Clubs, Classes & Sports

What's On

Saturday 30 July 2011

Milford on Sea, Home to award winning chutney!

Anyone who has spotted & bought the chutneys made by Spice ‘n’ Easy on the shelves of Hollands of Milford, will already know how tasty they are.  To his credit, Paul works hard to support and promote products made near to home.  Indeed, the more you visit Hollands, the more you spot ranges of various local produce. 

Spice ‘n’ Easy’s range of chutneys, sauces, spicy cooking pastes & marinades are all made here in Milford on Sea by Claire Lee.  She uses locally grown raw ingredients where ever possible, combined with herbs and spices from around the world to create delicious unique exotic flavours fresh from the New Forest.

At the recent national ‘Great Taste Awards 2011’, Spice ‘n’ Easy won two Gold Great Taste Awards.  Claire’s ‘Spiced Carrot & Pumpkin Chutney’ won gold in the Mixed Vegetable Chutney Class, and ‘Sweet Onion Marmalade’ won gold in the Savoury Marmalade Class.

The Great Taste Awards are organised by the Guild of Fine Food.  The awards are now in their 18th year, and 7481 products were entered from 1600 companies this year. It took 350 experts, 34 days to blind taste all the entries and decide which entries would achieve the coveted one, two and three star gold awards.  (Now that’s a job I’d like to have!)  Bob Farrand, Chairman for The Great Taste Awards, said: “Winning Gold in the country’s largest and most respected independent food accreditation scheme is a massive pat on the back for any producer - independent proof their products are of the highest quality.“  I am guessing Claire is feeling pretty proud, and so she should be.  Yet again something else putting Milford on Sea on the map for food!

Claire founded Spice ‘n’ Easy in 2002 after returning to Milford on Sea from living and travelling in Malaysia and the Far East.  Claire said; “I am really delighted to have won these awards. Spiced Carrot & Pumpkin Chutney is my best selling product so I think all my customers should give themselves a pat on the back as they obviously have award winning taste!! Onion Marmalade is one of my firm favourites great in a sausage sandwich and delicious with a creamy goat’s cheese.”

The ‘Spiced Carrot & Pumpkin Chutney’ is one of the original Spice ‘n’ Easy products. The range now has grown to around 30 different lines including the ever popular fresh Curry and Chilli Pastes, with seasonal specialities such as Marinades for the summer, and unique Christmas goodies including Spiced Mulling Syrup and Christmas Mincemeat with Whiskey & Ginger.

The award winning chutney & marmalade are available for sale in Hollands.  Also, Simon and Sarah Relph (the extremely friendly new owners at Braxton Garden Tearooms) have also selected Carrot & Pumpkin Chutney to accompany their Ploughman’s lunch, and Christine at Inger-Lise's Coffee Shop serves the Onion Marmalade on her menu.  You will also be able to find Claire with her Spice ‘n’ Easy stall in the Local Food and Farming section at this year’s New Forest Show. Look for the Chilli Windsocks!  So, there are no shortages of places to go where you can get a literal ‘Taste of Milford on Sea’!

If anyone is interested in becoming a Spice ‘n’ Easy stockist please contact Claire Lee on 01590 645646 or info@spiceneasy.co.uk

No comments:

Post a Comment

Please Note: Your comment will be approved by the administrator before publication. This could take 24 to 48 hours. Thank you.