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Aga Country - With Mary Berry
The Aga Cooker, that ultimate symbol of homeliness, (which is manufactured in Shropshire) has become a world wide favourite with the great and the good. Ask renowned cookery writer and TV expert Mary Berry, and you'll immediately know why.
The Aga's place in Shropshire is very appropriate, for it is made in the heart of the county using cast iron manufactured at nearby Coalbrookdale, on the very spot where Abraham Darby started the industrial revolution in the 18th Century.
Aga cooking's leading exponent, Mary Berry, simply would'nt be without the Aga which graces the kitchen in her home.
Working to a culinary philosophy which accepts no substitutes for the finest ingrediants - believing anything less would be an injustice - she has a justified reputation for wonderful food.
But Mary's love affair with the Aga goes much deeper than its ability to produce fine cooking.
"It is lovely to come down in the morning for breakfast to the warmth and welcome in the kitchen area which the Aga provides," she enthuses.
"It helps a lot of B&B owners as well beacuse you have plenty of room to keep things hot. You can do oven cooked breakfasts for 15 without any problem, and as it on all the time you can cook at short notice. As unexpected guests arrive you can say "What shall we have?" and rustle something up in no time."
Such practicality is very important to the professional caterer, but it caters for a busy life.
"You can leave a slow cooking meal like a caserole and go off and do other things, spend time with your guests, whatever you want. And all the time a meal is being perfectly cooked."
The Aga, altough originally brought over from Sweeden, has become as much a symbol of the English tradition as a cricket on the playing field of Eton, but it also takes modern internatinal tastes in its stride. So while the sizzle of traditional eggs and bacon might be your breakfast greeting on a summer Shropshire morning, or a delicious English roast or casserole of game await you in the gathering shadows of evening, something "exotic" might equally be your face.
Travel the watered valleys or take to the high moors or "blue remembered hills" of Housman's favoured county and you will see many an Aga standing resplendant in country kitchens which uncannily mirror your imagination, whaether in armhouses, traditional homes or more modest residences. Luckily for the traveller, many of these places offer bed and breakfast as well.
Sample bed and breakfast, Shropshire style and you will experience true warmth, friendliness and hospitality along with excellent food. And as far as cooking is concerned Shropshire provides the finest foods - from fields rich in produce, to game, towns are abundant in bakers and butchers of the finest quality. You can buy excellent produce at markets throughout the county.
There are restaurants, pubs and teashops around the county serving such traditional Shropshire delights as fidget pie, Miners Soup, Shrewsbury Stew, Market Drayton Gingerbread, Simnel Cake, Lambing Cake, Shropshire Lamb, Shrewsbury Cakes, Whimberry Pie and anything involving damsons. Also a number of excellent local wines and ales.
There is no shortage of gourmet dining at a selection of fine restaurants offering innovative dishes and fine wines. Visitor Information Centres around the county can provide more details.
First Published: 1998