HEALTHY EATING

The simplest way to encourage healthy eating is to prepare food that tastes fabulous. It is equally important to ensure the meals are also easy to put together.

Most people are aware that eating more vegetables, especially uncooked varieties such as salads are a vital part of a healthy diet. Unfortunately, the recipes are commonly bland at best.

Vegetables have a huge amount of health benefits, especially when eaten raw, but most people find them boring. However, a great dressing can change all that.

Artisan foods such as Womersley Fruit & Herb Vinegars, based in Yorkshire, are a life saver because they can produce deliciously simple salad dressings with the minimum of ingredients and fuss.

How to use 'em...

Be Enthused...

We are really proud, after all these years that our fruit vinegars are popular with home cooks and chefs alike, because we really do aim to challenge common preconceptions of vinegar. Using mild spirit vinegar to infuse a generous amount of fruit, we only use natural ingredients, sourced in Yorkshire when possible, to ensure a stable and intense fruit and herb flavour which is immediately apparent on the palate. I love watching the faces of people tasting our vinegars for the first time because they prepare for a familiar sharp, acidic taste, only to be really surprised by the mildness of the tang and the depth of the fruit and herb flavour.

Stephanie Moon took time out from her appearance on Great British Menu to make these Fabulous Fishcakes in the Clocktower Restaurant kitchen at Rudding Park, pictured here. If you want to have a go, the recipe is on our Facebook Discussions tab...

A little Background on vinegar in Yorkshire

My father, a keen plantsman and gardener, developed our large kitchen garden in Yorkshire, full of a huge array of fragrant herbs and delicious fruit. Over the years, from 1979 onwards, when my parents, Martin and Aline Parsons, started their Aladdin’s cave of a craft and food shop in the quiet village of Womersley, we saw the reputation of the vinegars and jellies, in particular, grew above all the other foods we were stocking. In 2009 I took over the running of the company, and I decided that it was very important that we rebranded the business in order to compete more efficiently.

We won a Designing Demand Grant from the Design Council and appointed Mayday Living Brands to oversee our rebrand and design. Through them, we were introduced to the amazing Swedish artist, Petra Borner, who did all the artwork for our new logo. I am so glad we rebranded the company, as so many people have told me how much they love our logo, that it is really bright and eye-catching....perfect for deli shelves and to show off in your kitchen, too!

So much has happened in the last year: we have won a Gold** at the Guild of Fine Food Awards and we have set about really focussing on those product lines that represent our strengths. The Foodie Bugle approached me to write all about our artisanal fruit and herbal vinegars and jellies, and to tell readers how they can be used in cooking.

We are a small, artisanal family business, we take great pride in what we do and I hope I have inspired you to be a little more adventurous in your cooking. Our website tells you all about our stockists, but if you would like to meet us or taste our products, then do come along to one of the food fairs where we exhibit. I really look forward to seeing you there.

***PRESS RELEASE***

We are delighted to have the following fantastic Chefs, Hotels, Restaurants, Cafes and Dining Pubs already signed up for our Yorkshire Day Yorkshire Pudding initiative – but we would love to haveYOU on board too!

* The Abbey Inn, Byland Abbey
* Tim Bilton, The Butchers Arms at Hepworth
* Farmer Copleys, Purston, Pontefract
* Lionel Strub, Fennel, Wetherby
* Fodder, Harrogate
* George & Dragon, Aysgarth
* Harvey Nichols, Leeds – Fourth Floor Café & Bar
* Chris Kelly, The Kaye Arms, Grange Moor
* Michael Hjort, Meltons Too, York
* James McKenzie, The Pipe & Glass
* Rudding Park, Harrogate
* Ashley McCarthy, Ye Old Sun Inn, Colton, Tadcaster
* Andrew Pern, The Star Inn, Harome
* Tickton Grange, Beverley
* Weetons, Harrogate
* Ashley McCarthy, White Swan, Wighill, Tadcaster

Yorkshire Pudding Day, By 'eck!

Calling all Yorkshire Chefs
Your County needs You!


To celebrate this Yorkshire Day on Sunday 1st August
we want all Yorkshire Chefs to serve Yorkshire Pudding the traditional way…
as a Starter with a zingy drizzle of Womersley Raspberry Vinegar.

For far too long – under the influence of ‘southerners’ –
the noble Yorkshire Pudding has been consigned to the main course,
jostling for space amongst the meat and veg.
Now it’s time to return it to its rightful place at the head of Sunday Lunch.

Yorkshire Chefs – be proud of your Heritage!
Make the ultimate Sunday Starter your
Blackboard ‘Special’ this Yorkshire Day

Join our Facebook page for recipe info and to spread the word!


Womersley Fruit & Herb Vinegars
www.womersleyfoods.co.uk

Foodies to our Enthused Core

 

Another weekend, another show, more enthused people...
Whilst I was not there this time, we were well represented by the lovely Mike, Sabrina and Ben did good trade despite being blown away on the Sunday.
We were under the protective canopy of deliciouslYorkshire to help keep us dry; but that became a good canopy to be dragged off in the Sunday gales!

First Day at Harrogate Speciality

 
Before the rush, we had plenty of time to set up our stall. Wendy has done a terrific job of getting everything organised, including getting a lovely new board made up for the back, of our Raspberry vinegar bottle. I feel so proud of what we have achieved, looking at this; all we have done to produce a look of such high quality, very much in line with what we produce.
We had an excellent first day, too, with lots of people remarking on how good our new branding looks and how well we set up the stall. Congratulations, Wendy!

Harrogate Speciality Food Show 20th-21st June 2010

The next two days see our first Trade Show since we launched our new designs. I must confess that I am really looking forward to this: never tiring of seeing the joy on people's faces when they taste our sweet, fruity vinegars for the first time then going on to discuss all the hundeds of uses for them in the kitchen.
After a tough few months for us, things are getting very busy, now, so we hope to continue to spread the word of Womersley this weekend to the foodies who know best!
I'll try to get a photo or two for posting here after the show.
If you are visiting, come and say hello. Try our summer favourite- Strawberry and Mint: a winning combination!