The Real Food Show, Earl’s Court May 2009. A celebration of real food, produced by real people in the UK. Anything from Jersey oysters to Riverford Foods and local cheeses were on display and available to taste.
On the whole a good show but one thing did stand out – Chillies! Chilly jam, chilli chutney, chilli sauces, chilli pickles, chillies everywhere. It seems that anyone with a few spare meters in their allotment are growing chillies, are we becoming chilli mad? Well as chilli is a main ingredient in many Indian and Curry dishes it is not surprising. The curry industry in the UK turn’s over £3.2billion and employs over 10,000 people on a regular basis. At the heart of the business there have been several MBE’s awarded and now with Benares Restaurant there are Michelin Stars up for grabs.
So I spent a merry afternoon heating up my palette between Aggy’s Sauces, David’s Chilli Oil, Manda Foods Limited, South Devon Chilli Farm, Cafe Spice Namaste (Cyrus Todiwala) and Gurkha Fine Foods (without the ubiquitous Miss Joanna Lumley!)
The problem I have always found is, as much as we all love a good curry what do you drink with it? Regular wine doesn’t really fit and beer is too gassy. The problem it seems has now been solved by David Carr Taylor from Taylor & Shroff (Carr Taylor Wines). Taylor & Shroff, located in East Sussex have created a sweet wine that’s high in alcohol and low in acids and tannins. We sampled some together and I was extremely impressed, the sweetness and high alcohol work in tandem with the heat and open up the fuller flavours of the spices. Taylor & Shroff, David went on to tell me has been successfully launched in India and will be launched in the UK towards the end of June. So the next time you are out for a curry, ask for Taylor & Shroff is the message.
Britain it seems is curry mad and long it may continue.
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