Shetland Food Festival Producers' Market: 12th – 13th November 2011

Shetland produces some wonderful food from exceptional lamb, fine beef, superbly fresh fish and shellfish to some more unusual specialities such as seawater oatcakes, Shetland Black potatoes and more-ish fudge! The Shetland Food Festival is already in full swing and culminates in the Producers' Market held over the weekend of 12th – 13th November 2011.

Local food producers are coming together at Clickimin Leisure Complex to bring you the Producers’ Market, which sits along side the cookery demonstrations. This year it will be packed with a great selection of local produce and food related stalls. There's sure to be a selection of meat, cheese, jams and chutneys, vegetables, oatcakes and confectionery. Wander through the market, enjoy tastings, speak to the producers first-hand and pick up those all important Christmas gifts and ingredients and buy the very best of Shetland's larder.

We are delighted to say that The Artisan Food Trail will be at The Shetland Food Festival, not in person but certainly in spirit, as
Briggs' Shetland Lamb will be exhibiting giving visitors the chance to try their exceptional products, including, no doubt, a piece of lamb pie.

To find out out more about 
Briggs' Shetland Lamb visit them on The Artisan Food Trail here

When: Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 November 2011
10.00am to 6.00pm (Saturday)
11.00am to 5.00pm (Sunday)
Where: Bowls Hall, Clickimin Leisure Complex, Lerwick, Shetland
www.shetlandfoodfestival.co.uk

Location


View Shetland Food Festival in a larger map

BBC Good Food Show Winter: 23rd – 27th November 2011

With over 400 exhibitors to choose from it's the perfect opportunity for Christmas shopping and meeting some of the best producers in the UK, including some of those on The Artisan Food Trail.

The MasterChef Experience will be back in Birmingham bigger and better. If you enjoy watching the TV show you're sure to love the live version! John Torode and Gregg Wallace, the most fearsome duo on TV are going to be live at the Show on Friday 25th, Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th November 2011 plus a whole host of other MasterChef faces.
As well as the MasterChef faces you'll also get the chance to watch top chefs live on stage in the Supertheatre (tickets required).

But our favourite part of the show is the Producers' Village, a huge speciality food market at the heart of the Show, packed with small artisan producers who pride themselves in the quality and provenance of their produce. The Producers' Village is the perfect place for picking up ideas for great festive produce to help you create the finest Christmas dishes.

So while you're there, please visit the following Artisan Food Trail members, have a chat and taste and buy their produce:

Edible Ornamentals – Passionate, slightly obsessive chilli growers and makers of chilli sauces. (Stand SL36)

Fudge Kitchen – Handmade luxury fudge hand-crafted to a special recipe for 25 years using traditional methods and a lot of love. (Stand H80)

Samphire – Award winning food from their Norfolk smallholding including rare breed pork pies and sausages. (Stand PB2)

Womersley Fruit & Herb Vinegars – Maker of fine fruit vinegars and herb jellies. Balanced recipes allow maximum versatility in the kitchen ensuring that the true aromas of all the flavours shine through. (Stand FLF46)

Great Glen Game's Wild Venison Chorizo and Salami and selected products from The Artisan Smokehouse will available on stand C40.

When: 23rd – 27th November 2011
Where: NEC, Birmingham
www.bbcgoodfoodshow.com

MasterChef Live: 11th – 13th November 2011

With hundreds exhibitors to choose from it's the perfect opportunity for Christmas shopping and meeting some of the best producers in the UK, including some of those on The Artisan Food Trail.

If you appreciate fine cuisine and love dining out, you'll be in your element at the Restaurant Experience which is located in the very heart of the Show.

The ultimate celebration of gourmet food, the Restaurant Experience brings together a selection of London's top restaurants, giving you the opportunity to sample signature dishes from the capital's leading lights. With such an array of tantalising menus from an assortment of exciting culinary traditions, you'll be spoilt for choice. (Purchase of Dining Currency required)

If it's culinary entertainment you're after, the Chefs' Theatre is the place to be. Hosted by Andy Friedlander you can come and see John Torode and Gregg Wallace, get a master class from Michel Roux Jr, then watch MasterChef Professionals Champion 2010, Claire Lara, cook-off against this year's MasterChef Champion, Tim Anderson. (Tickets required)

But our favourite part of the show is the Producers' Village, a huge speciality food market at the heart of the Show, packed with small artisan producers who pride themselves in the quality and provenance of their produce. The Producers' Village is the perfect place for picking up ideas for great festive produce to help you create the finest Christmas dishes.

So while you're there, please visit the following Artisan Food Trail members, have a chat and taste and buy their produce:

Edible Ornamentals – Passionate, slightly obsessive chilli growers. (Stand PV51)

Fudge Kitchen – Handmade luxury fudge hand-crafted to a special recipe for 25 years using traditional methods and a lot of love. (Stand PV13)

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. (Stand PB6)

Great Glen Game's Wild Venison Chorizo and Salami will available on stand PV41.

When: 11th – 13th November 2011
Where: Olympia, London
www.mastercheflive.com

Artisan Food Trail members win BBC food shows Producers Bursary Awards

We are proud to announce that two of The Artisan Food Trail's members have won a Producers Bursary from BBC Good Food which means The Artisan Smokehouse will be exhibiting at MasterChef Live and Samphire will be at BBC Good Food Show Winter.

BBC Good Food scoured the country to find the very best, most deserving and outstanding producers to award bursaries to attend their shows.

After receiving a tremendous amount of applications from some really great producers, all qualifying applications were taken to the BBC Good Food Kitchens to be judged by a panel including BBC Good Food editors Gillian Carter and Barney Desmazery. There were some difficult decisions to make but they were made based on the producers’ passion, quality of product and took into account of how much visitors to the shows, would like to meet the producers, sample and buy their outstanding produce.

We are very excited about the opportunity this has given our producers, so congratulations to both of them!

Who, When and Where?

The Artisan Smokehouse
11th – 13th November 2011
MasterChef Live, Olympia, London
www.mastercheflive.com

Samphire
23rd – 27th November 2011
BBC Good Food Show Winter, NEC, Birmingham
www.bbcgoodfoodshow.com

Get Your Bangers Out! It's British Sausage Week – 31st October – 6th November 2011

Slade frontman, Noddy Holder has been let out of his box slightly prematurely this year, and instead of shouting out a gravelly "It's Chriiiiiiiiistmaaaaaas!" he's proudly vociferating the brilliance of British bangers as ambassador and King of the Sizzle for LovePork's British Sausage Week.

Running from 31st October – 6th November 2011, this week is dedicated to all things sausage. Sausage, that's a word that has us Brits collapsing into a fit of giggles – nothing like a spot of innuendo to get the festivities going.

On a more serious note, British Sausage Week's aim is to make us all aware of how British pork is the best and encourages us to support our own farmers and producers by buying quality sausages.

There are many regional sausages throughout the British Isles that use traditional recipes that go back many generations.
There's the long coiled Cumberland sausage which is meaty with a coarse, chunky texture and black pepper giving a spicy bite; The Lincolnshire sausage, an old fashioned favourite scented with sage; West Country ones with pork and apple and maybe a touch of cider and Oxford sausages that contain veal, as well as pork. These are just a few of the many varieties made and the list continues to grow as producers experiment with different flavour combinations.

We can't resist a nicely cooked sausage. They should be cooked carefully over a medium heat so they cook slowly allowing the outside to gently caramelise so it becomes slightly sticky and the inside should be juicy. Don't have the heat too high or the sausage will burst and definitely do not prick them, this will make all the tasty juices escape.

The Artisan Food Trail is lucky enough to have a good number of food producers that make the finest sausages using meat from animals that have a led a healthy and happy life, so when you buy sausages make sure you choose British, local and bangers made with passion.

Over the coming week look out for more information about our sausage making friends, recipes, mouth-watering pictures and much more.