Slow-cooked with love
Last updated 09:15, Saturday, 10 May 2008
The company logo leaves you in no doubt: ‘Hand made in Cumbria. Slow cooked with love and no crap’.
It could be stuck on a jar of rich tomato sauce or a bottle of roasted aubergines with chilli and olive oil – or one of the takeaway-style tubs of Moussaka, or Mamma Rizzo’s Sicilian Casserole.
The label belongs to Monkey Tree Foods – which is Jil Barke and Ishka Sanderson-Dickson.
The Wigton couple only started their kitchen business a couple of months ago, selling through butcher David Paisley’s shop.
But sales have been so good that they already have plans for expanding the range and availability.
A smoked paprika sauce and a warm and spicy chilli, cumin, coriander and caraway sauce will soon be available.
The food and outside catering business has grown out of the regular mini-concerts they stage in their living room for 40 people.
“We always provide a hot meal for everyone and decided to take it one step further,” explained Ishka.
They share the cooking in the kitchen of their smart Victorian terraced home in West Street and are passionate about how it is made.
Ishka, a lecturer in counselling at the University of Cumbria, reckons food plays a vital part in how we grow up.
She said: “Most of my work is with young people and I have become increasingly aware of their disconnection with what is on the plate and the planet.
“Without a shadow of a doubt there is a connection between what they eat and what is in their food and how they behave.
“We don’t use salt or sugar or any additives,”she added.
But they don’t shirk on their ingredients.
As much as possible is grown and reared locally and bought in Wigton, from David Paisley, Bill Lightfoot and Chrysalis among others.
The food is Mediterranean-based and along with the sauces and ready-made meals (in meat and veggie options), they also bake breads and fantastic cakes – Ishka had to break off from our chat to pull an amazing gingerbread out of the oven.
Their fliers list some of their range and prices vary depending on the amount requested.
“We like to have a chat with people about what they want and we are happy to change a recipe if it includes something they don’t like,” said Jil, a music promoter.
Monkey Tree has joined the Made In Cumbria group and the two cooks will be at shows across the county during the summer, selling their food and providing cookery demonstrations.
The Monkey Tree name comes from the view of a neighbour’s tree from Jil and Ishka’s dining room.
But who is Mamma Rizzo?
“She’s the mother of an old Sicilian friend of mine,” revealed Jil.
“I have had some great meals cooked by her, this is one.”
It’s a meal you can’t refuse.
For more information, go to www.monkeytree.eu or call 016973 42779.
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