The diversification of cuisine in London and elsewhere in the UK has helped many people to think more about their food. As the kinds of things diners eat become more varied, that will help grow a fascination not just with food cultures and traditions, but raise some bigger questions about what ends up on the plate.
Some may consider issues of food miles if it has come halfway across the globe. Others will ask about pesticides for food crops, genetic modification or questions of animal welfare.
Among the big questions is the one of the journey ‘from farm to plate’, which includes everything from the distance travelled to the impact this has on cost.
In our case, the journey from farm in Extremadura to an Islington tapas bar is as simple as it could be. Firstly, we own the farms we sources from, so there is no middleman – which helps keep down the costs so we can pass that saving onto our customers.
For those not familiar with it, Extremadura is a largely rural, agricultural region to the south-west of Madrid, bordering Portugal, made up mainly of pastureland after centuries of forestry clearance.
The crops grown there, such as wheat, barley and oats, are usually grown using dry farming techniques, which rely on residual moisture from wetter seasons to enable them to still flourish when it is dry.
However, Extremadura is not just a place to grow cereal crops. While olives and a wealth of fruits – including vineyards producing fine wines – are also produced, the region is a major area of Spain for farming cattle, sheep, goats and pigs, ensuring a plentiful supply of meat and dairy produce as well, especially ham and cheese. Small wonder Extremadura is known as ‘Spain’s larder’.
The process of grazing livestock used to see them make lengthy seasonal migrations between the lower grasslands and mountain areas, with the summer being spent in the uplands. Modern transport methods achieve this faster, but there are many hardy breeds still around as ancestors of the robust animals that could stand such odysseys.
Benefits of modern transport do not just include getting livestock to their next seasonal grazing grounds, of course, as it also means all the produce of the farms in Extremadura can be swiftly moved from the region to ships to carry them across the Bay of Biscay and the English Channel to the UK, where a delicious array of tapas food can be enjoyed here in north London.
Quite simply, Extremadura is the best place in Spain to farm. The quality and variety of produce, including some of the very best ham and pork in the world, mean there is no better place to source the items that make up our menus.
Because we have such a simple structure of getting this fine food from the farm to your table, you can be assured that nothing is lost in quality or value along the way.
Should you visit Extremadura anytime to see all this for yourself, you will be in for a great treat and eat wonderfully well. But you can also get a great taste of it all right here without leaving Islington.
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