Salt and Woodsmoke

This post should be a lengthy one where I spend time pondering what the three and a half years at River Farm Smokery mean (or have meant) to me. I should reminisce and maybe even emote about days gone by. I want to do this. Sitting down and thinking about this adventure, so nearly at an end, would be cathartic (or is that arthritic). I always promised that I would do the same about my last job. But I don’t think I ever did.

This time, something may happen. This post may prove not to be the last post. The final FIN. The End of the Line for Salt and Woodsmoke (dot com). Let us consider it a holding place. A temporary full stop that tells everyone that the journey that was the key ingredient for Salt and Woodsmoke has ended. But hey, you may want to revisit it in time to see if anything has changed at all.

So here are the facts:
- In 2 days time I will permanently leave River Farm Smokery
- I am leaving to move to Settignano (Florence) for 10 months
- I have worked at River Farm Smokery for three and a half years
- I am a (dis)qualified smoker who will now become a house husband/stay-at-home dad/man-of-leisure
- I have no idea what my next paid job of work will be
- There will be a new blog or two
- And don’t forget Twitter
- River Farm Smokery products will remain of the highest quality and savour

FIN

We’re advertising for someone to come and slice salmon for us. This is a job that I usually do but I am getting old and weary and I like an easy life….

Details here: http://bit.ly/lbZik

River Farm Smokery, Bottisham, CB25 9BU.

Smoked salmon slicer required for a 7 hour shift per week, ideally on a Monday, although there is a possibility of flexibility on this. Pay and travel allowance up to £10.00 per hour according to experience. Duties include salmon slicing, vacuum-packing, cleaning and stock rotation.

Good knife skills and Basic Food Hygiene Level 1 preferred but not essential.

I’m not spending much time here any more. You will find me on Twitter here.

Some kind chap has uploaded a snippet of the Great British Menu to YouTube:

See the real me talking smoked eggs with daniel clifford.

So, I was featured on TV tonight talking to a Michelin starred chef about eggs. I think that about closes this chapter of my life From Software Product Management to food TV in 3 1/2 years.

Available on the iPlayer here.

Hello, two posts in a week. In a month. Unprecedented.

Just a quick note to say that you can now order Smoked bits from River Farm Smokery from the River Farm Smokery website. Scroll down to see what is on offer. If there is anything you want that you can’t see then please email us or call us.

TVM.

As this page has now appeared and the trailer is available, I thought it was time to write a little about River Farm Smokery and the Great British Menu.

Late last year, Midsummer House’s Daniel Clifford called us to say that he was going to appear on the Great British Menu. He wanted to used us for some smoked duck and possibly some smoked duck eggs. This was quite exciting for me as I’m very keen on the programme and the possibility of playing with smoked eggs for a Michelin starred chef gets my juices fllowing.

Yeah, well these kind of things are what get me excited. What can I say?

After some to-ing and fro-ing, trying some different duck breasts and different eggs we got the products to Daniel’s liking and a date was set for a visit from the film crew.

At the beginning of December last year a small tv crew came to the smokery with Daniel on a freezing cold day. We’d been in late getting things ready the night before and I was in at 7 to start the duck smoking. Chris did most of the on-camera stuff (including pretending to smoke my duck! but that is another story) until we got to the eggs. For these, I had to chat to Daniel about what I had done to make them, in a cheery and spontaneous manner. This was hard as I am neither cheery nor spontaneous and as we’d had the conversation once already before they started shooting.

Everything was done very quickly, no retakes. At one point they had to shoot me nodding and pretending to agree/listen to Daniel. I was chastised for over egging it. I don’t expect to appear on telly, if I do then great (or not). It’s not something I’ve ever aspired to.

Anyway, in theory, it’s good promotion. We’re anticipating a deluge of orders at soon to be revamped (read: hastily ammended) River Farm Smokery website. Failing that, our friends will be able to take the piss out of us for looking ridiculous and sounding dull.

I know who wins next weeks challenge but I’m not gonna tell you. Enjoy and let me know what you think….

….though I am not entirely sure I have one.

The days of regular updates, interesting new topics, macro photos of meat fibres, and the day to day musings of a smoker are over. I think.

At some point last year. Maybe halfway through, maybe later, I started thinking that I was reaching saturation point. Not with regards to writing here. But with my work. I was smoking more and more to the point where my working day left me little opportunity to stop, rest, and ponder. And as my days filled up I started thinking that I couldn’t see where I go from here.

Let’s say that, despite the impending financial/economic/social breakdown, our little business starts growing and getting busier and busier. What does that mean for me? Well, it means more of the same. More smoking, more slicing, more packing, more cleaning.

And maybe money rolls in and we employ someone to help me. They do some of my cleaning and some of my packing but I’m still there elbow deep in salt water and fish guts. So where do I go?

Hell, I don’t know.

So as those thoughts started washing around my little brain and as the experiences at work became more of the same I felt less need to write on here and tell you stuff. I mean you wouldn’t want me to repeat myself would you?

So, Salt and Woodsmoke is winding down. It has wound down. The fire may well stop smouldering.

But that’s ok because there are other pans on the stove. There are buns in the oven and plans in my head. All will become clear in due course. Hopefully to me as well as to you.

In the meantime, keep eating those River Farm Smokery goodies. You can get them in more places nowadays and they are made with love. And sweat; you can taste that. Keep you eye out on the telly too.

Arrivederci.

Does anyone out there know of anyone who wants some temporary work in the two weeks prior to Christmas?

They’ll be working alongside me and be paid at least £6.50. We may even throw in some free lunch too.

They must be capable of doing some heavy lifting and happy to do a lot of cleaning. If any Cambridge residents are reading this then please ask around. If I get a successful candidate recommended through the blog, the blog reader will get some smoked goodies as a prize. Does that make sense?

and you can like put stuff on it, like pages and stuff…….

So, nearly three years into the job and we now have a (temporary) website for River Farm Smokery.

If you need to you can find it here. It’s basic and gives not a great deal of info away but it’ll do for now. They nicked my pics too. All for the cause I suppose.