Top 10 UK holiday foods

Whether it's creamy cheese, flaming hot chilli sauce or sweet and sticky baklava, there are some tastes we'll always associate with being on holiday. Lauren Bravo finds out how you can save the air fare and feast on faraway favourites, grown right here in Blighty

Buffalo mozzarella

Cool and creamy, buffalo mozzarella is a sure contender for the king of holiday cheeses. The Italians love it melted on pizzas, stuffed inside chicken breasts, or simply torn up with some basil and fresh tomatoes, for a salacious insalate.

Back on British soil, Laverstoke Park Farm in Hampshire was one of the first to produce buffalo mozzarella in the UK. They even claim to have one up on the Italians, because their buffalo are free to roam through herby pastures, enjoy the fresh air and generally live la dolce vita.

Baklava

Sweets don't come much sweeter than baklava, the sticky, nutty, pastry confections eaten across the Middle East. Made with ingredients like pistachio, cardamom, honey blossom syrup and almonds, these are a far cry from Brit puddings but no kinder on the waistline. Good job you can't read the calories in Arabic, then.

London bakers, Persis are a family-run business, making traditional sweets with recipes handed down through generations. Their range includes baklava in all shapes and sizes, shereddies, cakes and coconut squares, all available to order online.

Chorizo

The spicy Spanish sausage has a lot more flavour than your average British banger - which is perhaps why we can still taste it once we get home. Fabulous in paella, with fish or in summer salads, chorizo is a distinctly more-ish holiday memento.

Cured meat enthusiasts The Bath Pig have spent years perfecting their British chorizo. Available in original, spicy and garlic and herb variations, the porcine products beat a straw donkey for holiday spirit any day.

Halloumi

The only food we can think of for where 'squeaky' is a positive adjective, halloumi is Greek/Cypriot holiday staple. The salty cheese is made from goat's or sheep's milk, or a mixture of the two, with a high melting point that makes it ideal for barbecuing as a meaty substitute or side dish.

The husband and wife team behind Cothi Valley Goats, Carmarthenshire, make Welsh halloumi to a secret Cypriot recipe. Using only goat's milk, from their 240-strong herd, the company prove sunshine isn't necessarily the magic ingredient.

Chilli sauce

It isn't a holiday unless at some point your Dad is bent double over a restaurant table, crying and motioning for water. Summer escapes are a great time to turn up the heat and challenge your taste buds, whether it's with curry, chipotles or Jamaican jerk.

We may not have the weather to match, but British producers know how to get us feeling hot, hot, hot. Trees Can't Dance is the world's most northerly chilli farm, which makes delicious chilli sauces, marinades and pickles inspired by trips to the farthest reaches of the globe. Ranging from mildly tongue-tingling to eye-popping extremes, there is a fiery fix for every palate.

Hummus

Where finger food is concerned, with olives, bread and dips galore, Middle Eastern mezze is streaks ahead of our bridge roll buffets. At the heart of it all sits hummus, the erratically-spelled but always delicious dip of chickpeas, tahini, olive oil and garlic. Protein-packed and great with meats, salads and grains, hummus is the holiday side dish that deserves to take centre stage.

We may not associate exotic mezze with the green, green grass of home, but Wales' Patchwork Traditional Food Company, has been producing pâtés and dips for nearly 30 years. Their hummus comes in six varieties, including Flamin' Hummus, Black Olive, and Hummus Holiday with Red Pesto. All you need now is a tan.

Biltong

England may have lost out on the taste of World Cup victory, but that's no reason to snub South Africa's signature snack. Biltong is cured meat, commonly beef, game, or the slightly more unusual ostrich. Chewy enough to give your jaw a good workout, biltong is ideal grub for sporting spectators, or people who talk too much.

Laverstoke Park Farm have taken South African tradition and run with it, all the way back to Blighty and their herd of free-range buffalo. Available as chilli bites, dry sausage or traditional biltong, the company's cured buffalo meat is the perfect way to cross the equator without leaving the sofa.

Tea

Us Brits might think we have the monopoly on proper tea drinking, but there's a whole world of exotic ritual beyond the builder's brew. From sweet mint tea in Morocco to Assam in India and jasmine in China, putting your feet up with a steaming cup of something is a tradition we're not prepared to leave at home.

There's no need to wait until you're on your hols to swap your milk-and-two-sugars, though. The Tregothnan Estate in Cornwall was the first to grow tea in the UK, over 200 years ago, and has since been perfecting its loose-leaf infusions. Teas in the range include green tea, lemon verbena, manuka and nettle, and there are no rules against biscuit-dunking.

Tomatoes

Yes, we know there are tomatoes aplenty on our home turf, but somehow the sweet, juicy flavour of toms eaten in sunnier climes will always be one of our strongest holiday food memories. Drizzled with olive oil and eaten with fresh bread, or made into sauces for Mediterranean dishes, it isn't the fruit itself, but what our continental cousins do with it, that makes holiday tomatoes hard to beat.

But British producers are playing a pretty impressive ketchup (sorry). The Tomato Stall are flying the flag with their range of 100 per cent natural tomato sauces, relishes and roasted tomatoes with holiday-ish additions like garlic, chilli and basil, all made from tomatoes grown on their Isle of Wight farm.

Olives

Black or green, garlic-stuffed or baked into bread, olives maketh the Mediterranean holiday. While they're available in shops across the land, the salty little treasures will forever hold a place in our hearts as holiday foods, because the sun-loving fruit just won't grow in Britain.

That is, until now. In January 2010, Sarah and Richard Nunn became the first people to commercially grow olives in the UK. The crop from the couple's smallholding in Chichester, West Sussex, were subjected to rigorous taste tests by Italian aficionados before being given the big, oily, thumbs-up.

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