Here is Tom Naylor-Leyland’s ‘Food Glorious Food column’ from the Gazette and Herald

Column 1 – 24th August 2011

The irrepressible, talented and often drunk TV chef Keith Floyd used to open his shows with “Dear Gastronauts…” It is with this I will make a start.

Dear Gastronauts, in God’s own county we produce some of the best food Britain has to offer. In Ryedale alone there are hundreds of independent producers who tirelessly grow, rear and create award-winning produce every year. We should be very proud of this fact and should continue to shout about it from the fields and rooftops. In the mean time this monthly column will be celebrating everything to do with food, local food, your food.

I have had a life long interest in cooking and food. On leaving school my first job was working in the kitchens of a top London hotel. There I started learning the most important rule of the kitchen – beware of the chef… My worst crime (among others) was to open an already desperately full fridge and get crushed by a tidal wave of chicken goujons, which having cascaded onto my head and then to the floor, were unusable. The chef was not pleased.

Back to Malton where I have been living and working for nearly two years. Among other things, I helped to organise the annual Malton Food Lovers Festival, which was held over two days in May. I feel the Food Festival has found an important role in town because agriculture plays such a large part in the local economy. Due to the fertile and varied farmland nearby, a huge amount of brilliant produce is available on our doorstep and it was this produce that made up the backbone of Malton’s recent food festival.

Within a few miles of Malton you can find almost anything you need to bolster your dining table: rare breed cattle, pigs, spring lamb and free range chicken; artisan bakers making favourites such as Parkin and Fat Rascals; high quality dairy herds producing Yorkshire cheese, ice cream and yogurt and there are some really good organic fruit and veg box schemes. Game is plentiful with pheasant, partridge and grouse coming from local shoots as well as rabbit and hare. On the moors beekeepers harvest their bees on heather, which gives the honey its amazing flavour. Ryedale vineyards, Britain’s most northerly vineyard sits just outside town, not far from the famous Sand Hutton asparagus farm. The North Sea plays its part too, with the regular catch from Whitby bringing into town fresh crab, lobster, mackerel, skate, Dover sole and samphire.

This column’s mission will be to search out these excellent producers and get to know what they do, with the aim of bridging the gap between the food you see on your plate and where it has come from, which in most cases you will discover, is not very far at all. Each month we will meet professional and amateur cooks, talk to foodies, gourmets and gluttons and give you cooking tips and inspiration from far and wide.

So until then Dear Gastronauts…

Column 2 – September 10th 2011

Seductive, sexy, ancient as the pyramids and more popular than ever in Malton, This month dear Gastronauts I am looking into the mysterious world of honey and beekeeping.

I set out for Rillington to meet the first of Malton’s superb local producers. Allen Stonehouse 26, of Beez Neez Apiary is a classic example of what makes North Yorkshire food so special. He is completely passionate about producing the very best.  Originally a pick your own fruit farm he experimented with keeping bees on the side. A few years on and the honey took off in a major way and the fruit trees (although lovely) took a back seat.

Not knowing anything about bees I start with some basics, what, why and how. It turns out surprisingly that the bees are a Welsh-Italian cross, sounding like the unexpected union between Charlotte Church and Pavarotti. “Do they get angry?” I ask. “Yes, and they’re prone to swarming”, Allen replies, but with a smile adds, “they do produce more honey than any other variety though”

And what of the honey itself? Allen produces a small jar and prises off the lid. The deeply viscous liquid inside is dark like treacle but finer in consistency. It is rich and tastes slightly floral and strong. “This is moors honey,” he explains. It turns out the Italian-Welsh cross have had a six week holiday on the moors and it is their tireless work on the glorious purple heather that has led to the delicious intense flavour.

I leave enthralled. Especially after hearing of Alan’s experiments making ginger and chillie honey, intriguing! Next I meet Jack Willford whose sixty hives are found in a charming orchard of apple, plum, pear and damson trees. I’m surprised again as it is pretty much in the centre of Malton.

Jack is a virtuoso and true expert on bees having worked for some time in the government bee laboratory on the A64. He continues the ancient tradition of cross breeding the very best pedigrees to end up with superior hives and honey. Less swarming and more molten gold seems to be his very practical aim. On the subject of swarming, Jack’s view is that the native British bees are the most aggressive but have the best honey. He explains that most of what the supermarkets sell these days is from China and far inferior.

What both producers prove to me me is the passion and expertise that is right under our noses. Both are unassuming and modest but there is no question to their knowledge and skill and it is this that creates such delicious crops of honey. Where to taste it though you may ask…

On Saturday November 5^th Malton Beez Neez Apiary will be one of several producers at the brand new Malton Food Lovers Market. This indoor market (set in the newly refurbished Milton Rooms) is set to be a regular treat for all Yorkshire Foodies and honey lovers too. Come down and taste for yourself, their bees have been working overtime after all.

Column 3 – 7th December 2011

WHERE in the world can the phrase “females are better because they’ve got bigger breasts,” be allowed in polite conversation? In the world of poultry, of course.

I head 15 miles north-west from Malton, dear gastronauts, to visit a supreme example of local produce at its very best. Paul Telling’s poultry business, Loose Birds, breeds chickens, ducks, geese and festive turkey.

With Christmas fast approaching, it was a must.

Dr Paul Talling, a doctor of philosophy (no less), started rearing poultry 10 years ago when his wife Janet, also a doctor, but of animal welfare, complained that due to intensive rearing she didn’t want to eat chicken anymore. Sensing a challenge and displaying a devotion to his wife which would have made even the most dutiful husbands sit up and take note, Paul changed career. His husbandly mission was to breed and produce the best-tasting turkeys and chickens but keeping to the highest possible welfare standards.

In the modern world of intensive farming, chicken and turkey on our supermarket shelves seem to get cheaper and the quality worse. Paul, with Janet’s expert help, knew there was another way.

Paul’s poultry process is so different to the battery operation but I suspect much closer to what most members of the public would want and expect. These birds are not just corn-fed or free range, they are pasture reared. “Pasture?” I ask.

“Doesn’t that mean acres of wilderness with thistles and long grass?”

Paul nods and smiles. From five weeks old the chicks chomp their way through this hearty green jungle.

And it is this virtuous diet that gives their meat such a deep and delicious flavour.

“And it’s not just that,” Paul explains. “Our birds are reared for another month or two longer than the usual battery fowl. This lets them develop and mature and the difference in taste is unmistakable.

We also hang our turkeys and that really packs in the flavour.”

But the big question of course is: was Dr Janet persuaded to eat chicken again? “She certainly was,” Paul replies, “but only mine. She sees first-hand the quality of life my turkeys and chickens receive right from hatching to rearing and through to slaughter and we both know that this is positively reflected in the taste of the bird on the table.” And there we have it; it all comes down to taste.

And on the subject of taste, what a reaction to our very first Food Lovers’ Market in the Milton Rooms last month. It seemed that as well as the great atmosphere and a fun day out, its success was due to people choosing to go for taste and high quality produce.

So with the crucial choice of which bird for the Christmas table looming, remember that there are artisan poultry farmers out there who specialise in producing something packed to the rafters with flavour, guilt-free, delicious and worth every penny because as Paul points out “You won’t ever let any go to waste; they’re too damned good.”

Come and meet Dr Paul who will among the producers at next The Malton Food Lovers’ Market, which is returning on Saturday, March 3 2012.