Vindalho beats steak and kidney pudding as favourite English dish

The choice of an Indian recipe from Exmoor, UK, caterer Mignon Johnson was unanimous by all five judges of a cook-off broadcast on UKTV Food prime time satellite television.

The pork vindalho was cooked by celebrity chef Antony Worrall-Thompson for the show, The People’s Cook Book, which is a nationwide hunt for favourite family recipes best reflecting British contemporary food culture.

Mignon, who runs The Saffron Kitchen from her home on the edge of Exmoor, near Taunton, Somerset, UK, was up against a traditional English steak and kidney pudding cooked by another TV chef, Paul Rankin.

Said Mignon: “Everybody thought the steak and kidney would be a natural winner, and even Antony Worrall-Thompson said we would never get the vote of the Women’s Institute judge.

“But the judges all loved it, even the WI lady, and they commented on the delicious range of flavours and how they were surprised that it was not too hot.

“It was great to meet Antony Worrall-Thompson, he is a really nice person with a great sense of humour and is so knowledgeable about food, but I think we surprised even him.”

Mignon’s pork vindalho recipe can be downloaded from the UKTV Food website and it is also planned to be included in a book of the series, which celebrates home cooking.

Publicity surrounding the show has already produced an upsurge in orders for The Saffron Kitchen’s range of traditional home-cooked Indian food, which is available to suit any budget for weddings, dinners, banquets, parties, and corporate entertainment.

Mignon, who is an Indian national, said: “We have added pork vindalho to our regular dishes to meet demand at the farmers’ markets we attend in Somerset and Devon, and we have also put it on our standard dinner menu. We are also finding more and more retailers want to stock our products.”

The pork vindalho recipe was handed down by Mignon’s mother, who cooked it at home in India whenever a celebration was held.

Mignon said: “I chose pork vindalho for the television programme because I know people think Indian food is blisteringly hot and I wanted to show that it can be can be quite mild enough to be eaten by all the family and what really matters is how you blend the flavours.

“Every dish we prepare at The Saffron Kitchen is real authentic Indian food with each of our sauces individually prepared with a combination of spices blended to recipes handed down through generations of my family so that they taste just as they would in India.

“We cater for all tastes, from the very mild right through to blisteringly hot if that is what people want, and we use as much locally-sourced produce as we can.”

The Saffron Kitchen now supplies select retail shops and delicatessens with its range of authentic home-cooked ready meals.

Mignon will be attending the Exeter Festival of South West England Food and Drink on March 30 and 31 and April 1, where visitors can sample The Saffron Kitchen’s complete range of home-cooked dishes and hand-made pickles and chutneys, and can also purchase the foodstuffs.

More information about The Saffron Kitchen and the pork vindalho recipe is available from Mignon and husband Andrew Johnson by telephoning 01984 656931 or emailing to enquiries@thesaffronkitchen.co.uk or by visiting the website www.thesaffronkitchen.co.uk.

The Saffron Kitchen is supported by Exmoor and Quantocks Food Links and by the European Regional Development Fund.