Fine Food Digest Volum 16 Issue 9 | Page 37

product focus soups & ready-meals Little conveniences LYNDA SEARBY fills her bowl with the latest speciality pies, soups and prepared foods Frozen food supplier field fare is tapping into the resurgence of old-time comfort foods with a range of four ‘British Classic’ pies: steak & kidney, chicken & mushroom in a white wine sauce; ham hock with peas in a béchamel sauce and butternut squash, goats’ cheese & leeks. RRP £3.49; wholesale price £2.35. www.field-fare.com Yorkshire Provender is gearing up for winter with two new seasonal varieties, a festive special edition and a new 380g single-serve range. Mushroom soup with wholegrain black rice and broccoli & Lancashire cheese soup feature seasonal veg, whilst Christmas Turkey Soup & All The Trimmings is described as “Christmas in a bowl”. Each 600g pot has an RRP of £2.49, and independents should be aware that they are on sale in Waitrose, Co-op, Northern Tesco stores, Ocado, Booths, Budgens and Nisa. One of the downsides of pastrytopped pies is that they can’t be microwaved without going soggy. Recognising the gap in the market for a convenient pie option, Pieminister has launched Pie Pots, potato topped pots in three varieties: Moo & Brew (beef steak & craft ale), Matador (beef steak & chorizo) and Cheeky Chick (free range chicken, white wine & leeks). In another twist on the traditional pie, during September, the Bristol producer introduced Open Top pies, which have 30% less pastry as the lid has been replaced with a béchamel sauce. These are available in three varieties: Mighty Aphrodite (red pepper, aubergine & green lentils), Green Goddess (spinach, feta, chickpea & butter squash) and Tipsy Chick (free range chicken, leek, pea, mint & Orchard Pig cider). All pies have an RRP of £3.50. www.pieminister.co.uk www.yorkshireprovender.co.uk Friends and professional chefs David Holliday and Oliver Shute are championing British game country cooking with a new brand of soups, stocks and pasta sauces. Their venture David and Oliver Foods is sourcing game from British estates and farms to make wild game bird soup, royal game soup and pheasant mulligatawny. The ambient single-serve 300g soup pouches are available to the trade via Epicurium, DW Holleys, West Country Direct, Cotswold Fayre and Hider and are aleady on sale in Waitrose. RRP £1.99. Two of Devon’s artisan food producers – pie producer Okemoor and curry specialist Boom Kitchen – have joi