Your top ten Taste companies

May 22 2009 The Journal

OUR Taste campaign was the forerunner to Think North East First and put the importance of thinking local at the top of the agenda. We've picked ten companies who sum up the essence of Taste.

Carroll’s Heritage Potatoes

Husband-and-wife team Anthony and Lucy Carroll have turned their potatoes into a speciality. Their Carroll’s Heritage Potatoes brand has found success being sold directly to the public at farmers’ markets in Edinburgh and Glasgow. Grown at the couple’s Tiptoe Farm in the Till Valley, eight miles west of Berwick, some 20 species of gourmet potatoes are farmed on their 50 acres, which three years ago scooped the title of Britain’s “Most Beautiful Farm” in a magazine competition.

Beckleberry’s

Luxury fresh ice creams, real fruit sorbets, and artisan, handmade desserts are all produced by Blaydon-based Beckleberry’s. The company says the secret of its quality is using locally sourced ingredients, but the imaginative flavours on offer might have something to do with the dessert-makers’ popularity. Their range of more than 100 different tastes includes liquorice & toffee, parsnip and Northumbrian cheese ice creams and gin & tonic sorbet. Recent years has seen the firm scoop 17 Great Taste Awards.

Tanfield Food Company

Some food-makers just seem to have the knack for gourmet production. The team behind the Phileas Fogg snack brand now head-up Consett-based Tanfield Food Company. If you want to try any of their wares head for the supermarket, or alternatively tuck in at 30,000 feet. Recent deals have seen the company serve up its dishes on British Airways, First Great Western trains and East Midlands Trains. Passengers who have particularly enjoyed their dining can pick up more products at Waitrose, Sainsbury’s and Asda, where Tanfield’s Look What We Found range is on sale.

Trees Can’t Dance

Northumberland farmer Dan May adds some spice to North East produce. The entrepreneur is the northern-most chilli producer in the world, turning chillies into a range of different sauces. His Trees Can’t Dance company, based near Hexham, has enjoyed so much success with its range of more than 60 varieties of chilli that it has even exported products to Mexico. And the secret to growing the tropical delicacy? Giant, specially installed greenhouses, of course.

Northumberland Cheese Company

When it comes to cheese the region has a growing reputation for churning out some of the best. Helping lead our local producers, the Northumberland Cheese Company is based within a converted 19th-century granary on the Blagdon Estate. Their 20 years of experience has culminated in the 15 varieties they now offer, including Brinkburn, Coquetdale, Northumberland Nettle, Northumberland Smoked and Chevington.

Burtree Puddings

Everyone loves a desert. Sticky Toffee Pudding, Chocolate Pudding, Ginger Pudding, they all conjure up the comfort of a cosy winter’s evening, or mid-summer indulgence. Burtree Puddings offers all of these and more from the County Durham Farm and Farm Shop, near Darlington. It might be a way off, but if you’re looking for something special for Christmas Day desert, look no further than the homemade Christmas puds they offer.

Lindisfarne Oysters

Few fresh foods in the region match up to a dish of fresh North Sea oysters, or mussels. Run by husband and wife team Christopher and Helen Sutherland, Lindisfarne Oysters supplies its catch to hotels and restaurants in Northumberland, Newcastle, Edinburgh and London. The public can also indulge via mail order. Based between Ross, near Bamburgh, and Holy Island, the company recently invested in new grading and purification equipment in a bid to boost output from 2,500 oysters a week to 3,000.

Holy Island mussels

When lifelong mussels-lover Steve Oldale came across the disused Holy Island mussel beds in 2006, he immediately set about getting permission to harvest them. Ever since he has been supplying local farmers markets, delis and restaurants with their wares. Each mussels is hand harvested, then immediately cleaned and purified, reaching customers still with a fresh taste of the sea. According to Steve, the seasonal catch means the mussels are best eaten between September and April.

Monkridge Hill Farm

The heritage of farming in the North East makes it no surprise a meat-producer has secured a place in this run-down. Born and bred in the West End of Newcastle, Steve Ramshaw spent 25 years as an engineer before buying a 70-acre Northumberland hill farm near Otterburn. When 700 acres came on the market next to his smallholding Steve took the plunge. Today Monkridge Hill Farm, as it has become known, is the home of Northumbrian Quality Meats, Steve’s organic farming firm.

Oleifera Rapeseed Oil

With Rapeseed oil increasingly recognised as a healthy alternative to traditional culinary oils, it’s good to see a North East firm at the forefront of its production. Oleifera Rapeseed Oil, based in Belford, Northumberland, has trialled different varieties, commissioning and undertaken detailed research, and invested thousands of hours in perfecting its product. It creates a golden brown finish to roast potatoes, vegetables and Yorkshire puddings, and its subtle, nutty flavour makes it a great choice when making salad dressing.The brand is available in Asda stores across the region.