Producer Profiles

Bob Thorpe (Holmfirth and Pennine Country Markets)

“My wife, Ann, and I joined Country Markets as a shared hobby after busy working lives in London; we have been members for 11 years.  I had to learn about baking, especially pastry and gradually got better at it.  Ann is an excellent cook and helped teach me, but nowadays we bake very differently.  She always follows the recipe and I don’t!  I like to experiment and think I’m more inventive because of it.  It has resulted in some tasty ideas, particularly my delicious preserves.

My Plum and Prune Jam and ‘Alan’s Marmalade’ – made with satsumas, grapefruit, lemons and ginger and named after my dad because he loved ginger so much, are always in demand.  Lots of people sing the praises of my ‘Choir Chutney’.  I had a friend in Huddersfield Choral Society who asked for a chutney to give out as Christmas presents, so I decided to create a ‘concerto of flavour’.  I put in plums for the tenors, prunes for the bass, clementines for the sopranos, oranges for the contraltos as well as curry powder because the Choir are hot stuff!  The recipe didn’t work out that well at first but I re-jigged some of the ingredients and now everyone sings its praises.

Once upon a time our allotment used to serve all our cooking needs, but over the years demand for more pies and jams means it must be supplemented, which is a pity as it would be nice to produce everything myself.  Most of all, I get great satisfaction when I sell things, even more so when someone comes back to buy again – it means they must like it!”

Doreen Liles (Penistone Country Market)

Doreen Liles is one of the founder members of Penistone Country Market.  Since the market opened its doors to customers in August 1994, Doreen has produced preserves, jams and pickles, cakes and savoury pies.  Customers look for her name on their favourite foods.

“I had a wonderful cookery teacher at school during war time”, says Doreen, “Miss Ramsden taught me all the skills I needed for cooking.  My mother was a lovely baker and she passed on to me the love of making great pastry and cakes.”

Over the years, Doreen’s hobbies have been knitting, tatting, embroidery, sewing and decorating, but baking cakes was one of her great loves.  She baked and decorated wedding cakes for many years, producing spectacular and beautiful cakes.

Doreen worked for many years for Barnardo’s as a secretary and joint treasurer.  She has also worked for many years as a volunteer at the local hospital.  Her fundraising efforts took her to Penistone Show at a stand for Barnardo’s.  She started exhibiting and Doreen was soon winning accolades for her jams and pickles at the Show.  Every year she would win as many as 7 prizes and rosettes for her products.

Doreen is one of the market’s main producers.  Her 'Seville and Ginger Marmalade' is wonderful.  Try Doreen's 'Red Onion Marmalade' along with Brie in a toasted panino.  'Lemon Drizzle Cake' and 'Date and Walnut Cake' are just a few of the wide variety of cakes she makes for Penistone Country Market.  She is well known for having a light hand with pastry and she bakes great apple pies and rhubarb pies.

Doreen also produces small individual servings for her customers who prefer to purchase in smaller quantities.  Her cottage pies and her meat and potato pies sell out very quickly on Market day.

Using the very best ingredients, in season, is one of the most important factors in Doreen’s cooking.  “If you don’t put the best ingredients into your cooking, you can’t expect to produce the best results”, says Doreen.  “Home cooking is all about producing quality products for our customers, not items that are mass produced on a large commercial scale.”

Becky Rosling-Josephs (Sheffield Country Market)

Becky Rosling-Josephs lives in Mosborough. She joined Sheffield Country Market in November 1996 after a fellow Producer tasted some of her coconut tarts!

“I am a baker and I make mostly cakes, buns, tarts and chocolate rolls and sometimes Chelsea buns or brioche.  I do savouries from time to time and occasionally bring a plant or two.  At Christmas I make mince pies, sausage and onion plaits and Yule Logs.  I also make celebration cakes for Weddings, Anniversaries and Birthdays.”

“I love being involved with the Market, it has enabled me to make lots of friends and I love to chat to the customers.  It’s great to see the regulars every week and to see new faces as well.  I also love to bake and I get great satisfaction out of hearing people say how much they have enjoyed my baking.”
 
Of all the things Becky produces, she is most proud of her mince pies.  She makes her own pastry (from a very secret recipe!), and her own mincemeat filling.  They are suitable for vegetarians and Becky says she is yet to meet anyone who doesn’t like them!  “I make approximately 120 dozen (no you didn’t read that incorrectly!)  Every Christmas, not only for the Market, but family, friends and my husband Chris’s work colleagues put their orders in too!  My Mum comes to help me (God bless her!!) and I bake from early morning to very late at night for about 3 solid weeks up to Christmas.”

Janine Lishman-Peat (Penistone and Pennine Country Markets)

Janine cooks and bakes for Penistone and she is passionate about fine food and her reputation is based on the quality of her cooking.  Her enthusiasm has already spilled over to winning a string of awards including Finalist on BBC Masterchef 1999, Winner of Best Roast Beef in England 2004 and Yorkshire Chef of the Year 2006.

Janine doesn't remember how or when she started to cook, it is so ingrained that the memory has gone; was it the cakes she baked for her mother or the influence of her grandmother, a cook in service? Whatever, by the age of 13 Janine was winning adult cookery competitions.  Always inventive and creative, her passion for food and cooking has been ceaseless. Whether researching ideas in her collection of over 700 cookery books, sourcing top quality local ingredients or testing variations of her unique creations with friends, Janine is tireless in her search for excellence.  She has shared her passion for fine food in a series of short pieces on Penistone FM preparing specific dishes in a very limited time whilst talking about them.

She is also the enthusiastic supporter of the move by Country Markets to make available some of its products via farm shops and other outlets and in South Yorkshire she is now the manager of our virtual Market, Pennine Country Market, which is furthering such sales.  Her own specific contribution to that development has been her Cakes and Shortbreads.

Fran Wright (Tickhill, Doncaster and Pennine Country Markets)

Elaine Dunning (Penistone and Pennine Country Markets)