TV Chef Hosts A Dales Kitchen Challenge
Rosemary, who has appeared on numerous TV programmes including The Alan Titchmarsh Show and Ladette to Lady, devised and demonstrated two recipes – ‘Seared Loin of Pork with Jervaux Cheese and Tagliatelle’ and Lamb Wrapped in Parma Ham, Real Yorkshire Wensleydale Cheese Couscous served with a Real Yorkshire Wensleydale Butternut Squash Puree.
Then, in her inimitable style, Rosemary oversaw the contestants trying their hand at the Tagliatelle dish.
In the style of Ready Steady Cook, an audience of invited guests voted on which team they thought had performed the best.
The culinary competition contestants included David Shields, area director of Welcome to Yorkshire, and Adam Bedford, the National Farmers Union senior food and farming adviser for the North East area.
Rosemary Shrager said: As a television chef living in Yorkshire, I am passionate about locally produced fine food.
I strongly believe in the quality, authenticity and provenance of Real Yorkshire Wensleydale Cheese, which is the only Wensleydale actually made in Wensleydale and which is handcrafted to a time-honoured recipe.
It was a pleasure to devise and demonstrate mouth-watering recipes using two of the tasty and versatile cheeses made by The Wensleydale Creamerys master cheese makers.
David Hartley, The Creamerys Managing Director, said: Through Rosemary Shragers support we have been able to, not only showcase our improved Visitor Centre, but also demonstrate the culinary potential of Real Yorkshire Wensleydale and Jervaulx Blue, which are ideal key ingredients in both sweet and savoury dishes.
Rosemary Shrager added: The Wensleydale Creamery should be applauded for making such a large investment in its Visitor Centre which will further underpin The Creamerys substantial support for the rural economy by attracting even more visitors to the Dales.
I thoroughly enjoyed overseeing The Dales Kitchen Challenge to mark the official launch of the Creamerys fantastic new-look Visitor Centre.
David Hartley added: Core to The Wensleydale Creamerys philosophy is supporting the rural economy.
The investment in our Visitor Centre re-enforces that ethos by strengthening the sustainability of the Dales as a tourist destination.
The Wensleydale Creamery at Hawes in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales held the Dales Kitchen Challenge to mark the completion of a 800,000 investment in its Visitor Centre.
The substantial expansion of the Visitor Centre has comprised:
Tripling the size of the extremely popular cheese shop has provided a more spacious sales area for its traditional-style, waxed and muslin-bound cheeses, and more room for cheese tastings too. The delis offering includes more than 100 quality regional food products, sourced from local suppliers
A new 1897 Coffee Shop which has a capacity for 72 guests. Serving speciality coffees made with delicious milk from local farms, the coffee shop has spectacular views of the surrounding countryside.
An enlarged gift shop, selling a wider range of quality gifts, along with Wallace & Gromit merchandise. Adding 20 new suppliers and stocking more than 500 new lines the shop is about three times the size of the previous shop.
Its restaurant, now named Calverts after Kit Calvert, who saved the Wensleydale Creamery in the 1930s, has been given an extensive makeover with new furniture and fittings. There is also a new menu of mouthwatering dishes featuring The Creamerys range of cheeses.
The Creamerys Visitor Centre is already one of the largest tourist attractions in the Yorkshire Dales with more than 200,000 people a year coming through its doors.
It is estimated the new-look Visitor Centre, which is being extended in phases, will attract an extra 50,000 visitors a year.
The design of the extension is in keeping with the surrounding locality with the external walls built in local natural stone.
Regional development agency Yorkshire Forward has supported the expansion in the form of a 30% grant from the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE).
RDPE, which stands for Rural Development Programme for England, has 65m to invest in rural businesses over a six year period through a number of programmes.
The Wensleydale Creamery accessed its grant through the Rural Enterprise Investment Programme which offers grants starting from 25,000 and is available to rural businesses wanting to grow and become more productive.
Rosemary Shragers first television appearance was doing ‘The Food and Drink Show’, which was followed by a six part series Rosemary – Castle Cook, which involved students on one of her cookery courses and which was broadcast on Channel 5. This was followed by a second series, Rosemary on the Road.
Rosemary was a presenter on the TV show ‘Nosh’, a 12 part series where she travelled around the country talking to people who turned their culinary hobby into a business. This was followed by ‘Local Food Hero’ with Gary Rhodes, and then by her own series called ‘Kitchen Showdown’ and another series called ‘Just Mind Your Manners’ for ITV.
In 2005 Ladette to Lady was first broadcast, followed by series 2 and 3 over the next few years. In 2008 Rosemary filmed Ladette to Lady USA followed by two series of Ladette to Lady Australia for Channel 9.
The popular School for Cooks, set at the cookery school at Swinton Park, aired in 2008 on ITV, with series 2 following soon after. Her second book, ‘School for Cooks’ was published by Dorling Kindersley the same year. Her latest book is ‘Rosemary Shrager’s Absolutely Foolproof Classic Home Cooking’ is published by Hamlyn (www.octopusbooks.co.uk) on May 2.In December 2008 Rosemary led her team to win the ITV cross county competition Taste the Nation. In 2009 she co-presented a new factual entertainment series for ITV called All At Sea. Since 2005 she has been the resident chef of the Alan Titchmarsh Show and in 2010 she continues to appear regularly with Alan in the studio. Rosemary has done Georgian cooking on Supersizes for BBC2, made appearances on Market Kitchen and can often be seen on This Morning. She regularly demonstrates and teaches her skills at shows and events across the country and abroad.
Rosemary has a new series called ‘Royal Upstairs Downstairs’ coming out in March on BBC2 which will be aired daily for a month. The Wensleydale Creamery at Hawes is the home of Real Yorkshire Wensleydale Cheese. It uses traditional methods to handcraft cheese to time-honoured recipes, using milk from local farms as well as being innovative with the development of new recipes. The business supplies a broad range of customers including major multiple retailers, exporters, wholesalers and the food service sector.
It was thanks to a management buyout in 1992, following the closure of the creamery, that cheese-making in Wensleydale was reborn. Owned by Wensleydale Dairy Products Ltd, the business now employs over 200 across two manufacturing sites.
Wensleydale Dairy Products is seeking protected food name status for Yorkshire Wensleydale to differentiate it from other Wensleydale Cheese on the market. The submission is currently being processed in Brussels.
Wensleydale Cheese has a historic pedigree with it first being made in the Dale in 1150 by Cistercian monks.In 1995 The Wensleydale Creamery was the first to launch Real Yorkshire Wensleydale with Cranberries, which has now become one of its best sellers and has firmly become established as a core cheese in the blended cheese category.
The Wensleydale Creamery at Hawes has spent 800,000 expanding and improving its popular Visitor Centre including a new coffee shop, enlarged gift shop, expanded cheese shop and deli and a new-look licensed restaurant. The centre also boasts a museum and cheese-making viewing gallery.