Artisan producer of wild venison charcuterie, Great Glen Game is set to exhibit at biggest UK Trade Fair for the first time

Photo: © childsdesign

The company based in the Highlands of Scotland will showcase their range of wild venison products at the Food & Drink Expo at Birmingham’s NEC, from the 25th – 27th March 2012.

Great Glen Game’s marketing director Anja Baak, said: "The Food & Drink Expo is a fantastic opportunity for us to meet food buyers from the UK and overseas and show our products. We are also looking forward to meeting current customers."

Photo: © childsdesign

Great Glen Game uses local, sustainably sourced wild venison to make a range of cured and smoked products such as salami, chorizo, bresaola and smoked venison. They will also showcase their latest product which is a smoked grouse breast.

Using only pure, wild venison and combining age-old curing techniques with modern innovative technology, the company strives to create products of great taste and distinction.

“We are hoping to build on the success that we’ve been experiencing in the last year. Great Glen Game has secured deals with many new stockists across the UK and started exporting to The Netherlands, Germany and Belgium”

“Our products have real provenance and the fact that we use sustainable sourced venison makes them very popular.”

Visitors to the Great Glen Game stand will have an opportunity to taste the unique products which have won numerous Great Taste Awards over the last years and are used by Michelin starred chefs.

Great Glen Game products are handmade with pure wild venison, which is a lean meat, low cholesterol and low calorie making them a healthy alternative to more common pork based charcuterie. The products are available in retail packs and whole products.
The products are sold at Fortnum & Mason and many independent food halls, delicatessen and farmshops.

Great Glen Game can be found at the Scotland Food and Drink Pavilion on stand J130J

To find out more about Great Glen Game visit their page on The Artisan Food Trail here

Food & Drink Expo featuring Farm Shop & Deli Show: 25th – 27th March 2012

Food & Drink Expo featuring Farm Shop & Deli is set to be the UK's largest food and drink focused trade show this year.
Join the industry from 25-27 March 2012 at Birmingham's NEC for three days of innovation and inspiration.

See over 550 exhibiting companies catering for the grocery, wholesale, foodservice, speciality retail and manufacturing sectors – from familiar and established brands through to fledgling artisan start-ups.

Don't miss the live events at The Brainfood Factory and Farm Shop & Deli Live featuring leading industry experts. Focus is on the key issues affecting your business in today's tough economic climate.

The Artisan Food Trail members that will be exhibiting this year are:
Breckland Orchard
Fudge Kitchen
Great Glen Game
Trotter's Independent Condiments

For more information about the event see the website www.foodanddrinkexpo.co.uk

Our Stars of British Pie Week

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Samphire
A pork pie with crunchy pastry, well seasoned rare breed pork and just the right amount of jelly. What more could you ask for? Unless you’d like to add a little sweetness ….. perhaps one with onion marmalade?

Brays Cottage Pork Pies
Pork pies made with the best bits of pork and bacon and their own blend of herbs and spices. Varieties available are, Onion Marmalade, chilli, Chorizo and Naked.

Annie's Market Garden
Inspired by her Grandad and her Mum, Annie shares her family tradition of baking wonderful pies using local ingredients.
Varieties available are Beef & Kidney Pie, Beef & Ale Pie, Beef & Onion Pie, Minced Beef and Vegetable Pie, as well as pasties and pork pies.

March Competition No. 2: Win 1 of 5 pairs of tickets to the BBC Good Food Show Spring

The BBC Good Food Show Spring is launching at Glow, Bluewater, 12th – 15th April and to celebrate we have teamed up with the organisers to offer you the chance to win one of five pairs of tickets to the Show.

The BBC Good Food Show Spring is going to be your chance to see some of the nation’s favourite chefs cooking live on stage including James Martin, Gennaro Contaldo and Mark Sargeant plus MasterChef’s John Torode and Gregg Wallace and the country’s first chance to see the MasterChef Champion 2012 in action.

Tickets will gain you entry to the Show from 9.30am-2pm on Sunday 15 April and seats in the 12pm session in the Supertheatre where you can pick up tips for the kitchen from some of the best chefs in the business.

Sorry this competition has now closed

For more details about BBC Good Food Show Spring visit their website

March Competition No.1: Win 1 of 5 pairs of tickets to The Suffolk Food, Drink & Music Festival

With its inaugural event taking place in 2011 with over 5000 visitors, The Suffolk Food, Drink and Music Festival is back for the 2012 season with an exciting addition of the Framlingham Country Show taking place in conjunction to the event.

Situated in the beautiful grounds of Framlingham College in Suffolk, the Suffolk Food, Drink and Music Festival is now a permanent fixture in the show calendar and the Suffolk social scene, showcasing the best of local and national producers, chefs and musicians.

The Suffolk Food, Drink and Music Festival combined with the Framlingham Country Show will bring together a host of sights and experiences for the visitors with top class cookery demonstrations and talks in the 300 seat demonstration area whilst in the event rings everything from dog agility to geese herding can be seen while in the music area up to 9 live bands a day will provide additional entertainment. The combined event offers new and seasoned traders the opportunity to meet a variety of visitors and to market their products to a much wider audience.

The Suffolk Food, Drink and Music Festival takes place at Framlingham College on the 14th and 15th April and 
The Artisan Food Trail has 5 Pairs of FREE tickets to give away for entry on either day.
Sorry this competition has now closed

For more details of The Suffolk Food and Drink Festival visit their website

Rabbit Pie

Photo: © childsdesign

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There are various recipes for rabbit pie and this is the AFT Kitchen's version, which in one way or another is probably an adaption of those recipes.
We made this one to celebrate British Pie Week and have included some flavours that conjure up the British countryside, wild rabbit, of course, apples and cider. For an old-fashioned feel, the sauce is perked up with mace and mustard.
The pastry is very short. The ratio of fat to flour is quite high, but it makes the pastry so melt-in-the-mouth gorgeous.

Please do try to use wild rabbit as it is sure to have had a better life before being killed, plus a diet of wild grass and herbs can only improve the taste.

View recipe

The Edible Garden Show: 16th – 18th March 2012

The Edible Garden Show is the ultimate grow your own event. Home to celebrity gardeners, chefs, experts and a fantastic range of exhibitors offering your favourite gardening products along with new and exciting products to the market, all available to buy whether you are a seasoned expert or just getting started.

The Edible Garden Show is held over three days at Stoneleigh Park in Warwickshire where you can see, try and buy the latest products, hear tips and advice in talks from resident experts, watch some great demonstrations, get involved in potting and planting or just relax and enjoy the show. From Experts Theatre, Cookery Theatre and Potting Shed to the Smallholders Marquee, if you are interested in growing or rearing your own this is the show for you.

Everything you need – seeds, compost and machinery through to chickens, sheds, polytunnels and greenhouses. Wormeries, tools, bee hives, plants and so much more.

As well as the 'growing' aspect, you'll be able to gain inspiration from some of the best British food producers who will be selling some amazing hand made products.




Here are the AFT members that are confirmed as exhibiting:

The Artisan Smokehouse
A small family run and owned smokehouse on the Suffolk coast producing award-winning smoked food, made in small quantities to ensure quality and freshness.

Edible Ornamentals
Bedfordshire chilli grower selling chilli plants, fresh chillies and their very own hand made sauces and relishes.

Samphire
Award winning food from a Norfolk smallholding. Producer of rare breed pork and makers of amazing pork pies, sausages, sausage rolls and sweet treats.

Womersley Fruit & Herb Vinegars
Yorkshire artisan maker of fine fruit vinegars and herb jellies.




This should be a good event especially for those who are looking to learn more about how they can make a success of their garden or allotment.

For more information about the event see the website: www.theediblegardenshow.co.uk

When: 16th – 18th March 2012
Where: Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire


View The Edible Garden Show in a larger map

Feast your Pies! It's British Pie Week: 5th – 11th March 2012

Photos: © childsdesign

It's a time to celebrate all things encased in pastry, a true honour of what's a great British culinary institution.

Happiness is indeed pie-shaped, something enticing enclosed inside a crisp rich pastry shell never fails to please.
A hot pie is the ultimate comfort food during winter, fresh from the oven, the contents bubbling within and when the crust is broken a sudden gush of steam delivers its appetising aromas to eager hungry diners.
A pie can be eaten cold too which of course makes it perfectly portable and just right for any picnic.
Pies can be as simple or as complicated as you wish. You don't even need a recipe – just pastry and your imagination… or you could buy one from our great artisan food producers.

Later this week we'll be pointing you towards those artisan pies and even including a recipe.

We Are One Today!

It's our birthday!
Well, a whole year has passed since launching The Artisan Food Trail website. That year seems to have whooshed by and so much has happened and we can't quite believe it.
We'd like to thank all of our friends, business associates and the food producers that have given their support, spread the word and made us feel that everything is all so worthwhile.

Here's to many more years ahead.