Biodynamic Buffaloes
Yes, its true. Some Buffaloes are biodynamic. AND they make sensational mozzarella which we will shortly stock. By Kate
No blog last week. A shameful state of affairs, but we live in interesting times, people. Interesting times render blog writing obsolete on occasion.
However, I am back with two bits of exciting news. Firstly, Unathi’s visa situation finally seems to be resolving itself. We hardly dare hope for plain sailing from here on but we remain quietly confident that it won’t be too long before we have her over here. Respect to Liz on this one as she has been dealing with the new application - after many hours of fun we do seem to be getting somewhere.
T hanks to the infinite wisdom of the new visa system her stay will be for a period of just 6 months, after which we will have to ship Unathi back to South Africa, reapply, and then get her over for the last 6 months. Having gone through the training process once, we know that a single 6 month stint is not nearly long enough, so aggravating (and expensive!) as the visa requirements are we have little choice but to pay up and smile.
Never say die. We remain convinced it will all be worth it in the end.
Secondly, from Friday, we will at last be stocking Laverstoke Farm Biodynamic Buffalo Mozzarella!!! Readers of this blog will be unaware of how profoundly exciting this is as I haven’t kept you abreast of how long-winded and frankly tedious the process of getting it into our shop has been.
You should be thankful for that, really.
Laverstoke Park Farm is owned by one Jody Scheckter, a name instantly familiar to South Africans and/or fans of Formula 1. Being South African (although in no way a fan of loud, fast cars), I certainly grew up with his name hovering around in the ethos and a quick look at his Wikipedia entry confirms he was something of a champion in the 1970’s.
On retirement from FI, he built up and then sold a company which manufactured firearms training simulators (!) and is now an organic and biodynamic farmer.
Try as I might, I do struggle to imagine how a person ends up following a career trajectory that spans motor racing qnd guns, followed by biodynamic meat and cheese but, hey – well done Jody!
I first heard about Laverstroke Park Farm on the Food Program on Radio 4 last year and immediately contacted them to get samples. They sell a whole range of organic meats, both fresh and cured, beer, wine and cheese. But it was the Buffalo Mozzarella which sounded really delicious. Obtaining a sample should have been a relatively simple process and I have to say that everyone I dealt with was incredibly nice and helpful.
Only the samples didn’t arrive. So we tried again and again. They still did not arrive. The deadline for the Autumn/Winter menu was approaching and so we reluctantly abandoned thoughts of biodynamic buffaloes and concentrated instead on organic pizza and Greek feta and spinach pastries.
However, with the new year came new will. We tried again and this time samples eventually actually materialised. We had in the meantime tried samples of Mozzarella from two other companies and felt that in both instances they weren’t terribly good.
Happily, the Laverstoke Park
So, our new spring menu which is due to begin this weekend will feature a simple salad containing 125 grams of this very superior cheese, served with basil, rocket and a simple olive oil and balsamic dressing. It will cost £7 which is much more than we have ever charged for a salad but we feel that it is worth every penny. Pop in and see what you think.
No blog last week. A shameful state of affairs, but we live in interesting times, people. Interesting times render blog writing obsolete on occasion.
Only the samples didn’t arrive. So we tried again and again. They still did not arrive. The deadline for the Autumn/Winter menu was approaching and so we reluctantly abandoned thoughts of biodynamic buffaloes and concentrated instead on organic pizza and Greek feta and spinach pastries.
