Top bonfire night foodie treats from across the Harrogate district

Remember, remember the Fifth of November, toffee, parkin and ale…

Yes bonfire night is here! It’s time to wrap-up warm, dig out our hats and gloves, light the sparklers and watch fireworks illuminate the sky. 

With events more or less entirely called off due to covid last year, 2021 is a chance for families to make up for lost time.

And that also includes all the amazing food and drink that comes with the celebrations.

Here are some of our top food and drink picks for bonfire night from across the district:

Farrah’s Harrogate Toffee

Farrah’s Original Harrogate Toffee.

A real British classic, the jaw-breaking treacle toffee, known as bonfire toffee, dates back hundreds of years.

And Harrogate certainly knows how to do toffee with style, with the famous Farrah’s blue tins selling in shops all over the world.

Farrah’s was established in 1840 and the Original Harrogate Toffee was designed to clear the palate of the putrid taste of Harrogate’s Sulphur Water. Fortunately we can now just eat it for pleasure – and it’s perfect for bonfire night!

Natalie Smith, manager of Farrah’s Olde Sweet Shop, said:

“Our world famous Harrogate Toffee has often been comparable to the delicious taste of bonfire toffee. It’s brittle, butterscotch, treacle-like texture is full of flavour and the perfect accompaniment to a bonfire night feast.

Whether it’s the Harrogate or bonfire toffee you’re after, at this time of you they are both a guaranteed sell-out. Be sure not to miss out and visit the shop to grab yours now.”

Betty’s Yorkshire Parkin

Betty’s Yorkshire Parkin.

In Yorkshire, parkin is as much a part of bonfire night as sparklers, toffee apples and hoping that the rain stays away. It’s a real warm, cosy scarf of a cake, deliciously sticky and with a fiery ginger kick.

Like bonfires themselves, the tradition of eating parkin here at this time of year is much older than the Gunpowder Plot. The origins are unclear – they could be pagan or linked to All Saints’ Day – but for centuries it’s been enjoyed at the start of November, usually on ‘Parkin Sunday’.

We have the brisk Yorkshire climate that favours oats over wheat to thank for parkin. Over time the recipe has been sweetened and spiced to become the treat we know today.

And we all know Bettys does a fabulous Yorkshire parkin.

A spokesperson for Bettys said:

“Parkin has been a Bettys favourite for almost as long as Bettys has existed. We love making it because it’s so perfectly suited to its season – sticky, warming, hearty. It’s hard to imagine bonfire night without it.”

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Hustle & Co’s Bonfire bagel and hot spiked apple cider 

Hustle & Co’s Bonfire bagel.

Hustle & Co, on Harrogate’s Station Parade, will be opening a little later on Saturday for those who are on their way to the Stray Bonfire.

And for those who fancy something a little different this year, the independent healthy-eating cafe has created a special bonfire bagel and lots of amazing drinks to keep you warm, including a hot spiked apple cider.

Spiked apple cider at Hustle & Co.

The bonfire bagel is gluten free and features dill cheese, seasoned spinach, scrambled egg, smoked salmon and caper crisps. As well as the cider, which will definitely warm the cockles, drinks also include flamed orange mocha, peppermint hot chocolate and a gingerbread latte with ginger spice crunch topping.

Nici Routledge, owner of Hustle & Co, said:

“We’re always doing something a little out of the ordinary at Hustle & Co and this month’s festivities are no different. We’ve got lots of specialty warming hot drinks.

On this week’s specials board we’ve got some great treats, like our bonfire bagel stack, Mak Tok curry bowl, roasted root soup, sharing boards and lots of sweet treats with autumn spice.

“We look forward to welcoming our lovely guests on their way to the Stray Bonfire on Saturday. We are staying open a little later until 6.30pm and we will have out hot spike apple cider ready for you on your way over to the Stray.”

Taylor’s of Harrogate Apple and Cinnamon Tea

Taylors Apple and Cinnamon Tea.

Fancy something warming, but without the alcohol, while you enjoy this year’s bonfire night celebrations?

Taylor’s of Harrogate does an awesome apple and cinnamon tea. It might not be an actual toffee apple, but the inspired flavour still totally conjures up those childhood bonfire night memories.

Abigail Sawyer, brand PR specialist for Taylor’s, said:

“Inspired by apple strudel and toffee apples, this caffeine-free treat is spicy and sweet. It is made with real apple pieces and a warming cinnamon spice blend, making it the perfect bonfire night brew.

Turning Point Brewery’s Heavy Dreams Barley Wine

Turning Point’s Heavy Dreams Barley Wine.

For those who do want something with a bit of a kick, Knaresborough’s Turning Point Brewery does an English-style barley wine, hopped with Godiva, First Gold, and Bullion.

This classic sticky sweet barley wine, with notes of figs, caramel, ripe blackberries, and almonds, is a nice warming drink to swig whilst watching the fireworks.

Aron McMahon, co-founder of Turning Point Brewery, said:

“I guess you could say it is the perfect bonfire or autumnal warmer, for ideally sharing with a friend, or family, before heading out to your favourite bonfire display, or celebrating this date at home.

“It is also a very popular style at this time of year as many folk use barley wine as one of their ingredients for making Christmas pud, in advance of those festivities.”

Bar and restaurant planned for former Knaresborough bank

The former Natwest bank in Knaresborough could be turned into a bar and restaurant.

Under licensing plans submitted to Harrogate Borough Council, the Claro Chambers building on the town’s High Street would be converted into a “casual eating and drinking destination”.

Harrogate’s Major Tom’s Social and Knaresborough-based Turning Point Brewing Co have submitted the application as part of a collaboration between the two businesses.

The building has been vacant since NatWest bank moved out in October 2017.

In a statement, Major Tom’s and Turning Point said the project was in its early stages.

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They added that they had been working together for five years and took the opportunity to create the bar when the building became available.

Major Tom’s and Turning Point said:

“This project is currently in the early stages; we do not yet have a premises license for the venue, so we wanted to wait until we had that and the keys before officially announcing anything.

“We (Major Tom’s Social and Turning Point Brew Co.) are looking to collaborate on a bar in Knaresborough town centre. 

“Our aim is to create a casual eating and drinking destination in the Claro Chambers bank building on High Street, bringing the best of each business to the table. 

“We have an established relationship of working together for almost five years, and when the opportunity to create a unique venue in Knaresborough presented itself, we couldn’t wait to get to started. 

“We fell in love with the building at first sight and saw its potential to be restored into a thriving and well utilised space, and a great addition to the town for locals and tourists alike.”

The borough council granted planning permission to change the use of the building from a bank to a bar and restaurant in August last year.

If approved by the council’s licensing committee next week, the proposal would see the bar open from midday until 12.30am.

The application also seeks permission for recorded music and films.

Top of the hops: Knaresborough brewery’s road to Harrogate Beer Week

I am pretty clueless when it comes to beer. For example, I had no idea that IPA stood for Indian Pale Ale or that you some beers were more “hoppy” and “juicy” than others, depending on when the hops are introduced to the brewing process. Did you know hops could also come in a pellet form resembling fish food? Me neither.

So when I spent a morning with the guys at Turning Point Brewing Co in Knaresborough, I was ready to be educated.

I figured that, as Harrogate was launching its very first ever beer week on Monday, now was the perfect time to learn.

Turning Point co-founder Aron McMahon said:

“A hop is just like a little dried bud or flower and we use whole hop cones and also use pellets as well, which are like minced up hops. They are processed and packed into tiny little pellets, a bit like fish food, and they are supposed to give more of a stronger, more intense aroma and flavour.

“You can get different properties from the hops depending on how you use them and what stage you use them.”

Humble beginnings

The story of how rapidly Turning Point Brew Co has grown is an impressive one – particularly with a worldwide pandemic thrown into the mix.

The brewery was originally launched in Kirkbymoorside by friends Aron and Cameron McQueen in 2017. Aron worked for another brewery in North Yorkshire and Cameron used to run a pub in York.

Aron said:

“I used to be one of his customers and I was probably delivering to him for about 18 months before we set off on this magical mystery tour.

“We became friends, we had the same interests and the same sense of humour.

“I decided I was leaving my job at the brewery and didn’t know what I was going to be doing and wanted to stick with something in the beer industry and start a new brewery or bar.

“I said to Cam, just out of jest, if I started a brewery would you fancy coming on board with me and he didn’t really hesitate and just said yes.”

After Aron realised that Cameron was serious, the two friends got together, had a chat, and realised the idea had legs. Through contacts in the industry, they found out about the brewery site in Kirkbymoorside.

And in just four months the pair had gone from talking about running a brewery to actually making their first beer.

Aron said:

“We managed to do it so quickly because of our contacts. Everything just fell really well for us. The site the brewing kit and everything else. We started brewing in Kirkbymoorside in 2017 and quickly got busier and busier.”

Sales went from local, to national to global within a year and within two years they had outgrown their brewery.

New brewery

Aron said:

“Just by a chance conversation with one of the owners with Roosters brewery, they told me that they were looking at moving and their site would be up for grabs in the near future. That was in January 2019 and by August 2019 we were in.

“We bought their old kit and brought our stuff as well. We were in about three months and then covid hit and we worked out we have actually only traded normally for about six months, despite being here for two years.”

The company now has five employees at its brewery at Grimbald Park in Knaresborough, as well as three part-time members of staff who work in the taproom, which is open on Fridays and Saturdays.

A taproom – for those, like me, who don’t know – is a space in which a brewery serves its beer to customers. In most cases, this is either part of the actual brewery or is attached to it.

Co-founder Cameron McQueen pours a lager at the Turning Point taproom.

Aron said:

“Here you feel like you’re actually in the brewery. It’s a quirky location where people can come and try fresh beers brewed on the premises and we have a different street food vendor every week. We’ve had a really good reaction locally.”

When the pandemic hit, the duo had to move towards online sales to keep their business going.

Fortunately Turning Point already had an online shop set-up, so they were able to flip their production completely over from mainly cask and keg to cans, which had formerly only made-up around five per cent of their business.

Aron said:

“When covid hit we had a load of beer in the tanks and we then just canned all of it. We plunged all of our beer into cans then and started selling cans on the online store.”

Online events

Once they started selling cans online, they created four different collaboration beers with breweries they admired, including Roosters, and ran their first online event to launch the beers. This was to become the first in a series of online collaborative events aimed at bringing people together during lockdown.

They also started up a beer club called Disco Royalty, which is still running as a way of keeping up engagement with their drinkers – a positive that came out of the pandemic. Brand awareness also increased due to people physically being able to look at the bold artwork on the cans, rather than just a pint in a glass.

The brewery at Grimbald Park, Knaresborough.

And it is this continued soaring success that has led them to becoming a key player in the inaugural Harrogate Beer Week, which starts on Monday.

Beer collaboration

As well as offering live music and a brewery tour, Turning Point has created a special beer for the event in collaboration with local brewers. These include Roosters, Cold Bath Brewing Co, Harrogate Brewing Co and Daleside Brewery.

The result is a West Coast 6.2% IPA is called Out Spaced – named after a B-side from a Super Furry Animals album incase you’re wondering. It will be available in cask and keg at more than 10 venues in Harrogate and Knaresborough next week, before cans are sold online from next Friday.

Aron said:

“Harrogate and Knaresborough are totally the right places to really shout about beer right now because there is so much happening.

“The number of good beer places that have opened up in Harrogate have been phenomenal. There’s probably 10 to 12 really good independent places to drink craft beer now, which is absolutely fantastic. It’s a great place to go and drink.

“Knaresborough is always going to be like it’s little brother, but it’s really good as well now. The latest addition is the Track & Sleeper at the station.

“For Harrogate to have its own beer week and shot about these venues is great.”

Taste test – I tried three Turning Point beers and this is what I thought:

OUT SPACED
WEST COAST IPA 6.2%  Brewed for Harrogate beer week in collaboration with Turning Point’s local brewing friends, Roosters, Harrogate, Cold Bath, and Daleside. Tasting notes: A West Coast classic hopped with Simcoe, Amarillo, Centennial. Properly bitter just like in the olden days.

Aron told me that West Coast IPA has “massive aromas and flavours from American hops”. He explained that West Coast IPA is is often a light to dark bronze colour with “a malty backbonet. So you get a bit of juiciness from the malt and slight caramel and slight biscuity flavours”. They also have higher levels of bitterness than New England IPA.

I had no idea beer could be so complex. But I could definitely taste a slight bitterness, however it was nicely balanced out with the sweetness and juiciness of the malt and the hops – or so Aran told me when I was trying to sum up  what I could taste. I definitely got a caramel and slightly floral flavour and I actually really liked it, despite its slightly bitter flavour. The artwork on the can is outstanding.

DISCO KING
AMERICAN PALE ALE 5.1% Tasting notes: Big on American hop flavour and aroma from Mosaic and Chinook hops. Drinkability for its ABV from a clean malt base. A real juicy little disco of a beer.

This was one of the first beers Turning Point ever brewed and it has now become their flagship top-selling beer.  It is really light, smooth and drinkable. I actually went through a phase of liking German wheat beer when I was a student. This reminded me a bit of that. I loved its slightly floral taste and it is a beautiful colour – like an old fashioned English cloudy apple juice.

EXILE
PILSNER 5% Czech-style Pilsner with Saaz hops. Tasting notes: Bready and crisp with a balanced bitterness and delicate hop aroma. Showcasing perhaps Turning Points least celebrated ingredient: Soft Yorkshire water.

This is Turning Point’s lager offering and this was actually my favourite. Aron described it as “smashable” and he wasn’t joking. As it was only 11am when I visited, I just about managed to restrain myself from drinking the whole glass. It was really fruity in flavour and had a grapefruity taste. Apparently I had done well to pick this flavour out, so I felt pretty pleased with myself.

This one takes ages to make apparently. Once it has brewed it has to sit in the tank and “lager” – a German word for “store” – for around eight weeks. This is what makes it so drinkable. Totally worth it.

Venues

If all this talk of beer has made you thirsty, you can try Out Spaced at these venues during Harrogate Beer Week:

Major Tom’s – keg and cask

Cold Bath Brewing Co. – keg

Roosters – keg

Harrogate Brewing Co. – cask from October 1st

Tap On Tower Street – keg

Half Moon, Knaresborough – cask

The Disappearing Chin – keg

Devonshire Tap House – cask

Paradise Tap & Taco – keg

Little Ale House – cask

Husk Beer Emporium – cans and possibly keg

 

District breweries ready to deliver as bars reopen

Breweries across the Harrogate district are revving up their supply chains for bars and restaurants ahead of the reopening on Monday.

The closure of hospitality meant many local brewers moved their focus towards online sales and targeted people enjoying a drink or two in their gardens during lockdown.

But from Monday, large orders are set to ramp up once again as restaurant bookings soar to satisfy eager customers.

Aron McMahon, co-owner of Turning Point Brewery in Knaresborough, was “amazed” after orders returned to pre-covid numbers. He said:

“We’ve definitely had an upturn in orders for kegs and casks, which is great. It’s just great to be brewing casks again after not doing it for so long.

“Over lockdown we were delivering kegs and casks every couple of weeks but now with the reopening it’s much more frequent. It’s amazing – orders for next week look like they did pre-covid.”

The rise in orders also means the business can look ahead to bringing staff back to full-time hours.

Currently most of them are on flexi-furlough, but Mr McMahon is hopeful that if the roadmap stays on track, all employees will be back to full-time hours by the end of the year.

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Similarly, in Harrogate, Roosters Brewery has also seen a rise in orders due to the reopening.

Ian Fozard, director at the brewery, said:

“We’ve had nothing substantial, but orders are coming in and we are very encouraged by what we have seen so far. It’s definitely a step forward.

“We are expecting more orders in the coming weeks, but we won’t know the extent of the damage to some businesses just yet.”