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Award-winning
Indian food producer Mignon Johnson is moving her Moorkhana range of
meals into specialist delicatessens across the Westcountry.
Moorkhana,
which is run from Mignon's home near Wivelscombe, on the edge of
Exmoor, has been a regular feature in recent years of farmers'
markets in Exeter, Taunton, Wellington, Cotford St Luke, Glastonbury,
Crewkerne, and Minehead.
But
now demand for the home-cooked Indian meals has grown so much that
the only way to keep up is to make them available through selected
retail outlets.
Moorkhana,
which is a trading name of the well-established business The Saffron
Kitchen, is also available through the online specialist food service Somerset
Local Food Direct.
Mignon,
who is an Indian national, uses authentic recipes handed down
through generations of her family, and she spends a great deal of
time personally sourcing all of her fresh natural ingredients from
local producers in the Westcountry.
She
is passionate about dispelling the myths associated with Indian food
in the UK and often gives cooking master classes to teach local
people how to prepare and enjoy meals just as they would be in the
sub-continent.
Mignon
said: "Farmers' markets have worked brilliantly for us and
we have built up a large following of people who regularly come to
see us whenever we are at one.
"But
more and more we are finding people want to be able to buy our food
at a time and place to suit themselves, so we have been carefully
looking at local delicatessens and putting our dishes into those
which offer good quality foods and maintain the highest standards for customers.
"And
by also using Somerset Local Food Direct it means people can place
an order and pay for our food with the click of a mouse and have it
delivered straight to their doorstep."
One
of the first delicatessens to stock the Moorkhana range is Taste of
the West 2007 Gold Award-winning Roots, in Bath Place, Taunton.
Roots
was founded 18 months ago by Lisa and Vanessa Snowdon-Carr, who
pride themselves in promoting 'local and fairly produced foods' to
help protect the environment and put money back into the local
economy.
Another
is The Larder, in West Street, Wiveliscombe, which is run by Malcolm
and Annette Borthwick, who took over the store two-and-a-half years
ago after moving from Shepperton, Middlesex, where Mr Borthwick ran -
an air conditioning company.
Last
year, a pork vindalho by Mignon won a UKTV Food competition
celebrating home cooking when she appeared on television with
celebrity chefs Antony Worrall-Thompson and Paul Rankin. Mignon was
also a finalist in an HSBC-sponsored national search for a new
generation of business stars. |
