British Regional Food and Drink

There are more than 700 different cheeses being made in Britain today. Artisan makers work in small, rural dairies creating visual and edible masterpieces to sell in local farmers’ markets and friendly village shops. The great creameries make cheese for the nation to enjoy. Farmhouse Cheddar is made to recipes and methods dating back centuries. Stilton, often called ‘The King of Cheese,’ is now protected by the European Union's PDO – (Protected Designation of Origin), and can only be made in Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.

Vineyards stretch across the south of England and up through Wales and the Heart of England to reach ever closer to the north. Local wines are red, white and sparkling. An idyllic summer wedding today might well include raising a glass of local bubbling wine to the happy couple before enjoying the fruits of local growers’ and producers’ labors – smoked salmon-cured over locally felled oak; roast beef, bred and reared on local green pastures; crisp, brown, pork pies made with outdoor, organically raised pork; quails’ eggs; an abundance of salads, local mustards and chutneys; glorious scarlet strawberries and finally a sumptuous cheese-board with a choice of local and national specialties.

Increasingly regional in focus, food and drink in Britain is a reason to travel, to enjoy specialties at their best where they originate, and to see the landscape that lends an extra ‘something’ to their flavor. Rolling green fields or windswept moor, sand fringed shore or deep rich soil, all add their individual essence to the flavor of the food and drink that hard working farmers and producers create using their bounty.

Few visitors to south west England can resist a traditional cream tea – luscious clotted cream, scones warm from the oven and home-made jams – and there are many more regional delights here. The village of Padstow has become synonymous with some of the best seafood restaurants. Picturesque fishing boats bring an abundance of shining, fresh fish including plump Cornish sardines grilled on beach barbecues by surfers at Newquay. Beef and lamb from the Dartmoor National Park, an abundance of game from Exmoor are all cooked with flair by local chefs.

Visit Kent, the Garden of England, in spring to enjoy row upon row of apple and pear trees foaming with blossom, the murmuring of bees bodes well for local honey. South-east England is a place of plenty. Sheep have been farmed on Romney Marsh for centuries; farmers take their produce to local farmers’ markets where shoppers are rediscovering the delights of seasonal shopping. The New Forest once provided game for Kings, today pubs serve local pheasant and venison and village butchers make their own recipe venison sausages.

Every year thousands of food lovers flock to the Ludlow Food Fair in the Heart of England. It’s an opportunity to sample specialty food and drink products from small producers from all over the country. This is an area rich with traditional fare, and some specialties have been made for centuries, Coventry God Cakes – traditionally made for a baby’s Christening, had their origin long ago. Worcester Sauce, ‘essential’ with tomato juice, was a Victorian gentleman’s creation. Hereford cattle graze placidly in the county that gave them their name.

The rich, deep soils of eastern England grow crisp celery and delicious celeriac, locally known as ‘The Ugly One,’ and it lives up to its description until it’s peeled, grated and tossed with cracked walnuts – when it’s beautifully delicious. Hard to find, Norfolk Biffens are sweet apples dried whole – long ago every farmer’s wife made her own, drying them in the inglenook chimney.

Leicestershire, in the East Midlands, is one of the three counties entitled to make Stilton Cheese, it’s also home to the Melton Mowbray pie makers, their raised pies have long been traditional fare for picnics. Lincolnshire Chine, cured pork layered with copious chopped parsley has a unique taste and is a delicacy waiting to be discovered countrywide.

Wensleydale cheese is tangy and crumbly. You can watch it being made in the creamery beside the beautiful Yorkshire village of Wensleydale and buy some to take home from their well stocked shop. The scenery is breathtaking: drystone walled fields, each encompassing a stone barn where sweet summer hay was first stored centuries ago. Cross to the Isle of Man to find Manx Loughtan sheep, russet coated, the rams with four horns – two straight, long and pointing upwards, the other pair long and curled back. Local restaurants serve Manx Loughtan lamb and mutton, sweet, dark meat with a rich flavor. Its wool, with the distinctive ‘moorit’ color hand spun and hand woven is a tangible link with the past.

The flavors of Scotland are as splendid, and as diverse as its scenery. Take the Whisky Trail to sample the results of the distillers’ art midst Speyside views as uplifting as the amber spirit. Cozy pubs and restaurants make feasts of the local produce of the Highlands and Islands: grouse flavored from the moorland heather it feeds on, salmon and trout with the fresh, clear taste of pure, bubbling waters. Farmers’ markets in Glasgow and the Clyde Valley are busy with stalls of locally made liqueurs and preserves, farmers bring their home produced lamb, beef and poultry, sugar sprinkled fresh baked shortbread glistens beside home made pies. The Lothians have long provided Edinburgh shops and restaurants with quality produce: prime beef and lamb, locally caught fish and shellfish.

Wales is a land of song – and cheese. One of their top cheese-makers takes the link even further – he used to play the viola in the Halle Orchestra. Laverbread, an edible seaweed, seasons the scrambled eggs in adventurous hotels and guesthouses, menus are rich with local seafood, cockles attain the culinary status they deserve. The quality of Welsh lamb and beef is famous, locally produced geese grace Christmas tables and Welsh butter is the perfect thing to spread on the subtly spicy, sweet teatime treats called Welsh Cakes. Family recipes for these deceptively simple tests of a cook’s ability are closely guarded secrets.

Northern Ireland’s ‘inland sea’ Lough Neagh, supplies restaurants in Ulster – and abroad - with eels, exporting hundreds of tons of them every year. Brown trout and salmon are also fished here, adding to the local produce cooked in pubs and hotels. Ulster Black bacon is made from pure, traditional breeds like Tamworth and Gloucester Old Spot. Its delicious flavor stems from the way it’s cured and it’s perfect with any of the regional breads – Soda Loaves, Wheaten or Potato Bread.

The sights and sounds of ‘Regional Britain’ are as exceptional as the food and drink to be enjoyed there – the journey to their discovery is in their wonderful tastes.

Other trends

Farmers' Markets are popular in London and all around Britain, where everything on sale is grown or produced by the farmer locally. One of the first opened in Islington in 1999. This is the current list: Islington (Sundays); Blackheath (Sundays); Notting Hill (Saturdays); Peckham (Sundays); Swiss Cottage (Wednesdays); Twickenham (Saturdays); Wimbledon Park (Saturdays); Ealing (Saturdays); Pimlico Road (Saturdays); Stoke Newington (Saturdays); Marylebone (Sundays); Chapel (Wednesdays). Not quite a farmers' market, but a farmers' shop - that of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire - is in Elisabeth Street, SW1. All the produce comes from the Chatsworth Estate in Derbyshire. www.farmersmarkets.net

London's Borough Market is open on Friday afternoons and Saturdays, and has more than 70 stalls, traders, and local shops providing a range of meat, cheeses, breads, cakes, charcuterie and organic fruit and vegetables. Participants include Neal's Yard Dairy, tel. (011 44) 207 407 1800, who have also opened up in Park Street on the edge of Borough Market, and an interesting food shop Konditor & Cook in Stoney Street, tel. (011 44) 207 407 5100, selling soup, tartlets, pizzas as well as the usual range of delicatessen items. Borough Market is also home to occasional Food Lovers' Fairs which take place on Saturdays. www.boroughmarket.org.uk

Article by Heather Hay Ffrench