June offers an abundance of choice when it comes to the culinary calendar. 2015 has already given us a longer than is usual opportunity to try the deliciously grassy stems of asparagus and early British strawberries are now hitting market stalls across the country. This month also brings free food options with nettle tops, dandelion leaves and elderflower ripe for picking.

With brands like Bottlegreen and Belvoir introducing the floral sweetness of elderflower to the national consciousness it still surprises me how few of us utilise this delightful flower in our home cookery repertoire. Celebrity chefs annually share their recipes for home made  cordial and you will find my preferred Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall recipe on his website.

If you don’t have time to harvest a bag full of blossoms and devote a couple of days to create your own cordial don’t despair. Just three or four of these scented blossoms can always be used to add a top note to your every day baking. In this month’s In Focus I share a few tips for harvesting and preparation along with a quick summer crumble recipe which puts the flowers to good use.

Tips for harvesting

• Elderflower should be picked on a warm, dry day as the scent is lost in particularly damp weather.
• Look for open, full blossoms covered in creamy coloured pollen. The bigger the flower heads the better.
• Never wash your elderflower. Pick over for insects but remember not to shake too hard or you will also lose all of the flavour giving pollen. For this reason I try to make sure that I don’t collect flowers from the roadside.
• The stalks can be toxic so be careful to snip the tiny flowers off close to the petal base.

Rhubarb and Elderflower Crumble

• 500g rhubarb (approx 4 full stalks)
• 70ml water
• 3 -4 heads of elderflower
• 4 teaspoons caster sugar
• 150g wholemeal self raising flour
• 50g rolled oats
• 100g butter
• 50g caster sugar

Trim and chop your rhubarb into pieces around an inch long. Place into a pan with the water and three teaspoons of caster sugar. Bring to the boil, reduce to a gentle simmer and cover with a lid.

As the fruit cooks prepare the elderflower. Using a pair of scissors snip off the tiny flowers into a saucer, catching all the pollen too. Tip all the flowers and pollen into the pan with the rhubarb and replace the lid. Continue to simmer for about ten minutes or until the stems are just cooked through.

Combine the flour and oats and rub in the butter to a breadcrumb texture. Stir in the 50g of caster sugar. Spoon the rhubarb into a shallow oven proof dish and pour over any residual syrup from the pan as this will be infused with the scent of the blossom. If you don’t like your puddings too tart then sprinkle on the remaining  teaspoon of sugar before topping with as much of the crumble mixture as you wish.

Bake for around thirty minutes at 160C /Gas Mark 4

Since 2004 a group of volunteers have been working behind the scenes to maintain York’s status as a fair trade city. They state Fair Trade – as opposed to Fairtrade – because there are many ways in which everyone can support fairly traded goods even when they don’t meet the exacting status of the official Fairtrade movement. With the celebration of International Fair Trade Day in May, Claire Davies met with Helen Harrison and Kathryn Tissiman to discuss their work within the York Fair Trade Forum.

 

Why worry about fair trade?

Most people have seen the Fairtrade label on the coffee, tea and chocolate sitting on our supermarket shelves. But fair trade is about much more than paying a little more for food and drink products imported from developing countries. For a deeper understanding of the various goals of the Fairtrade Foundation you can read more on the website. But how does this affect us on a local level? Why are the Forum working to keep York a Fairtrade city? Kathryn points out that fair trade principles apply to every aspect of trading, whether that be buying bananas grown in Columbia or milk produced at a Yorkshire Dales dairy farm. “I firmly believe that we live in a global village and we have a responsibility as global citizens. Fair trade is about fair prices and conditions for everyone.”

 

What does it mean to hold the Fair Trade City status?

On the most basic level it involves engaging local business, institutions and public services with fairly traded products. Local retail outlets such as Fairer World and Alligator Wholefoods are longstanding stalwarts of the fair trade principles. The Forum have supported a total of 79 churches to become fair trade champions and hope to encourage more to join through 2015/16. More recently York City Council have also come on board – with a recent display in West Offices and a commitment to use Fairtrade tea and coffee throughout their offices.

With the status under review every two years, the Forum set new goals and objectives to keep improving year on year. The annual Schools Conference engages children, parents and teachers with concepts such as global education and social justice, laying the foundations with generations to come.

 

In an attempt to become a more diverse group the Forum also holds links with the city’s universities and a student body from York Uni now attends the monthly meetings. A publication around the history of fair trade throughout the ages and a booklet with details of a fair trade trail around the city are also in the pipeline.

 

Where will I find fair trade products?

The selection of food and drink establishments is varied. A full list can be found  on the traders section of their website, but as a local food enthusiast I wanted to finish on a few of my favourites. To find out more about the work of the Forum and how to get involved you will find York Fair Trade Forum on Facebook or at their website.

Places to visit

Bar Convent Café, 17 Blossom Street

Explore Central Library café – Library Square

Alligator Wholefoods – 104 Fishergate

Henshelwoods Delicatessen – 10 Newgate

Tarts and Titbits Delicatessen – 78 Gillygate

There are days when I love being part of the food scene in York. Last was definitely one of them as I was lucky enough to be invited to be a judge at The International Chocolate Awards during their stay in York.

In a session of approximately two hours we were asked to judge around fourteen samples of dark chocolate. Some were single origin, others moulded and filled with flavoured caramels and a couple of beautiful ganache chocolates made it onto my platter too.

Whilst this was great fun for my taste buds there is a serious side to the International Chocolate Awards. Active since 2012 – it is the only independent international competition and aims to promote small companies, chocolatiers and artisans working with the finest in craft chocolate. 2015 notes their first visit to York and is part of the movement to make York a shining light on the European chocolate scene. Other stages are to be held in  Italy, USA, Germany, Scandinavia, Belgium.

Judges are made up of individuals from across the food sector. I found myself seated next to master chef and chocolatier David Greenwood-Haigh from Coeur De Xocolat and the team from Malton Cookery school. David regularly delivers workshops on the correct technique for tasting chocolate so was on hand to guide those of with less experience.

Following  a short exercise to calibrate our taste buds the serious tasting begins. Each sample is accompanied with a number and short description of what the producers aim to achieve with their product. Every one is placed gently on the tongue and allowed to melt whilst we consider factors such as depth and balance of flavour, texture and appearance.

This is to be done without consultation with your neighbouring judges so that marks awarded are your own –  not influenced by the opinions of others. All products are submitted anonymously and I shall be keeping a keen eye on the results to see if some of my favourites gain the awards they deserve.

Getting started on a new blog is the ultimate challenge in the blank page, blank mind phenomena. My plans for Greedy Wordsmith are simple enough, a home for me to grow my skills in non fiction, document my experiences as a writer in my chosen subjects and, ultimately, act as a platform for me to demonstrate my work to potential employers.

I already produce a blog on behalf of The History Girls in York. HG is a collaborative project offering events and other projects in hand with other local businesses. I love this work as I am passionate about food history but, as a food writer I often find myself with a desire to write on the numerous contemporary issues related to what and how we eat. If you leave my page with thoughts on your next meal I have succeeded in my goal.

So we have the first post.