Can you introduce us to yourself and your work?

Hello, I am Angus, a food writer and photographer. I am also the editor of the award-winning Our Isles, a creative platform that champions the conservation of the natural environment through the arts, food and culture.

I specialise in the wonderful realm of British artisan cheese, having published A Portrait of British Cheese(Quadrille Publishing) that celebrates the diversity of the industry. Alongside visiting many food producers and farmers to narrate the amazing work they are doing; I’ve also worked for a number of agroecological organisations to champion the rejuvenation of the natural environment and sustainability of our food and farming industries.

How did you get into food writing?

I first started out as a food producer with my other half, Lilly. We actually started it whilst in the last year of university, seeing it as an interesting venture to continue after our degrees. Once we had set up the business, I’m pleased to say it was multi award-winning, including winning several Great Taste stars with the Guild of Fine Food for our products centred around wild foods, namely wild garlic pestos and salts. Every week we would attend regional farmers’ markets or more national food festivals selling our products, and in most, I would come across different cheesemakers making completely different cheeses based on their region, particular recipe or animal type and breed they were farming. Not to mention these cheesemakers being such lovely people, the culture of artisan cheese soon captivated me to learn more, write more and photograph all about this fascinating new world. After a few years writing articles and publishing my photography for various publications and amassing a sizeable archive of words and photography of my own, the latter was picked up by Quadrille Publishing, and the rest, as they say, is cheesy history – A Portrait of British Cheese was born.

Do you agree that cooking is a labour of love?

Definitely. Now more than ever, with our lives so full of distraction in the modern era, cooking is something that you cannot be distracted by, it’s an all-encompassing act. Yes, there are certainly times where I just simply need to whack something quick in the oven to eat, but I when I make time – which I actively make myself do - I love to cook and take pleasure in each process. We have just moved back to North Wales, having lived in Dorset for three years, and now have our very own kitchen that we can design and enjoy – with Falcon enamelware certainly being a feature – so I’m really looking forward to that.

We are fascinated by your books; A Portrait of British Cheese and your poetry book celebrating rural trades called Our Isles. What inspires you so much about the British Isles and its culture?

Having travelled around much of the British Isles for both work and pleasure, I’ve discovered how beautiful and diverse these islands are, in landscape, communities, nature, food (cheese, of course), farming, you name it. So, in essence, I want to celebrate it all through aesthetic, beautifully crafted, considered creative projects like my books A Portrait of British Cheese (Quadrille Publishing) and Our Isles: Celebrating the Art of Rural Trades and Traditions (Pavilion Books), exhibitions, poetry, editorials, photography collections, and so on.

My inspiration also comes from conservation. I’ve worked for many agroecological organisations, visited many farmers and food producers, and read enough food and nature books, to realise that our situation at present, in relation to the health of our natural environment, public health, diversity of our food and nature, is far from ideal. For example, in the last few decades years, we have lost 97% of wildlife meadows, and in terms of our food diversity, since the beginning of the 20th Century we have lost thousands of farmhouse cheeses. So, my creative projects, in some way or another, aims to advocate for the natural environment; increase the awareness of conservation; encourage diversity and enjoy the food and drink we have on these isles.

A Portrait of British Cheese is a brilliant example of what I am trying to achieve in my work. It is an ode to both the artisan and farmhouse cheese culture and the British countryside. The industry is unique in the sense that it is still diverse (not at much as it was, of course, as I mentioned), but compared to many other food products it certainly is. Just look at the regional styles, milk types, production methods, communities involved, animal breeds, landscapes; I want to celebrate and conserve it for future generations to be inspired.

 

Recipe: Wild garlic pesto spaghetti

This recipe is a spring staple of mine. Every year from March onwards, we are blessed with a flush of rich green of wild garlic in the nearby woodlands and river valley. Most mornings, especially when we had our food business, we’d be out there next to the rushing waters of the river, picking leaves to blend into a fresh pesto or roast in the oven to make wild garlic crisps.

Wild garlic grows in a cluster of bulbs that produces a lovely bouquet of leaves and spikes of starlike white flowers in April or May, depending on the weather earlier in the year. The key is to pick sustainably, so a couple of leaves from each clump should do it. Be careful not to over-pick as this will stunt their growth the following spring. The honey-scented flowers make a fantastic addition to any savoury dish.

 

SERVES 4

400g spaghetti, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

WILD GARLIC PESTO

• 50g wild garlic leaves (or if you can’t source wild garlic, you can use 2–3 garlic cloves, peeled, and a good handful of chives)
• 60ml olive oil, plus extra if needed
• 80g Any good artisan cheese, grated, plus extra to serve
• 20g pine nuts
• pinch of sea salt

Start by blending all the ingredients for the pesto in a food processor, then set aside. If the mixture needs thinning a little, add a bit more olive oil. Fill a large saucepan with water, add a pinch of salt and bring to the boil, then add the spaghetti and cook for 2 minutes less than the time specified on the packet so that the pasta is still al dente. Drain the pasta

in a colander, tip back into the empty saucepan and stir in the wild garlic pesto before dividing between plates to serve. I like to grate plenty of cheese on top and add a few grinds of black pepper to finish.

 

This recipe is included in A Portrait of British Cheese (Quadrille Publishing)