‘The art of cooking extraordinary food starts with using extraordinary ingredients’
Mark Allen – Fleetwoods Butchers, Gorleston, Norfolk
Mark Allen has a passion for Food. This is obvious from the moment you walk into his butchers shop on Gorleston High Street. His fantastic counter beautifully presents some of the best meat that Suffolk and Norfolk has to offer including our own Scotts Field Pork.
Fleetwoods was established in 1958 and over the past half a century has built a very loyal and wide ranging customer base, one which crosses all age groups and extends out in a 25 mile radius from the shop. The thing that brings them all to this fantastic butchers is a love of good food. The current owner Mark Allen has worked at Fleetwoods since he left school in the eighties and took the business over from the founder’s son when he retired a couple of years ago.
Mark is one of Scotts Field Pork’s greatest supporters currently selling 3 to 4 pigs a week. As well as the usual pork joints his range of ‘posh’ sausages, some gluten free, all in natural skins are big sellers especially in the summer months. Large Black bacon is also available here.
We did some sums and calculated that there are just over 100 food miles involved between our pigs leaving Scotts Field Pork and arriving at Fleetwoods Butchers as pork. Mark sources both his beef and lamb from farms in Suffolk.
Fleetwoods have recently started to run evening butchery workshops. These give their customers the opportunity of watching the butchers breaking down a carcase into the different muscle groups whilst Mark talks about the different breeds of animal, the ageing process and how to select the various cuts. The evening finishes with a cookery demonstration and light supper. The winter workshops have been looking at beef, as we move into spring and summer the focus will be on sausage making, lamb and of course pork. This will take place sometime during May or June and we are very excited about Scotts Field Pork getting involved – not only will we be able to learn a something about butchery but it will also give us the opportunity to talk to people about our passion – The Large Black Pig.
Just in case my photos do not paint a thousand words …. this butchery is a foodie paradise run with passion and great skill by Mark and his team. I strongly recommend that you visit it very soon.
For more information about http://www.fleetwoodsbutchers.co.uk/ and their butchery workshops please follow this link , email mark@fleetwoodsbutchers.co.uk or call 01493 662824.