Wendy Fogarty Interview
Wendy Fogarty is currently UK Ambassador to the international Slow Food Movement. For the past few years Wendy has been working hard to promote Slow Food. Some of their key aims include protecting the right to taste and enjoy food, as well as protecting the regional and local distinctiveness of foods around the world. In Britain, Slow Food organises regular tastings, workshops, courses and other food events, as well as special projects working to raise the profile of products and the work of local artisans. The Slow Food movement was founded back in 1986 and has its headquarters in Bra, Italy. The movement places great emphasis on getting pleasure out life whilst ensuring a balance of respect and exchange with nature and the environment. Members often define themselves as 'eco-gastronomes'. Slow Food has members in over 100 countries. Later this month some 120 British food and drink producers will be exhibiting their products at Salone del Gusto in Turin, one of the world’s leading food and drink festivals. British food and drink closely aligned to the Slow Food Movement includes: pedigree meats (like Welsh Black and Old Gloucester); English raw milk Cheddar and Double Gloucester Cheese; rare old varieties of fruit from famous British gardens; apple or pear cider (including Three Countries Perry); real ales that are cask-conditioned, e.g. fermented and matured in a cask by the brewer and then by the publican.
What is your most memorable childhood 'food' memory?
As a child I lived in Papua New Guinea so I have many rich and exotic memories. I can also remember my mother giving me a Cheddar Cheese sandwich one day in the middle of a house move. All meat and dairy products had to be shipped in from Australia or New Zealand once a month, and I can remember the cheese being quite distinct in taste!
What's your favourite food or ingredient 'on your doorstep'?
Seasonal vegetables from the Twickenham Farmers' Market.
What is your favourite food secret?
I don't have a favourite...I love diversity and genuine choice and continually searching for ingredients and products that I haven't tasted before - particularly those that are inextricably linked, either geographically or culturally, with their place of origin.
What food would you travel for (within the UK)?
There are many typical (locally distinct foods) which are not always available in London; either shellfish or Grasmere Gingerbread (though you can buy it via mail order).
What is your favourite seasonal food?
Autumn foods have a particular appeal - but if I had to nominate one in the UK it would be apples. We need to hang on to our orchards to ensure that our incredible cider-making tradition continues.
What is your favourite local food shop?
I live between Twickenham and Teddington. I would single out our butcher, Andy from the Real Meat Company Butcher's in Teddington. The community loves him and his band of merry butchers. I would add the Farmers' Market in Twickenham and Oliver's Wholefoods in Kew.
What is your favourite eating place?
It all depends on the occasion. A recent discovery is The Company Shed on Mersea Island in Essex (home of the Colchester Native Oysters). It's a very basic dining room where locals and visitors can drop by the seafood caught locally (and seafood from further afield). 'Bring Your Own' bread and drinks!
What is your favourite UK pub?
Locally, I like the The Anglers - it's a great 'local place' on the edge of Teddington Lock and has a large outdoor eating and play area on the banks of the Thames. A couple of years ago they finally revamped the outdoor kitchen and in the summer offer very well cooked pub grub; they're also becoming more interested in the provenance of the ingredients they use.
What is your favourite dish or recipe?
This changes according to where I am and the time of year. In the UK, we're spoilt for choice with rare breeds of meat. These can be bought from London Farmers' Markets, Borough Market and Marylebone's Ginger Pig - so it has to be the great English roast. Whether it's shoulder of Herdwick Mutton or Gloucester Old Spot Pork, I will cook them on very low heat for a very long time (the mutton resting on a bed of fresh rosemary), with lots of aromatics and roasted root vegetables. Once the meat is cooked, take it from the oven and leave it to rest for 15-20 minutes, turn the oven to high to finish the vegetables, and in the case of the mutton, serve with a simply gravy made from the juices of the pan.
Name an inspirational food person? Why?
It has to be Carlo Petrini, the founder of Slow Food. He is a kind, wise and visionary man whose charisma and natural communication skills have served to capture the hearts and minds of consumers, producers and decision makers throughout the world leading to the creation of what is perhaps the most extraordinary social movement of our times.