1/18 - TRUE TASTE OF WALES FROM THE SAN FRANCISCO FANCY FOOD SHOW: Featuring Tom Newman, The Celt Experience Brewery; Alison Lea-Wilson, Halon Mon Anglesey Sea Salt & Chris Swire, Collier's Powerful Welsh Cheddar

Slow Living Radio celebrated the week with a special True Taste of Wales presented at the 36th Annual Fancy Food Show in San Francisco by the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade.  Our guests Tom Newman, managing director and chief brewer for The Celt Experience Brewery, Alison Lea-Wilson, co-founder of  Halen Môn Anglesey Sea Salt and Chris Swire of Collier's Powerful Welsh Cheddar served up the cultural flavors of Wales on a platter!  Thanks to the NASFT for presenting an unparalleled confluence of international food & beverage purveyors from all parts of the globe, Slow Living Radio was privileged to bring a sumptuous sampling to our listeners around the US.

Alison Lea-Wilson

David Lea-Wilson

Halen Môn began with a saucepan of seawater on the Aga in their family kitchen. As the water boiled away and the salt crystals started to form, they knew they'd struck culinary gold. Ten years ago they started by supplying Halen Môn Sea Salt to Swain’s, their local butchers in Menai Bridge on the Isle of Anglesey. From the very beginning they wanted to be a quality oriented business and it's a commitment that has paid off.  Today their sea salt is enjoyed around the world by chefs, food lovers and even the odd US president. In the UK they supply Marks and Spencer, Waitrose and Harvey Nichols, along with over 100 of the nation’s best delicatessens. Their salt can also be found in 22 countries and some of the world's top restaurants. Not bad for a family business from North Wales!

 

The Celt Experience - A brewery inspired through Celtic history to produce a range of organic ales and a hand crafted lager. The Celt Experience combines modern brewing equipment with ancient Celtic brewing methods, creating flavoursome and holistic beers. 






 



Collier's Powerful Welsh Cheddar - The ancient Celtic country of Wales famous for its beauty and musical heritage has produced superb cheeses for hundreds of years. Through the generations, Welsh families have favored cheddar for its strength, uncompromising taste, full character and depth.  During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the mountains of South Wales yielded the finest quality coal, which was exported around the world.  The men who mined this coal were called Colliers and the work they undertook, in the near darkness and extreme 
conditions, was hard and hazardous.  For these men, cheese was a staple of their diet, representing good, nutritious value with an extraordinary flavor. Now a delicious, premium award-winning cheddar produced in Wales, Collier's is made to a proprietory recipe and carefully matured to yield an incredible taste sensation!





In addition to our esteemed guests, the True Taste of Wales contingent in San Francisco also included Radnor Hills mineral water and soft drinks featuring Dutchess of Rutland Botanicals, Ty Nant Spring Water, Halo Foods and Llanllyr Water.

Our Welsh Trio
Alison Lea-Wilson, Chris Swire & Tom Newman