Nowadays, everyone enjoys a pot of yogurt. Strawberry, black cherry, banana,
hazelnut - they’re the familiar faces of the nation’s breakfast tables. Yet no-one,
it seems, has ever thought to produce anything a little more exotic.
Until now, that is.
Raylings Farm is venturing into pastures new and, from next week, visitors
to their farm shop will be offered a choice of yogurts with mouthwatering names like
Cumberland Sausage and Pizza Napolitana.
“I go the idea after one breakfast time when me and the wife was having a bit of a
ding-dong,” owner Joshua Rayling told the Observer.
“She lost her temper and threw the frying pan at me, bacon and all. Lucky
for me I ducked and it went clean out the window!”
What happened next was to set in motion a process that would result in a entirely new and original range of yogurts.
The flying pan landed in the cowshed, where Florence, the farm’s prize-winning
Guernsey, was happy to devour its contents. When she was milked later that day,
it was noticed that her milk smelled and tasted of bacon.
“Whatever you feed a cow will end up flavouring the milk she produces,” said
Mr. Rayling, “so I decided to take that idea and run with it.
“From Monday, we’re launching three major new lines. The first we’re
calling the ‘Big Breakfast’. This has got your staples like bacon and egg, sausage
sandwich and beans on toast flavoured yogurts.
“The ‘International Gourmet’ features
the likes of Penne Arrabiata, Chicken Chow Mein and Thai Green Curry. The cows took
to the Chow Mein big time, so we’ve got high hopes for that one.
“With the ‘Country Fayre’, we’re aiming square at the English market,
with traditional favourites like Hedgehog Al Fresco, Venison Roulade, Toadstool
Surprise and Acorn Ripple.”
Pull the udder one, you might think but, at the time of going to press, the
Raylings are hard at work on some even more unusual ideas, including bespoke yogurts
for special occasions.
The first of these will be called ‘The Gunpowder Pot’ and it’s aimed at firework
parties this coming November. Its unique flavour is achieved by having a cow inhale
the smoke from a bonfire.
“We decided to use Florence for this, as she was the one who gave me the
idea in the first place,” explained the farmer-turned-entrepreneur.
“We use an old cylinder-type vacuum cleaner, which we found in the loft. We turn it on
and put the nozzle near the bonfire, so that it sucks up all the smoke. We keep
the fire on a slow burn by piling old tractor tyres on it.
“The other end of the cylinder, where the air comes out, we duct tape
over Florence’s mouth, so it blows the smoke from the fire straight down her
throat.”
Strain on the animal's head is reduced by means of a horse collar fitted with a fishing
rod. When the collar is placed around the neck, the rod projects over the head. The line from the rod is then attached to the cylinder and reeled tight, reducing downward drag and keeping the cow's head up.
In order to ensure maximum results from the smoke inhalation process, Florence is induced to run on a treadmill, so she will take deeper breaths than normal.
“We don’t want to wear the old girl out, so we don’t set the belt speed
too high,” said Mr. Rayling, with a chuckle.
“Never more than 35 mph, tops.”
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