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There
is a lot of talk currently about reducing the food miles - how far your food travels. When I was setting Up Benson of Broadway
I looked in to local producers and was shocked to find just how many there were in Broadway itself, let alone the 10 mile
radius. I started going out to meet the farmers and producers and found that not only does it reduce food miles, but because
these are small scale operations they really care about what they produce - and that really shows in the quality.
How is it produced and how long is it stored are the questions you should really be asking
when buying your food. This is where Benson of Broadway is different.
There is such amazing food grown and produced locally in Gloucetsershire and Worcestershire and the surrounding counties.
It
is produced for flavour. Something supermarkets have forgotten. These are some of the discoveries I have made.
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| Asparagus from Bangrove Asparagus Farm, near Teddington during the asparagus season |
Bangrove Farm Asparagus here! Who can resist a sign
that says that? As I was driving along past the cow parsley and elderflowers I stopped off and found Bangrove Farm. The vale
of Evesham is well known as the asparagus centre of the country - we have the British asparagus festival too. The asparagus
is picked from the fields at Bangrove and goes straight into the shop - how can you get fresher than that? The difference
in taste to the imported supermarket asparagus has to be experienced to be believed!
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| Gloucester Old Spot/ Berkshire breed pigs at Home Farm |
Home Farm, Bredons Norton
Home Farm is a traditional family-run
mixed farm nestling on the slopes of Bredon Hill that has been in the Meadows family since 1953. I first came accross
them on the Big Barn website - and found they were only 5 miles away. Their Gloucester Old Spot/ Berkshire breed pigs give the best bacon and sausages
(both of which they make themselves) and because the cattle and lambs have free range over the slope of bredon hill it all
leads to more tender and flavoursome meat. Meat is hung in the cold store in the butchery area of their farmshop and butchery
is done on the farm by Micky the farmer. The farm shop there is like stepping back in time - the way shops should be run:
by people who care.
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| Gorsehill Abbey Farm St. Eadburga's cheese |
Gorsehill Abbey Farm Michael Stacey has been farming in Broadway for over 30 years. Cheese production
is a newer feature, but has won awards already. Organic cheese produced on the
farm from the cows fed on Broadway pastures. You can not get more local than that. Without all the food miles travelled,
you get a depth of flavour, a hint of muskiness that is so moreish.
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| Trout fishing at Donninton Trout Farm |
Donnington Trout Farm When I normally arrive to pick up the trout from Donnington, it is
still swimming in the fresh water tanks - you can't get fresher than that. They also smoke trout on site. The fish
are reared in crystal clear spring water which is free of pollution so they taste delicious, with none of the muddy flavours
sometimes associated with river-farmed trout.
Collins of Broadway I have been buying meat from Collins for as long as I have been in
Broadway - the quality is so good I don't trust anyone else. I use them these days for prime cuts like the fillet of beef
- everyone always loves it so much and always asks where it comes from.When I started out I used to buy fillet from the local
farms too, but as there is only a small amount per cow this leaves the farmers with a lot of other cuts to shift and their
other customers deprived of their choice cuts - I literally ran all the farmers out. So now I get these from Collins the butcher
which is second to none, and source other cuts, sausages and bacon from Home Farm and others.
Madgetts Farm Chicken and Duck Chicken and duck I now get from
Madgetts Farm via Home Farm or, failing that from their stalls at Cheltenham Farmers Market or Gloucester Farmers Market - the latter two give great weight lifting exercise. Because
their chickens and ducks are free range they have a flavour and tenderness that you can never find with supermarket birds,
or even some of those from butchers. Once you have tried them you can not serve anything else.
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| Hayles Fruit Farm near Winchcombe |
Hayles Fruit Farm I first came accross Hayles
Fruit Farm walking the Cotswold Way - ran out of signposts, took a wrong footpath, but found our way eventually. You can pick
your own in the summer or buy from their farm shop which is stocked with their own frozen fruit so you can be supplied all
year round, along with all manner of homemade jams, jellies, juices, ciders etc. all from their own fruit. This is another
example of a long established family business which provides such amazing quality of ingredients the quality of which you
will not find anywhere else.
Kite’s
Nest Farm Herefordshire
cows toally grass fed on the pastures of Broadway. A family farm now in the second generation, the cows are grass
fed on the hills of Brodaway. There is no use of pesticides, chemicals, antibiotics - organic in everything but the official
ruling. Their cows - which they have bred themselves from the original herd 50 years ago - are sent to slaughter just two
at a time, so it is very select, and the meat is butchered in their own farm butchery. During the exceedingly hot days
in July, they took their cows into the orchard out of the heat and hand-fed them on apples - they live to care about their
animals - and as everyone tells me - it is really worth it in the quality of their beef. Carol Webb Chipping Campden
Carol has a small flock of sheep, a couple
of pigs and 5 cows at a time. She knows all her animals, and where they come from. The cows come two at a time from a
farmer who only has five cows. Her pigs are Berkshire breed - the best in terms of flavour and texture. She has just had
a flock of Shetland lambs feeding on the open pastures of Chipping Campden, producing the best quality of lamb any of
my recent clients have tasted. When I was there this week (August) she had hen eggs in the incubator, just starting
to break their way through, so free-range Campden chicken could be on the menu soon.
The Smallholding, Chadbury. The Buckingham’s have been raising poultry
and goats for over 30 years. When you go to ’The Smallholding’ it is so good to see the ducks and chickens
roaming free in the field, and the goats on the hill in the background. You can’t get more free-range than that.
Everything is antibiotic free and organic in everything but the official paperwork. They hang your meat in their cold store
to anything up to a week, given enough notice, thus ensuring a quality and texture that you can not match anywhere.
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