Celebrate British Pie Week 2017

Photo: © childsdesign

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

This year, British Pie Week runs from 6th – 12th March and is the perfect time to get acquainted with with the pie-fect producers in The Artisan Food Trail.

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…

Goddard's Pies make a selection of handmade pies from meat-filled including steak to chicken. There's also vegetable pies for the vegetarians too.

Delicious pork pies from Samphire are made with rare breed pork from pigs reared on their own smallholding.

The most prized beef is used in these pies from The Yorkshire Wagyu Company.

Bray's Cottage hand make all their pork pies which come in variety of tempting flavour combinations.

Lots to learn on Open Farm Sunday 2014

The opportunity to experience what life is like on a real working farm is within reach for all of us on 8th June. Each year British farms open their gates as they take part in the event known as Open Farm Sunday organised by LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming). We're please to tell you that AFT member Samphire (Sycamore Farm), Norfolk will be opening their gates and taking part in this event.

Saddleback pig on the 
Samphire smallholding
Photo: © childsdesgn

Open Farm Sunday is a fantastic project which has seen hundreds of farmers across the UK opening up their farm for one Sunday each year since 2006! It is a fantastic opportunity for everyone, young and old, to discover at first hand what it means to be a farmer.

Take time to listen to the birds, soak up the scenery, experience the smells of the farmyard and really get in touch with the land that feeds us. So come and feed your senses on Open Farm Sunday.

Each event is unique with its own activities – based around the farm’s own individual story. Activities during the day may include a farm walk, nature trail, tractor and trailer rides, pond dipping, activities for children, a mini farmers market or picnics.

As well as being educationally valuable in a time when many children seem to have lost the connection with where their food comes from, it is also a day of fun and entertainment for all the family.

Sycamore Farm (Samphire) in Norfolk
Open from 11am until 4pm. Free entry.

Highlights will include:

• Meet the animals
• Static machinery display
• Food available
• Farm shop and fresh produce

Farm features: Sheep, pigs, poultry, vegetable, fruit, flowers and plants, farm shop
Further details on the OFS website

If this farm is too far out of your area visit the Open Farm Sunday website and to see all the farms participating: www.farmsunday.org

Samphire Smallholding Open Day – Sunday 7th July 2013

Photos: © childsdesign

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Back again and always one of our favourites on the events calendar is the Samphire Smallholding Open Day.
Artisan Food Trail members, Karen and Jeff Nethercott will be opening their gates in sunny south Norfolk for a day of food, crafts, music and farm animals on Sunday 7th July 2013.

Gathered in the front garden (there's plenty of room) will be number of local producers selling everything from preserves to beer. One of the preserve makers will be Peachey's Preserves, another food trail member. It's a great opportunity to chat with them about what they do and hopefully stock up on their lovely hand crafted products. And of course Samphire will have a stall selling their fine rare breed pork pies and sausages plus more besides.

Photos: © childsdesign

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The owners of the crafts stalls will also be making on the day, giving you the opportunity to watch them at work and also to talk to them.

To get those toes tapping (or dance if you like!) music will be played by
Rum Kelter who'll be performing a set of lively traditional folk tunes.

As usual, tours of the smallholding will be conducted throughout the day
so you can get closer to the animals – there's pigs, sheep, chickens and geese – learn a some more about the different breeds and where your food comes from.

To keep you sustained and refreshed there will be food and drink, straw bales to sit on, tables and chairs laid out under the trees and tours around the smallholding.

 New for this year  Butchery Workshop
This is your chance to spend a couple of hours picking up some knowledge all about pork. It will be a very much hands-on opportunity and afterwards participants will be able to buy some of the pork at a much reduced rate.
The workshop is bookable online on the Samphire website here

 UPDATE!  Appearance by author Tom Cox
Tom lives locally and writes very funny books, Karen Nethercott adores his cat books which describe his relationship with his many and varied feline friends Under the Paw and Talk to The Tail are his two best sellers and Tom will be reading from them at the Open Day. Hopefully there will be books to buy but if you already have one then bring it along for him to sign.

The Open Day will take place from 11am until 4pm
on Sunday 7th July 2013
at Sycamore Farm,
Pristow Green Lane,
Tibenham,
Norfolk,
NR16 1PU

To give you an idea of what to expect, have a look at Karen's Pinterest board here

For more information about Samphire and location please visit their page on The Artisan Food Trail here


Where is the event?

View AFT_Samphire in a larger map

Our members taking part in Open Farm Sunday

Photo: © childsdesign

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The opportunity to experience what life is like on a real working farm is within reach for all of us on 9th June. Each year British farms open their gates as they take part in the event known as Open Farm Sunday organised by LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming). The AFT members taking part are, Samphire (Sycamore Farm), Norfolk and Offley Hoo Farm, Hertfordshire.

Photo: © childsdesign

Open Farm Sunday is a project which has seen hundreds of farmers across the UK opening up their farm for one Sunday each year since 2006. It is the perfect opportunity for everyone, young and old, to discover at first hand what it means to be a farmer.

Each event is unique with its own activities. Activities during the day may include a farm walk, nature trail, tractor and trailer rides, pond dipping, activities for children, a mini farmers' market or picnics.

As well as being educationally valuable in a time when many children seem to have lost the connection with where their food comes from, it is also a day of fun and entertainment for all the family.

Sycamore Farm (Samphire) in Norfolk
Open from 11am until 4pm

Highlights will include:

• Meet the animals
• Static machinery display
• Food available
• Farm shop and fresh produce

Farm features: Sheep, pigs, poultry, vegetable, fruit, flowers and plants, farm shop
Further details on the OFS website


Offley Hoo Farm in Hertfordshire
Open from 11am until 3pm

Highlights will include:

• Meet the animals
• Tractor and trailer rides
• Static machinery display
• Hosted farm tour
• Food available
• Farm shop and fresh produce
• Pollinator survey

Farm features: Arable, beef, sheep, pigs, environmental stewardship, farm shop
Further details on the OFS website

If these farms are too far out of your area visit the Open Farm Sunday website and to see all the farms participating: www.farmsunday.org

Photo: © childsdesign

Bacon lovers unite

Photo: © childsdesign

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How wonderful would it be if the internet had the power to transmit aromas? If it did, we’d be uploading the olfactory delight of sizzling bacon to accompany the picture.

This week is Bacon Connoisseurs Week, but why only be a connoisseur for just one week of the year? Devoted lovers of bacon will tell you that it is something they could not live without. Bacon at its best brings back memories whether it’s the holiday breakfast cooked in a dented frying pan, atop a Calor gas stove on a windy British beach or simply lazy Sunday mornings. Bacon is a satisfier of appetite, a comfort, a restorative – some would say, a hangover cure.

Whatever your relationship with bacon, choose the best and buy British at the very least.
Bacon on The Artisan Food Trail is a real step up in terms of quality, craft, animal welfare and above all, flavour. This special flavour is what you get from rare breed pigs that have led a happy, natural life. A pig’s life outdoors which allows it to root around and run about in the fresh air, added to its particular breed, produces full flavoured meat with the all important fat. Remember fat equals flavour.

The rare breeds on the food trail include British Saddleback, Tamworth, Iron Age, Gloucester Old Spot, Large Black and English Lop, Middle White, and Oxford Sandy & Black. Not all of these breeds go into making bacon but the pork is just as wonderful, so well worth a try.

The following producers all rear pigs for pork, some produce bacon and other pork charcuterie products as well as pies and sausages.

Samphire in Norfolk has bacon in either smoked or unsmoked, available in various cuts. Pork, sausages and pork pies too.

Paganum Produce in the Yorkshire Dales create their own dry-cured streaky or back bacon as well as pork charcuterie including their famous Yorkshire Chorizo and of course the best home-reared pork.

Pilkington Farms in Hertfordshire cross-breed rare breeds to produce pork which has just the right amount of fat and flavour that their customers prefer.

Orchard View Farm in Buckinghamshire produces smoked streaky or back bacon as well as their award winning pork along with pies, sausages and ham.

British Sausage Week: 5th – 11th November 2012

British Sausage Week is back and is being celebrated with stand-up star and comic genius, Al Murray’s ‘The Pub Landlord’. He has taken on the coveted crown of 'King of the Sizzle' when he tours the country during the week, rallying troops to stand up for British bangers.

Types of sausage
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.

With a national competition that will reveal the land’s finest bangers, a host of delicious new recipes to try out and plenty of opportunities to get involved, it will be impossible not to stand up and be counted.

Cooking
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.

Where to find the best sausages
And of course we have the best of British sausages right here on
The Artisan Food Trail.
All the producers on our food trail 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.

More often than not the animals are rare breeds too which means that these sausages have an unsurpassable flavour and texture. The sausage mix is skilfully blended with a variety of herbs and spices from the mild to the spicy to suit everyone’s preferences.

So whether you are making a hearty casserole, a Toad-in-the-Hole or just good old Bangers & Mash make sure you choose the best.

Samphire's Simple Sausages  Photos: © childsdesign

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Samphire
Samphire is an award winning smallholding in Norfolk rearing rare breed pigs and sheep. Ethical farming is at the heart of Samphire and they have been recognised by the RSPCA for their commitment to animal welfare.

 It’s not just their regulars who love their rare breed meat, Gary Rhodes said their sausages were the best he'd ever tasted

For more information visit Samphire on The Artisan Food Trail here

Capsicana Chilli Sausages  Photos: © Capsicana taken by childsdesign

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Capsicana Chilli Co
Capsicana has teamed up with a whole host of independent butchers across the the UK to bring you an absolutely delicious chilli sausage! They use a variety of authentic Mexican chillies to make their special chilli & spice blend and their selected butchers combine this with their fabulous sausage-making expertise and hey presto...  the best chilli sausages in the UK!!
Perfect for the BBQ, spicing up favourites like bangers & mash or making a Mexican style sausages and bean casserole.

Details of butchers using Capsicana’s chilli sausage blend 
available here 
For more information visit Capsicana Chilli Co 
on The Artisan Food Trail here

Paganum Produce

Yorkshire producer, Paganum’s selection of Premium Pork Sausages made in their traditional butchery to age old family recipes.


For more information visit Paganum Produce 
on The Artisan Food Trail here

Samphire Smallholding Open Day In Pictures

Having spent the day at Samphire's Norfolk smallholding a couple of years ago we had to return this year (2012) for another wonderful day.

In addition to the animals on the farm, there were stall holders selling home produced wares and lots of delicious food to buy and eat. You can read our preview article about it here.

To find out more about Samphire visit their page on 
The Artisan Food Trail here

::UPDATED:: Samphire Smallholding Open Day: July 15th 2012

After a break last year, Samphire is set to open its gates again on Sunday 15th July 2012 for their Open Day.
Before The Artisan Food Trail was born, we paid a visit in 2010 and had a very enjoyable day.


NOTE: We've now added a slideshow of pictures from the event which can be viewed here

The open day is a well organised and friendly affair offering visitors the chance to savour a relaxing day of food, arts & crafts, education and entertainment.

There will be number of local producers selling everything from preserves to beer and even hand made dog treats!  One of the preserve makers will be Peachey's Preserves, another food trail member. It's a great opportunity to chat with them about what they do and hopefully stock up on their lovely hand crafted products. And of course Samphire will have a stall selling their fine rare breed pork pies and sausages plus more besides.

If you fancy keeping livestock yourself there will be some interesting organisations there, including a better hen rescue centre and local beekeepers who will be on hand to answer your questions. Last time Karen, Samphire's owner, gave a very interesting tour and talk on her pigs, so no doubt it will be on the timetable again.

To give you an idea of what to expect, Karen's Pinterest board here will show you the flavour of the day and judging by the growing number of pictures, the event looks like it will be an interesting and colourful affair. We can't wait to see Samphire's newest collection of fancy poultry.

Providing the soundtrack to the day and back by popular demand are the fabulous Rum Kelter. So many people loved their lively set of traditional folk music when they played at the last Open Day.

To keep you sustained and refreshed there will be food and drink, straw bales to sit on, tables and chairs laid out under the trees and tours around the smallholding.

The Open Day will take place from 11am until 4pm
on Sunday 15th July 2012
at Sycamore Farm,
Pristow Green Lane,
Tibenham,
Norfolk,
NR16 1PU

For more information about Samphire and location please visit their page on The Artisan Food Trail here


Where is the event?

View AFT_Samphire in a larger map

Fathers' Day Chilli Fiesta bringing spice to Bedfordshire this Sunday!

Nicely planned to fall on Fathers' Day, the 2012 Chilli Fiesta will take place at The Mansion House, Old Warden Park on
17th June.
Last year's event was a staggering success with thousands of people flocking from across the UK. This year is set to be bigger and better than ever before.

There's no better way to spend a fantastic Father's Day with guaranteed fun for all the family. Just a few of the treats in store include: demonstrations from award winning chefs in the Chilli Kitchen; Chef's Academy Cook-along and stalls offering free samples and selling everything chilli from cheese to chocolate.
If things get too hot, you can quench your thirst in the Chilli Bar which sells chilli beer and other refreshments. To keep children entertained there will also be circus games, a funfair and entertainers.

Among the many food exhibitors, these are the 

Artisan Food Trail producers that are confirmed as taking part:

Cardona & Son
A small and family run producer of the loveliest and tastiest rare breed pork - on menus in Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire pubs.

Edible Ornamentals
Situated in Chawston, Bedfordshire where market gardens are abundant and growing delicious vegetables is simply a way of life. Passionate, slightly obsessive chilli growers.

Samphire
Award winning food from Norfolk smallholding.
Gary Rhodes said their rare breed sausages were the best he's ever tasted and Giles Coren gave their pork pies 10/10.

Alder Tree
Award winning ices are handmade on their fruit farm in Suffolk to a traditional family recipe. Made with only fruit, cream and sugar, they are naturally delicious!

Bray's Cottage Pork Pies
Famous award winning hand made pork pies well known amongst foodies nationally for being the pork pie unlike other pork pies.

Yare Valley Oils
Producer of a high quality Extra Virgin Cold Pressed Rapeseed Oil in Norfolk.

Breckland Orchard
Award winning ‘Posh Pop’. Produced with passion and available throughout the UK.



Here are just a few of the fun activities on offer at the 2012 Chilli Fiesta...

Chef's Academy Cook-Along
Spice up your meal times and join in cooking some of the hottest dishes around. All the equipment and ingredients is provided so you just have to turn up, pay £5 and be prepared to have some fun!
What's more, there will be an Academy Award prize of free tickets to the Rhythm Festivals for whoever creates the best dish.

Chilli Arena
Sit back, chill out and enjoy the live music, circus acts, flame-throwers and a wide range of other entertainment throughout the day at the Chilli Arena.

Chilli Bar
If things get too hot, you can quench your thirst in the Chilli Bar which overlooks the entertainment area and sells chilli beer, real ales, soft drinks and other refreshments.

Chilli Kitchen
Can you stand the heat of the Chilli Kitchen?
Showcasing some fabulous, fiery food these free demonstrations are presented by award winning chef Raj Mandal throughout the day.

Chilli Eating Contest
How much heat can you handle?!

This competition is only for the brave! See if you can you beat last year's winner.
Only £3 to enter and you could win free tickets to this summer's Rhythm Festivals at The Mansion House.

Gardening Academy
Throughout the day there will be demonstrations from a range of gardening experts including Artisan Food Trail member Joanna Plumb from award winning Edible Ornamentals demonstrating the secrets of growing a successful chilli crop. In addition, Kathy Brown will talk about edible flowers and local honey man Wally Thrale on bee-keeping.

What's more the fiesta will host its very own version of Gardeners' Question Time. A panel of horticulture experts from Shuttleworth College will be able to answer any gardening questions you may have. Just turn up with your question on the day.

Garden Quarter
For those of you with green fingers this area will provide you with a wide range of unusual plants, seeds and equipment. Not to mention a wide range of chilli plants of course!

World Food Quarter
The world is your oyster in the World Food Quarter. You can wonder from stall to stall at your leisure, try before you buy and give your taste buds a well deserved treat!

For more information about the event visit the website: www.chillifiesta.org

Letchworth Food & Garden Festival: 19th – 20th May 2012

Just a stone's throw from The Artisan Food Trail's headquarters, the Letchworth Food & Garden Festival will be taking place in the world's first garden city over the weekend of 19th – 20th May 2012.

Artisan Food Trail producers confirmed as taking part are:

Cardona & Son
A small and family run producer of the loveliest and tastiest rare breed pork - on menus in Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire pubs.

Breckland Orchard
Award winning ‘Posh Pop’. Produced with passion and available throughout the UK.

Samphire
Award winning food from Norfolk smallholding.
Gary Rhodes said their rare breed sausages were the best he's ever tasted and Giles Coren gave their pork pies 10/10.

Edible Ornamentals
Situated in Chawston, Bedfordshire where market gardens are abundant and growing delicious vegetables is simply a way of life. Passionate, slightly obsessive chilli growers.

To find out more about the festival please refer to our May event listings page here

The Essex Food Show: 12th – 13th May 2012

This year The Essex Food Shows are moving to the exciting new venue of Crowne Plaza Resort Colchester, Five Lakes.

The Crowne Plaza Resort Colchester, Five Lakes is a much bigger venue, providing more space for exhibitors, hard parking for over 900 cars, plus the benefit of all the superb on-site restaurants, bars and leisure facilities of the resort.

This year's events will, as usual, be promoting a superb range of food, drinks, and kitchen accessories in the specialised event arena, with lots of quality caterers as well as the ever popular range of garden plants and furniture. All of the indoor stalls will be sited in the huge exhibition arena, while outside stalls will be sited adjacent to the arena within an attractive grassed area.

All the popular regular exhibitors will be there along with many new producers. The Essex Food Show have made a special effort to showcase as many high quality local producers as possible, with the majority of the producers having a 'taste before you buy' policy.

Among the exhibitors taking part you will find the following 
Artisan Food Trail members:

Samphire
Award winning food from Norfolk smallholding. 
Gary Rhodes said their rare breed sausages were the best he's ever tasted and Giles Coren gave their pork pies 10/10.

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!


This is a great opportunity to check out a vast range of really good food and drink not usually available in your local supermarket. Rare breed meat producers, game, speciality sausages, smoked foods, fresh fruit and vegetables, pickles, preserves and sauces, cakes, chocolates, locally brewed beers and cider, plus a wide selection of wines, spirits and lots, lots more.

For more information about the event visit the website: www.theessexfoodshow.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.

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