Food Frome at the Frome Festival (report and recipes)

Diane Wells has contributed the following report on Food Frome activities at the Frome Festival.  Click on "Read More" below to read the full report including the recipes for Savoury Spelt Scones, Mushroom Pate and Chocolate Cake.

Fairy Tale Theme

For the second year Food Frome served teas in the café at Rook Lane Arts Centre for both week ends of the Festival. This year the theme in the café was Fairy Tales. Rook Lane Arts had worked with several artists and schools on this theme and we served teas that reflected the theme: we advertised them as:

“Tasty morsels from woods and meadows with mushroom, nuts and cheese,
Spiced and spangled cakes from the castle
And juices and teas to quench a dragon’s thirst”

Corinne Sargood’s linocuts, made originally to illustrate Angela Carter’s Books of Fairy Tales, were hung on the walls. During the first weekend of the festival we had Frome Story Circle (Saturday) and Openstorytellers Ltd (Sunday) performing in the cafe. The latter are a group of people with learning disabilities who are led by Nicola Grove. They choose stories that chime with some of their own experiences and particularly like characters who, despite hardship and difficulties, win through. We all enjoyed their dramatisation of Robin Hood.

On the second Saturday, Marina Warner who has published widely on Fairy Tales and runs university courses on the topic gave a talk, in the hall, focussing particularly on her friend Angela Carter’s approach. Sunday was the last day of the festival, the ever-popular Songbirds were performing in the hall, and we were so busy that we completely sold out. We apologise to those who could only have tea. I wished we had taken another tin of cakes/ biscuits!

When planning the food - we had envisaged a pastoral scene where country folk gathered mushrooms, milked cows and sometimes met with mysterious fairies especially if they ventured into the woods. In a nearby castle lived the lord and lady who feasted on exotic fruits, sugar and spice. Across the front of our tables hung a textile collage depicting this scene – woodland, meadow, stream and castle.

Fairy Tale Food

On the table we had on offer:

Savouries

Spelt Scones – either courgette and walnut or cheese and herb (recipe below)
with mushroom pate (recipe below)   £1

Hot tomato twists and poppy seed biscuits
with spicy damson dip   50p

Cakes

Small 50p
Almond macaroons, Coconut pyramids, Gingerbread bears, and Fondant iced cakes,  

Large £1
Slice of Victoria sponge, Iced Ginger cake, Cream filled Meringue, slice of Battenburg, Chocolate cake (recipe below)

The food was well liked and in particular I was asked how to make the following:

Scones, Mushroom Pate and Chocolate Cake

I said these three recipes would be on the website and here they are.

Savoury Spelt Scones

8 oz (225g) Plain White Spelt Flour
8oz (225g) Plain Brown Spelt Flour
1 teasp Bicarbonate of Soda
2 teasp Cream of tartar
3 oz (75g) Butter
3oz (75g) Grated cheese preferably local Somerset eg Westcombe
1 teasp dried mixed herbs
or 2 teasp fresh chopped herbs
about ¼ pt  (125 ml) milk

Sieve together flours, bicarbonate of soda and cream of tartar. Rub in butter.  Add grated cheese and herbs Mix to a soft dough with milk, Roll out, cut in rounds and place close together on buttered baking tray. Bake for about 12 minutes at 230C (450F).

Courgette and Walnut Spelt Scones

Omit cheese and herbs and replace with 3 oz chopped walnuts and a medium sized courgette grated. I also decided to replace butter with margarine because I thought people who chose to avoid cheese might prefer margarine to butter. However both were mixed   with milk 

Note  - Why not baking powder?

 There is sometimes a tendency to put a lot of baking powder into scones, which may dry the mouth and leave a bitter taste. This recipe, however, has 2 teaspoons of Cream of Tartar to one of Bicarbonate of Soda. Baking powder is usually made up of equal quantities of Bicarbonate of Soda and Cream of Tartar So in this recipe we have the same constituents but in different proportions.  I think it makes for a more palatable scone.

Mushroom Pate

Adapted from Gail Duff.

8 oz /225g curd cheese (from “Sagebury Cheese” Frome)
8oz /225g cottage cheese (   “     “                 “           “      )
6-8 oz 180- 225g mushrooms – chopped
small onion – finely chopped
1- 2oz /25-50g butter
Few drops chilli sauce eg Jalapeno chilli sauce, bottled by South Devon chilli farm and obtainable from Wholefood Frome.

Cook chopped omion in ½ oz butter until soft, add the rest of the butter, turn up the heat, add the chopped mushrooms. Turn the mushrooms until covered in butter. Put the lid on turn the heat down and allow to sweat for a few minutes. If you don’t want too much butter add in slowly until you have enough to coat mushrooms.

Place curd cheese, cottage cheese and the cooked onion and mushroom mixture all in a food processor and blend to a smooth paste. Add a few drops of chilli sauce.  Blend again and adjust the flavouring.

Turn out into a bowl, or individual ramekins and keep in the fridge. Remove from fridge half an hour before eating. Serve with scones / warm toast.

It would probably keep for about a week.  Any that’s left over can be added to hot vegetables or meat such as steaks of beef or pork.

Chocolate Cake

 I first came across the recipe in Florence White’s book “Good English Food” (1952 Jonathan Cape) which I found on a stall about 8 years ago. White was the founder of  “The English Folk Cookery Association” and she refers to a kitchen at their House of Studies, Fareham where old recipes were tested. This cake made to the recipe of Lady Clark of Tillypronie was declared, “the best chocolate cake ever tasted”.  Since seeing this account I have bought a copy of “The Cookery Book of Lady Clark of Tillypronie” (first published in 1909) and reprinted in 1994 (Southover). 

As well as tasting good this cake keeps well for about a week. Also it has no raising agent except for stiffly beaten egg whites. If you think 7 eggs are too many replace one with just less than a tablespoon of cider vinegar. 

Make sure you have good cooking chocolate eg “callebaut” which is 70% cocoa, a Belgian style chocolate made in England and obtainable from delicatessens e.g. “Sagebury Cheese”, Frome. This is sold loose and is much cheaper than wrapped blocks.

8 oz /225g chocolate
8 oz /225g butter
8 oz /225g caster sugar
7 eggs
4 oz /115g ground almonds
3 oz /80g plain flour

Note - although Lady Clark’s recipe includes 1 teaspoon of sal volatile White simply omits it.

Method

Chop the chocolate using a large knife and a board used only for sweet things (i.e. no onion flavour). Place in bowl over warm water or in low oven.

Cream together sugar and butter. Add egg yolks and mix together. Gently add melted (not hot) chocolate flour and almonds. Beat whites until stiff and fold these in. Bake in slow oven until firm but springy.

I usually use Swiss roll tins lined with baking parchment.

When taking from the oven allow to cool a little before turning out on to a wire rack. When cold melt about 6 oz of chocolate to cover the cakes and sprinkle with crystallised roses and violets,

Alternatively this could be made as a large round cake. This would take 2 – 3 hours to cook and if sprinkled with sugar before baking would have a crunchy topping.

PS “What to drink at Tea Time?”

I have heard that 2 people having liked the Ceylon Orange Pekoe tea that we served tried to buy it at Wholefood. Although most of our dry goods eg sugar flour and ground almonds come from there, our teas are from Sagebury Cheese, just across the road. They usually keep both loose teas that we serve. “Ceylon Orange Pekoe” packaged by Wiltshire Tea Company and of course “Miles Original” tea.