This wine comes from the Kakheti region of Eastern Georgia

The label comes with a map of the Kakheti wine region of Georgia

After enjoying Georgian cuisine at a restaurant in London a few weeks ago, I have continued exploring Georgian wine, this time thanks to a friend’s present I could taste this Badagoni white wine…for those like me, that have an interest in learning where things come from, these labels are handy, because they show you a map of the wine region of Kakheti, in Eastern Georgia. I did not even know Georgia had also a system of controlled designation of origin for wine! It is certainly an interesting country when it comes to food and drink…I must confess I do not currently know much about it, but one thing is for sure: the discovery journey must go on!

Now that we are it, I take the chance to share another classy presentation of a traditional British food that I found at Fortnum & Mason. These are for Stilton cheese…!

Stilton cheese, classy and traditional

You know it's Diamond Jubilee year when...

Royal Diamond Jubilees happen only very exceptionally, and these chocolate boxes I found the other day at Fortnum & Mason, Picadilly, London, with a packaging designed to celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee packaging are truly exceptional, a real (or should I say “royal”) collector’s item…

There are different Easter food-related traditions around Europe and one of the most colourful ones is possibly that of Russia and other Orthodox countries. I already posted some pictures last year of the Russian tradition of painted eggs and Easter cakes, and this year I also had the chance to take some pictures of this beautiful food tradition so I thought about sharing the images here. Some visual food inspiration!

As more people become increasingly aware of the power of food names and their territorial connection, countries race to lay claim to what they consider to be their own food specialities…the problem is that the map of foods does not always match political maps.

We have seen this, for example, in the UK at county level with the battle between Devon and Cornwall in relation to the application to get protected designation status for cream tea. The latest dispute between countries that both are laying claim to a particular type of food is taking place between Austria and Slovenia.

At the center of this conflict is the application Slovenia has filed at the EU to get Protected Geographical Indication status for Krainer Wurst, a traditional minced pork sausage seasoned with garlic and pepper that is produced in Northern Slovenia since the 19th Century when the whole area was part of…the Austrian-Hungarian Empire!…a variant of this sausage, filled with cheese, is actually very popular in Austria too, where it is known as “Kaesekrainer”.

If the Slovenian application is successful, Austrians would have trouble to continue using this name legally, something that has caused an uproar of indignation in Vienna…

I am wondering whether the solution to the naming issue would be to add an element to the official protected name that singularizes the protected food while strengthening the link to a specific territory.  This is what was done in the UK when protecting Cheddar cheese, a name that is so widespread globally that is difficult to protect as such, so West Country Farmhouse Cheddar was granted Protected Designation of Origin instead. Same thing could be applied in the case of another food naming conflict in Cyprus, this time over Halloumi cheese.

So why not let the Slovenians register “Slovenian Krainer Wurst” or another similar variation of the name? this would make it possible to get the name protected, while letting Austrians continue using it and all this without weakening the geographical identification of the food, which, after all, is key in marketing of the product.

The center of the dispute. Credit: Wikipedia/Kobako

I hardly ever post about confectionery, since I am usually not a consumer, but I must admit that I fell for this one. Its presentation is brilliant!

Nice creative packaging for a classical product

Plenty of flavours to choose from

A few days ago I was invited to the presentation of 2-Pueblo, a social enterprise initiative that aims to create a bridge between the UK market and the town of Fuente-Álamo, in the Castilla-la-Mancha region of Spain (a region that happens to be also the birth-place of Barcelona football player Andrés Iniesta, of World Cup fame!).

At this event, held at the Hub, a co-working space in Islington, Christina, the person behind this project, explained us how this idea took root on an occasion when she was visiting her extended family in Fuente-Álamo and learned about the high levels of youth unemployment in the town, despite there being a significant number of well educated young people. She assembled a group of friends and started thinking how the employable skills of the town’s youth could be best leveraged in order to generate economic activity and employment.

The answer was in the Fuente-Álamo’s traditional specialities: Manchego cheese, extra virgin olive oil and wine with Protected Designation of Origin Jumilla.

Liquid gold

These products have been traditionally elaborated in the town, but the key was in finding new channels and markets for to the town’s excellent produce and this is how they set to market a range of organic products under a new brand that draws its identity from the landscapes and the tradition of Fuente-Álamo.

It is important to remark that production is really limited so they do not expect to sell them through any of the major distribution chains, their strategy, instead, is to focus on small events, such as the one held at the Hub, where foodies can get to taste the produce and learn the story of its origins before buying it…

In my opinion, the creamy, heavily fermented Manchego cheese was the evening’s sensation! One of those cheeses that leave no one indifferent!

Yes, this is also Manchego cheese!

From here we wish you all the best to the promoters of this initiative!

You can order some of 2-Pueblo’s cheeses at the GourmetOrigins.com marketplace

Halloumi, an ancient Cypriot cheese

I read that an agreement has finally been reached in Cyprus after a controversy surrounding the application to get Cyprus’ Halloumi cheese recognized as one of Europe’s Protected Designations of Origin.

Provenance can play a key role when it comes to marketing food and getting higher prices in international markets, but getting a name recognized requires adhering to a strict set of rules and this can cause tensions in the industry when it challenges the status quo. It is often a trade-off between the long-term prospects and sacrifices that need to be made in the short term.

Something like this seems to have happened in Cyprus. Without having followed the whole story in detail and from the very beginning, it seems what is happening here is a clash of interests between Cypriot sheep and goat farmers and the cheese producing industry.

Halloumi must contain a minimum percentage of sheep and goat’s milk in order to be recognized by this name, however the cheese industry argues that not enough sheep and goat’s milk is produced in the island to be able to comply with the  requirement while also serving the growing international demand for Halloumi, so a higher proportion of cow’s milk is used instead.

After several protests on the streets it seems the two sides have finally reached an agreement that will see a variable quota of sheep and goat’s milk depending on the season.

Whereas I understand the reluctance of the cheese producers to comply with a system that might put some restrictions on the way they work, I think it is good news for the whole Cypriot cheese industry that the Protected Designation of Origin has been agreed.

It would not be the first time that a name becomes so generic that is later difficult to protect, it would then easier for an outsider with deep pockets to spend in marketing and distribution capitalizes on the popularity of a particular name to swamp the market, while  the original producers are left out of the business.

If the issues with milk availability persist, perhaps they could consider protecting a “purer” variant of the cheese to be produced in smaller quantities than the mass-market one. One clear example is Cheddar cheese, that at some point it was so widespread that it was difficult to protect its name, so West Country Farmhouse Cheddar was the name that finally obtained the protected designation of origin status.

By the way, if you are a Halloumi cheese producer or know a Halloumi cheese producer that might be interested in selling through our European gourmet food marketplace, please do not hesitate to contact us!

From Dorset to Tesco

One of the highlights of a recent trip to Dorset, in the South-West of England, was a visit to a farm that raises cattle and sheep. The farmer was kind enough to give us a tour of the farm in his Land Rover.

If you ever wondered where Tesco and Arla source their milk, the answer is in this picture!

In my previous post I highlighted the good impression that oranges packaging at Marks & Spencer caused me. Well, just found out it is not only M&S that has this, Sainsbury’s also sells oranges with this colourful packaging!

Also at Sainsbury's

By the way, blogging has been slow lately, but some novelties are coming soon! I’ll keep you posted!