Thanks for supporting us and following our developments over this first year of activity. We really appreciate it.

We hope the year to come brings health and happiness to you and your kin.

” And there’s a hand, my trusty fiere !
and gie’s a hand o’ thine !
And we’ll tak a right gude-willy waught,
for auld lang syne.

We are organising our Christmas supply of wines, cheeses, shipping our new olive oil and bringing in pulses and cereals for the New Year. All these will be in just in time for Christmas.

I’m just off the phone one of our suppliers Franco Santucci. Franco is the manager for Le Poggette, one of our wine suppliers. He is also the commissionaire for agriculture in this part of Italy. He helps me source some of the greatest products from this part of Italy.

This year Franco picked up for the second time The Veronelli Prize for the best wine in Category with their Torre Maggiore. That is like winning an Oscar in the wine business of Italy. It is a Montepulciano grape which they have turned into an amazing experience.

We will also bring in their Colli Amerino which is based on the central Italian grape Sangiovese and the third wine we stock from Franco is Canaiolo, a less well know grape but you will probably have drunk it in the blend of a good Chianti.

http://www.fattorialepoggette.it

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canaiolo

Our House wine has from day one developed a big following. It is by Alessandro at Sandonna. It is simply great drinking red, the perfect “vino rosso”. One of the reasons this has been so successful is the fact that it is unfiltered. It is an honest farm wine, created by someone who is skilled in modern for winemaking techniques. This gives you a taste that is almost lost today’s offer of low and mid range wines which are more than not doctored in one way or another. Here is something truly natural and of quality.

The wine business is tough and Alessandro like many people in this industry need a second job to keep the show on the road.  So when he is not in the cantina or the field he works for the National Railways. We are the first people to have exported his wines, helping him to deal with customs arrangements and transportation documentation. He has rebottled his Merlot under the name Selve di Giove and we import from him another less well know grape Ciliegiolo.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciliegiolo

Lentils are eaten in Italy at New year as a symbol of prosperity
http://www.bettinibio.com/

Have you ever had lentils and sausage at Cookie? Or tried our farro soup.
Umbria has a long history of pulses and cereals. We import these from the Bettini farm who are certified organic producers.

From here we import ancient grains like Farro (spelt) and the famous lentils from Castelluccio “lenticchia di Castelluccio di Norcia IGP” which compete on the world stage with the green lentils from le Puy en Velay

This is rags to riches story. As we approach Christmas we thought we would give you an alternative idea to the richer Christmas pudding and remind you of our own great version the Clootie dumpling.

Clootie, from the Scot’s meaning a rag or cloth. The Clootie and the Christmas pudding share a similar origin dating back to the 15 century. A time when the lack of fodder enforced the culling of animals at the end of autumn. This dumpling was a solution for the preservation of meat at the end of the season. A big mix slow cooked with sugar, dried fruit, boiled in a bag made from cloth.

It comes as no surprise that this Scottish dumpling can be recycled into a breakfast and when accompanied by some Ayrshire bacon, it will sort out the previous evening with Souter Johnny or any other drouthy cronie.

Here is Iain’s family recipe:

4oz Suet
8oz Self-raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
4oz breadcrumbs
3oz brown sugar
1 grated apple
8oz currants and sultanas
1 teaspoon each of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg
1 tablespoon golden syrup
¼ pint of milk
2 eggs

• Half fill a large pot with water and bring to the boil. Soak a cheese cloth on the water then dust it with flour.
• Beat the eggs, mix in the syrup and a little milk and gradually mix into the dry ingredients and fruit. Place the mixture in the middle of the cloth. Tie it up with string tightly but allow for swelling.
• Place and inverted plate on the bottom of the pot and put the pudding on top of it. Boil for 3-4 hours. Never let the water drop below half way down the pudding.
• Once boiled dip in cold water and peel off the cloth and dry the pudding off in the oven at around 160 deg C for 20 mins.