There are probably more accountant jokes than there are accountants. In terms of perceived sexiness, the profession probably nestles somewhere between Geography teachers and traffic wardens. Perhaps, in a parallel universe, children dream of investigating an insolvency and adorn their walls with pinups of besuited individuals gearing up to conduct an audit. Perhaps there's a PS4 game in which you collect power-ups until Derek gets his CCAB. Maybe- just maybe- their office life makes The Wolf of Wall Street look positively beige. Strippers. Dwarf-tossing. Bacchanalian excess among the spreadsheets. Anything's possible.
| Mr Anchovy, you'll recall, yearned to throw off the pinstriped shackles of his grey existence and become a lion tamer : "Exciting? No it's not. It's dull. Dull. Dull. My God it's dull, it's so desperately dull and tedious and stuffy and boring and des-per-ate-ly DULL." | |
Such is the life- I presume- that Anna Thomas has left far behind to open Wondrously Welsh, a showcase for the best of the country's independent producers. Feeling that there has been a lack of focus on quality Welsh produce in the capital, she has assembled an impressive range: paintings by local artists adorn the walls, hand-turned wooden bowls dot the shelves. Greetings cards in Welsh and in English. Hand forged iron tableware- a particularly impressive mezzaluna took my fancy- from Ferric Fusion in Carmarthen. There are slate table mats. There are baby gifts.There's plenty here for the browser, but nothing in the way of the tawdry tat that is the tourist's pitfall. Everything here is produced in Wales.
It's probably fair to say that Welsh dishes don't make much of an impression on world cuisine, that it lacks a single iconic dish that 'stands' for the country. No equivalent of roast beef and Yorkshire pud, or hamburgers or spaghetti. But Welsh ingredients? Quite another matter, and Wales is fast becoming a byword for raw materials of the highest quality, as none other than Raymond Blanc has recently trumpeted. As you might expect it's the food that is the heart of what they do here. So you have confectionery from Chocolate Fusion near Cardigan, 'Proper Fudge' from Pwlheli, fruit juices by Aber Valley. There are chutneys and pickles from Little Black Hen- their piccalilli even convinced me, previously a hardened picca-sceptic, that there's value in the stuff.
A standout is the range of Trealy Farm charcuteries, from air-dried beef to carpaccio; there's smoked duck breast from the Black Mountains, cheeses include Perl Las and Perl Wen, and flavoured butters line the shelves. Several Great Taste Award winners are proudly displayed. For a compact shop, there's plenty here to spark interest- shiitake mushrooms from Snowdonia, anyone?
There's scope here to venture far further afield, too: Bim's Kitchen products bring a taste of Africa (via Flintshire), with Pastamoré pasta sauces proving popular. Sorai Sauces specialise in the flavours of Borneo. All pretty impressive and something for even more adventurous food lovers.
An eye-opening array of local produce, then, which looks far beyond Wales' borders for its flavours yet wears its heritage with pride.
Let's be thankful Anna Thomas didn't choose lion-taming as her next career move...
It's probably fair to say that Welsh dishes don't make much of an impression on world cuisine, that it lacks a single iconic dish that 'stands' for the country. No equivalent of roast beef and Yorkshire pud, or hamburgers or spaghetti. But Welsh ingredients? Quite another matter, and Wales is fast becoming a byword for raw materials of the highest quality, as none other than Raymond Blanc has recently trumpeted. As you might expect it's the food that is the heart of what they do here. So you have confectionery from Chocolate Fusion near Cardigan, 'Proper Fudge' from Pwlheli, fruit juices by Aber Valley. There are chutneys and pickles from Little Black Hen- their piccalilli even convinced me, previously a hardened picca-sceptic, that there's value in the stuff.
A standout is the range of Trealy Farm charcuteries, from air-dried beef to carpaccio; there's smoked duck breast from the Black Mountains, cheeses include Perl Las and Perl Wen, and flavoured butters line the shelves. Several Great Taste Award winners are proudly displayed. For a compact shop, there's plenty here to spark interest- shiitake mushrooms from Snowdonia, anyone?
There's scope here to venture far further afield, too: Bim's Kitchen products bring a taste of Africa (via Flintshire), with Pastamoré pasta sauces proving popular. Sorai Sauces specialise in the flavours of Borneo. All pretty impressive and something for even more adventurous food lovers.
An eye-opening array of local produce, then, which looks far beyond Wales' borders for its flavours yet wears its heritage with pride.
Let's be thankful Anna Thomas didn't choose lion-taming as her next career move...
Thank you Jonathan! So thrilled to feature on your blog and written with such charm, wit and intelligence....people passing by the shop think I'm slightly barking giggling to myself!!
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