The Norfolk Food Hero Awards - a brief update

 

Well we are in the final three!?!

Still slightly bemused by it all but extremely proud of our herd of Large Black Pigs who seem to win the hearts and minds of all who meet them.

We had a flying visit from Helen McDermott of Radio Norfolk today who tried to interview some fat pigs as well as us - the moral of this story as ever is never work with pigs and children. The results should be on a radio near you very soon.

We should find out more about the award on Septemberer 10th when the results are announced. This is a big week for us as Keith Charlish of The Paddocks Butchery (Mulbarton & Bunwell) and I are also taking Scotts Field Pork to The Houses of Parliament on the 13th - the 14th marks the start of The Brecks Food Festival weekend with our pork featuring in the pop up restaurant on Friday night and on Sunday 16th The Large Black Pig returns to Swaffham Market.

Monday will be a day of rest - I wish!

Reflections on a week @buylocalnorfolk

By Mrs Pigman

Our week of not entering a national or multinational retail outlet finished a day early as I had a long established shopping date with my daughter who at fourteen did not want to be restricted by the foibles of her already embarrassing parents - and besides she argued Jack Wills is made in Britain!

So did I cheat?

Only once - Paddy our son had a very sore throat the morning the Food Awards judges were due to visit us - not able to fit in the 20+ mile round trip to our nearest independent pharmacist in Watton I popped into Boots. Oh Ye of little faith, my husband got an identical packet of strepsils from our local garage and paid the same price

Did we Starve?

Not at all although I did miss avocados and crisp lettuce. We are however not a typical supermarket shopper - we produce most of our own meat and neighbours supply us with eggs and veg. Our main supermarket purchases are non consumables, bread and dairy products. As a result of 'Buy Local Norfolk' we have decided that  instead of buying supermarket bread each week for convenience and each week moaning about it's quality we will get organised and support the bakery in Hingham which is near my work. Dairy products and salad are more of a quandary - Where possible I buy organic milk and yogurt (although ironically my scruples do not stretch to butter and cheese!) and I do like fresh, crisp veg even if it has been microwaved!

Was it expensive?

On a like for like basis the food we bought was the same as I would have paid in a supermarket - the additional and considerable added cost came in time and fuel costs.

What are our conclusions?

There was an interesting article on You and Yours today featuring Nigel Harris, the boss of Fresh Direct who has been running a village shop for nearly four years. Despite his buying power and vast experience his shop has still not made a profit. He is convinced that it will and when it does there is a model that could be rolled out. In the meantime we must ensure that the butchers, bakers and candlestick makers that are left in rural England- providing they offer a good product - continue to receive our full support where possible, equally we should not crucify ourselves if we upon occassion take advantage of the convenience and price competitiveness offered by the 'Big Boys'

Waiting Wellies and a Posh Pop disaster!

 

Today was another early start for us all and a few oaths were uttered at 5 am when the alarm went off. This is a bit of a lie in for Rob but for Mrs Pigman still the middle of the night.

The reason for such a bright and early start was the visit to Scotts Field Pork by two judges from The EDP Food Awards - Rob has been nominated  as one of Norfolk's Food Heroes.

 

By 9am the pigs were fed, the gazebo up, The Simonds scrubbed and wellies waiting at the field in case of rain. My next job was to collect some pork for the judges from one of our butchers John Goddard in Downham Market and to get some cold drinks from a local source and supplier. I hotfooted it to Dents at Hilgay secure in the knowledge that they would be able to provide the above and sure enough got six bottles of what I thought was Breckland Orchard Posh Pop. I winced a lot at the price - over £17 pounds but paid my dues and rushed back to Oxborough just in time to collect Mrs Hartley's amazing sausage rolls with which we were to tempt the judges taste buds.

Unfortunately my trip to Dents was a major 'Should have gone to Specsavers - or whatever the Norfolk equivalent is - moment'. It transpired that the pop was so expensive because it was not Posh Pop at all but Posh Squash a full strength ginger based cordial that I offered to our esteemed guests ...undiluted!!! The unlucky victim was obviously very well brought up as he said nothing and indeed sipped a little before politely moving on. Things could only get better ...

The two judges who visited Scotts Field Pork today were Peter Waters Editor of The EDP and Tim Bishop formerly Head of Region for The BBC and recently appointed Chief Executive of The Forum Trust.

They spent about an hour with us talking about The Large Black Pig, the history of the breed, it's former decline and current resurgence. We also spoke about the partnership that we have with our butchers, how we all work hard to support each other and to offer our customers the fantastic product that is Scotts Field Pork. Both Tim and Pete showed a keen interest in what we are doing, a passion for Norfolk food, it's people and the desire to re-establish the link that may be disappearing between the two - hence their commitment both to The Norfolk Food Festival and it's associated awards.

It goes without saying that 'our girls' wowed them both as they have so many before - I hope that Rob and I returned the favour and did our bit for them too.

 Mrs Hartley's Famous Sausage Rolls