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Appreciating Great Beer – Beer Tasting on Saturday 26 April, Ledbury

hops

The Ledbury Food Group are delighted to invite you on a beer tasting journey with Master Brewer and Beer Judge Derek Orford, starting in the Three Counties with local beers, and continuing with some international classics.

Derek recently returned to Herefordshire after brewing ales, lagers and stouts in the UK, Caribbean, Ireland, and Australia. He qualified as a Master Brewer in 1991 and is an examiner of the Institute of Brewing & Distilling. He is hoping to become recognised formally as a Beer Sommelier later this year. He currently runs Bosbury boutique liqueur maker Three Counties Liqueurs with his wife and daughter and is also hoping to get back to hands-on brewing soon with his own recipes.

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Big Breakfast – more photos

Thank you to all those who made the Ledbury Big Breakfast 2014 such a successful event despite the weather by participating, breakfasting, buying to take home or just being there. The Breakfast Ice Cream from Just Rachel made it to the Cider shop on Saturday morning and Mrs K Clark nominated the winning sausage in the competition run by Trumpet Corner and Llandinabo Farm Shop – pork, black pudding and leek. Please let us know how you enjoyed the event or tell us how we can improve things next time on ask@ledburyfoodgroup.org (or Twitter @LedburyFoodGrp) or leave your comments here.

More on this event will follow but in the meantime enjoy the pictures.

Llandinabo Farm Shop James Bodenham & Bill the Bell with winning sausages P1000685
Llandinabo Farm Shop James Bodenham & Bill the Bell with winning sausages P1000685
Wallers -Matt Waller shows off the Full Monty Sausage P1000664
Wallers -Matt Waller shows off the Full Monty Sausage P1000664
Gurneys Butchers - Paul Gurney & Bill Wiggin MP P1000667
Gurneys Butchers – Paul Gurney & Bill Wiggin MP P1000667
Market House Cafe - Breakfast BruschettaP1000687
Market House Cafe – Breakfast BruschettaP1000687

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Variety is the menu at Ledbury Big Breakfast 2014

We’re looking forward to this year’s Ledbury Big Breakfast on Friday 31st January and Saturday 1st February. Twenty-one cafes, shops, hotels, pubs, delis and markets in Ledbury and District are taking part to celebrate Farmhouse Breakfast Week, featuring special breakfast offerings as well as their normal menus.

Waller's Full Monty Breakfast Sausage
Waller’s Full Monty Breakfast Sausage

What could be better on a cold winter’s morning than a delicious breakfast that sets you up for the day? From freshly made drinks and smoothies at Ice Bytes to a Hearty Herefordshire Breakfast at Mrs Muffins or the Café at Nice Things), there is something for everyone. You can feast on devilled lamb’s kidneys with toasted homemade brioche at the Feathers, or eggs benedict at Chez Pascal or the Retreat, or you can go for bacon and eggs at a number of places. You can even choose a bacon bruschetta. There are lighter bites of all kinds such as “Herefordshire porridge” at the Market House Cafe, local patisserie at Cameron and Swan and a continental twist at the Shop at Bromsberrow, bacon and cheese scones at the Muse Cafe, rhubarb breakfast muffin at Roots Herefordshire, fruit salad and yoghurts…the list is endless

For those who want a breakfast to take home, the butchers or food shops will all have special offerings for you – bacon, sausages, including the intriguing Full Monty Breakfast sausage at Wallers, a special offer on local eggs at Gurneys, and delicious fresh fruit granola from Four Oaks Delicatessen. The wonderful scotch eggs from the Handmade Scotch Egg company are available at Handley’s Organics. At the Three Counties Cider Shop you can taste local apple juices and jams and on Saturday 1st February from 9.30am Rachel Hicks from Just Rachel Ice Creams will be offering samples of her new creation – Granola and Honey Ice Cream.

On Friday the winning sausage from the Sausage Competition run by Trumpet Corner café and Llandinabo Farm Shop will be available to eat or buy to take home. Entries are really rolling in for this. Katie Rolfe from Trumpet Corner said, “We’ve had some interesting entries so far, including the quirky, the out of ordinary and the traditional”. Friday is also the day for hearing Bawdy Tales from the Inns of Ledbury courtesy of Gareth Calan Davies whilst enjoying a filling brunch at the Talbot.

Don’t forget the markets – the Country Market will be serving local eggs, toast, preserves, muffins in their “Breakfast on the Go” on Friday. On Saturday Noggin Farm’s home produced pork and sausages will be on offer at Ledbury Market for you to take home for next week’s breakfasts.

We can’t wait…

See the events listing for more details of what is available and where, plus times of availability.

Tim of Wallers with the Full Monty Sausages
Tim of Wallers with the Full Monty Sausages

 

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Get ready for the Big Breakfast …

Farmhouse Breakfast Week returns to Ledbury with the Ledbury Big Breakfast 2014 on Friday 31st January and Saturday 1st February featuring a feast of locally sourced breakfast food in and around Ledbury.

Big Break - Eggs Benedict at Cafe Sez
Eggs Benedict at Cafe Sez (now moved to Chez Pascal) – Big Breakfast 2013

Last year’s event, the first ever, proved really popular. The toughest part was choosing: a hearty full Herefordshire breakfast, scrambled eggs, Eggs Benedict, breakfast muffins, muesli, yoghurt and compote, frittata, scotch eggs, wild boar sausage, or just good old bacon and eggs?

This year we have even more venues and more choice lined up. The full list, with menus, will be published here shortly.

All kinds of breakfast and brunch will be available from the lightest breakfast to the heaviest in our cafes and pubs, including special menu items for the event featuring local produce. Our butchers will offer their home produced bacon, sausages and eggs, and our local delicatessens will have special menu items. You can eat in, take out, take away or take home.

We hope you will join us for breakfast in and around Ledbury on Friday 31st January and Saturday 1st February and bring family, friends, neighbours and colleagues too.

Muse Cafe Muesli, Compote and Yoghurt
Muse Cafe Muesli, Compote and Yoghurt – Big Breakfast 2013
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Ludlow Food Festival

photo 1-5Before you say anything, I know that Ludlow is 32.9 miles from Ledbury and therefore, if we are being strict about such things, out of our orbit.  But the Ludlow Food Festival is such a celebration of local food, and such a great event, that I felt I had to share some of it with you!  And of course, there are some producers from nearer home who exhibit there regularly, look at the photos and you may find some familiar faces…

Since its beginnings in 1994 the Festival has grown magnificently, with a second Spring event photo 5-3starting six years ago.  When we went there on Saturday the main event in the castle was packed, with everyone enjoying sampling what was on offer (well, not everyone, see right)  But what was also clear is that the whole town embraces this event, with shops, restaurants & cafes taking part and even non-food shops having food-themed displays in their windows.  There were queues at all the butchers’ stands around the town, with people standing in line to taste their sausages and get a stamp – the famous sausage trail!  There are workshops, demonstrations and talks, children’s cookery sessions, a secret dinner party and a secret restaurant which takes you on a walk to see the food that you are then going to eat – must remember to book next year!

So what new food did I discover?  The Ludlow Nut Company have some very moreish nuts & fruits and their luxury muesli is equally tasty. They now sell tempting cake mixes  – easy, quick & delicious. If you fancy a change from the usual crisps Scott Farms near Evesham won Best New Product at the Festival with their latest venture; sweet potato chips. Scarlet Angel (I liked their “decadence with a conscience” strap line!) were offering sauces with a wonderful bite; Lime, Ginger and Coriander was my favourite and I am looking forward to their Beetroot & Ginger Chutney too.

photo 5It was interesting to see just how many farms have diversified from their traditional produce – a sign of the times – offering a wide range of charcuterie, from salami to bresaola.  The ones I tasted, from Wenlock Edge Farm, would not have been out of place in an Italian delicatessen – tasty, moist and showing both the quality of our local meat and the skill & imagination of farmers in these parts! Sadly I could not fight my way through the crowd thronging their stand to taste the pork, plum & ginger sausages – right up my street!  Some farms have really diversified.  A glorious array of scrumptious-looking cakes turned out to be the latest venture of Hodghurst Farm at Church Stretton – more about them next blog as they have a rather particular angle, as do Cradley-based Mulberry Tree Pies…

And finally, it was lovely to see people queueing up to taste Once Upon A Tree’s delicious drinks.  The fact that it was quite hard to get a photo of the stand shows how popular they are! The same was true of Oliver’s Cider & Perry from Ocle Pychard and Wright’s Culinary Delights (see my earlier blog).  I’m sure the same would have been true of well-established favourites Just Rachel Quality Desserts, Gregg’s Pit Cider & Perry and Whyle House Lamb who were at the Festival on Sunday.  If anyone went to Ludlow on the Friday or Sunday, I would love to hear their thoughts, impressions and, best of all, discoveries!

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Ledbury Food Group at the Ox Roast Weekend 1st & 2nd June

Ledbury market
Ledbury market

We will be there at the Ox Roast weekend on both Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd June.

On the Community Day – Saturday 1st June – we will be at the Market House from 10.00 am to 2.00 pm. Do come along and have a chat.

On the Ox Roast Day – Sunday 2nd June – we have a great series of speakers lined up at the Feathers Hotel. Just drop in – there is no charge. Donations will be invited to Ledbury Ox Roast, with all proceeds to support the work of St Michael’s Hospice. Our speakers will be:

Talks Programme

11.30 Why Cattle Still Matter – Will Edwards. Herefordshire farmer Will Edwards is a founder member of the newly formed Pasture-Fed Livestock Association.  Will is going to talk about why grazing cattle on pasture is great for the cattle, the ecosystem and the health of the consumer.
13.15 Animal, Vegetable or Mineral? – Bill Sewell. Bill Sewell creates and runs cafés, including Café@AllSaints in Hereford.  His well-known recipe books mean that he is perhaps thought of first and foremost as a vegetarian.  Bill will tell the story of the journey that he and his cafés have made from pure vegetarianism to incorporating meat.
14.30 A Slap of the Hand – Bill Laws. ‘In those days a slap of the hand and the deal was done’.  It’s more than 20 years since author Bill Laws founded Herefordshire Lore, and this voluntary group has been busy ever since collecting and publishing people’s memories.  Bill will be sharing stories about the people and the animals that passed through Hereford Cattle Market, including the world-famous pedigree bull sales.
15.45 All in a Day’s Walk – Jess Allen. Jess Allen lives in a yurt at Caplor Farm near Fownhope. Last year, in the long dark wet and increasingly muddy days of December, she decided that she would eat only what she could source within walking distance of her home. She will tell us about how she uses walking and moving and talking in rural landscapes to address issues of environmental, social or political concern, and the new word ‘Tracktivism’ that she has coined to describe her work.

Many thanks to all of our speakers and to The Feathers Hotel for use of their room.

We also have a two page article coming out in June’s Ledbury Focus magazine – which will be distributed at the end of May. Do check it out.