The Great British Sandwich!

The 12^th – 19^th May is ‘British Sandwich Week’, a week to mark all things to do with the sandwich! And being food providers and food lovers, we thought we’d have a little look into the sandwich and its origins. We’ve even found some amazing and some slightly bizarre facts about what is considered by many people to be their favourite food!

It is said that the sandwich originated over two thousand years ago with various combinations placed on bread or in pastry. However, it wasn’t until 1762 when the 4^th Earl of Sandwich (yes you’re reading this right, ‘sandwich’ is a historic town and civil parish on the River Stour in Dover!) that the ‘sandwich’ became official. The 4^th Earl John Montagu, a British statesman, got hungry during a marathon poker match. He decided he wanted a hearty meal, but he didn’t want to put his cards down! So John asked his cook to get him something to eat that wouldn’t interfere with the game. The cook took a couple of slices of roast beef and put them between two pieces of toast. It meant that John could enjoy some good grub, while carrying on with his card game! And all of his friends started asking for “the same as Sandwich” too.

We should probably define exactly what a sandwich is, just so we’re all singing from the same hymn sheet. We got this little definition from the ‘British Sandwich Association’ or BSA, the voice of the British sandwich industry:  “Any form of bread with a filling, generally assembled cold – to include traditional wedge sandwiches, as well as filled rolls, baguettes, pita bloomers, wraps, bagels and the like, but not burgers and other products assembled and consumed hot. Hot eating sandwiches are also included.”

So onto some sandwich facts:

-          The Sandwich is now 250 years old!

-          The Earl, John Montagu, who also so happened to be the First Lord of the Admiralty, funded Captain Cook’s exploration of the Pacific and was rewarded when Cook named the first land he discovered as the ‘Sandwich Islands’. You may know it better as Hawaii!

-          Nearly 11 billion sandwiches are consumed in the UK every single year…

-          If you live in London, you’re looking at spending on average an extra 17p on every sandwich you buy, £1.83 compared to the national average of £1.66. Outrageous!

-          The record for creating the most expensive sandwich ever made was claimed by chef, Tom Bridge. His ‘Lancaster cheese sandwich’ was sold on eBay in 2006 for a whopping £345! The giant creation included white Umbrian truffles which are sold at £1,700 per kilo (wowzers!)

-          Over half of the population buy a sandwich at least once a year, 62% to be precise!

-          In one year this is what is used in the UK’s sandwiches: 20,550 tonnes of chicken, 17,400 tonnes of fish, 13,500 tonnes of cheese, 11,100 tonnes of ham, 8,700 tonnes of bacon, 6,000 tonnes or egg and 2,600 tonnes of sausages. Looks like chicken is a winner then!

There you have it, looks like we’re a nation of sarnie lovers. We’ve had a little look at this website: www.lovesarnies.com and think it’s worth a little peruse when you get 5mins.

Happy 250^th Birthday to the sandwich and here’s to the next 250 years. X

Deli stand at the Bournemouth Food Festival!

Each and every year in the month of May, Christchurch evolves into a bustling hub of activity as the high street is turned into an international food market. On Saturday May 12^th and Sunday May 13^th over 100 stalls will grace the street all selling a selection of delicious and delectable food treats. Well this year, we’re proud to say we’re going to be a part of it!

Our Urban stand will feature a selection of tempting cocktails made with the finest house pour spirits and ingredients which come fresh from the Urban farm – our very own piece of land out in Sopley, the New Forest, where we grow our very own fresh fruit and veg.

Representatives from the Urban bar will be on hand to offer their booze knowledge and to chat about the Urban farm. The Urban Reef team will also be there selling a host of scrumptious baked goodies, courtesy of Kay the baker.

You’ll be able to tuck into a selection of cakes including: carrot cake, choc fudge cake, lemon drizzle cake and Origin coffee cake. There will also be a range of biscuits, cookies and house baked breads available for purchasing too!

For further information on what’s going on at the Christchurch Food Festival http://www.christchurchfoodfest.co.uk/index.asp

Look forward to seeing you there!

Love the Urban team. Xx

Berry frangipane cupcakes

“Kay is our beautiful baker who gets up super early to bake lots of tempting treats which you will fi­nd in our deli.

Kay's carrot cake

You can’t be a baker unless you like cake, it’s the law, and Kay told us she’s rather partial to a wedge of carrot cake – apparently it helps her to see in the dark

Selection of Kay's cakes

Kay is kept especially busy every day baking lots of cookies, millionaire’s shortbread & chocolate fudge cake. Her brownies are also bestsellers, but for those who prefer white chocolate, Kay makes white choccy blondies too!

The end.”

Indulge in some chill out time with the Beach crew from midday every day, they’ll have loads of house and guest ciders for you to enjoy, as well as their own concoction ‘the monster under the stairs’ – that’s all we can say about this fearsome beauty

For all the ladies out there, bartender Christian has created a fruity cider cocktail called ‘the old strawberry rose’ (chaps, don’t be put off if you fancy a try). It’s an infusion of local old Rosie cider with a delicious handcrafted fresh strawberry gomme, floating in a sea of crisp mint.

All of these ciders will be married perfectly with heaps of sausages – veggie, pork & leek, lamb & mint and chilli & pork – as well as a host of sausage specials on the specials board (no jokes please).

From 4pm (ish) on the Sunday afternoon, they’ll have some folky acoustic live music from a marvellous duo, Luke Adam and friend.

So if you want summer to be a success, grab a straw bale, sun hat and some sun cream and head on down, otherwise you’ll only have yourselves to blame for any rain that gets bestowed upon us. You know you want to, everyone loves the sunshine.

With love and hugs. Xx

P.S: If you want any more info call the Beachers on: 01202 301509. They’ll be very happy to help. x

Summer we salute you festival!

Book with us on Sunday March 18^th for Mothering Sunday lunch and enjoy two courses for £17 or three courses for £22. If you’d rather eat from our normal café menu, that’s absolutely fine too. Just take a little look at the menu tab on our website and make your choice!

You can even pre-order a special bottle of fizz for £17. Go on, you’ll score as you’ll be able to share it too

To book with us, call: 01202 443960. We look forward to seeing you. Xx

Join us for Mothering Sunday!

It’s Shrove Tuesday tomorrow (Tuesday February 21^st) and that means many of us will be flipping pancakes!

One of our chef’s Ben, has given us this pancake recipe. So if you fancy having a go and making some at home yourselves then just follow it.

The recipe makes eight, so it’s a good excuse to invite some friends over too:

Ingredients:

-          250g plain flour

-          2 eggs

-          500ml milk

-          X2 tablespoons of caster sugar

Method:

-          Sieve the flour into a large mixing bowl so it gets an airing.

-          Next add the eggs, sugar and ½ of the milk. Whisk it all up together.

-          It might be a little lumpy, but don’t worry too much, keep whisking and slowly add the rest of the milk until you get a nice smooth consistency.

-          Leave the mixture in the fridge for 15 to 20 mins.

-          Heat a pan and add a small amount of the mixture. Tip the pan from side to side to make sure you get a good even coating of batter.

-          The mixture only needs a few seconds before flipping it onto the other side.

-          Once cooked, slide onto a plate and enjoy with whatever treaty topping you like! Ben sprinkled some sugar on the pancakes, folded them into triangles and added seasonal berries and a dollop of ice cream on top. Delicious!

Urban pancakes

We’ll have a few pancakes on the go tomorrow too. Have a look at these tasty treats!

Sweet (£4.50 for two):

-          Mixed berries and vanilla ice cream

-          Banoffee

-          Cinnamon, sugar and blueberries

-          Classic sugar and lemon

Savoury (£5.50 for two):

-          Cheese and mushrooms

-          Cheese and ham

-          Chicken, sweetcorn and creamed leeks

Enjoy! X

Book with us Monday through to Saturday (yes even on a Saturday), for both lunch and dinner and you can make the most of it.

Take a little look on our menus page to download the menu and give us a call to book in: 01202 443960.

Love us Urbans. X

Two courses for £12.95

P.S: If you don’t have a booking with us, don’t worry, just pop in and we’ll try and find you a table. x

Urban Valentine's hamper!

We know that buying Valentine’s gifts can sometimes be a little tricky! There’s the standard bunch of flowers, or perhaps a box of chocolates with the cuddly toy… So to be a little different this year, we’d recommend buying an Urban hamper!

Filled with lots of ‘lurve’ and plenty of goodies, your loved one will be grinning from ear after receiving this little lot. Our hampers are filled with:

x2 choc chilli cookies

x1 gingerbread couple

x1 gingerbread ‘I love you!’

x1 bag of choccy truffles

x2 heart cupcakes

x1 bag of hibiscus shortbread hearts

If you’re buying a hamper for your lady friend we’ll pop in a bottle of pink fizz and if it’s for your fella we’ll include a bottle of Palmers – we think of something for everyone

To order your Valentine’s hamper for collection (£25 per hamper), please email: katie@urbanreef.com or call 01202 443960 to reserve one.

Happy Valentine’s Day! X

Music from Jon Cotton

It’s nearly that time of the month again, where we welcome our resident musician Jon Cotton to sing some songs in our restaurant!

Jon will be with us this coming Sunday January 29^th and from 7.30pm he’ll be singing some songs as you tuck into a three course feast with a special cocktail. This month’s treat is an Apple sweet ‘n’ sour. We think it tastes rather lovely.

We’ve got a couple of tables spare so if you want to book visit the bookings page of our website or just call us: 01202 443960 and we’ll save you a space.

Love the Urbans. X

P.S: If you want to view the current menu have a little look on our menus page. X

For all those hopeless romantics out there who can’t wait to book a table for their loved one, come and see us.

We’re running a set menu and for £40 per person you can enjoy a glass of fizz on arrival, a three course feast with a tea, coffee and petit fours to finish.

For those of you that want to come with friends, book a table for four and we’ll throw in a bottle of house wine. Marvellous!

To book call us on: 01202 443960.

Happy Valentine’s Day! X

Valentine's Day at Urban