New Products

Whats new on the shelf

Ulrich’s Olive Oil

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We are very lucky that our friend Ulrich Gerza and his wife Barbara Ungaro (old residents and customers from Primrose Hill) kept in touch when they uprooted to the beautiful Podere Fonte Christiano estate in the Umbrian hills of central Italy.

There, Ulrich and his family press olive oil from the olives that grow naturally on the steep hillsides of their estate – the first cold pressing of which he sells exclusively to us at Melrose and Morgan.

The first bottle arrived to us for tasting a few weeks ago and the full consignment has just landed in our shops, the elegant dark glass bottles concealing the vibrant green oil inside.

Umbria is the only one of Italy’s 20 regions to boast DOP (Denomination of Protected Origin) olive oils. Mountainous and dominated by the Appenines, it is one of the smallest regions and the only Italian region having neither coastline nor common border with other countries.

Whilst there is no proof of this producing anything special, there is a certain romance in the idea of this mountainous, landlocked seclusion concentrating flavour into the olives that grow there.

Certainly Ulrich’s 2011 ‘vintage’ is quite special. The unusual weather conditions in central Italy last summer; a cold dry July, followed by a heat wave in August and an unusually warm dry autumn, resulted in a low yield but very high quality olive harvest. Ulrich pruned his trees to further exacerbate these qualities in the fruit giving his oil an intense but smooth character.

Pablo, our resident Italian (Lazio born and bred, so no regional bias) describes Podere Fonte Christiano as; “A unique olive oil. Gentle at first, then becoming peppery and almost spicy at the end.” He continues; “This is a ‘finishing oil’ not something to cook with – and don’t use strong vinegars, you don’t want to mask its flavour.”

To get the best from this oil, use it at the end of cooking, drizzled on chargrilled meat and fish or to lightly dress salads. Crucially it should be used cold to preserve its delicate flavour and nutrients.

We think it’s best poured liberally onto charred Artisan Bakery sourdough, first rubbed with a little garlic and a few flakes of Cornish Sea Salt.

Podere Fonte Christiano is exclusive to Melrose and Morgan and available at both our stores at £14.95 for 500ml.

Parmesan as it should be

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A couple of week’s ago we were invited to the launch of a new Cravero Parmesan from Neal’s Yard Dairy at Quo Vadis. Quite an event in the cheese world as for the last ten years nothing has met the standard of the Cravero Baruffi, the only other Parmesan Neal’s Yard carry.

To show off the new San Pietro Reggiano, Jeremy Lee had put together some fantastic salsify nibbles wrapped in crispy little parcels and covered in a fine grating of the Parmesan and olive oil. All washed down with a glass of bubbly and really delicious.

As we jostled and devoured more chunks of the deep savoury, brothy San Pietro, I had a chance to chat to Giorgio Cravero – from a long line of ‘Giorgio’ and ‘Giacomo’ Cravero’s (yes his father and son are both Giacomo and his grandfather of course another Giorgio) who have been selecting and maturing Italian cheese near Piedmont since 1855.

Giorgio is emphatic about his Baruffi and new San Pietro, but he’s also utterly committed to protecting the heritage of the artisanal Parmesan industry. Over 1,000 artisan Parmesan producers in the region have dwindled to nearer 300 in recent years, where commodity prices have forced farms to join forces or just sell up to larger creameries.

His mission is to protect and foster the few remaining real artisans so we can continue to taste the intense, complex flavours of Parmesan as it should be – quite literally a world away from the dry, dull, powder that most of us grew up on in the UK.

San Pietro is one of these exceptional cheeses - made by the Libbra family at their tiny farm in Modena, it is quite different from the fruity, aromatic sweetness of the Baruffi made by their neighbouring producers, with its rich, beefy flavours.

Massimo and Laura Libbra make only six wheels of Parmesan a day using unpasteurised milk from cows fed on the sweet tasting local forage, which gives the cheese is distinctive characteristics.

Best eaten just as it is with a glass of dry white wine.

Available at both our stores now at £36.05/kg

The elixir of love

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At Melrose and Morgan we are firm believers that you should spoil the ones you love every day of the year. But, there is no doubt that Valentine’s Day gives you the perfect excuse to gorge yourself on chocolate (at least half of which you have given, out of the kindness of your heart, to the one you love!).

However, when you think that chocolate was once considered so potent it was prescribed by 18th century doctors to mend a broken heart, and that nuns in the 1600s were banned from sampling the dark stuff for fear of its sexual reputation, the historical power of chocolate makes you think a bit more carefully about its rather gooey association with Valentine’s Day as we now know it.

It’s certainly not news that chocolate is an aphrodisiac; for 2,000 years its powers have been revered as an ‘elixir of love’. And, the Aztecs, who discovered it, were on to something - we now know chocolate contains serotonin and high levels of phenylethylamine, a naturally occurring chemical that promotes feelings of bliss and happiness, associated with being in love.

Quite frankly we would love chocolate regardless, but there is something rather fabulous about knowing that it has been used to help fuel passion for millennia!

Luckily we have got some fabulous treats at Melrose and Morgan to ensure that loves true elixir makes its way to your table this Valentine’s Day.

Our little Valrhona Chocolate Tarts with Dark Griottines Cherries in Kirsch and chocolate ganache, Rococo’s Venus Nipples and Lips, Marc de Champagne Truffles and Madame Oiseau’s Heart Lollipops and Polka Dot Love Heart chocolates are available in both our stores and poised to set pulses racing this weekend…

Amazing Fruit Liqueurs

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This is the second year we’ve stocked the lovely fruit liqueurs from Bramley and Gage. Edward Bramley Kain and Penelope Gage started making liqueurs at their fruit farm in South Devon more than 20 years ago. They still believe in letting the fruit ripen fully and naturally on the tree to get the best flavour.

The liqueurs are all still made by hand and the process they employ to extract the juice ensures that as much of the natural colour, flavour and freshness is retained.

Bramley and Gage do a wide variety of fruit liqueurs - our favourites and the ones we will be stocking this year are; Quince, Elderflower and Greengage in 35cl bottles, ‘John’s Miniature Selection’ containing; Cherry Brandy, Elderflower, Dittisham Plum and Blackcurrant Liqueurs and ‘Edward’s Miniature Selection’ containing; Sloe Gin, Damson Gin and Blackberry and Greenage Liqueurs.

As well as a delicious after dinner ‘sticky’, the fruits liqueurs also make a wonderful cooking ingredient; a sinful topping for ice cream and a wonderful way to quickly finish some caramelized fruits in a hot pan.

Swedish Christmas

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Bageriet, literally translated from Swedish as ‘the bakery’ is the brainchild of our old head of pastry Daniel Karlsson. A hugely talented pastry chef, Daniel has been in London, from his home town of Gothenburg in Sweden, for the last few years. Thankfully he has no plans to return yet and we can still benefit from his beautifully executed Swedish cakes, biscuits and pastries as one of his first customers under his new baking venture.

Daniel combines unique contemporary and traditional recipes, some he acquired along the way and some handed down from his beloved grandmother. Watch out his creations are devilishly more-ish and won’t last long in the cupboard!

His Pepparnötter or ‘Spiced Jewels’ really pack a delicious festive punch with ginger, cardamon, cloves, cinnamon and almonds. Then there are lighter than light Kanelhjärtan or ‘Cinnamon Hearts’ with orange zest and cinnamon. Or our favourites, delightful melt in the mouth Sirapssnitt or ‘Treacle Cuts’ with black treacle and ginger.

All wonderful festive flavours that work brilliantly with coffee and make an elegant accompaniment to a cup of white tip or Earl Grey tea. Not to mention a rather lovely and very ‘grown up’ stocking present.