at breakfast and at lunchtime. This involved Ditty's in providing lightly fried mini soda farls, potato bread and pancakes to be offered to delegates to complement the hot smoked bacon, black pudding, drisheen, oak-smoked salmon, soft goats cheese and cranberry roulade and brie cheeses being offered by other producers on adjoining tables. The event was topped off by a dinner served by the hotel and an award ceremony with presentations being made by guest of honour An Taoiseach,  Enda Kenny. Good Food Ireland represents the interests not only of food producers but also of retailers, restrauters, hoteliers, publicans and anyone involved in producing quality artisanal or craft based food or beverage products. The theme of this year's conference was on 'Irishness' as a brand and how best we can use this to promote ourselves. We have a distinctive language and a number of speakers made reference to this including Senator Seamus Quinn, founder of the well respected SuperQuinn chain of supermarkets. From the simple "Failte..." - welcome in Irish -  he described how he pushed the language boundaries in his stores as a distinctive and successful marketing tool. Other speakers made reference to our climate, bountiful rain and the growing conditions it creates, especially in relation to grass and the fact that we can produce beef, lamb and dairy products like no other, simply because animals can be grass fed for much of the year. Good Food Ireland engenders a great sense of fellowship and collaboration amongst its members  and the day as a whole had an uplifting effect - but the real point of the event was not just about a 'feel-good factor' it was to remind us all just how important food and its production is to the Irish economy, North and South, and what we all have to do to ensure our continued growth and impact on both the domestic and world  market.  Slan Abhaile - safe home.

 

 

 

November 2011 - Preparing for Christmas

This Autumn has been an eventful one. Politically,  the Arab Spring has resulted in the final demise of the Gaddafi regime in Libya to be replaced  by what looks like the beginning of a new democracy. Unfortunately Syria is still in turmoil and has been ejected from the Arab League. In Europe the finanacial crisis continues with Berlusconi as its latest casualty. Volatility in world markets has led to significant prices rises - and some falls -  in commodities such as cereals, sugar and butter - the staples of the baking industry. Closer to home, in October Robert Ditty was winner of the Baking Industry Awards " Baker of the Year". Robert has also won a number of  "Firsts"  and other awards for his honey at various Honey Shows round the country in recent weeks.

On Tuesday evening at 7.30, 15th November 2011 at the Bakery, Robert Ditty and chef Bob MacDonald will be demonstrating a number of recipes using honey as an ingredient. Tickets are £10.00 and include supper. All proceeds from ticket and any produce sales will go to Gift Aid International. This Northern Ireland charity supports a number of small horticultural, forestry and beekeeping projects in rural Kenya. Robert, together with other members of Randalstown and District Beekeepers Association visited some of the projects in August this year. Without exception, all said it was a life-changing experience. (Tickets may be obtained from Susie Turner Tel: 028 9445 3892)

Production at the Bakery has been stepped up recently to meet the demand for the Christmas season - principally puddings, mince-pies and Christmas cakes. Earlier in the year we had an expression of interest from a distributor in Dubai for some of our mince-pies as well as our long shelf-life products. As a result of the local prohibition of alcohol in the United Arab Emirates, we have developed a new recipe with our supplier in Armagh to produce an alcohol-free sweet mince. Sweet mince for own domestic market will still have the benefit of flavour enhancing brandy as a standard ingredient.

For the festive season we have drawn on the expertise and knowledge of Bob MacDonald to develop three easy-to-make recipes using some of our Oatcakes as a ready made component. The two desserts and one savoury recipes are for Pear & Ginger Trifle, Christmas Crumble and Smoked Salmon Cheesecake. Each recipe is individually printed on card with its own photograph of the finished dish providing a helpful guide to what it should it should look like. The cards can be picked up from a number of stores where our Oatcakes are on sale or from inside selected packs. The idea behind the recipes is that they should be simple and use ingredients readily available straight from the cupboard.

Ditty's Bakery is a member of Good Food Ireland. This organisation, under the direction of Margaret Jeffares from Wexford, promotes Irish food through tourism and provides a forum for producers to help develop their markets and benefit from the experiences of one another; it is also the only industry group with an all-island food tourism strategy. On Tuesday 22nd November, Good Food Ireland holds its annual conference at the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin. An Taoiseach Enda Kenny will launch the Conference and Awards, the prime sponsor is Kerrygold. Robert Ditty and Bob MacDonald will be making breakfast for delegates using Ditty's soda and potato breads and products from other Good Food Ireland members such as black pudding, sausages, rashers, soft cheeses, sauces, relishes and chutneys. In the evening, conference will end with a dinner and the presentation of awards - Robert has been nominated for "Good Food Ireland Food Producer of the Year Award 2011". It promises to be an interesting day all round. We will just have to wait to see what the results are...

 

 

 

 

Where has the first third of 2010 gone?

I'm writing this as a new government has been formed and hope that they live up to their promises on their manifestos. Radical change I feel and a business like approach to the public sector is absolutely necessary with an end to the extravagance we have witnessed over the last ten years.   

In my own business I have spent the last four months trying to minimise and make savings against the rising charges government are levying on us. 90% of my admin time is spent trying to save money instead of trying to make money. Increases on rates, water charges, land fill charges and a considerable number of raw material costs in a marketplace that has become so price sensitive that the mere mention of price increases causes eyes to pop out.    

Easter trading was hampered greatly by, number one, being earlier in the year and the horrible weather we had the week before. Having said this business in general has not been too bad and we have seen reasonable growth outside Northern Ireland particularly with our oatcakes. Just today we have had confirmation of an order for New Zealand. Our sales in Waitrose have grown, no doubt, helped on by two surprise articles in The Times in March were we discovered Rachel Johnson, editor of The Lady and Joanna Trollope are among our oatcake fans. Our shops and coffee shops are growing slowly and we continue to offer new products on an almost weekly basis. I have eventually succumbed to all the talk on cupcakes and now make a couple of specials every two days. At weekends we have extended our range of individual desserts which has grown week on week and we just recently started making our own breakfast sausages. With the better weather we are looking forward to fresh local rhubarb, strawberries and raspberries. Our bread counters have had a little lift recently with some new bread ideas, spelt and honey, corn bread and we are currently working on a new wheaten bread with Irish honey.

Through Good Food Ireland we did a showcase in the Merrion Hotel in Dublin at the launch of Colman Andrews amazing book on Irish cookery entitled 'The Country Cooking of Ireland' which I feel is a must for any serious cook interested in Irish cuisine and its history. The next big Good Food Ireland event for us will be the Hillsbrough Garden Show on 21st-23rd May where 15 members will be showcasing and selling a wonderful range of Irish foods.

My bees came through the Winter unscathed and have built up very nicely over the last month. Unfortunately the current cold and wet spell is hampering their productivity with the abundance of pollen and nectar sources available right now. I have extended my wild flower meadow which I am hoping will be a wonderful show in a month's time and planted 18 old varieties of apple trees, 2 pears and 2 plum trees in the meadow. I planted out a variety of vegetables in two of my raised beds and will start on the other two in a couple of weeks time so that I can extend my harvesting season this year. Our fantail pigeons have already produced two young which have left the nest and are flying, one of them, unfortunately into the talons of a sparrow hawk.  The old pair have hatched another two eggs so another cote has been ordered to house the new generation. I feel some method of babysitting as a deterrent against the hawks while they enjoy an hour or so of freedom each day will be necessary.   

   

The end of 2009

As 2009 comes to a close we can reflect on a much better year than we would have anticipated. The Christmas season in many ways shocked as we had fears of a huge drop in sales both locally and, in particular, Southern Ireland. As Christmas drew closer the war between the multiple food retailers seemed to intensify and the British and Irish supermarket would appear to have become the new generation of  'pound shops'. I fear very much for the future of food if this continues. I overheard a conversation were a lady, obviously with a young family, stated that she always bought the 45p loaf because she used it for the kids and the same lady insisted on buying 'Pal' as opposed to the own label brand for her pooch! This philosophy of producing cheap food I feel must be addressed in 2010.

November was a very busy month, the bakery was flat out making mince pies for our biggest customer Pallas Foods who surprised us with their unexpected volume of product needed. I also had time to entertain the Randalstown and East Antrim Bee Keepers at the bakery with a demonstration using honey in bakery products. On the night we managed to raise £160 for our company chosen charity Marie Curie. Clare (the apple and toffee parcel fan) joined Good Food Ireland and Tourism Ireland at the BBC Good Food Show in Birmingham promoting our oatcakes and biscuits. The highlight for Clare was a conversation with Jamie Oliver when she managed to pass him off with some Ditty's Oatcakes.

 
In December production was running literally around the clock  particularly with product for Waitrose where volumes more than doubled on the back of a promotion during November. I think this might have been helped by some excellent press coverage; our oatcake was voted in the top three by BBC Good Food Magazine and The Daily Telegraph Saturday supplement did a little feature on myself and our biscuits. This business with Waitrose has grown dramatically for us over the last twelve months and we feel our brand has become recognised on the UK supermarket shelves. In 2010 we hope to extend our range with Waitrose.  Other good news, our branded products for Paxton and Whitfield have been launched on the Australian market.

Also, in December Nick Price launched his new cookery book 'The Accidental Chef' in which some of my recipes feature. Having read it I feel it is a must for any home cook, well written, easy to understand and the illustrations are superb. Nick's style of cooking is simple and uncomplicated and the recipes in the book do not require an extensive store cupboard. I wish Nick a successful start to a new career!

Trading over Christmas in our shops was surprisingly good, just beating last year's figures, which I had not expected. We need to look at more niche type products for next year. Probably our most successful new product this year was our muffin snowmen which proved a big success with the kids.

At home the heavy fall of snow, the weekend before Christmas, made for a very seasonal scenic view from my den window were I spent hours in between eating watching the wild birds in my garden.

 
We had a flock of Red Wings arrive on Christmas Eve and over three days stripped all the berries off two large holly bushes. There were literally thousands of birds in the garden, it is little wonder it costs me £20 a week to feed them! We had House Sparrows, Gold Finches, Green Finches, Blue Tits, Coal Tits and I believe I saw a pair of Linnets which would be unusual. Our Fan Tailed Pigeons looked great in the snowy back drop which helped to camouflage them from the Sparrow Hawks which regularly visit our garden.

 
The bees seem to be ok, I fed them some fondant which they have taken down and the hives seem to be nice and dry. 

Finally, I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year.

30th October

The day before Halloween and even with horrible weather we have had our best Halloween for many years. I imagine partly due to it falling on a Saturday, sales of tarts, crumbles, ghost and pumpkin shaped biscuits and chocolate and orange muffins have been selling rapidly all week.  But for me the star has been our Apple and Toffee Parcel (see photo). The recipe for this product was kindly given to me by a very good friend and BCA colleague, Martin Wienholt (actually it was his daughter Heather) who own and run a wonderful family business in Alderley Edge, Manchester (well worth a visit if you are in that area).
If you would like to try this recipe at home: Peel core and cube 1 large cooking apple (this apple will make 3-4 parcels), stew until slightly softened in a pan with a knob of butter and one or two tablespoons (depending on how sweet you like your apple) of light soft brown sugar. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate for an hour. Using an ice-cream scoop portion the apple onto a sheet of silicon paper on a tray and freeze. Next day cut  6/7 inch discs of puff pastry (you can buy this ready rolled), place frozen apple in the middle with a toffee sweet on top, fold pastry into the centre and clamp together. I recommend freezing this again and when needed bring from the freezer, egg wash and sprinkle with demerara sugar. Bake from frozen in a pre-heated oven 200 degrees centigrade for 30 minutes. Check temperature and reduce after 15 minutes if it is colouring too much. (Freezing of both the apple and the finished product helps to hold their shape when baking).    

Having seen one been devoured by Clare (our sales and marketing girl) with a large dollop of fresh cream at lunch time and when asked she described it as "yummy"! I think this will make a wonderful hot comfort food and will be on our shelves all Winter.

This week North East Ireland Slow Food had a supper event at Nick's Warehouse titled 'Slow Meat' where Nick demonstrated slow cooking methods for cheaper cuts of beef, lamb and pork. He had slow cooked some ox cheek which most of the 26 attendees had never tasted before and to their surprise gave it top marks. This being the first of a series of Slow Food events for the North East Ireland Convivium. The next one on 19th January, also at Nick's Warehouse, will be a presentation by Michael Young MBE, Chairman of the Institute of Northern Ireland Beekeepers, on beekeeping for beginners. If you are interested in this event please contact Clare at: sales@dittysbakery.com   

Next week at the bakery Christmas production starts in earnest with mince pies. Christmas cakes and puddings have already been started and the product development hats will be on and hopefully a lot of new ideas for the Season to be Merry,  forget the 'credit crunch'!

Moss-brook farm, Desertmartin

Trevor Barclay owns Moss-brook Farm, a local farm specialising  in pork produce. Trevor supplies both our retail stores with his bacon. Below is an overview of how his pork is produced.

 

Nestled at the foot of the picturesque Slieve Gallion mountain at the edge of the Sperrins in Co. Londonderry, Trevor only sells pork produce from his prize-winning herd of pedigree Landrace pigs that have been born and bred here.   
Trevor desribes how "the animals are reared traditionally, in non-intensive conditions, on a straw-based system, which allows the full flavour of the meat to develop. No in-feed antibotics are used as a matter of course, and the small herd is fed by hand , in family groups, using a G.M. free diet from the local mill. No tail-docking or teeth-clipping is undertaken as we try to give our pigs as stress-free a life as possible, I personally take the pigs to slaughter at a local abbatoir, so that our pigs are in transit for a very short time, ensuring that they are killed quickly and humanely-all resulting in wholesome and flavour-some pork products".

  

When Trevor fetches the carcass back to the farm the next day, the careful process of dissecting the carcass begins. The shoulder of fresh pork is either cured for Boiling Bacon or boned-out and minced and spices are then added to his special recipes to create their succulent low-fat sausage in natural casings. "Our sausages contain no colours, stabilizers, antioxidants, artificial flavour enhancers, E numbers or MSG. A  real meaty treat for all the family"!

 

Trevor then takes the middle of the carcass and, using a craft almost forgotten in this age of convenience and fast food, Dry-Cures it by hand to produce some of the crispiest bacon around. Eating it can be one of the best starts to the day (along with some freshly-ground coffee!).  A real taste sensation with no white spots or water spitting at you from the pan or grill.    

This just leaves the pork legs. They are traditionally cured on the bone by hand using a mild Home-cure. The method Trevor uses means you can present a moist Gammon, with just the right covering of fat, to grace any meal, be it Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch or Tea.  

 

Moss-brook farm products can be purchased every Saturday at St. George's Market in Belfast (10am-4pm).  

Telephone number 02879 633454

mossbrookbaconboys@btinternet.com  

 

Autumn update

The excellent weather in September made up for the wet July and August and also proved to be the best sales month of the three. Castledawson is still in a state of repair with new pavements, bollards, trees, which as traders, we are all looking forward to the work being finished and the excitment of all the refurbishments just before Christmas.

In recent months we have had a few contacts from customers, some from faceless, nameless people and others from people who were prepared to allow us to explain E numbers in food and what they really mean. It annoys me when people jump to conclusions without researching the facts for themselves. There is a misconception that all E numbers are chemicals and harmful so I recommend the following two websites for those who wish to become better informed before sending me hate mail! CureZone and Explore E numbers.   

At home my bees are being prepared for Winter with feeds of  sugar syrup but in the better days recently they would have been collecting a lot of ivy pollen. Much to my surprise, at  my very first honey show, namely Randalstown, my honey cake and my honey cookies were awarded first prize which has concluded my first year as a beekeeper on a high. I now have to live up to this high standard when I present to the Randalstown and District Beekeepers Association  at my bakery in Castledawson on the 18th November. Check their website for details.  I am already preparing for next year by providing the bees with as many sources of raw material as possible. I intend to extend my wildflower meadow and recently I sowed clover on the paddock.

Some new products on the shelves include three new breads: Spelt and Honey, Corn Bread and Multiseed with Dried Cranberry and Sultana. The Spelt and Honey Bread is made from spelt flour, sunflower seeds, coarsely ground lupin seeds and honey. Spelt flour is similar in texture to light rye breads but with a slightly sweet and nutty flavour. The Corn Bread is maize based, containing sunflower seeds and is golden in colour. The Multigrain Bread contains four grains and a variety of seeds. The cranberries and sultanas add a sweetness to this bread.  

This month concludes with Halloween and we want to celebrate the Armagh Bramley. Did you know apples have been grown in Armagh for 3,000 years and St. Patrick is said to have planted an apple tree at Ceangoba, an ancient settlement east of Armagh. The Armagh apple industry is worth an estimated £50 million per year and employs up to 1,500 local people. So I for one will be a supporter of their application for a PGI which is a European protection on the Armagh Bramley. We are currently working with a grower who will produce our sweet mince using Armagh Bramley Apples for this Christmas and the possiblity of a new oatcake using apple juice.

No photographs this time as I would like to have some of the new pavements etc. on my Halloween blog next week. 

Summer update

Hello

How the long range forecasters got it wrong again! If you have a big enough garage, you could have a BBQ! Anyhow, August has arrived wet and windy and at home we have started to enjoy the vegetables from our raised beds. Only last week my evening meal included peas, broad beans, cabbage and potatoes all grown by ourselves. Interestingly,  it was also the week that the government informed us that organic food is no more nutritious than non-organic. Having grown my vegetables 'naturally', as I am not a big fan of the word organic, nutrition was not my main reason but as the food on my plate proved it was about taste and the non use of chemicals as weedkillers or pesticides. Now that we have almost got rid of conventional farmers - is this the government's means of destroying those who have diversified into organic? (I'm sure you will find a few major share holders of Tesco directors somewhere in the background!)

Our raised beds this year have been a success due to a little forward planning. Instead of having 20 lettuce ready for eating on the same week we staggered the planting by splitting the raised beds into two and planting seedlings four weeks apart.  This year we grew broad beans, two different varieties of lettuce, rocket, two different varieties of cabbage, cauliflower, beetroot, chives, parsley and potatoes.   

     

 The raised beds are about a metre wide and four metres long.

The bees have produced a new queen and she has just started laying but unfortunately the pollen flow has all but ended for the year. As a result I took the top super off at the weekend and the kitchen worktops are now covered in pots of Glenshane honey! So in the next few weeks I will start work on my honey yeast starter to produce our own sourdough for the bakery. No doubt other ideas using honey in the bakery will develop. The bee keeping experience has been extremely exciting to date and I would encourage more people to have a serious look at it as a hobby. Take a look at the Institute of Northern Ireland Beekeepers.  

July trade was rather sluggish particularly in south Derry but was buoyant in our coastal wholesale accounts, obviously everyone braved the bad weather and still went to the seaside! Rhubarb tarts and franzipans proved to be top sellers in the comfort food category and soda farls and potato bread were still the popular holiday breakfast. 

Helen (wife) and I had a couple of very relaxing days in Donegal with our dogs. If you have dogs who need a holiday check out Rathmullan House . Fantastic food in a very friendly and comfortable family hotel.       

Our first blog entry!

Hello!

July has arrived in Castledawson and we are still enjoying some dry humid weather which makes a difference to the product mix leaving the bakery - soda farls, potato bread and pancake sales are a way down but have been replaced by a huge increase in burger baps and bridge rolls. Last weekend saw the start of fresh local raspberries from Kyle's Maghera which made a lovely compliment to their strawberries. We used the raspberries on chocolate ganache cake and for the lighter touch mini pavolvas which we covered with a mixture of chopped raspberries which had been soaked in raspberry liquor, then blended with fresh cream and dropped onto the pavolvas in large dollops.   

This week is the start of the traditional 12th fortnight were traditionally we see a drop off in local customers who would normally head to sunnier destinations and thankfully in recent years an increase in foreign visitors. This year could be different with the credit crunch - I just spoke to Jason our butcher today who for the first time is trying a camping holiday but informs me that his wife tried nine camping sites in Northern Ireland before she got a vacancy.

I have eventually suceeded in growing a wild flower meadow - after three attempts and many different packs of seeds! I sourced my seeds and advice from MAS Seeds Ltd.

     

My bee mentor - Michael and I opened my hive last Friday and discovered the queen had departed and thankfully hadn't taken many bees with her! We also discovered several queen cells and after destroying all but two we hope we will have a new queen in the next week or so. The bees are busy and already starting to produce honey and as a new bee keeper I am still fasinated with the whole bee culture and looking forward to my own honey from Glenshane this Autumn.