Tiptree Patisserie

There’s a brand you might be familiar with, even if you haven’t quite appreciated the history behind it. Wilkins and Sons Ltd have been making jams since 1885 in the Essex village of Tiptree, and their distinctive labels are on the shelves of supermarkets across the country. If you haven’t bought them yourself, it’s more than likely that you’ve seen the little mini-jam pots at a hotel breakfast table; last year they sold more than 50 million pots in over 60 countries worldwide. As a proud Essex girl, Tiptree is a brand I have always loved (the Raspberry Seedless jam is my favourite) so when I had the chance to find out a bit more, I jumped at the opportunity.

A mutual friend had put me in touch with Daren McGrath, who is the Managing Director of Tiptree Patisserie, part of the Wilkins and Sons family of companies. He was kind enough to show me around their bakery in Witham, Essex for a look behind the scenes of this local food business, which operates on a global scale.

Many of us know the English fruits and jams that Tiptree are famous for, and as much as possible of the fruit is still grown on their own farm, including of course the very special heritage Little Scarlet strawberry (to find out more about Little Scarlet visit www.tiptree.com). However, given the range of products it can’t all be grown here in the UK. For example, the oranges used in the marmalade come from Seville. I was pleased to learn that Tiptree has their very own ‘man from Del Monté’ (can I say that?!) called Robert, who inspects the crops of known and trusted producers in warmer climes, ensuring only the best are given the Tiptree label.

The company has grown immensely since the 19th century and now boasts a wide range of products in addition to the jams and preserves including condiments, juices, jellies, gin liqueurs, Christmas puddings and even the most delicious fruit smelling candles and diffusers. There are 11 Tiptree tearooms across the country and a growing bakery business which makes a range of bread, cakes, scones, pastries and patisserie for a variety of commercial and private customers.

The patisserie business started to provide cakes for the tearooms but now has a much larger customer base. Sitting down for a chat with Daren before touring the bakery, I was amazed to hear that Tiptree Patisserie products are sold as far field as Singapore and China, providing customers in the Far East with a genuine taste of the English countryside. Daren has personally toured China, giving live cookery demonstrations to thousands of people, educating them on the delights of an English cream tea. He is even a bit of a Chinese social media star!

Daren wouldn’t give away all his secrets but I got a few titbits, such as a spoonful of apricot jam in the Coronation chicken sandwich fillings and carrot cake laced with Tiptree’s finest marmalade. It was fascinating to hear how passionately the Chinese have embraced the concept of the cream tea. Daren admitted to being nervous when he realised the Chinese palate isn’t particularly fond of jam and they don’t really have an equivalent there. But he has obviously worked some magic, as the company is now exporting tens of thousands of scones, clotted cream and jam to China every month.

I then had a tour of the bakery, which I was completely blown away by, but not for the reasons you might think. The bakery operates 24hrs a day, 6 and a half days per week making breads, cakes, scones, biscuits, patisserie and savoury pastries. They make around 900 different products, as well as bespoke cakes for all sorts of occasions. From the spectacular – the largest cake they ever made was a 3 metre high carrot cake in the shape of a life-sized giraffe to celebrate a birthday at Colchester Zoo, which had 4000 portions – to the more prosaic – 14,000 Victoria sponges to a specific height, so they could be stacked on the trolleys they had at the event venue.

The bakery makes products for a wide range of customers from small scale caterers to big hotels and grand functions, but it wasn’t the range of customers that I was so impressed with. It was the fact that every cake, scone, biscuit and bread is made by hand, in small batches, by humans using equipment any of us would recognise. They had the same gingerbread man cutters that I have at home! They bake in batches to a maximum of 40 and yet they offer consistency and quality in everything they produce. Daren knows exactly which baker has made every item that is sent from the bakery. Their name is on the box and everyone working there prides themselves on delivering a quality product for every customer, big or small.

Daren summed up the ethos of the bakery perfectly when he said to me, “There’s cake, and then there’s cake made with love”. At Tiptree we have real passion for what we do. It’s our name on the box.”

There was so much I loved about my visit to Tiptree. Not just meeting Daren, whose enthusiasm and vision for the future of the business was genuinely inspirational. Not just that as the business expands it stays true to its ethos of having staff as part owners of the company, making everything by hand and allowing no additives in anything they make. Not just that the staff there clearly understand that the relationship people have with cake is special; we have cake to celebrate all the special moments in our lives and the staff at Tiptree understand their role in that. And not just that you can now go to a department store in Singapore and have a proper English-made scone with clotted cream and Essex jam, the idea of which makes me immensely happy.

And finally, Tiptree are committed to developing the future of the industry, by training apprentices that are passionate about the business, to ensure that the renowned and trusted Wilkins and Sons Ltd. fruit farmers legacy of making quality products continues for another generation.

Looking to the future, Tiptree sponsors the World Bread awards (worldbreadawards.com) which are always looking for new entrants, particularly younger bakers. So if you have a budding bread-head in your family make sure they get their applications in. Daren and the other judges will be waiting!

Green Street

There’s a place I go to called Green Street.  In the heart of Forest Gate (that’s E7), just down the road from the old West Ham ground at Upton Park, and I’ve been going there ever since I was a little girl. Growing up in Harlow in the 70s and 80s, we didn’t have the luxury of big supermarkets stocking everything we needed from chillies and coriander to black lentils or cumin seeds. So there was a fortnightly trip to Green Street to stock up on all our Asian grocery essentials. And if you need dozens of types of lentil or any spice under the sun, it’s still the place to go.

           

 

 

 

 

 

These days I can get all my Indian cooking essentials at the Asian and Oriental supermarket in Harlow (it’s called M18, off Edinburgh Way, tell Shahid I sent you!) but I still love a trip down to Green Street when I need something special. These photos are from Bharat Stores, which is my first stop for any trip to Green Street.

If you’ve never been down there and you have any love of Asian food, culture or fashion, you won’t be disappointed. Another added bonus of visiting from May through July are the stacks of boxed mangoes which can be bought in the greengrocers or just being sold by some guy on the pavement. There’s something about the mango-selling guys, they really are the Del Boys of the street. Lots of banter, lots of chat about how their mangoes are better than the other guy across the road and lots of offers which always tempt me to buy 2 boxes when I really only wanted 1! 

But it’s so worth it. The flavour and melting texture of the Kesar, Chausa, Honey and – the king of all mangoes – the Alphonso, are positively ambrosial.  If you’ve only ever tasted a supermarket, South-American mango, you’ll be amazed at how different the two fruits are. They are smaller and sweeter and not at all stringy or fibrous inside. But watch out for the juice! It’s been said that the best place to eat a mango is in the sea or in the bath, but careful use of a napkin can be just as effective.

       

So a few hours browsing the jewellery, beautiful sarees and shalwar kameez (just looking!) and more importantly cookware and vegetables is always a pleasure and never a chore. Do you have any top tips for Asian groceries? Where to buy them? How to use specialist ingredients in your dishes? Can you find fresh turmeric for sale somewhere near you? If you do, I’d love to hear from you. Contact me on Facebook (Saira Hamilton Chef), Twitter (Saira Hamilton) or by leaving a comment below.

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

BBQ weather! The recipe everyone needs…

It’s time for a recipe. I’ve been working on an exciting project with a charity called Find Your Feet which runs a brilliant campaign called ‘Curry for Change’ every year. This encourages anyone who can cook, from top restaurant chefs like Vivek Singh to supper club hosts and food bloggers, to hold events to raise money for people suffering from food poverty in Asia and Africa. Click on the link to find out how you can join in!It’s a great campaign that I have supported in the past and this year I am helping them with a new angle to the campaign which encourages home cooks to host a dinner party at home. This is called ‘Host at Home’ and what with my ambition to get everyone cooking authentic Indian food and curries from scratch, at home, it was a no-brainer for me to offer my services to help them.

So watch this space for my Host-at-Home recipe pack, which will come with full recipes for a 3 course meal and step-by-step instructions on how to deliver a fabulous evening with a minimum of stress and fuss. As I was working on my recipes, I realised that there is one recipe I use probably once a week during the summer that I haven’t shared for quite a while.

Sheek kebabs are traditionally made with minced meat, often mutton but they can be made with beef, lamb, pork, turkey or anything else you like to eat to be honest. If I can’t get mutton, my preference is to use a mixture of lamb and beef mince, as I think you get the depth of flavour from the beef and the nice juiciness that comes from the higher fat content in the lamb.

The recipe is in fact terribly simple. Shove all the ingredients in a bowl together and mix them really, really well. I don’t mean just move them around in a clockwise direction, I mean really get in there and squish it all together so that every mouthful of the finished kebab is soft and yielding, and has a good mix of all the flavours and spices. And then you grill them. Simples!

The mixture can be made well ahead of time (24 hrs in advance if necessary) and stored in the fridge. At the last minute add the lemon, form the kebabs on skewers and the grill on a pre-heated barbecue for 6-8 minutes. Job done! Served with yoghurt raitha and some salad, these kebabs will enliven any BBQ spread. Much more interesting than just the usual burgers and sausages. So give this super-simple and delicious recipe a try and I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Recipe: Sheek kebabs

  • 600g minced beef or lamb (or a mixture)
  • 2 tsp garam masala
  • ½ tsp turmeric
  • 1½ tsp ground cumin
  • 1½ tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp chilli powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 red onion finely diced
  • 1½ tbsp garlic paste (crushed or grated fresh garlic is perfect)
  • 1½ tbsp ginger paste (crushed or grated fresh ginger is perfect)
  • 2 green chillies, finely chopped
  • big handful of chopped coriander (or mint and parsley)
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 40-50g breadcrumbs*
  • zest and juice of half a lemon

Method

  1. Place the minced meat in a large mixing bowl, and add in all the other ingredients. Mix together really well, with hands is always best! If you can leave the mixture to develop the flavours for an hour or two, the resulting kebabs will be better. If the mix feels too wet, add more breadcrumbs. If it is too dry you may need to add more egg. If you are preparing the mixture in advance, leave out the lemon zest and juice and only add this just before cooking.
  2. Divide the mixture into 16 equal portions, by dividing the mixture in half and then half again until you end up with 16 balls of kebab mix. Take each portion and roll into a long thin sausage shape; the easiest way is to crimp it around a metal or bamboo skewer. Wet your hands between each ball for a smooth finish. Press the mixture together well whilst shaping the kebabs to ensure you have a good texture to the finished product.
  3. Once formed, cover with cling film and allow the kebabs to rest in the fridge until you are ready to cook them (at least 30 minutes). When you are ready to cook, pre-heat your BBQ to a medium-high heat. Carefully place the kebabs onto the BBQ and grill. The kebabs will need to be turned several times, but wait until they have a good caramelised colour on one side before turning to avoid them breaking apart during cooking. They should only take 6-7 minutes, but always check the meat is cooked to your liking before serving. Serve with raitha and lots of salad dressed with lemon juice, oil and a pinch of salt.

 

* if you need to make these gluten-free you can use GF breadcrumbs or gram flour instead

When Harry met Saira

Meeting Harry Lomas MBE during my recent stint as a food judge was definitely one of the highlights of my chef career so far. Harry has been in the industry for over 40 years, he directed food services for the British Army, the 2012 Olympics and has worked in the Royal Household and yet he still has the most incredible passion and drive to achieve excellence and to pass his knowledge and passion on to the next generation of chefs.

When Harry asked me if I would like to come along to The Grove, where he is Executive Head Chef, to run a masterclass about traditional Indian spices and cooking, I was only too happy to do so. The Grove is a luxury hotel, golf and spa resort set in 300 acres of rolling Hertfordshire countryside in Chandlers Cross and only 18 miles from central London, the former home of the Earls of Clarendon and is dubbed London’s Country Estate. The fact that it is luxurious and run by impeccably courteous and groomed staff goes almost without saying. However it was the food and drink operation that Harry runs that I was interested in.

There are 3 restaurants at The Grove, Colette’s is the fine-dining restaurant, and the Head Chef is Russell Bateman, who you may have seen representing the South-East in this year’s Great British Menu. I also recognised the sous-chef Scott Barnard when I popped in to say hi, who was a finalist in 2015’s MasterChef: The Professionals. The Grove is set to get even more TV coverage soon as head pastry chef Reece Collier is leading a team in the next series of Crème de la Crème. The Grove also has a gastro-pub the Stables, and the Glasshouse restaurant both of which run by Andrew Parkinson (previously head chef at Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen and Brasserie Zédel). So a really stellar line-up in the kitchens at The Grove!

The scale of the operation is genuinely staggering. The hotel has 217 rooms, and lots of large events space meaning it is popular for weddings and corporate conferences. The hotel has around 10,000 plates and 5000 teacups. The kitchens get through 500 eggs and four 55kg sacks of potatoes every day! And we are talking 365 days of the year. They have fresh deliveries every single day of the week. I asked Harry what happened if he was let down by suppliers. “That wouldn’t happen”, he says, steely-eyed. I think the suppliers would know better than to mess Harry about! Harry is also very particular about provenance of his ingredients; all the fish is from sustainable sources and the beef is Aberdeen Angus or Charolais supplied by the Queen’s butcher Donald Russell.

My masterclass was with around 12 chefs in the 170 cover Glasshouse restaurant, demonstrating a lightly spiced sea bass, with new potatoes in pickling spices and a chilli sauce vierge, followed by a chicken bhuna curry and a cauliflower and cabbage bhaji. I was slightly nervy to have all these experienced chefs hanging on my every word as I explained to them that sometimes less is more, and a hint of spice can be just enough to enhance the flavour of an ingredient without masking it. They were also impressed (I like to think!) by the freshness and clean-ness of the flavours, which is how traditional Indian food should be. I left them with lots of notes and ideas for new dishes. Given that the Glasshouse boasts 190 different items on the buffet every day, I think some of my recipes may feature one day.

There is so much I could write about our amazing stay at the Grove. The friendliness and professionalism of the staff was impeccable, the food we had at Colette’s was magnificent and the sheer variety and quality of the food available throughout the operation was remarkable. But the Grove is more than a good place to eat and drink, it is an academy for the next generation. On our arrival we were greeted and checked-in by Chris, whom Harry had spotted when he was with his family in the restaurant celebrating his 18th birthday. Spotting something good in the young man, Harry encouraged him to get in touch, and he is now working there under an apprenticeship scheme. Just one more in a long line of Harry’s protégés.

Harry’s ethos is to train the next generation of chefs, which is why he wanted me to go there in the first place. Otherwise, he says, there won’t be a next generation. Unless the chefs of the old school continue to preach the basics of cooking from first principles, i.e. from raw ingredients, the art will soon die away. Harry is also passionate about competition cooking as he says it keeps chefs on top of their game, always learning about new products and new dishes. He also believes it is great for young chefs to have to talk and represent themselves on stand in front of judges, it develops character, self discipline and confidence.

It certainly seems to work, the chefs I met were engaged, bright and curious to know more. I was so pleased to add my little bit of knowledge into the pool to be taken forward. For a truly memorable experience I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend a stay at the Grove. And if you see a Lancashire gent in a pristine white chef’s jacket and toque, don’t forget to say hi to Harry.

Find out more about the Grove at www.thegrove.co.uk or on social media
facebook.com/TheGroveHotel/
instagram.com/thegrovehotel/
twitter.com/TheGroveHotel