Celebrity chef opens village shop

From the The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald, first published Tuesday 10th Jan 2006.

EVERYONE who helped establish the new community store in the village of All Cannings, near Devizes, received more than just a warm welcome at the official opening last Saturday.

Guests who had contributed to the successful shop scheme turned up for a cookery demonstration at the village hall by TV chef Peter Vaughan, who runs the Healthy Life Bistro in Devizes.

Before the show began, Peter Cooper, chairman of the All Cannings Community Store Association, welcomed them and thanked them for their contributions.

Charities and organisations who had given grants, as well as a local surveyor, builders, a graphic designer and local councillors were among the audience who sat down for the fascinating hour-and-a-half show by Mr Vaughan.

Mr Vaughan based his demonstration on a meal that could be rustled up at short notice, say for a Saturday lunch party, his only means of cooking being an electric griddle.

He started with an avocado dish, served on an oatmeal biscuit.

This was followed by pork burgers, using local ingredients as much as possible, and with the subtle addition of herbs and spices to make them really flavoursome.

The griddle was used again for little banana pancakes, served with a drizzle of local Wiltshire honey. No sugar was used in the mixture because, as Mr Vaughan explained, the bananas were sweet enough.

Mr Vaughan also explained how to get the best out of herbs, how to prevent crying when chopping onions and how to avoid injuring your fingers when using a grater.

Mr Vaughan also drew a raffle. The first prize was one of his own books which he had donated to the association.

Everyone was then encouraged to visit the shop and stock up.

All Cannings was left without a village shop after Isobel and David Lane were forced to close the village's post office stores in January 2003. They had been unable to find a buyer to run it as a going concern.

Residents set up a village store association and sought advice from Co-operative Futures, an organisation that offers help with starting community-owned stores in conjunction with Community First and the Village Retail Services Association.

They also had advice from the Urchfont Community Shop Association. The All Cannings group was unable to resurrect the post office as more than 18 months had elapsed since the last post office closed.

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