mahleb – Julian Rolfe

As many of you already know, I am quite fussy about sourcing ingredients from artisan, ethical and small businesses rather than the usual brands that have taken over the UK like a rabid pestilence (you know who I mean!). With the recent (and historic) food scandals around meat, my 1st port of call for protein is always Casey Fields Farm Shop, part of Vicar’s Game who can supply almost anything (and knows exactly from where, and what it comes from!). But in order to enhance ANY recipe then you need Herbs and Spices, this maybe just Salt or Pepper but even the most basic of additions to a meal need some consideration to get the best flavor.

So for Herbs, Spices and other flavor enhancers my 1st port of call is STEENBERGS, in fact it probably is my ONLY place of call, unless I forget to order something when my current stock is depleted!

Steenbergs Organic is a family-run, friendly firm committed to Fairtrade, the environment and people. It was set up in 2003 by Axel and Sophie Steenberg in North Yorkshire and this week I had the privilege of popping in on my way to a meeting in Darlington. Just to be clear, I was not asked to do a review, received no gifts or favours (other than sharing a nice cup of tea with Axel), but from a personally perspective wanted to understand more about a supplier I use on a regular basis, and pass on my own view of the experience.

Sourcing Herbs and Spice’s is not easy, as I was to find out from Axel as we went from room to room. It was a 3 1/2 drive to Melmerby, near Ripon in North Yorkshire where Steenbergs are located, after I arrived, I completed the mandatory health/sickness declaration, donned a cloak and hair net, and we started the tour. Sophie, Axel’s partner (in both marriage and business), was busy applying the finishing touches to a box of the distinctive glass jars that are used to store the various products, the final blue seal. Legislation has an interesting impact on importing food products. You would imagine that Cardamom, Pepper, Sumac etc. would arrive in ‘romantic’ hessian sacks, but no, thanks to the EU and other legislative bodies, vacuum packing is the order of the day and the 1st task as soon as a shipment arrives, is to remove the plastic to prevent the product from sweating and going off!

Steenbergs have in excess of 200 items, I mentioned Salt and Pepper earlier and you are spoilt for choice (and flavor). Kala Namak – Indian Black Salt, Pyramid Finger Salt From Pakistan, Murray River Pink Salt from Australia, Lava Red Hawaiian Sea Salt enriched with A natural mineral called “Alaea” (baked volcanic red clay), they all have different flavor profiles and searching on Steenbergs VERY comprehensive website you can find details and descriptions on how to match the product with food, and importantly details about the sourcing. On the Pepper front you can choose from Tasmanian Mountain Pepper Leaf ( a new one for me!), Southern Sumatran Lampung Black Pepper, Madagascan Wild Pepper, Tasmanian Mountain Pepper (Very Hot), Piper retrofactum (Long Pepper from Indonesia) as well as ‘normal’ varieties.

Steenbergs, because of the size and family nature of the business are VERY flexible about obtaining new Herbs and Spices. Because they are not buying bulk anonymous products by the Ton, but locating ingredients at source in smaller quantities, they are keen to try and locate unusual and difficult to get ingredients for their customers, a really personal touch.

Whilst we were touring the facility I asked a question about Saffron, the most expensive Spice in the world. Steenbergs have several on offer including one from AFGHANISTAN, please click and find out how they are helping change a village and impacting on the illegal drug trade, its a truly amazing story.

The aromas as we walked around the factory were intoxicating, the machine above delivers precise amounts of Herbs or Spices into the jars before labeling, the picture was taken as a Madras Curry Powder mix was going through the process, mmmmmm.

Steenbergs sell Herbs, Spices and their own blends, which introduced another really interesting (and artisan) feature. If you look at the majority of Spice blends in the shops, the powder is the same size (with a very few exceptions), Steenbergs blends are personal to them, so the Ras al-Hanut (one of my favourites), has over 20 different ingredients AND they are texturally different, making for a better eating experience.

Whilst on the subject of Ras al-Hanut, if you take some butter puff pastry, preferable home-made but quality shop bought is OK, some decent Sausage Meat from a Butcher (NOT the pink stuff that fills cheap Sausages), add a tablespoon of Steenbergs Ras al-Hanut and mix well you are on your way to the BEST SAUSAGE ROLLS EVER, please try them they are just fantastic.When I made the sausage rolls above as an experiment, and gave one to the ‘boss’ to try, the look on her face said it all, expletives excused bl@@dy delicious!!

So, some of the values that drive the Steenbergs business include ensuring there is personality in the Spice Mixes, Family Village sourcing and having an impact on local communities, flexibility, connecting to real people in remote places, not driven by price….

Steenbergs have some very large well known brands as their customers, and some famous people and chefs too. I won’t say who due to client confidentiality but unfortunately I had to depart and get to Darlington, so said farewell to Axel and his family of workers. If you want to impart and enhance flavour in your cooking then I know what I do, please give them a go, thanks Axel and Sophie for allowing me behind the scenes (and for the tea!).

Till next time……L8ers

The last couple of weeks have been challenging and being struck down with flu has just added to the frustration, not feeling particularly inspired to get into the kitchen. Until recently I have not been a fan of Twitter, my Facebook account was deleted some time ago as it became too distracting, Twitter, due to its limited message size, seems to provide a source of inspiration on the foodie front and is the reason for this latest post.

I am a massive fan of Yotam Ottolenghi, and Middle Eastern inspired food in general. Yotam recently ‘tweeted’ from Copenhagen a picture of an interesting looking pastry called KRINGLE, I saw this post and decided to do a bit of detective work, and see what this treat was all about.

The word originates from the Old Norse kringla, meaning ring or circle and denotes the traditional shape of this pastry, made using either Puff or a Yeast based dough. Trying to find some recipes and guidance for making Kringle I looked to Google and found a number of different approaches and shapes to this tasty pastry, mostly by clicking through the ‘images’ search results, rather than web which did not seem to have so much too offer.

If you decide to investigate as I did, you will find variations from many countries including Denmark, Estonia, Holland & Wisconsin (home to many Danish people apparently), here is my 1st attempt which did not go quite to plan!!

The recipe I used is HERE, and is based on a combination of Puff Pastry but INCLUDES yeast, be prepared to be patient as it will take 3 days to make, most of this is resting time and should not be hurried if you are to get the best results. You might note an extra spice in the heading picture, Mahleb, an aromatic spice made from the seeds of a species of cherry, Prunus mahaleb the St Lucie cherry, which I added to the pastry mix.

I must have been tired when I started the construction element of my 1st Kringle as I go it completely wrong! You follow a similar method to making Puff Pastry, flattening Butter and folding it into the Dough mix, and leaving it to rest in-between folds in the fridge overnight. This is where I made my 1st mistake and things went downhill from here. If you compare mine, to the instructions on the web links on this page you will see where I went wrong.

There are a number of interesting variations on preparing Kringle, I used one HERE to get an idea on the techniques to create interesting shapes.

You need to treat this beast with respect, and timing/resting is important. You can see the butter beneath the surface after the third day, but you will also notice ‘islands’ of butter which is not what you are looking for. This happened as a result of not doing the folding correctly and trying to fix the problem in a hurry!!!!

After the resting and rolling you can cover the centre of the Kringle with whatever you wish, I opted for a Butterscotch, Sultana and Pecan Nut mixture. I had originally intended to add some Apple, but it was getting late in the day and decided to omit this ingredient at the last minute. The Butterscotch was made from Egg Whites, Light & Dark Muscovado Sugar and Butter.

Now for my next mistake, this was not going to plan at all!

My Butterscotch mixture was way to0 wet, and I should have chilled the pastry further to make it less pliable. Once you have applied the filling you roll lengthways (front to back looking at the picture above), and then cut down the middle to create two tales. Don’t cut all the way as the next stage is to plait the two ends top to bottom and then join together. The technique is in the link above and should create a ring of Pastry, with the cut sides facing upward.

As everything was too soft and wet, my effort to create a beautiful masterpiece failed miserable and I ended up creating what looks like a pair of trousers!

Despite the odd shape and bungled folding the end result tasted absolutely fantastic which was a relief, considering the multiple mistakes I had managed to accrue over the weekend!

This pastry is well worth having a go it, you can play around with the flavours to your hearts content, or go for some simpler shapes to start off with, just put Kringle into Google and select the images to find loads of information on how to make them.

Till next time,

L8ers

Julian Rolfe

My Foodie Life

Tag Archives: mahleb

Making Good Taste Better – Welcome to Steenbergs!

Kringle Version 1 (Not a complete Failure) – Danish Pastry Bliss