Successful
local convenience shopkeepers know that they are having to consistently raise
their standards as more shoppers abandon the out-of-town big box in favour of
buying a little locally and more frequently. But as standards rise and as Tesco
moves into every nook and cranny it can find, shopkeepers also know they have
to be outstanding at something.
Sourcing
local food suppliers is one route and if you are passionate about serving good
food as part of your mix then Food DIY by Tim Hayward is a book that deserves a
place on your desk. Do-it-yourself, Hayward advises in this attractive,
substantial and easy-to-read book.
While
Hayward’s target is the person who is rejecting “shop bought” food, I suspect
there is a substantial cross over with the customer base for some local shops.
Hayward promotes “getting your hands gloriously dirty” at a time when skills
like “baking, processing and curing are in danger of being lost forever.”
While
Hayward promotes grasping back food production from industry and the middleman,
his recipes are a starting point for experimentation. Who knows where you will
end up, he says. There are artisan bakers, charcuteries, microbreweries and
cheesemongers all over the UK who could supply your shop. His book will give you
the know-how to know what to ask and what to value.
Hayward
and his wife Alison run a local cake shop in Cambridge called Fitzbillies.
Opened in 1922, it went bust in 2011 but was reopened by the Haywards the same
year with a café and coffee counter alongside the original shop. He is also an
established food writer and this is his first book.
His
background is helpful. His advice across matters like pickling, drying, baking,
fermenting, pastry, preserving, outdoor cooking, takeaway, coffee, dairy and
cheese is practical and easy-to-follow. Well illustrated, this book will help
you with product selection and presentation. Remember you only need to flex 2%
to 4% of your SKUs to stand out from “me too” competitors.
How
good is his prose? Consider this: “There’s quite marvellous bacon to be had
from your local artisan butcher, from the deli or even at a pinch from the
supermarket. So nobody is suggesting that you cure your own bacon once a month
for the rest of your life. But just once is enough to make the connection. To
understand bacon, its history and its cultural significance in a far deeper way
that from the glib rubric on the back of the pack.”
He
continues later: “It’s empowering to understand how something works even if you
choose never to put that knowledge into action.”
Making
bacon, Hayward says, has been practised all over the world with salt pork
hanging drying in huts and yurts and even his “granny’s council house”. The
main difference between traditional salt pork and modern bacon? It is the
colour. “Cured pork is an unappetising grey and cooks up to a thrilling beige.
Modern bacon owes its healthy pink to sodium nitrate.”
Dry
cured bacon uses salt in high concentrations to draw the liquid out of the
meat. Wet cure is when the meant is fully immersed in salty brine. Easy cure is
“halfway between”. For many, proper bacon is smoked. Hayward is a fan of sodium
nitrate.
Food
DIY is a great source of knowledge. Never prick sausage skins, he explains.
Coffee roasting has seven stages. A vacuum pack machine liberates the DIY food
producer.
If you love food, this is a great book for your
business. It is also one that you will love to take home: my copy is on my
kitchen table!
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