Department: New Products
Hampered and Hampers
Well, it's been about a hundred years since I last posted, or at least it feels that way! The truth is that we've been suffering from the curse of small businesses worldwide... we've just been too darn busy to get anything done! The shop has been busy, busy, busy, the catering likewise, and our thriving wholesale supply has kept the kitchen staff ever on their toes.
Add to that the arrival and processing of the Christmas stock (ooh, we've got some seriously lovely stuff for you!), a few personnel changes and a trip to New York (me only, not the deli!) it's no wonder that blogging here has been slipping down the priority lists. Nevertheless, here's a couple of important notices for your information....
- Christmas Cakes - We're taking orders for Deanna's amazing Christmas Cakes, hand-make, hand decorated, stuffed full of booze and fruit and nuts, each one unique! They're priced at £25.00 each and will be a major talking point of any Christmas celebration. Phone us or ask in-store for details.
- Hampers - Hampers make a fine gift for the gourmand and we're offering a number of types this Christmas. You can make them up for yourselves or have one of our knowledgeable staff help you chose from our extensive premium product range. We'll wrap and decorate the hamper for you, making it a gift that will really be cherished and appreciated.
New Products 9/6/07
We've recently stocked in some wonderful new products from Atkins & Potts - a manufacturer and supplier of premium food lines that you won't find in the multiples and a company I discovered at last year's Speciality Fine Food Fair in London. These delicious products are all perfect for your summer BBQ, garden party or just for snacking in the sun and are available in-store now.
- Red Onion & Jaleno Relish - A crunchy and spicy relish of red onions and white wine vinegar with the heat of red and green jalapenos. Perfect for dipping tortillas and nachos, great for glazing sausages and absolutely essential at a barbecue.
- Fennel Relish - A fresh, clean and crunchy relish with the delicate aniseed flavour of fennel. Perfect with Parma or Serrano ham and superb with fish.
- Rhubarb and Ginger Chutney - A fantastically tangy combination of traditional food partners. Rhubarb and shredded ginger blended together to accompany your favourite cheeses, cold meats and pies.
- Hot Mango Salsa - Sweet and hot, all the flavour of a good fruity salsa with plenty of chillies. Fantastic with tortillas and all Mexican dishes. The perfect partner for chicken kebabs as well as grilled or barbecued fish and prawns.
- Dark Chocolate Sauce with Limoncello - Bitter dark Belgian chocolate sweetened with a good measure of Limoncello, the classic lemon liqueur originally from Sicily
- Milk Chocolate Sauce with Orange & Cardomon - Rich Belgian milk chocolate infused with cardomon and orange oil.
- White Chocolate Sauce with Lemongrass & Ginger - Creamy white Belgian chocolate invigorated with lemongrass and ginger
These mouth-watering gourmet sauces will compliment your pancakes and waffles, and 'sex-up' any fresh fruit or ice cream. And when the summer is over (assuming you have any left!) try stirring into hot milk for a luxurious and indulgent hot drink.
What’s For Breakfast?
It's no secret that North Star serves the best cooked Sunday breakfast to be found anywhere in the Chorlton area, but for those seeking to recover from a busy weekend’s revelry with something a little lighter than our usual breakfast option, we’ve introduced the North Star Muesli Breakfast.
Consisting of organic muesli with milk, fresh banana, bio-yoghurt, and organic honey, this breakfast has fruit, fibre, bio cultures, and slow-release carbs making it a most delicious way to begin the day, and it’s now available every day for only £2.49.
Is it a sin?
As we know, greed (aka Covetousness - an unreasonable desire for what we do not posses) is a grievous sin.... a deadly sin in fact. But here's some great news! It doesn't apply to Peanut Butter!!
I've wanted to taste this peanut butter ever since I stumbled across it online - Peanut Butter & Co. is an independent deli in New York's Greenwich Village. Basically it's a foodie temple dedicated to all things peanut butter related and they have put together their own brand that to a British PB fan like me, is completely irresistible.
Their Dark Chocolate Dreams is a look into my own PB obsessed mind - the physical manifestation of all my deepest peanut buttery desires. I must, must, MUST have it!
But... wanting it and getting it have been mutually exclusive terms where this product has been concerned. Though it is available online via the Peanut Butter & Co. web site, they are unable to ship outside the US. The product is available via, I think, one Amazon Shop - some department store in New York, but to have three tubs shipped over to the UK so that I can indulge my secret shame in the privacy of my own home, would have cost just under a hundred bucks!! I do want to taste this peanut butter, but I'm not actually insane!
But the more it has proved impossible to get this stuff, the more determined I am to get it. Then, a stroke of luck! I attended the Speciality Fine Foods Fair last year at Olympia and who should be there exhibiting, but the Peanut Butter Guy himself, Mr Lee Zalben - a big, ebullient American, intent on bringing his product to us poor peanut butter deprived Brits, who have been raised on mere "Sunpat" - a trusty, but IMHO, a tired brand to say the least. I button-holed the Peanut Butter Guy, finally got to taste this divine product in all in delicious incarnations - and it didn't disappoint, each one a heady, peanuty, mouth-watering delight to be savoured. But... the PBG said he was here to find a distributor and North Star (being a single independent) could not do business direct, given that we'd need to order a container-full to make the enterprise cost-effective. Not even I could eat that much, (though I'd be willing to try!). I did however persuade him to part with a jar of each flavour, though he said that I'd have to come back the next day to pick them up, as he needed them for his display right to the end of the exhibition. "Come back just as we're packing up tomorrow and you can take away whatever you can carry!"
So, a night of Dark Chocolate Dreams followed and I altered my plans for that day to fit in a return journey to Olympia. I made room in the boot of my car and readied myself to bring my prizes home. And what happened? My damn car got broken into ten minutes before I was due to leave for Olympia and I got embroiled in police, car hire and insurance matters! My Dark Chocolate Dreams were shattered. Clearly a peanut plot was afoot!
However, a year later at the IFE (see my earlier entry), I found a supplier for this product. Hoorah! And, as I write, their container, full of my Dark Chocolate Dreams, is not far from landing on these shores and should it sink or run aground, I will know that there's a plot!!
All being well, the product will be available at North Star from some time in May, in all its glorious flavours. So come and join the peanut butter party before it all gets eaten... by me!
NEW PRODUCT - Rapeseed Oil
At the IFE, it's easy to identify trends in the retail food industry. Many producers and distributors use the show as platform from which they can launch new products.
One such product that kept appearing was rapeseed oil and I was particularly interested in this, following enquiries from customers.
As ever at North Star, we work very hard to find the best examples of products and we're therefore pleased and proud to now be able to offer you the Great Taste Gold Award winning rapeseed oil, Mellow Yellow, made by small British producer, Farrington Oils.
Apart from its great taste - and it really does taste good (I was an instant convert), rapeseed oil, and specifically Mellow Yellow, may well dint the huge popularity of olive oils. Here are just a few reasons why...
* Lowest saturated fat – less than half that of olive oil.
* Omega 3 – ten times more than olive oil.
* Vitamin E – a powerful antioxidant, occurring naturally within cold pressed rapeseed oil.
* Virgin cold pressed – the oil is gently squeezed out, retaining all the natural goodness.
* Versatile – its subtle, nutty taste is perfect for salad dressings through to high temperature roasting and frying.
* Farm produced in Britain – to LEAF Marque standards.
Mellow Yellow is available at North Star right now.
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