This weekend looks like a fantastic one to stay local. Street parties are popping up all over the district, with large organised parties in every town centre and village. Beacons will be lit in St Albans, Harpenden and Wheathamstead with hog roasts, Pimms tents, tea and cakes, and live music. Redbourn are making the most of the weather with ‘Redbourn at the Seaside’ on Sunday 3rd June.

JAY’S DELICATESSEN

If you want to stock up on delicious British food, one of the best food shops locally is Jay’s delicatessen on Southdown Road, Harpenden. A complete local gem. Known for their delicious selection of British pies and cheeses, Jay and team are selling a special Diamond Jubilee pie inspired by coronation chicken and containing free-range chicken, apricots, raisins and a light spicing. It is made by Pyes Farm (perfect name…) in Great Dunmow in Essex. I am a big fan of the duck and orange Jay’s sells regularly, and also look out for Gloucester Old Pork Pie, Gloucester Old Spot with Stilton, and Royal Game Pie. Any one of these will be ideal for a gathering. Small pies cost just £2.50 each, and you can buy the whole pies or slices at £1.60 for 100g, which is excellent value for the quality.

Jay’s deli will have stalls at Jubilee events in Harpenden and St Albans, and you will be able to pick up a slice of pie with coleslaw and salad for £4 – a delicious, easy lunch for little more than the price of a sandwich.

The store stocks the best selection of British artisan cheeses I have found locally, including Keens Cheddar from Somerset, Wyfe of Bath cows milk cheese from Bath, Perl Las the organic cows milk cheese from Wales, and the famous Stinking Bishop from Gloucestershire. They also stock our local Childwickbury Goats cheese. You can also buy local honey, flour and flapjacks and they are always on the lookout for local producers and suppliers, so if you have a glut of excellent fruit or vegetables, or make something yourself, do go in and see them.

Many of our readers are already fans of The Pudding Stop who sell at local farmer’s markets and in the evenings outside St Albans City train station but do you know you can buy Johnny’s classic British puds and cakes at Jay’s too? Look out for his Diamond Jubilee Victoria sponge cake with Strawberry and blueberry toppings. For coffee enthusiasts, Jay’s sell excellent single origin organic coffee from Monmouth Coffee Company, which is freshly roasted in london. All the staff are barista trained by Monmouth Coffee Company. They have a few tables inside and out so you can sit outside in lovely weather and enjoy fantastic food and coffee.

ROLLINGS WINE COMPANY

If you need some wine to go with your jubilee celebrations, Rollings Wine Shop have just opened a new shop at 26 Station Road, Harpenden. It launched last Thursday, and is a wonderful light space where you can browse their excellent selection of wines. Perfect for if you come off the train and need to pick up some wine on the way home, you can also try wine from their new Enomatic machine. This state of the art machine dispenses tasting amounts in perfect condition, which means Rollings can offer tastings of top range wines. You can buy a tasting card allowing you to try as many as you like. The Local Kitchen provided canapes for the guests, including Childwickbury Goats cheese with quince preserve on Brown’s bread, and home-made chicken liver pâté, sourced locally.

JUBILEE BEACON DAY

To celebrate the Diamond Jubilee, beacons will be lit around the area on Monday 4th June. Head to St Peters Stree in St Albans for live music, funfair and stalls and fireworks and the lighting of the beacon at 10pm. Take a picnic or buy lunch of course at one of the many fab cafes, restaurants and pubs in the town centre. It is probably a good idea to book! Over at Hatfield House, the beacon will be lit at a very precise 10.01pm. The Coach House Restaurant will be open until 8pm and there will be an extra Pimms tent, ice cream and outdoor food and drink. There will be live music including buskers and bands and lots of classic British games for all including Guess the weight of the cake. Entry to this event and parking is free. Bring your flags!

Planning your jubilee party?

This weekend looks like a fantastic one to stay local. Street parties are popping up all over the district, with large organised parties in every town centre and village. Beacons will be lit in St Albans, Harpenden and Wheathamstead with hog roasts, Pimms tents, tea and cakes, and live music. Redbourn are making the most of the weather with ‘Redbourn at the Seaside’ on Sunday 3rd June.

JAY’S DELICATESSEN

If you want to stock up on delicious British food, one of the best food shops locally is Jay’s delicatessen on Southdown Road, Harpenden. A complete local gem. Known for their delicious selection of British pies and cheeses, Jay and team are selling a special Diamond Jubilee pie inspired by coronation chicken and containing free-range chicken, apricots, raisins and a light spicing. It is made by Pyes Farm (perfect name…) in Great Dunmow in Essex. I am a big fan of the duck and orange Jay’s sells regularly, and also look out for Gloucester Old Pork Pie, Gloucester Old Spot with Stilton, and Royal Game Pie. Any one of these will be ideal for a gathering. Small pies cost just £2.50 each, and you can buy the whole pies or slices at £1.60 for 100g, which is excellent value for the quality.

 

Jay’s deli will have stalls at Jubilee events in Harpenden and St Albans, and you will be able to pick up a slice of pie with coleslaw and salad for £4 – a delicious, easy lunch for little more than the price of a sandwich.

The store stocks the best selection of British artisan cheeses I have found locally, including Keens Cheddar from Somerset, Wyfe of Bath cows milk cheese from Bath, Perl Las the organic cows milk cheese from Wales, and the famous Stinking Bishop from Gloucestershire. They also stock our local Childwickbury Goats cheese. You can also buy local honey, flour and flapjacks and they are always on the lookout for local producers and suppliers, so if you have a glut of excellent fruit or vegetables, or make something yourself, do go in and see them.

Many of our readers are already fans of The Pudding Stop who sell at local farmer’s markets and in the evenings outside St Albans City train station but do you know you can buy Johnny’s classic British puds and cakes at Jay’s too? Look out for his Diamond Jubilee Victoria sponge cake with Strawberry and blueberry toppings. For coffee enthusiasts, Jay’s sell excellent single origin organic coffee from Monmouth Coffee Company, which is freshly roasted in london. All the staff are barista trained by Monmouth Coffee Company. They have a few tables inside and out so you can sit outside in lovely weather and enjoy fantastic food and coffee.

ROLLINGS WINE COMPANY

If you need some wine to go with your jubilee celebrations, Rollings Wine Shop have just opened a new shop at 26 Station Road, Harpenden. It launched last Thursday, and is a wonderful light space where you can browse their excellent selection of wines. Perfect for if you come off the train and need to pick up some wine on the way home, you can also try wine from their new Enomatic machine. This state of the art machine dispenses tasting amounts in perfect condition, which means Rollings can offer tastings of top range wines. You can buy a tasting card allowing you to try as many as you like. The Local Kitchen provided canapes for the guests, including Childwickbury Goats cheese with quince preserve on Brown’s bread, and home-made chicken liver pâté, sourced locally.

JUBILEE BEACON DAY

To celebrate the Diamond Jubilee, beacons will be lit around the area on Monday 4th June. Head to St Peters Stree in St Albans for live music, funfair and stalls and fireworks and the lighting of the beacon at 10pm. Take a picnic or buy lunch of course at one of the many fab cafes, restaurants and pubs in the town centre. It is probably a good idea to book! Over at Hatfield House, the beacon will be lit at a very precise 10.01pm. The Coach House Restaurant will be open until 8pm and there will be an extra Pimms tent, ice cream and outdoor food and drink. There will be live music including buskers and bands and lots of classic British games for all including Guess the weight of the cake. Entry to this event and parking is free. Bring your flags!

Best of British!

Signs are going up outside pubs, cafes and restaurants all round the county advertising Diamond Jubilee events. Street parties are being organised and schools will be having picnics to celebrate, organised by The Good School Food team. Lots of people have told me they are going to be celebrating with British food at their event, so we can look forward to a weekend of cucumber sandwiches, Victoria cakes, sausages, Pimms and beer. Delicious!

Wheathampstead village

Wheathamstead has held some fantastic community events in recent years, and on 4th June will be hosting the “Jubilympics” (thanks to twentytwelve I think?). There will be a picnic on East Meads at 2.30 – everyone take your own picnic, and there will be races and games for all ages. Cream teas and bar will be available, and you can work it all off with some welly wanging and the egg and spoon race. Go dressed ready for the 1950s theme, and there will be prizes for the best, including a Queen Look-A-Like, Bonny Baby and Glamorous Granny. There are also plans for a sophisticated Diamond Cabaret in the evening, followed by fireworks and eco-lanterns. It all sounds magical.

Local pubs

Lots of our local pubs will be celebrating with barbecues and local real ales, but I wanted to mention The White Hart Tap in St Albans, for going the extra mile with their Jubilee Weekend Extravaganza. They are planning a four-day celebration all about Great British Food, with their biggest festival to date. It starts with a sausage festival and a Great British Food Night on Saturday. Sunday will feature the Classic Roast Dinner, of course, with a cheese and wine tasting in the evening. On Monday they open at 10am for an All Day English Breakfast, and the finale is on Tuesday with the Jubilee Garden Party with stalls selling homemade British classic foods. They always source local produce so look out for home-grown vegetables and Gloucester Old Spot Pork pies and Scotch Eggs. I tried one of these at the St Albans Food & Drink Festival last Autumn and it was fab – nothing at all like a supermarket one. Take a picnic blanket and enjoy the party atmosphere (also because I guess they will run out of chairs). A beer festival will run all weekend, featuring over 25 ales, ciders and perries. They will be open 12-11 every day (Monday 10am). No-one will go hungry.

And a trip to No10

And for some locals, being the Best of British is taken to a new level. Well-known local restaurateur Andrei Lussmann, owner of Lussmanns Fish & Grill in St Albans and Hertford, was invited to No10 Downing Street for a reception hosted by David Cameron. The idea was to celebrate our fantastic British food. Guests included 150 of the most influential figures in the British restaurant and food industry, including producers, chefs and writers.

Andrei told us: “The roll call was most definitely a who’s who of the great, glorious and infamous of the restaurant world. National treasures and international icons roamed like the last great beasts of Africa but happily there was no locking of horns, just solidarity at the watering hole. Raymond Blanc, Gordon Ramsey, Rick Stein, Angela Hartnett, Fergus Henderson, Prue Leith, Atul Kochhar, Ruth Rogers, Ferran Adrià, Michel Roux, AA Gill, Fay Maschler, Jay Rayner, Henry Dimbleby, Sam Harrison and the list goes on. They were all here to extol the virtues of British food championing all that is local and sustainable today.”

The event was organised by the Sustainable Restaurant Association, VisitBritain and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Andrei was invited as Lussmanns wins awards for their fantastic food and high sustainability credentials. The aim was to celebrate a restaurant scene that is the envy of the world and the creativity and hard work of the chefs and producers who make it possible. And we have a quote from David Cameron: ‘I am hugely proud of Britain’s food industry and we’re launching Food is GREAT Britain to showcase what we have to offer. Our farmers produce some of the best quality food anywhere in the world with high welfare standards and excellent local produce.

‘We’ve produced exceptional British chefs and attracted incredible talent from overseas and as a result you can find outstanding cuisine throughout the country. From sticky toffee pudding from Cartmel to oysters from Whitstable, salt marsh lamb from North Wales, or smoked salmon from Scotland our food is key to our cultural identity. British food showcases our heritage, openness, creativity and diversity.’

And for once I completely agree with him. Enjoy it all during this very British summer.

Photo: Andrei Lussmann and Sam Harrison from Sam’s Brasserie, Chiswick (past winner of Time Out Award for Best Restaurant)

Home style Indian Food

I’m a little reluctant to tell you about this place as it is tiny, and I want to be able to get in – anyway, Singhli Street Kitchen has opened on Holywell Hill in a tiny spot opposite Shimto. I had the best Chicken Biryani I have ever had – delicately spiced and light, and I imagine probably how it is cooked at home. S had a yellow dahl curry and that was delicious too. Not huge portions but then you don’t really need vast portions. Our food bill was under £15. It was very full on Saturday pm so book if you plan to go. 

Nice buns!

Very excited to see that a new Artisanal Bakery and coffee shop is opening under Lussmanns! I think this is one of the best (if not THE best) location in St Albans – it’s as close as you can get to the Abbey, with a view of the Rose Window, with outside seating so you can actually see the Abbey. I can’t think of any other cafe/restaurant/bar with that view. And it is going to sell cakes! I am very happy (and wish I had the means to have done it myself…) No date for opening yest but there was a note on the door recruiting, so not long I guess, so we can look forward to sitting outside eating nice buns!

Bring out the bunting!

 

Bring out the bunting: it’s the start of the summer fair season and we are getting nearer to the Diamond Jubilee celebrations. I’m an optimist so I’m hoping this rain will cease in time for the Kimpton May Festival and Harpenden Carnival. When the sun is shining, there really is no lovelier place to be than sitting on one of our lovely local greens, eating a slice of homemade cake and sipping some Pimms. Why would you want to be anywhere else?

 

The Kimpton Festival (4-7th May) is a local gem. One of the biggest and brightest village festivals in the country, this is the type of community event that people hope for when they move to a village. We have visited a few times over the years and we enjoy watching the maypole dancing, floats and viewing the art in the Church. But this is a food column and I have to tell you about the delicious homemade cakes sold on the green, and in recent years, by the play area. Classic Victoria sponges, chocolate cakes, fruit cakes and fairy cakes served with Pimms or tea on the green: I doubt you will find a more “English” scene anywhere in the country.

 

This year’s theme is The Best of British, celebrating the London Olympics and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, so the flags and bunting will be out! The barbecue outside The White Horse was very good last year too, and this year they are also holding a man vs British Burger competition. If the competitor manages to eat the burger, sides and drink in the alloted time, the burger is free and the winner gets a t-shirt too. The pub is also hosting a free Jubilee tea for Kimpton residents aged over 60 on 5th June, with live music and bubbly and is helping to organise a Diamond Jubilee Ball on 12th May at the Memorial Hall. Tiaras and tuxedos will be worn and a visit from the “Queen” is expected. Call Janet on 01438 832307 for tickets (£60 dinner, £25 non-dinner).

 

 

The Harpenden Carnival (Sunday 20th May) is another traditional family day out. Watch the procession pass through the town centre from 12, and then follow it into Rothamstead Park for 12.30. There will be a beer tent and food stalls in the main arena. There are some excellent cafes and restaurants near the main park entrance including That Little Place, which does a good Sunday lunch using local and seasonal ingredients, and The Gingerbread Cafe which is a past winner of The St Albans Food and Drink Award for most Family Friendly. I really like their home-made cakes and the children’s food is tasty and healthy. Every child is also given a mini gingerbread man to take away.

 

The Herts County Show, Showground, Redbourn (2nd-3rd June)

 

Head over to this very popular local event to see how the Woolatt family from Hedges Farm will do this year with their Hereford cows. You will also be able to enjoy the Food Hall and Farmer’s Bar, and meet lots of local farmers and producers. There will be bread from neighbours Redbournbury Mill, St Albans and T Roberts & Son from Hammonds End Farm, Harpenden. Hammonds End supply much of the organic grain to the Mill. Look out too for beer from the Safrron Brewery from Bishops Stortford and cold-pressed rape seed oil, grown in the Chilterns by PE Mead and Sons. The show themes this year will be the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the London 2012 Olympics, so there will be plenty of Union Jacks and classic British food.

 

Farmer’s Markets

 

I am always being asked when the local farmer’s markets are on, so here is my annual reminder!

 

St Albans

 

2nd Sunday of the month. The next one is 13th May, 8-2 in city centre.

 

Wheathamstead

 

3rd Sunday of the month. The next one is 20th May, 10-1 East Lane car park.

 

Harpenden

 

4th Sunday of the month. The next one is 27th May, 10-2 High Street.

 

 

Ah ha! Who spotted that I didn’t tell you when?

The Food and Wine Evening is Thursday 17th May, at the Park Hall in Harpenden. Time 7-9 ish.

Cost £35 per ticket and you get lots of lovely wine and food for that, plus expert teaching. And its a short walk from the train station so no need to drive!