New local produce market for Mount Edgcumbe

6 May

I just wanted to let Gluten Free by the Sea readers know about a new monthly local produce market that is going to be held at Mount Edgcumbe, the first of which is being held this coming Sunday (11th May).  It’s always nice to get the Cremyll ferry over to Mount Edgcumbe and have a stroll in the sun, and the good news is that local gluten free companies Let Them Eat Cake and Soupy Do will be at the event.  I am also told there will be some naturally gluten free cider on offer too!  See the press release below for full details.

Kevin, Gluten Free by the Sea

ME GF poster May

Tamar Grow Local and Let them Eat Cake are working with Mount Edgcumbe to bring a new monthly produce market to the country park.

The market will focus on food and drink made in the Tamar Valley and take place every second Sunday of the month from 11th May to the 16th November.

The new market is just one of many new events planned at the park this year and follows on the heels of numerous small food and craft businesses moving into the Barrow Centre at Mount Edgcumbe this Spring.

Producers confirmed so far for the May market include: Column House Bakery from Devonport Guildhall, Nice and Seedy, InBeer, Pomeroy RareBreeds, High T’s fudge, Eat like a Greek, Soupy-do, Main Event and Hobbs House Preserves with more to be announced next week.

Lisa Hackett, owner of Let them Eat Cake which specializes in gluten and dairy free cakes made wherever possible with vegetables grown in the valley said: “Its such an exciting time at Mount Edgcumbe and we wanted to be a part of it. We are all local producers in the Tamar Valley and are thrilled to have a regular opportunity to present our fantastic produce to the public.”

Co-Chairs of the Mount Edgcumbe Joint Committee had this to say – Cllr Pete Smith of Plymouth City Council, “This forms part of phase one of the transformational change programme at Mount Edgcumbe and we are all looking forward to an exciting summer of activity this year”. Cllr Edwina Hannaford from Cornwall Council said: “Mount Edgcumbe is drawing in local producers from across the Tamar Valley to create a genuinely exciting new collaborative focus in and around the heart of the park.“

The first Tamar Valley produce market takes place on Sunday 11th between 11am and 4pm and is located in the Earls Garden Marquee adjacent to Mount Edgcumbe House.

LOGO 2014

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Tavistock Country Market

13 Apr

I recently received an email from Alison Carter of Tavistock Country Market offering me the chance to sample some of her gluten free products.  As always my first question was regarding cross contamination, and secondly I am always interested to know what inspired a producer to start baking gluten free.  Alison was able to put me at ease with her reply:

“both my son and I have eaten gluten free for 11 years due to severe gluten intolerance. I have a separate kitchen and oven with all utensils, bowls, tins etc only used for gluten free. I check ingredients on Coeliac UK website and I have avoided using even the gluten free oats as I am not sure whether these are still a problem for some. I have had my kitchen inspected by environmental health when I started a gluten free cake business.  The terminology we have to use at the market is: Made with no gluten containing ingredients in a gluten free kitchen“.

Alison bakes a variety of sweet and savoury gluten free products for the market, which include:

  • Three flavours of quiche
  • Apple pie
  • Treacle tart
  • Lasagne
  • Lemon and Almond Polenta cake
  • Chocolate tiffin
  • Florentines
  • Coconut and pistachio slice
  • Chocolate brownies
  • Moist fruit cake
  • gingerbread men and houses (to order)
  • Blueberry almond cake
  • Carrot cake
  • Ginger or chocolate cookies

Naturally I was keen to try some of these delicious sounding goodies, and Alison kindly personally delivered some for me to try.  It was lovely to have a chat with Alison and her daughter too.  The image below shows the samples I received.

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The products were all of high quality.  The samples included Lemon and Almond Polenta cake, Raspberry White Chocolate cake, Florentines, Chocolate tiffin, Moist fruit cake, Ginger cookies, Coconut and pistachio slice, Apple Pie and Cheese and Tomato Quiche.  I naturally gravitated towards the lemon and raspberry cakes first, closely followed by the tiffin.  All were delicious as was the quiche which had great pastry.  We were heading to London shortly after the samples arrived so the ginger cookies and Florentines came with us as train snacks.  We really liked the ginger cookies which had a really nice chew to them to compliment that lovely ginger flavour.  The Floretines were perhaps one of my favourite things from everything I tried though.  Really tasty and I would definitely buy again.

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As a result of tasting these samples I invited Alison along to the Coeliac UK Plymouth AGM last month and she kindly agreed to come along and sell her products.  I hope some of you managed to try her goodies on the day and enjoyed them too.  To buy Alison’s gluten free savoury and sweet treats visit Tavistock Country Market on Fridays between 9.30 and 4.30 in the Tavistock Pannier Market.  Orders can be placed at the market or by phone by calling 01246 261508, but are only available for collection at the market at present.

You can also find the fabulous Traditional Puddings at Tavistock Pannier Market, who I have subsequently discovered were selling Alison’s Christmas puddings at the Christmas Free From Food Fair we held at Ivybridge Community Market at the end of last year.  You can also find Tavistock Country Market on Facebook here.

Kevin, Gluten Free by the Sea

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A Storm in a Tetley Teacup

4 Apr

TetleyGreen

Long term readers of Gluten Free by the Sea may well remember my blog post about Tetley Green Tea being contaminated with gluten.  At the time this caused much shock and surprise in the coeliac community, and after it made me ill I have avoided it since.  Last week I was tipped off by Kim at Coeliac Delight that the problem may at last be resolved.

I followed this up with Tetley who have come back with this response today:

“I have spoken with our Compliance and Regulatory Team who can confirm that the accidental cross contamination is now resolved.  This means that we have found the cause and worked with suppliers to prevent any reoccurrence and we have eliminated any affected tea from our Supply Chain.

We have now removed this warning from our packs and these are filtering through the distribution system although there are still many packs in the market place and on shelf that do carry the warning so, at the moment, it would be better to check packs as you buy them.”

So it appears there is light at the end of the tunnel.  I checked stock in my local Sainsbury’s last weekend and they still carried the warning.  Please be vigilant and make sure you check packs before purchasing, but the good news is that new boxes of Tetley Green Tea hitting the supply chain will be gluten free.  Note, the previous issue affected all blends of Tetley Green Tea.

Thanks to Tetley for the update and for getting this sorted, and to Kim for letting me know.

Kevin, Gluten Free by the Sea

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