News
Festive Nuts
Get In The Christmas Spirit
Endulge in a special Christmas Treat and warm Passion Shed nuts at 180°c for 2 minutes, allow to cool slightly (to regain the crunch), then indulge - DELICIOUS
For a really special taste, drizzle Extra Virgin Olive Oil onto Passion Shed High Seas cashews, warm and finish with a sprinkling of Rock Salt - PURE INDULGENCE
Perfect for your Posh Parties and a Fab way to impress
Enjoy with your favourite glass of wine or bubbly!!
olive magazine December 2009
PASSION SHED ROASTED PECANS AND CASHEWS (£2.49/80g, Waitrose)
Smarter than your avergae snack, these pecans and cashews are roasted, then drizzled with balsamic vinegar and covered in a balsamic and oregano seasoning.
Put a handful nuts on a baking tray and toast in the oven for a few minutes. sprinkle over salads to add a bit of spice and crunch.
Gift Bags
Passion Shed makes a lovely addition to any hamper or gift bag.
Speciality & Fine Food Fair 2009
The last Passion Shed show for 2009 was the Speciality & Fine Food Fair at The Olympia, London. This is a Trade Show and was from Sunday 6th to Tuesday 8th September.
Kath Sharples and I travelled down on Saturday to set up. We met up with friends from previous shows and of course we made some new ones! This time they were from Scotland, men wearing kilts!!! The show was a great success. We spoke to lots of farm shop, deli and garden centre Owners/Managers. Everyone was very impressed by the new packaging and recipes. We have had some great feedback since the show and a few orders. Thank you to Alwyn Carter for coming to the rescue and helping us out on the final day. There has been lots of advertising surrounding the show and re-launch, including a new look website.
Passion Shed also has its own Facebook page so those of you who are on Facebook, please become a fan and spread the word amongst your friends.
Speciality & Fine Food Fair 2009
Come and visit Passion Shed on stand number 401 at the Speciality & Fine Food Fair, Olympia, London from Sunday 6th - Tuesday 8th September. Say "Hello" to the team and sample the new Passion Shed range. Give us your comments and maybe some serving suggestions. We hope to see you there!
Zest
PASSION SHED HONEY HEAVEN, £1.99
Burstingwith good fats, macadamia nuts have been shown to lower blood cholesterol, making them (in moderation!) a not-so-naughty alternative to other nibblesd. We love this combo of honey roasted nuts.
Brian's Barmy Balsamic Bender.....
OBSESSION LEADS TO THE LAUNCH OF NEW NUT DELICACIES
Flavour fanatic and genuine gourmet ‘foodie’, Brian Cardy, lives, breathes and devours taste and sources the ultimate ingredients from the most obscure places on earth. To source his new luxurious range of Passion Shed nut creations, the ‘taste traveller’ found himself obsessed with creating the ultimate balsamic coating for his Jumbo Pecan and Cashew collection. Not happy with many of the commercial Modena variants offered, Brian began what he now refers to as his ‘barmy balsamic bender’ which entailed sampling over 30 varieties.
The exact process of making authentic balsamic vinegar remains shrouded in mystery but resembles that of wine making and that is exactly how Brian embarked on his challenge; unearthing 11th century wood-ageing techniques.
According to an old saying in Modena “Who will first start the vinegar will not taste it, but his children and grandchildren will.” Prepared according to time honored methods, the specific details of Passion Shed’s process will remain a secret, carefully guarded by Brian and his Passion Shed founder friends Sarah James, Lily Barlow and Richard Millington, but tasting the new snack range will undoubtedly offer fellow foodies a truly indulgent treat.
Waitrose has jumped at the chance at being the first to stock this new range (100g @ £1.99), which is perfect for summer picnics, dinner parties or a cosy, decadent treat:
Modena Way: Jumbo pecan and cashew nuts infused with authentic Modena balsamic vinegar and further enhanced with aromatic oregano seasoning.
Honey Heaven: A pocketful of sunshine created with whole jumbo Australian macadamia nuts and Californian almonds, drizzled and roasted with the sweetest of South American honey.
High Seas: Oven roasted, sweet jumbo cashews coated with the finest Italian extra virgin olive oil and balanced with a light sprinkling of sea salt.
Brian says of his Passion Shed recipes : “You can really taste the passion and pleasure that we have invested in creating this unique range. Not only have we spent months and months finding the perfect flavour combinations, but the actual quality and selection of nuts used is second to none and quite literally can’t be matched by any other product available in the shops. Whether it’s with a glass of wine or a bunch of friends, Passion Shed offers sumptuous snacking for the genuine foodie.”
Passion Shed can be found on the shelves of Waitrose and leading delis from August. For more information about Passion Shed go to www.passionshed.com.
Daily Mail
First it was crisps, now nuts have gone upmarket. Passion Shed's Modena Way pecan and cashew nuts are infused with Modena balsamic vinegar and then sprinkled with aromatic oregano seasoning; their salted nuts are coated with extra-virgin olive oil and sea salt. a cut above KP. Available for £3.49 at Waitrose or www.passionshed.com.
Sommelier - Modena Way
Modena Way On the nose this mix has a wonderfully fragrant balsamic edge to it, bringing images of Italy to mind. On the palate, the Oregano is more evident with the vinegar hardly registering on the taste. Well balanced, incredibly more-ish and wonderfully savoury. I would be inclined to look for something light, red and a touch savoury in the wine to complement this. To follow the Italian imagery I would go with something like a Dolcetto from Piedmont – there is a wonderful Dolcetto d’Alba from Gaicomo Ascheri that seems to pair nicely with the rich woodiness of the pecans. Also a Nero d’Avola from Sicily wouldn’t go to far wrong – Planeta make a fantastic one called Cerasuolo di Vittoria, a judicious blend of Nero d’Avola and Frappato which seems to lighten the wine up a touch giving it a real Beaujolais character. - Garry Clark- Award- Winning Sommelier- The Chester Grosvenor and Spa- July 2009
Sommelier - Honey Heaven
Honey Heaven I really liked these because unlike most honey roasted nuts, they aren’t aggressively sweet; the honey is quite restrained allowing the flavours of the nut to carry through. My suggestions for this product would be a Spanish white – something coastal like an Albariño from Rias Baixas (Bodegas Galegas, Bouza Grande, Condado do Tea, Rias Baixas) or even more delicious a Txakoli like the Beldui Belio Txakoli, Arabako Txakolina. The wines both possess quite aromatic flavours, with white peaches and soft stone fruit being fairly dominant, but being coastal wines they also have a touch of sea-tang to them which I think plays nicely with the nuts. Alternatively you could look at something like a Viognier – rich, aromatic with more body, sometimes a touch oily on the palate. Eric Monnin makes a fabulous Viognier – Dignité Viognier from the south of France.- Garry Clark- Award- Winning Sommelier- The Chester Grosvenor and Spa- July 2009
Food & Wine
Passionate at passion shed
In August, Passion Shed launches new nut delicacies and quite frankly we're nutty about them. Try the balsamic-coated Modena Way pecans and cashews - though you may be drawn to the delectable Honey Heaven macadamias and almonds, and the sweet and salty cashews of High Seas. Available in leading delis.
Channel 4 Taste Festival, London
The sun was shining so we were in for a busy show. 4 days of selling Passion shed to the foodies of London. A very easy job as they all loved it! The first day went well, we had finished the first session of the day. With all the public off site, we were all sorted and ready for evening, just time for a sit down and chill when we hear “Code Red - Evacuate”!! All exhibitors had to leave the site as there was a bomb scare. We were all ushered off site to the other side of the park. Police, fire engines and sniffer dogs were brought on to site and everywhere was thoroughly checked. After 2 hours of waiting, we were finally allowed back on site. Within 5 minutes, the public were here and the show was staying open an hour later! The rest of the show went without hitch. We started Saturday morning with only 2 cases of High Seas, within the hour, it was SOLD OUT! Lots of people returned later that day to buy High Seas and were very disappointed!! Early Sunday, we sold out of Modena Way, so only Nutty Swiss left to sell. We did some celebrity spotting too; we saw Matt Willis and his wife Emma, Vanessa Feltz, Gary Rhodes and Anthony Worrall-Thompson. Kath made friends with the chaps from PIMMS and they agreed to let us sample High Seas and Modena Way on their stand. In return we got free samples! Once again we were very lucky to have good neighbours, this time it was ALMONDY, delicious snickers and dime bar cakes. They kept us going with tasters. We are all looking forward to Speciality & Fine Food Fair in London in September.
Channel 4 Taste Festival, Edinburgh
The Channel 4 Taste Festival in Edinburgh was a great success. The Scottish adored the High Seas and Modena Way! The weather was glorious and a good time was had by all. Kath and I managed to kidnap Jean-Christophe Novelli but somehow he managed to escape our clutches!! We will try harder next time ladies. Thanks to all who helped out. Roll on London....!