Meet and eat Blythburgh Free Range Pork

In January Jamie Oliver challenged the British public to take more notice of the conditions in which pigs are kept, but very few pork farmers will let the public onto their farm to see conditions for themselves. But, one Suffolk farmer is so confident of the standards of his free range pigs that he has agreed to do just that on Food Safari’s Free Range Pork in a Day on Saturday May 16th.

Food Safari is a new venture which offers field to fork experiences and Free Range Pork in a Day will take attendees on a pork journey starting from a farm walk at Blythburgh Free Range Pork, to a butchery demonstration and hands-on sausage and charcuterie workshop and feast at The Anchor, Walberswick.

At Blythburgh Free Range Pork on the Suffolk coast near Southwold, attendees will see for themselves the high welfare standards of led by award-winning farmers, Jimmy and Alastair Butler, who are passionate about producing great tasting pork. Blythburgh pigs are free to roam in large paddocks giving them the space to display natural behaviours like rooting in the soil and playing. Not only does this improve their welfare but it also means they grow at a slower more natural rate and this in turn results in flavoursome, succulent meat.

Alastair Butler says: “We are firm believers that the future of British pork lies in the public understanding more about where their food comes from and then people can make informed decisions about what they eat. think Food Safari is a wonderful way to show people our farm and make the connection between farming and flavour. Remember a free range pig is a happy pig and a happy pig surely tastes better!”

Back at Food Safari’s base, The Anchor at Walberswick, traditional Suffolk butcher Ray Kent will who’ll show attendees how to tackle a pork carcass. Recent reports have suggested that there is a resurgence of interest in the forgotten cheaper cuts, like shoulder and belly, and Ray will show us all of these as well as suggesting their uses in the kitchen.

Following the butchery demonstration, Mike Keen, The Anchor’s Head Chef, will show attendees how to create their own sausage recipes which will be barbequed for lunch. Mike will also show participants how to create charcuterie and ham in your own kitchen. The day will wrap up with a relaxed pork lunch with beer and wine expertly selected by The Anchor’s own Mark Dorber.

Saturday May 16th , 10am-5pm

Cost: £150 per person, £250 per couple to include a pork lunch, drinks and your own butchery to take home.



**Book by Friday 24 April and get 20% off** email info@foodsafari.co.uk

At Hill Farm Oils - extra virgin rapeseed oil

Hill Farm Oils are one of the great success stories of farm diversification in Suffolk. They've taken a familiar crop, rapeseed, which turns so many fields bright yellow from April onwards and produced a nutty cold pressed extra virgin rapeseed oil. The oil is now widely available in Waitrose and Sainsbury's nationwide, East Anglian Tescos as well as independent farm shops and delis.

The Fairs family have been farming for 35 years in and around Heveningham, near Halesworth in Suffolk, but in 2001 Sam Fairs was inspired to develop a new product from the rapeseed crop after hearing a friend had been rapeseed oil tablets to lower his cholesterol. Sam began to experiment with the cold pressing the rapeseed into a premium cooking oil that has half the saturated fat of olive oil and is high in omega-3, an essential fatty acid which can help lower cholesterol and prevent heart disease.

Rape covers about 3% of England's farmland and closer to 10% in some areas but it is not a crop that we usually associate with food. It's main use is for the manufacture of cooking oils, margarine and processed foods, with much of the by-product used as animal feed. Many varieties aren't even edible and are used for the production of lubricants and adhesives to cosmetics and gardening products.

It was fascinating to talk to Sam about the challenge of getting people to switch their buying and cooking habits. Sam talks about how olive oil has become so deeply ingrained in our minds as THE healthy oil, the one we reach for automatically in the supermarket aisle or standing at the stove. His focus is on educating people about the health benefits of rapeseed oil and encouraging them to try the taste for themselves. He tells me how in their experience once people have tried Hill Farm Oils they are converted (I vouch for this). Their greatest marketing opportunity is to get people to see the oil being used in cookery demonstrations, used in recipes and promoted by food writers and chefs. Mark Hix is a great fan and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall often uses it in his recipes. Mike Keen, Head Chef at The Anchor, Walberswick tells me he's a big fan and we'll use it wherever possible in Food Safari cookery demonstrations to encourage more people to give it a try.

Sam gives me a tour of the site and talks through the cold pressing process and shows me the bi-product which becomes cattle feed. The whole process from pressing to bottling is extremely high-tech and makes use of some very expensive bits of kit. The Fairs family have invested heavily in this enterprise.

Sam generously gives me several bottles of oil to try at home and to pass on to friends and chefs!

I've made great use of it and recommend it to add texture and flavour to home-made bread, to replace butter in muffins and flapjacks and for stir-frys and roasting vegetables; its high smoke point make it ideal for this.

If like me, you try to buy as much food locally as you can, Hill Farm Oil is great news - single-estate, extra-virgin oil from just up the road - has to be a great alternative to Italian, Greek or Spanish olive oils.

Report: Beer Academy

How does the choice of ingredients and brewing process affect flavour and style? Why does beer get such a bad press while its supposedly more sophisticated cousin wine is seen as the natural choice to partner with food and growing steadily in popularity? How can beer find new audiences beyond lads and lasses swigging Stella on a big night out or beardy real ale drinkers?

These were some of the question that last week's Beer Academy course sought to answer. Aimed at people in the booze trade as well as beer enthusiasts looking for more of an educational experience than a typical brewery tour. I wasn't the only girl either!

The course was run by George Philliskirk, a beer expert who lives in what is apparently one of the epicentres of the beer universe: Burton on Trent (why - it's the high mineral content in the water there that gives the beers a refreshing edge apparently). George is a very charming, relaxed tutor with whom we'd had the privilege of dining with the night before in the company of Suffolk and Norfolk barley growers Teddy Maufe and Roger Middleditch of The Real Ale Shop. He knows his stuff from years in the industry and was about to head off to Australia to do a spot of beer judging. Nice work if you can get it.

The day covered the whole beer story in enough depth to come away with a much richer understanding of the topic:

• Beer ingredients (water, malted barley, hops, yeast are all you need for classic English real ale but you will find other grains like wheat and rice used for some styles and also herbs, spices and fruit added)
  
• Brewing process
  
• How to taste beer (just like tasting wine except you're not supposed to spit it out!)
• Beer and food matching
• History of beer and beer styles (what's the different between a stout and a porter?)
• Industry info: beer and health, the UK beer market

Some highlights for me included tasting some different types of malted barley: pale malt (just like Ovaltine or Grape Nuts), crystal malt (darker and more intense) and chocolate malt (the darkest of the three with a roasted coffee/chocolate aroma and flavour).

Beer and food matching was really interesting: try teaming chocolate with a Belgian Kriek (cherry) fruit beer - it's delicious. However this part of the course was a bit rushed and would merit a longer session. There are three key aspects to consider when teaming beer with food are:
1. Complement (a strong bitter with cheese)
2. Contrast (e.g. Kriek with chocolate)
3. Cut (think of a cold beer with a spicy curry)

Of the beers we tasted, those from the Meantime Brewery in Greenwich stood out as did Bluebird Bitter from the Coniston Brewery.

Now my months in Suffolk have confirmed a few things: that we are blessed with wonderful local producers, that there are plenty of good places to eat, and that I love a pint of Suffolk Ale be it Adnams or our local Earl Soham Victoria or Hektor's Pure which went down extremely well as the house bitter at the Latitude Festival last summer. It's probably fair to say that I was getting a bit complacent about beer. But Beer Academy revealed a whole world of different beer styles and ranged far and wide around the globe in search of good beers. We came away feeling much better informed about this amazing drink and with our tastebuds zinging.

Wild Meat in a Day - 29 March save the date

Happy New Year to all our readers! We're gradually emerging from a deeply restful two week holiday and raring to go with events for 2009.

Our first event on 29 March is going to be a cracker. Wild Meat in a Day will give you the whole story of game: from insights into how game is shot, through a hands on game butchery experience to cooking and finally eating the results.

Robert Gooch and Ray Kent of The Wild Meat Company (one of Rick Stein’s Food Heroes) will give you the confidence to prepare game at home as well as sharing with you a wealth of experience about local game. Check out Tim's post from September when he learned the basics of game butchery with these guys.

What's more we're delighted to be joining forces with our friends at The Anchor on the Suffolk coast at Walberswick. The Anchor has undergone a transformation in recent years under the expert hands of Mark and Sophie Dorber, well known from their days at The White Horse, Parsons Green in West London. Sophie’s insistence on the best, seasonal, local produce combined with Mark’s passionate expertise for beer and wine, ensure that The Anchor is fast becoming both a welcoming local – and a gastronomic destination.

The morning will start with locally-shot game. You’ll have the chance to pluck and draw your own bird before enjoying a cookery demonstration from The Anchor’s head chef, Mike who will share with you his favourite game dishes as well as passing on tips, ideas and advice.

Over a relaxing lunch in The Anchor’s dining room you will be treated to an inspiring tasting menu of game dishes including some of those demonstrated earlier in the day. After lunch we’ll have a look at rabbit and Ray will demonstrate how to skin and butcher a rabbit and you’ll each get to have a go too.

You’ll leave the day with the confidence and inspiration to prepare your own game at home, a handful of creative recipes to impress your friends and even some of the game you have prepared yourself!

Cost: £150 per person, £250 per couple to include refreshments, lunch and your own game to take home. To book email polly@foodsafari.co.uk or call 01728 621380.









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