You might have noticed a couple of new lines on the shelves under the ‘Good, Ordinary’ moniker so I thought it probably needed a little explanation. As usual, in the BFS newsletter mode, it might take some time. Forty something years ago, when we started up, the food world was a completely different place. A few years later, at’ Ways with Words’ literary festival, I remember Ruthie and Rosie, from the River Café in London, rather patronisingly, asking whether we had extra virgin olive oil in Devon. That was a bit extreme but, generally, if you wanted anything different to the, then traditional norm, or bastardised alternatives (think tinned spaghetti hoops and ravioli) offered in multiples, you had little option other than the rather sad High Street delicatessen with French names like ‘Mange Tout’ or ‘Bon Gout’. Apologies for the cliché (to current incumbents) but, back then, options and stock were limited.
How the world has changed. We’re inundated with new, innovative, weird and wonderful foods covering areas that I didn’t even know existed. Last week’s report on the long-term health benefits of achieving and stabilising infant gut health before the age of two may, or may not, be a game changer but I’m really not looking forward to testing probiotic kombucha, kefir, kimchi and kraut variants on my, yet to toddle, granddaughter. I can guarantee the samples will start appearing soon and I can also guarantee that they will be expensive. Probably smashing through the ceiling of what we thought were already exorbitant prices for baby food.
That’s the problem. With one or two exceptions (the excellent Hodmedod’s, Katsouris Bros and Northern Pasta spring to mind) no one does cheap, or, it feels, wants to look for ways of keeping the price down. We’ve all got used to good food costing more but it feels as though, all too often, the cost of production has nothing to do with it – it’s all about market price – so budding and thrusting entrepreneurs look for non KVI (known value items) lines without an established market price so they can charge what they like. If little Tarquin absolutely HAS to have live, probiotic food, then it really doesn’t matter what it costs. So called small batch (so called) artisan gin is the classic example – hopefully not for little Tarquin. I say ‘so called’ because a lot of it is virtually made from a kit but twenty years ago, who would have thought spending £40 on a bottle for gin would be virtually normalised? Or £10 on a jar for activated peanut butter. Or ……’ etc, etc.
I know I’m being horribly cynical but for most of us, unless you’re a Skink disciple (a rather endearing character in several of Carl Hiaasen’s quasi-comedy, eco thrillers) and live off fermented roadkill, 80% of the contents of your larder will be normal, run-of-the-mill ingredients and, it’s these, more than the regeneratively farmed, single field origin, high altitude, beer massaged, wagyu kangaroo meat, that decide the quality of the food on your table. We’re always on the lookout for a bargain and when something as good as Sampford Courtenay’s, barrel aged, cider vinegar turns up, we’re certainly not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. As you know, ACV has been flavour of the month for some time. Netflix even named a series about a dodgy, wellness influencer, after it – but £10 for a half litre? Come on Willy? So we bring you; ‘Good, Ordinary Cider Vinegar’, in the cheapest bottle we could find, for £3 per 75cl. It’s probably not the absolute best, but it’s definitely in the top quartile and plenty good enough. If you want to add turmeric or ginger and drink it as a daily shot, that’s up to you. There will be a few more ‘Good, Ordinary’ lines appearing; some, like the vinegar, ‘white label’ and, others, made by us.
Unexpectantly, the name comes from St James’s wine merchant to the uber-wealthy, Berry Bros and Rudd, who have their own label ‘Good Ordinary Claret’. The wine is pretty good and, although, we have no pretensions to selling Grand Cru Burgundy to the few who can afford it, I thought it said all the right things about us, the food and drinks that qualify for the label. They must be good but only to the level where small, incremental improvements add disproportionate amounts to the price. Grand Cru Burgundy for example.