Philippa James - A Great Loss to Lancashire Food - A Special Edition of a Quick Bite of Lancashire Food

Published with the kind permission of Foody Phil - Bite Local / Bite Network, as a special edition of A Quick bite of Lancashire Food in tribute to Philippa James who passed away recently. I met Philippa on a couple of occasions and she will be sadly missed by the food community in Lancashire for her passion and enthusiasm about all things food in Lancashire.

A Great Loss to Lancashire Food

                                                     
                                                            Picture Credit: BBC News

It was with great sadness that I recently learned about the passing of a dearly loved, extremely passionate local food personality, and friend, Philippa James.

Often affectionately referred to by her nickname, ‘Tigger’, so called, quite appropriately, after the larger than life and rather mad bouncy character from Winnie the Poo; Philippa first had a successful career in sales and marketing, later going on to enjoy a number of successful food related roles: She cooked on yachts in the Caribbean; owned a deli and tea room; operated her own cookery school; won a gold award for her Lancashire Tea Bread at the Great Taste awards; delivered lessons to school children about WW2 rationing; worked on Lottery funded ‘Healthy Living’ courses, as well as many more valuable contributions!

Also, a regular contributor on BBC Radio Lancashire, Philippa was particularly well known in local food circles around Lancashire. She was often invited to perform her always entertaining cookery demo’s at markets and food festivals, and was a major force when it came to promoting Lancashire produce, once appearing on BBC TV’s ‘Flog It’ programme and cooking her famous ‘Lancashire Tortilla’. Later, she found another outlet to demonstrate her unbounded enthusiasm for food and local produce, when she occupied the role of Food Editor at Lancashire Life magazine. Here she produced numerous articles extolling the virtues of local food and drink businesses, and became extremely well known and loved throughout the county.

A Lancashire ‘lass’ through and through, Philippa’s much too early death came as a great shock to the local food community she was so close to. She will be very fondly remembered and sadly missed by all!

                                          

                                               Picture Credit: Lancashire Life Magazine

November 2014 - Phil Keenan aka Foody Phil - Bite Network and bitelocal.co.uk

This months featured foodie is none other than Phil Keenan, who I first met several years ago on a Slow Food event - foraging for wild foods. Foody Phil is going to introduce himself in a break from tradition before answering our usual Quick bite questions. So over to Phil......

Although proudly born in Yorkshire, I've been ensconced in Lancashire for over 30 years now; brought up to appreciate good quality ingredients and tasty home cooked food, I'm happy to say that my migration has been made all the more enjoyable by being in a county and region that's home to such a fantastic array of fabulous produce… I love to cook, I love to eat and I love to find great tasting ingredients. For me, food isn't about fussy and flashy (although I do appreciate a nice treat now and then); food is all about great flavours, sharing and enjoyment.

No matter what your budget, there are few things that could be better than sitting down to a delicious plate full of fresh, lovingly prepared food with family and friends. The North West is full of amazing ingredients; succulent meat; fresh, crunchy vegetables; lovely cheeses and lots more, and this is also the case with many of our other fabulous regions throughout the UK. I appreciate that many people are busy juggling their work and personal lives nowadays, but I also believe that many of us have more time to step out from the supermarket aisles every now and then and search out these, often, better quality, nicer tasting ingredients.

My aim with Bite Local is to provide you with the incentives and inspiration to do just that, to take a walk down your local high street, to visit your local market or monthly farmers market, and to enjoy the excellent produce you rarely find on a supermarket shelf. I’d also love for you to give me your suggestions; if you don’t see something listed on here that you know to be a really good foodie find; a delicious deli, a brilliant butcher, or a phenomenal fishmonger, get in touch and let us know about it at Bite. Let’s share it with everyone else…

You can contact Bite here, and you can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook

If you want to follow and chat with me directly on Twitter, you can find me at @foodyphil.

Thanks Phil for your intro, so on to your questions

·         What is your favourite cookery or food book or publication ?

I very rarely return to any single one on a regular basis, as I prefer to enjoy a variety of cooking styles, and I often search out most of my new inspiration on the internet, nowadays. I suppose Madhur Jaffrey first got me excited about cooking Indian cuisine and good old Delia inspired me a lot in the early days with other dishes.

·         What sentence sums up Lancashire Food to you ?

A county full of the most amazing selection of top quality produce, look no further folks!

·         If you weren’t doing what you do now, what would you like to be ?

Something outdoors, I love the simple things like fresh air, nice landscapes and views. As long as there’s a good meal waiting afterwards!

·         Which piece of kit could you not do without ?

Knives, you’ve got to have good, sharp knives.

·         Who would join you at your ultimate dinner party and why?

It would have to be someone with a sense of humour, none of that serious conversation stuff. Living where I do, it’d probably have to be Eric Morecambe – so funny!

·         What advice would you give to your younger self ?

Have confidence, you’re capable of more than you’d ever imagine.

·         Describe your style in three words

Relaxed, logical, positive

·         What was your latest foodie gadget purchase ?

I’m not big on gadgets for gadgets sake and haven’t bought any recently. A good food processor is as gadgety as I’ve got. As long as you have good quality basics: pans, knives, etc.

·         What is your greatest achievement to date ?

I’d have to say, being where I am today. I’ve achieved a lot of things that I’m happy about over the years and they’ve all resulted in having a lovely family, being happy and enjoying doing what I do.

·         What is the worst mistake you’ve made ?

I never look back and regret things, they’re all just life lessons, learn from them and move on.

·         Tell us a secret about yourself, maybe something we wouldn’t expect

I’m a reincarnation of a Yorkshire Terrier called Fraser