Meet our suppliers: Udale

Since I started at Chez Nous Bistro in February, I’ve been carefully reviewing all our food suppliers to ensure we have best possible quality and that they meet our standards for environmental impact and animal welfare. I have brought the focus back to regionally sourced meat, vegetables and fish, as I truly believe that we don’t need to go far in the North West of England to find world-class produce. Udale Speciality Foods, based in Morecombe, Lancashire is just one of the suppliers I have introduced to Chez Nous. Run by brothers, Ian and Neil Udale, this family business was originally started in 1905, by their great grandfather.

 

Meat with a unique flavour

Several of Udale’s products already feature on my new menus, such as their fantastic steaks and other prime cuts. Much of the high-quality meat they provide is reared by farmers in Cumbria, with whom they have developed direct relationships with - this fits with my personal and Chez Nous’ ethos of taking advantage of the fantastic produce available on our doorstep.

Himalyan Salt Ageing

Another of the of the things that really makes their produce stand out is the process of Himalyan Salt ageing that they use to dry their meat - which helps to give it an amazingly intense flavour.

All meat must go through a process of “ageing” before it is ready for consumption as this allows the natural enzymes to break the meat down, allowing for a better flavour and texture. Most meat these days is “wet aged” in plastic shrink-wrap; “dry ageing” means that the meat is exposed to air, and therefore dehydration, which allows the flavours to develop more. Udale meat is dry-aged in their de-humidified, precision temperature controlled Himalayan Salt Ageing Chamber, which provides the perfect environment in which to dry their superb quality meat.

If you’d like to know more about this, our suppliers or produce, please do give me or any of the staff at Chez Nous a shout!