Food & Drink 2024 | 17 Sep24501 Most Dedicated Specialist Food Website 2024 – UK Crispy, springy, and fluffy, the crumpet is a crucial component of British cuisine, and an iconic staple of a classic British breakfast. Characterised by its spongey texture and distinctively porous texture, the traditional treat has a rich history and a loyal fanbase. Crumpetman is a specialist food website that not only celebrates crumpets, but also the various ways in which they can be served. Below, we speak with Crumpetman’s Founder, Winston Crumpetman, as the website receives recognition in the Food and Drink Awards 2024. Whilst the origins of the crumpet are shrouded in mystery, the earliest reference to crumpets is said to date back to 1382, when theologist John Wycliffe translated a word in the Latin Old Testament as “crompid cake”. However, the described cake bears little resemblance to the crumpets we know today, aside from being cooked on a hot stone. The earliest recipes we have discovered for crumpets hail from the late 17th century, generally using buckwheat flour that made them flat in appearance. It wasn’t until 1769, when Elizabath Raffald published a recipe for crumpets in “The Experienced Housekeeper”, that crumpets began to resemble our modern incarnation. Though still not an exact match, the concept of cooking batter on a hot stone, toasting, and buttering the product certainly takes steps in the right direction. The Victorians further pioneered the development of the crumpet, by introducing baking powder to the batter following its widespread availability. This addition led to the porous texture for which the food has become renowned and, when paired with the Victorian’s introduction of crumpet rings, made for taller and more consistently sized crumpets. Crumpets were widely available across the entirety of Great Britain, not bound by social class nor location. It is much disputed where the crumpets we know today were officially incepted, as there is solid evidence of modernised crumpets being sold from the North to the South throughout the 19th century, with no single town or region laying incontestable claim to its final form. But no matter the region they originated in, it is indisputable that crumpets are an entirely versatile and tasty treat. So much so, in fact, that Winston Crumpetman has established Crumpetman, a specialist website dedicated to celebrating and illustrating the history and adaptability of the dish. Founded in 2017, Crumpetman shares no products nor holds a commercial purpose; the website is a fun reflection of an unwavering love for crumpets. Whilst Crumpetman has no employees, Winston is occasionally supported by a small but dedicated team of volunteers sharing this passion. The team is called upon to test crumpet products from various supermarkets, providing the broadest, most comprehensive crumpet taste test available with full insight into each product’s merits and drawbacks. Additionally, Crumpetman also provides an extensive range of recipes and ideas for those seeking to shake up their crumpet, and even comprehensive guides on cooking for complete novices. Inspired from flavours from around the world, Crumpetman’s impressive recipe list truly demonstrates the full range of possibilities crumpets can introduce to your plate. Whether seasonally or culturally inspired, Crumpetman’s crumpet recipes are tantalisingly unique. From holiday-style recipes including Toffee Apple Crumpets, Christmas Pudding Crumpets, and Bonfire Apple Crumpets, to global favourites such as Coronation Crumpets, Crumpet Carbonara, and Crumpetizza Romana, Crumpetman is guaranteed to have a recipe that will suit your taste. “While crumpet producers and supermarkets have a few basic ideas for crumpet toppings on their websites,” says Winston, “there is nobody else providing ideas without commercial motivation, and nobody providing anything like the breadth offered on Crumpetman.” Inspired by the concept of towns and cities from around the world twinning with one another, Crumpetman has spent countless hours scouring the web to find its own possible twin. Seeking out similarly focused websites, Crumpetman hoped to find a twin with which it could share ideas, increase visitor numbers between the two sites, and design a logo or sign to celebrate the newly formed relationship. The search has been unfortunately fruitless thus far; the specialist websites of a similar quality all have commercial purpose, whether selling through the websites or being funded by organisations for promotion. This will not deter Crumpetman, however, as we learn from Winston that the website has exciting plans for the future. This dedication and passion have earned Crumpetman the deserved title of Most Dedicated Specialist Food Website 2024 – UK. “We would still love to twin with like-minded websites, and will continue to explore this,” Winston tells us. “We also have plenty of new recipes in the pipeline, plan to do another comprehensive taste-test of supermarket crumpets and intend to expand our focus on crumpet offerings from restaurants.” Contact: Winston Crumpetman Company: Crumpetman Web Address: www.crumpetman.com
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