To launch the spring menu for 2009, Buckinghamshire restaurant of the year The Plough Wavendon auctioned their course tasting menu with matching ‘flight of wines’ on Ebay, allowing the lucky winner to enjoy a gourmet dinner for a fraction of the cost.

50% of the bid amount was donated to The Orchard Project being run by Slow Food Bedford.

Jon Todd, the owner, commented: ‘We appreciate that the recession is going to be tough for many local people. Our guests appreciate great food and service and will be looking at value for money in the coming months. Hopefully this might save them a little too and inject a little fun in these times!’

He comments further: ‘At The Plough, we have a restaurant that offers world-class dining, elegant surroundings and the only restaurant in Milton Keynes to have complimentary luxury transport. It is about attention to detail – factors that we believe will make a difference over the coming months and years’

Head Chef, Grant Hawthorne, has recently introduced his 2009 spring menus with a variety of seasonal heritage potatoes and apples to add to the all British cheese board which has garnered national attention.   A visibly proud Grant says: ‘We picked up the Foodie Square guide’s Buckinghamshire restaurant of the year; 2 AA rosettes the Milton Keynes fine dining restaurant of the Year for 2008’   He continued: ‘It was an exciting year: We’ve managed to pick up these trio of awards as a tribute to the growing reputation of our restaurant, and our magnificent local suppliers’.

The Plough Wavendon is open daily from noon, and its menu includes an affordable business set lunch along with a pre-theatre dinner served between 5.30pm and 7.00pm.

There will be an EGM on 25th April 2009 to consider an alternative proposal for the future development of the Slow Food movement in the UK.  The EGM will be held at Birmingham City University, City North Campus, Perry Barr, Birmingham, B42 2SU at 13.00.  Only SFUK members will be entitled to attend.

If you would like further information about this event, please contact Sue Miller directly.

The Shuttleworth Collection, Old Warden, is hosting the second Bedfordshire’s Festival of Food on Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th April.  Hopefully, this year it will be snow free!  The festival is open from 10.00-17.00.  A family ticket (two adults and two children) is £12.  Tickets for concessions and children are £3 and adults are £5.

Here is an interesting talk from a Californian super-dinner lady which touches on a lot of the themes Ann Hepher in our local SFB Orchards Project discuss with the children who visit our SFB school events. The point about the coffee is particularly striking!

SFB members, Brian & Olivia, organised a Traditional Christmas Fayre at The ENT Shed on Castle Road on Saturday 13th December in aid of Marie Curie and the Primrose Appeal.   Thank you to everyone who supported the event.

Here is an interesting article about food co-operatives where small, local groups take control of their own supply chains.   Might it work here?

After the success of last year’s Christmas market at the Southbank Centre, another Slow Food market will be held between Saturday 20th and Tuesday 23rd December.

What started as a local, Bedford-based project to help our school children engage with their immediate environment and learn about a local heritage orchard is about to go national when Sue Miller (SFB convivium leader and UK Director) launches the project at The BBC Good Food Show in London 14th November.

On a national level, the project aims to create awareness of the UK’s heritage and community orchards and their fruit.  Slow Food UK plans to bring communities togther by creating a series of maps plotting where you can find your nearest  convivium, orchard and school to ensure that the knowledge of our heritage fruit is passed on to the next generation.

By recording where heritage trees exist it’s possible to identify where there is a need to re-establish forgotten varieties that are native to a particular region. So the first stage of the project is an invitation to visit the Slow Food UK website to record what you already know about your area. Once this information is gathered, Slow Food UK will work to protect existing heritage orchards and trees to ensure sustainability. They will work towards reintroducing local varieties to an area through a community orchard, school or garden which could result in the creation of new orchards to plant native varieties that may have been lost to a particular area.

Sue Miller says, “It is important to create awareness through education.  Engaging the community, and  especially children, is the key to bringing the importance of our food heritage to our homes. Through working with schools and young people we can reach families and connect them with our convivia and their local food heritage.  Jamie Oliver has proved through his Ministry of Food initiative that there is a need to “pass it on” within the community and this has never been more poignant in the protection of our food heritage. ”

During Sausage Week, pupils from Redborne Upper School in Ampthill enjoyed a behind-the-scenes tour of Franklins farm in Thorncote Green near Sandy. The three finalists of Franklins’ School Sausage Week competition had a chance to try their hands at making a batch of sausages before their own recipes were cooked up and judged and a final winner awarded the terrific prize of a weekend cooking experience at Moggerhanger Park under head chef Jim Fitzgerald and a meal for two at the restaurant.

Jessica Malcolm’s recipe of pork sausages with red pepper, fresh basil and ground back pepper was selected by the judges. Says Jessica, “I can’t believe they picked my sausages, we had a chance to taste all of the recipes and I thought they were all delicious. I’m really looking forward to spending some time in the kitchen at Moggerhanger Park. I think it’ll be hard work but I can’t wait to have a go.”

Says John Franklin, owner of Franklins’ Farm, “I was exceedingly pleased with the whole competition. The three final recipes were outstanding, it was clear the contestants had really thought about what flavours would work well together and it was a very tough decision but Jessica’s recipe just tasted that bit more special.”

Everyone’s now back from the SFB trip to Terra Madre at Turin. If you went and have any photos or anecdotes, please send them in to the editor so our members who didn’t get to go this time can get a flavour of what this event is like.

Here is the opening speech: Part 1

and Part 2