But who cares about the Brighton bit, I like the no-nonsense straightforwardness of Jam Round, as indeed that is exactly what it is – round and jammy. The round part being provided by a sweet short crust pastry and the jam part a generous strawberry filling. The whole thing is bejewelled with a thick sprinkling of sugar for added sweetness.

There is an alternative option with a fig filling available which, if I were to stick my neck out and take a guess, is probably known as a Fig Round. Yumblog Junior gave this sweet treat a thorough and enthusiastic tasting and showed her approval by throwing less than normal on the floor. Praise indeed.

Be careful what you search for.

John and Belinda seen at Walthamstow Farmer’s Market.

They currently have:

Links to Hedgerow Foods:

Hedgerow on Facebook

London Farmers Market entry for Hedgerow

* Before Todmorden

Detailed forensic examination at the Yumblog tasting laboratory confirmed that this was exactly what it is, a thin 5-inch disc of mash deep fried in batter. Possibly not a dish to win you a place in the final of MasterChef (even the current Celebrity edition), but at 30p it’s a tasty carb-rich bargain.

Incidentally if you are ever find yourself in the area, The Tudor Chippy is highly recommended – friendly staff, lightly battered fish, well cooked chunky chips, and an inviting dog basket outside.

Ye Olde Tudor Chippee

Yumblog Junior feeding a fat rascal to the ducks

85p from Oddie’s

A sad cake is essentially a round of unsweetened pastry which has had currants rolled into it and was traditionally made with leftovers as a cheap sweet treat – hence the forlorn moniker. This low-rent Eccles Cake can be eaten as is, although is often buttered, spread with jam or served with a wedge of Lancashire cheese.

If you like currants and pastry, you’ll like a sad cake.

Close up, you can detect a distinct air of despondency.

But worry not, we have a backlog of delicious new recipes with which to pad out the autumn schedules, plus an exciting new series taking a sideways glance at the culinary delights of Yorkshire (and Lancashire). Take for instance this Barm Cake which (these days) is no longer made with barm, and is not and has never been anything approaching a cake. It’s a bap. One of many similar but differently named baps available in these parts. It is light, airy and a perfect accompaniment to a Friday night chippy tea.

One of Friday’s recommended and duly purchased cheeses was this Bermondsey Frier – created under a railway arch in Bermondsey by cheesemonger and Raclette vendor William Oglethorpe of Kappacasein. This novel and new cheese was described as being a bit like an unsalted haloumi which although essentially flavourless in its naked state, could be transformed into tasty melting loveliness when dry-fried in salt. It had to be worth a punt …

Cut your Bermondsey Frier into (20mm ish) slices.

Sprinkle fine sea salt in a frying pan and place over a high heat.

When the salt starts to colour lay on the strips of cheese.

As soon as the bottom of the cheese starts to melt and brown (a matter of a few seconds), flip over and cook the other side.

Quickly remove and serve immediately.

We had ours for brunch with the aforementioned garlic rubbed toasted sour dough and slowly sauteed tomatoes.

Verdict: Neal’s Yard weren’t kidding, the dry fry does indeed transform this into something special. A golden salty crust over a molten creamy centre. I would say more like a deep fried mozzarella than a grilled haloumi. Delicious.

Drink: Milky yet strong K4e.

Entertainment: Trying to read a small percentage of the Saturday Guardian before it attracts Yumblog Junior’s attention and she tears it to shreds.

Yumblog Junior now insists on feeding herself.

On a grey and damp Saturday last October all of us here at Yumblog Towers boarded the Globe Town charabanc and trundled eastwards to the annual Forman & Field open day. It transpired to be a great day out with talks and demonstrations from farmers and food producers, a tour of the smokery, and most important of all, plentiful tasties to eat and drink. The quality of everything, and especially the smoked salmon, was exceptional, so when F & F got in contact recently and asked if we’d like a freebie of their London Cure Smoked Scottish Salmon we thought it would be churlish to refuse.

We decided not to do anything fancy with our salmon and simply serve it generously piled atop thin slices of buttered toasted Oatmeal & Molasses bread naked but for a twist of black pepper and a squirt of lemon juice.

At the risk of sounding like our impartiality and integrity can be bought with the gift of a mere 200g of delicious slowly cured Scottish smoked salmon, I can honestly say this is the best we have ever had the pleasure to eat. That said, at £9.95 for a small packet, it is also the most expensive we have ever had the pleasure to eat. However, with food you get the quality you pay for, and when it comes to this particular product, all of the 995 pennies would be very well spent.

If you are in the market for a smoked salmon which isn’t at all salty and melts in the mouth with a creamy intensity of flavour, then this is for you.

Delicious.

The Packaging

The Product

The Smokery

The Roof

The Currency

The Interior

Fish & Chips

Crab Shot

The Exterior

Blue spots = Lavender
‘Made from artisanal miel de lavande and lavender buds, a taste of summer.’

We are no strangers to this particular brand of hand-crafted chocolates as last year Blogger-D received a generously-sized box from her boss as part of her yuletide goodie bag. In fact so impressed were we that we hastened to the l’Artisan du Chocolat, handed over a considerable amount of money and left with the bulk of the Christmas presents given to yumblog family and friends.

Yellow spirals = Coriander praline
‘Hazelnuts with a citrus hint from crushed coriander seeds.’

Looking like exquisite little mosaic tiles, each chocolate is coded with a distinctive pattern to indicate which flavour from the extensive range of 45 lurks within. This smaller box doesn’t come with the booklet with the key to crack this code, so you can either download this chart or leave it to chance and try to guess which particular flavour it is you are sampling… not easy as the flavourings can be subtle as well as unusual.

Green Slashes = Moroccan Mint
‘An infusion of fresh Moroccan mint leaves. Reminiscent of the best mint teas.’

Incidentally, these chocolates arrived fresh and in perfect condition as Forman & Field had thoroughly packaged them in an ice-filled polystyrene cool box.

Forman & Field
Stour Road, Fish Island,
London E3 2NT
T: 020 8525 2352

* Bethnal Green was recently covered in the Guardian’s Weekend Magazine ‘Let’s move to’ feature. Full credit to the photographer for managing to find an angle of the High Street which didn’t contain the gaudy fascia of a fried chicken franchise.