selection of potatoes
potato farm with mist over the hills

Lucy and Anthony Carroll’s farm in Northumberland

Artisanal growers may be small scale but their care for the land and their produce is making a big impact on how we eat and drink. Torri Mundell meets two nominees for the luxury home appliance manufacturer’s Respected by Gaggenau initiative which celebrates this new generation of producers
couple on their farm

Lucy & Anthony Carroll

At Tiptoe Farm in Northumberland, Anthony Carroll is telling LUX about the “awkward” pink fir apple potato. “They grow vertically and have stems that can reach two metres tall. They’re so knobbly, they can’t be dug up with a modern potato harvester,” he says. They are, in short, more demanding than your average supermarket potato. “But,” he points out, “they have so much more to give.”

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Carroll and his wife Lucy used to farm more conventional potato varieties until in 2000 Carroll had, in his words, a “light-bulb moment”. A supermarket retailer had approached him to produce a potato variety that would “look great in a plastic bag”, but that tasted, by the retailer’s own admission, “filthy”. Carroll not only refused the offer, but he also resolved to start growing some of the more flavourful potatoes that, after the two world wars, had been abandoned for inexpensive, high-yield varieties.

Today, the farm’s portfolio of heritage potatoes, including the Victorian-era spuds they brought back from near extinction, occupies most of the 28.5-hectare farm. Lucy Carroll describes how these varieties have restored some nuance to the potato’s range of flavours: “Some are very full-bodied, some are very light and fluffy, some retain that green, new potato flavour through the whole year.” The farm supplies Michelin-starred restaurants which often list the variety of the potato on their menu. “Just seeing the name Mr Little’s Yetholm Gypsy can bring a bit of history alive on your plate,” she says.

selection of potatoes

A range of heritage potatoes produced by Lucy and Anthony Carroll

Working outdoors with lower-yield, less disease-resistant species in a landscape often battered by unpredictable weather is challenging, but the farm has maintained its LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming) Marque certification for integrating environmentally sound practices such as monitoring water consumption and planting bird and insect-friendly crops, grasses and flowers.

At the end of 2020, the farm was put onto the Respected by Gaggenau shortlist, an initiative developed by the German luxury home appliance manufacturer to promote small producers or craftspeople in the culinary world who “harbour a passion for exceptional craftsmanship or the preservation of rare and unique species”. Not only does the initiative celebrate traditional skills and techniques, but it also addresses our current preoccupation with provenance and supporting small businesses. The UK’s Crafts Council reported that in 2019, 73 per cent of UK adults purchased something handmade.

The longlist of 60 Respected nominees was assembled by a panel of 25 high-profile curators, including chefs, viniculture experts, design editors and food critics. The 2021 accolade will bring global recognition and support to the finalists, who have all weathered a difficult year.

vineyard

The Albury Vineyard in Surrey at harvest time. Photograph by Jonathan Blackham

Also on the shortlist is Nick Wenman, who founded in the Surrey Hills in 2009. Having a vineyard on the southern slopes of the North Downs “wasn’t the huge gamble that you’d expect,” he says, pointing out that the cool English climate lends itself to creating grapes with high acidity and low sugar content, a prerequisite for good quality sparkling wine.

Read more: Speaking with America’s new art icon Rashid Johnson

His work is not just about international awards and appearances on royal barges or on the wine list at Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons – though Albury Vineyard has clocked up all three. Wenman and his team, including his Italian manager and his daughter Lucy, are often up at 5am to tend to the vines. Almost every April, a spring frost requires them to work through the night, lighting thousands of wax ‘bougies’ to warm up the vineyard by a couple of degrees.

bottle of white wine and two glasses

The Albury Estate blanc de blancs is made from chardonnay and seyval blanc grapes. Photograph by Simon Weller

The team not only contends with the variable UK weather but with the “extra layer of planning and stress” that comes with operating an organic and biodynamic vineyard, a tightrope act that wine expert and Respected by Gaggenau curator Sarah Abbott MW describes as “heroic”. “You can’t use any systemic chemicals to knock out the diseases that vines suffer in wet and damp conditions,” she says. Nor can you deploy non-organic ‘sugar movers’, sprays which would hasten the ripening of the fruit when faced with a run of bad weather.

Wenman estimates that organic vintners have to devote 40 per cent more time to their harvest, but he is motivated by a “passion for the environment and a belief that [organic and biodynamic principles] create better quality wine”. While the vineyard’s biodynamic status brings constraints, he notes that it inspires innovation, too. One of his favourite wines, the Albury Estate Biodynamic Wild Ferment 2015, is the first of its kind, “produced using only a chardonnay and a wild ferment grown from the yeasts that occur naturally in the vineyard”. His appreciation for small-scale artisanship among his fellow English winemakers echoes the spirit of the Respected by Gaggenau campaign. “In the UK, there are no bulk wine producers churning out the same old stuff,” he says. “And because they’re smaller, they might give the vines an extra bit of care, so you end up with a better product at the end of the day.”

man working on vineyard

Albury’s owner Nick Wenman burying manure-filled cow horns in the vineyard in winter for fertilising the soil in the spring

Underlying our appreciation of craft and artisanship is a desire to connect with its creator. Three curators for the Respected by Gaggenau accolade tell us why authenticity in food, wine and design matters

portrait of a chef in apronChef and culinary curator
SANTIAGO LASTRA

There is always a story behind every dish and as the chef, you are responsible for telling that story. Before I opened my restaurant, I spent a year travelling around the UK to find the producers I wanted to work with, getting to know the farmers, the fishermen, even the potters who make the plates. I can see the connection they have to the land, the struggle with the weather, and the care that goes into their ingredients. They are part of a fascinating ecosystem of people that believe in a sustainable future, and I have learned that quality is not about rarity or luxury – it means only that something has been made with respect.

man in front of book shelfEditor-in-Chief, LUX Magazine and collectibles consultant
DARIUS SANAI

This campaign is centred on a theme that is in the air at the moment: identifying authentic creators and originators, goods and services. This is important in the broader luxury and collectibles industry in which we operate, where you have on the one hand dominance by a number of big commercial players who are brilliant at marketing and branding, and on the other you have the emergence of a new class of producer that has made its name by creating, rather than marketing. The challenge for the curators of the initiative – as well as for informed consumers and retailers – is to get beyond the PR to find genuinely great producers creating or curating really original products of high quality but that were made in a very personal way.

chef in the kitchenChef and culinary curator
CYRUS TODIWALA OBE

At my restaurants, we have always concentrated intently on how we source and use ingredients in our day-to-day cooking, and we championed artisanal producers long before they became fashionable, so working on this initiative with Gaggenau feels like a perfect fit. The appreciation of artisans, producers, the environment – and everything we do to make our lives meaningful – slides tidily into this simple word: respect. The best producers begin with a belief in themselves and what they have set out to do. Their produce is unique – there are no boring similarities from one to another. And easy money isn’t on their radar; they are driven by the joy they find in delivering ethically produced, beautiful quality food.

Find out more: gaggenau.com/gb

This article was originally published in the Summer 2021 issue.

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hands holding grapes

The Respected by Gaggenau initiative recognises excellence in the categories of food, wine and design

German luxury appliance maker Gaggenau begins its search for three extraordinary makers and producers for their Respected by Gaggenau 2021 campaign. LUX reports

The inaugural Respected by Gaggenau prize aims to bring global attention to three exceptional regional producers in the categories of food, viniculture and design. A team of global experts have put together a long-list of 80 nominees from across Europe, which will be whittled down to 15 by Dr. Peter Goetz, Gaggenau’s Head of Design Sven Baacke, viniculture expert Sarah Abbott MW and culinary critic Tom Parker Bowles before the announcement of the final recipients in January 2021.

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The winning producers will receive a promotional package to support their business and showcase their craft, including videography and photography created by Gaggenau. They will also become an official Gaggenau global brand partner for 2021 giving them access to the brand’s high-net-worth customer base.

The Respected by Gaggenau 2021 long-list nominees from the United Kingdom were selected by LUX’s own editor-in-chief Darius Sanai, Kol restaurant chef Santiago Lastra and celebrated chef Cyrus Todiwala. Nominees include:

Culinary

Caroll’s Heritage Potatoes @carollsheritagepotatoes
Elchies Estates @elchies_animals
Keltic Seafare @kelticseafare
Langley Chase Organic Farm – Jane Kallaway @langleychasefarm
Rhug Estate Organic Farm – Lord Newborough @rhugestate

Design

Billy Tannery – Jack Millington @billytannery
Cara Guthrie Ceramics @caraguthrieceramics
Retrouvius – Adam Hills & Maria Speake @retrouvius

Viniculture

Albury Organic Vineyard @alburyvineyard
Coates and Seely @coatesandseely

Watch the campaign video below:

For more information visit: gaggenau.com

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man truffle hunting

Truffle hunting has been in severe decline since the early 20th century, but is once again on the rise as a craft and is currently highlighted by the Respected by Gaggenau campaign

The art of the handmade, and the appreciation of high-quality, low-volume makers, are having a resurgence. With the help of the German luxury appliance maker and their Respected by Gaggenau campaign, the future of crafts and the artisanal, whether in food, winemaking or the crafting of objects, is looking brighter, as Lisa Jayne Harris explains

“The nobility and humility of great craft transcends industries and products,” says Master of Wine, Sarah Abbott. “Artisans offer a sense of adventure, excitement and nuance that’s simply not available elsewhere.” The mystique that comes with creating a product by hand – whether that’s a time-honoured way to age wine and make cheese, or a modern take on knife making – touches us in a unique and deep way that mass-produced goods cannot: “People respond to the beauty, sweat, toil and integrity of craft,” Abbott explains. “We’re in a time of a craft renaissance. Our respect for authenticity and integrity in what we make and consume is growing.”

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The resurgence in craft’s popularity is at odds with our increasingly digitised everyday lives and fast-paced consumerism. But therein lies its draw, as handcrafted objects seem to reverberate with the energy of their maker when we hold them in our own hands, and they promise to last longer than impulse purchases, too. “We live in a throwaway world,” says author and food critic, Tom Parker Bowles. “So, it’s really refreshing when things are made to last. Technology has a built-in obsolescence to force us to buy a new phone or whatever, but we’re looking at a more sustainable future in all areas of our lives, including food sourcing.”

truffle in man's hand

Both Parker Bowles and Abbott are judges of the Respected by Gaggenau initiative, which honours, supports and promotes small producers and artisans in the food industry. “We want to give something back to people who deserve it and need it most,” explains Gaggenau’s managing director, Dr Peter Goetz. Regional experts will nominate artisans who use skilled, traditional techniques to create exceptional and authentic products in food, wine and design.

Such authentic artisanal products are distinguished by their fundamental values of patience, passion and heritage. Both maker and customer have to be patient: “People who appreciate the finer things are usually happy to wait,” says professional truffle hunter and owner of The English Truffle Company, James Feaver. His business plan manages customers’ expectations and controls truffle pre-sales so they don’t take on more orders than are achievable. “Every day of hunting depends on the vagaries of the weather. If people get in touch in advance, we do our best to deliver, but we only harvest what’s sustainable and available at that time. I’m more like a fisherman than an artisan baker. I don’t make truffles like a baker makes his bread; nature has done all the hard work and I just find them.”

seasonal produce

Gaggenau appliances can be adapted to any seasonal food preparation.

It’s the passion of people like James who make artisanal products stand out. “True artisans really believe in something,” says Gaggenau’s head of design, Sven Baacke. “They have a vision, they’re digressive, authentic and have a strong character. I see that throughout Gaggenau, too, not just in the design team but in the engineers and every department. We’re all striving for the best.” Abbott believes the character of an artisan winemaker is so palpable that she can taste the ‘maker’s mark’: “There’s a certain idiosyncrasy, a distinctive personality and edginess in the wine over different vintages. Great wines from large producers tend to be more polished, assured and even, but artisanal wineries exist on a knife edge, and you can often taste that in their wines.”

Read more: How Chelsea Barracks is celebrating contemporary British craft

The future is uncertain for many small producers. James has led a British truffle hunting resurgence, but the skill very nearly died out when the last professional truffle hunter, Alfred Collins, hung up his boots in 1930. “At one time there were 10 truffle hunters working out of Alfred Collins’s village,” explains James. “Truffle hunting was a sport for the gentry, like shooting or horse riding, but when Collins retired the custom and his knowledge disappeared too. I’ve been truffle hunting since 2008, and it’s only in the past dozen years that knowledge has come back to this country with our renewed interest in sustainability, British produce and farmers markets.” Crafts like truffle hunting are essentially a shared cultural memory, unique to each community they come from, and only by supporting these skills can we ensure they’re not forgotten. As the Arts and Craft designer William Morris said, “The past is not dead, it is living in us, and will be alive in the future which we are now helping to make.”

artistic photograph of kitchen

An image from the ‘Frozen in Time’ series by culinary artists Studio Appétit for Gaggenau

Climate change is perhaps the biggest threat to the future of artisan food businesses. “We’re already seeing lower rainfall and higher temperatures,” says James, “And that’s not good for truffles.” Sustainability and biodiversity are necessarily at the heart of artisanal work, because they’re more connected to their locality and environment. But this means climate change affects them even more acutely. “Artisanal wineries typically focus on a single small region or wine style,” Abbott points out. “They can’t spread their bets like larger producers, who mitigate risk across multiple regions and grape varieties.” If one variety fails, the small producer’s whole livelihood is at stake.

portrait man in chair

Managing director of Gaggenau, Dr Peter Goetz

Everything that makes craft special – the fact that it’s unique, handmade, small scale and highly skilled – is exactly what puts it under threat. The Heritage Crafts Association maintains a list of endangered and extinct handicrafts in the UK, including bell founding, scissor making, tinsmithing and cricket ball making, and they advocate for their preservation. But thankfully many craft producers have demonstrated their ongoing resilience through the Covid-19 pandemic by pivoting their business models or selling directly to customers. While that works on a local level, it still leaves them exposed in the longer term. “Many of these makers are third, fourth or fifth generation. Their domestic reputation is typically very strong, but it’s a challenge for them to reach diverse markets to weather our increasingly global economic storms,” Abbott says. “Small producers thrive through a more intuitive, organic relationship between maker and consumer but in a noisy, ever-expanding, luxury global market. Without resources for strategic marketing or PR, they struggle to be heard.”

Support programmes such as Respected by Gaggenau can go some way in giving artisans a voice and helping them keep doing what they do best. An appliance manufacturer championing small, independent producers might sound surprising, but the Respected by Gaggenau initiative reveals how much they have in common. “Of course, we are an industrial manufacturer,” says Baacke, “and some of our high-tech processes are best done by machines. But if the kitchen is the heart of the home then appliances are the soul. There is always a human touch to our work, like the hand-polished finish or detailed quality control. It’s the perfect balance between craft and industrialisation.”

The 2020 Respected by Gaggenau prize will bring global attention to three regional producers in food, viniculture and design. “Nominees are likely to be unsung heroes,” says Goetz. “Such as a farmer who produces a small amount of exceptional beef for just a handful of top chefs each year. We want to give that farmer recognition and promote their story to our discerning network.”

Ultimately, it’s up to us all to maintain the heritage of craftsmanship: “I’m an optimist,” says Tom Parker Bowles, “But we have to keep supporting artisan producers and value where our food comes from to secure a better future.”

Find out more: gaggenau.com

This article features in the Autumn 2020 Issue, hitting newsstands in October.

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Inside a knife making workshop
Row of vines growing on a hillside set against a blue sky

The Fattorie dei Dolfi estate in Tuscany uses traditional, sustainable practices in its winemaking.

Whether cooking or dining, some of our most memorable experiences are steeped in history and heritage. Abi Smith speaks to the craftspeople and producers who are placing time-honoured techniques at the heart of their work, with support from Gaggenau’s latest initiative

Conspicuous consumption is a thing of the past; today we all know that true luxury lies in experience and emotion. No longer blind to the damage that our disposable lifestyles are wreaking upon the planet, our gaze has turned to techniques and materials that have stood the test of time. But is this newfound focus on sustainability and durability built to last?

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Two farmers standing in rugged landscape

Kyle Holford and Lauren Smith

For Lauren Smith and Kyle Holford of Forest Coalpit Farm in Wales, who raise their large black cross pigs on pasture, it was the only approach. “From the beginning, we realised that our focus should be on quality and welfare so we kept that philosophy at the core of our decision- making,” Smith says. And though sustainability is rarely the quick and easy option, it pays dividends. “Quality takes time,” she adds. “It takes about twice as long for us to raise our pigs. We realised that we could produce pigs quicker, but there was less colour in the meat, and less of the much-sought-after marbling throughout.”

Forest Coalpit Farm pigs spend their days in the Brecon Beacons National Park woodland, a freedom that leads to “healthier, happier, cleaner pigs that get fresh air and exercise and haven’t been pumped full of antibiotics,” says Smith. There are perks for the environment, too: “Because our pigs roam and are rotated through large areas, there is a constant wheel of fertilising and regeneration, we don’t have vast slurry tanks and we don’t need to keep lights or air conditioning in the barns.”

Pigs grassing in woodland landscape

At Forest Coalpit Farm in Wales, Kyle Holford and Lauren Smith rear free-range large black cross pigs

Increasingly, consumers are turning to sustainable products for better quality. “I don’t follow the principle of sustainability for other people or because it’s popular in the market,” explains Giovanni Dolfi, who heads up the Fattorie dei Dolfi winery in Tuscany. “I do it for myself.” In collaboration with celebrated oenologist Dr Giacomo Tachis, Dolfi harnesses biodiversity and traditional processes to bring his historic Tuscan vineyards to life. “Sustainability is something I’ve always believed in and what I practise every day in my vineyards,” he continues, citing his devotion to both the environment and his customers’ wellbeing. “I am always the first person to drink my wine, and since I care for my own health, I believe that practising sustainability is a natural choice.”

Read more: Ornellaia’s auction of vintages with artwork by Shirin Neshat

This dedication to sustainability is what led German brand Gaggenau to begin working with Fattorie dei Dolfi, as part of its strategy to further promote its wine culture, and Giovanni Dolfi was invited to its International Sommelier Awards. As a maker of professional-grade luxury home appliances, Gaggenau has an instinctive respect for quality and craftsmanship: the ethos it has recently formalised through its Respected by Gaggenau programme. This mark of endorsement gives makers the recognition they deserve, while also offering the prospect of a bursary to support their work.

Wooden wine barrels in cellar

Italian style villa on the wine estate

Here and above: the Fattorie dei Dolfi wine estate in Tuscany

It is a project that chimes with the current zeitgeist. Ever since the ‘slow food’ movement showed us the power of taking natural ingredients and enjoying them mindfully (something that discerning aesthetes have always known) the world has been longing for a more measured pace of life. Love it or hate it, the philosophy of tidiness guru Marie Kondo (who proposes keeping only those items that ‘spark joy’ within you) has put a popular modern spin on the wise words of William Morris more than a century before, namely: “Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.”

It is a sublimation of beauty and utility that has led Nico Zendel – a designer at Gaggenau – to begin a side business forging bespoke knives with antique files. “Perfect function is a must and the perfect form supports the perfect function,” he says. “At Gaggenau we work with a lot of raw materials and try to highlight the handcrafted details on our products. That is the way I design my knives as well.” If you have an old file that has been handed down through your family, Zendel will use it to create a bespoke product for you. “An old file that has no use anymore is often discarded, but if you make a knife from it, you can use it every day, see the marks on it and perhaps think of your father or grandfather while you’re cooking. It has an emotional component that I’m very interested in,” he says. The result is a modern heirloom that says more about you than the most carefully curated Instagram feed ever could.

Inside workman's workshop

Inside a knife making workshop

Knife maker welding a knife

Designer Nico Zendel crafts bespoke knives from antique files which may otherwise have been discarded. Here, above and top: images by Alexander Stuhler

Zendel says that such objects last longer because people treat them with more respect: “For me, it’s important to preserve traditional techniques as they imbue the products with heart and emotion. It helps to get away from the throw-away culture; people are more linked to products that tell a story.” Dolfi’s wines are also overflowing with feeling: “Fattorie dei Dolfi is a project built by heart and hands,” he says. “By heart, we mean our passion, dedication and our love for the project. By hand, we mean the hard work we put in every day to pursue exceptional quality and unique results.”

Wine maker sniffing a glass of red

Fattorie dei Dolfi’s owner, Giovanni Dolfi

This hard work manifests itself in a natural approach to viniculture, where modern shortcuts are eschewed for gentler methods that work in harmony with the land. “My vineyards are surrounded by woodlands, where you’ll find bees, ladybugs, spiders, hares, birds and more,” says Dolfi. “The benefits of this are obvious. For example, the bees bring natural pollination and help to control the numbers of harmful insects. This ensures the health of my vineyards and the exceptional quality that I pursue.”

Read more:  In conversation with renowned Belgian painter Luc Tuymans

But the path of an artisanal producer is not always easy. In Dolfi’s case, during late summer, wild boars have been known to gorge on the grapes. A commitment to what we might call ‘slow luxury’ – much like slow food – means a rejection of the ‘pile it high, sell it cheap’ philosophy that has made other entrepreneurs rich. As Smith from Coalpit Farm points out, “rearing pigs outdoors requires a lot more labour than an indoor system with automated feeding. We have to move the pigs from pen to pen, and it’s harder to get their diet just right when they burn a lot more energy running outside. And there’s the weather, too.” But Smith, who knows every sow by name, wouldn’t have it any other way.

Remembering how his grandfather would walk him round their ancestral vineyards, Dolfi says: “As we relentlessly strive for efficiency, traditional ways fall out of favour and the concept of exceptional quality can be lost.” To survive, these crafts must be supported and celebrated, and that’s where Respected by Gaggenau comes in. With the right platform and access to a global support network, their skills will endure for generations to come.

Respected by Gaggenau

Man in a suit standing in high tech kitchen

Gaggenau’s head of design, Sven Baacke

Sven Baacke, head of design at Gaggenau, shares his philosophy on supporting emerging artisanal creators

LUX: What inspired Respected by Gaggenau and why is it important to preserve traditional artisanal skills?
Sven Baacke: The initial concept of the Respected by Gaggenau initiative was inspired by our appreciation for people who are using traditional techniques to create a different and exceptional product. Gaggenau has always celebrated exceptional craftsmanship and we wanted to formalise our support for these artisans and craftsmen through this initiative.

LUX: How can advanced technology and traditional craftsmanship work hand in hand?
Sven Baacke: A unique example of how Gaggenau merges traditional production methods with advanced technology is the way in which we construct our EB 333 ovens. Since its introduction in 1986, this 90-cm wide oven, designed for private kitchens, is crafted almost entirely by hand using select materials. Yet the company also embraces the latest technology: we created a clean room at the epicentre of our Lipsheim factory to hand-build our signature TFT touch display, which features
on the EB 333. This is a clear case of how technology and artisanal craftsmanship work together in harmony.

LUX: Is craftsmanship still valued by consumers in a modern market?
Sven Baacke: Craftsmanship, now more than ever, is valued highly by luxury consumers. Our customers expect exceptional craftsmanship from Gaggenau appliances. At every stage of production, we examine our work to seek out imperfections. The quality control that we use when creating our appliances ensures that we produce an extraordinary product, every time.

LUX: How will the Respected by Gaggenau artisans benefit from your global network?
Sven Baacke: Gaggenau takes part in a range of events globally; for example, we are a proud partner of The World Restaurant Awards, which was launched in Paris at the beginning of this year. We introduced Respected by Gaggenau at the awards, with an immersive experience inspired by a traditional marketplace. It featured products curated by us and the Collège Culinaire de France, and guests could explore the collection while learning more about who made each item. We also host the Gaggenau International Sommelier Awards – a global search for the world’s best young sommelier talent – so we’ll encourage their involvement with this event too. It’s all part of our initiative to celebrate these remarkable artisans and their stories.

Find out more: gaggenau.com/gb

To discover Nico Zendel’s range of knives visit: vauzett.com.

This article was originally published in the Autumn 19 Issue.

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