EYFC Essex Young Farmers Country Show

A belated report on the fantastic local food producers that I found at the The May EYFC Show

It was a new one on me, admittedly I had seen the odd road sign pointing to it in the past but this time I had decided to go and see what was happening. The EYFC or Essex Young Farmers Country Show was hard to research. The little I had found on the internet about it didn’t quite emphasise how large the show was and when we turned up the next day we were quite shocked.

The show was being held at Boyton Hall in Roxwell, Essex. We were first greeted by who I would assume to be young farmers dressed in luminescent security vests beckoning us into the car park. The car park was in fact a huge hilly field and just after lunchtime when we arrived was nearly full with 1000’s of cars.

The queues to get in weren’t too bad, but the cost of entry was a little steep at £10 per person. I of course arrived with a hungry head, I didn’t know what foody treats were hear but I did know that farmers and farmer folk in general loved their food and were the source of most of my foody moments.

We had all been out the night before so the first stop was a conveniently a hog roast stall that also sold sausages in rolls and bacon sandwiches, the smell of which had greeted us and then drawn us toward it with supernatural powers. The queue was long but moving quickly. The hog roast stand was serving 2 people every minute with an average order value of £10 you can only imagine how much money they made! The crispy pork was served in a white bap with plenty of sweet apple sauce, a delicious way to start the day!

Stomachs full we pushed on into the show.. We could see working steam engines and a traditional, what I think was a steam powered fair. No food to see here so we pushed on. The country show was exactly that and the stalls changed from trade stands selling the latest farming equipment through to grain salesman. We eventually moved into the hunting area where shotguns and antique rifles were on display. Moving into the first marquee we found our first food stand. A pie company who were demonstrating how to skin rabbits and prepare game. We stayed long enough to see an unsuspecting lady get hit with some rabbit entrails as an over enthusiastic chef pulled the skin off a rabbit in a single slick move (hilarious even with a mild hangover!). I was tempted to buy a game pie as they looked delicious but we moved on with the expectation of many more food stalls to come.

The next tent was a collection of competition entries from the children farmers. Brightly decorated wellies and more food! There had obviously been a serious bake off earlier in the day and the rich smell of chocolate filled the air. By the time we had got to this grand baking exhibition it appeared that a few hungry farmers had made it there first and in true testament to the young cook’s skills the cakes had become irresistible and some lay in taters.

By now the temperature was rising and although only in the late teens when the sun came out it made for short sleeves weather.

Finally I could see it gloriously sign posted by a huge sign on top of the marquee exclaiming the bright green words ‘Food Tent!’.. It wasn’t the next tent, but finally in reach. We passed through the craft tent with pace passing by various craft stalls including basket making and some amazing woodworking, anyway.. On to the food tent.

The tent was busy! No clear exit or entry was visible and turned away from one busy end of the marquee switched tactics and made for the second door. First to greet us was a small stall selling well, Ginger!! Everything you could ever think of made of Ginger including a homemade Ginger wine. What I wanted to find was local producers and farmers so although the ladies stall looked lovely I was not after one of her sweet treats. A lemonade stall, followed by a traditional candy shop. Finally at the end of the huge tent and through the busy people I saw it. The crusty Pie Company!

The Crusty pie company make pork pies of all flavours! The stall was busy, very busy and queue’s snaked in all directions I settled on an end and waited it out. By the time I got to the front of the queue my mind was made up, I could see they were bagging 4 large pies for £10.. Well it would have been rude not to do it! I opted for Spicy, Traditional, Stilton and an open pie with Apple Sauce on the top. Pies in the bag and my eye in I continued my search for local foods.

The rest of the tent lacked any specific producers, it wasn’t until I got back to the door that I entered I realised that I had walked by many stalls on my way in.

These stands were lined up in a nice orderly arc and I was going to investigate each one in turn.

The first stand was a farm called Great Garnetts. Great Garnetts farm in Great Dunmow, Essex produces its own pork and makes Gammon, Sausages and the first thing that I had to have Bacon! I always buy smoked when I see that it is naturally smoked, I grabbed the biggest pack of Back Bacon and bought it.

The next stand was the Lymn Bank Farm who produces a number of handmade Cheeses from their farm in Lincolnshire. They had another irresistible deal; 3 Cheeses a packet of Oatcakes and a chutney of choice for £10! Fantastic, but which to pick!? I drew my weapon of choice – a tooth pick – and then begun my duel with these tasty cheeses. I ended up opting for a Lymn Bank Strongest which is basically an eye poppingly mature Cheddar, Two Smoking Barrels an interesting little cheese that encapsulates some of my favourite things.. Smoke and yeast extract (Marmite), although a little novelty yummy none the less! And the third was a strange cheese that just caught me by surprise – Apricot, Chilli and Lime! Although these flavours are not traditionally added to cheese they did catch me off guard and well.. I liked them! I added the oatcakes and a Sweet Tomato and Chilli Chutney to the bag, handed over my tenner and was very pleased with my purchase.

The next stand was one I was very familiar with.. The green mobile stand of Howletts Farm Game I recognised it instantly. They were a regular on the farmer’s market circuit and my primary source of good game!

This time I wanted more than just my next dinner, I asked the lady if I could speak to the owner to see if I could get on one of his shoots. It’s a long story but he agreed and well, it’s a long story that I’ll come to another time. As we weren’t really in any game season I bought some Wild Boar sausages, the Wild Boar are reared on Howletts farm too and regrettably we moved on again. The next stall sold one of my favourite local ingredients. Farmer Browns Cold pressed, Extra Virgin Rapeseed Oil, I snaffled a bottle and made my way onwards. We passed many other stalls but none that drew me in like the previous ones. My arms now laden with goodies we moved onto the Livestock area of the show.

Although I had got what I had come for I found this section of the show very interesting. I am not only obsessed by the provenance of food but the types and breeds too (particularly how they taste!)! This part of the show showed off the prize wining pigs including Welsh Blacks and Saddlebacks. The next section showed off Turkeys, Rabbits and then the various types of chickens. Next, the sheep and finally the Cows and Horses. The animals were great and the cutest and funniest of all was a single lamb that had clearly Baa’d so much it had lost its little voice.

One final stop near the exit was the new Horticultural stalls, this included yet another but smaller Marquee with huge displays of indoor and outdoor plants. I followed a sign that pointed out ‘Herbs’ and followed it to what can only be described as the Eden of all herb stalls!! The herb stall was huge almost 40 feet in length and at least 4 feet in depth and covered in interesting and varied foliage. It was being managed by a gentleman who later was to tell me that they were Herbal Heaven who also has an online shop. I am personally obsessed with Herbs and my garden is an Aladdin’s cave of herbs with every corner or pot with another edible leaf hidden within it. There was one herb that I wanted and could not find in any of the seed catalogues was Lemon Verbena (excellent in puddings) and here it was bang in the middle of the stand, that was 1! Being a lover of Wild Food too, when I saw that they had Wild Strawberry plants I had to have one. I have many Arctic Strawberry plants which also produce the very small yet super charged Strawberries and I wanted to compare the two, so the Wild Strawberry was number 2! Number three was inspired by the programme ‘Grow your own Drugs’ as I had heard that its root made an extraordinary Hot Chocolate as well as had incredible medicinal values, the third was Valeria and I wanted it for its root. I picked Borage (as the slugs had got mine) and I love its cucumber flavoured leaves and flowers. The girlfriend came in with number 5 a Lime Basil and then the sixth.. If Willy Wonka did herbs, he would have come up with this one. I have many types of Sage in my garden but the newest Blackcurrant Sage is the king! This really does give off the strongest most intense blackcurrant’y smell you can believe. The stall owner told me to use it in biscuits and cakes but when the plant settles in to its new home in my garden and kindly starts to grow more foliage I have plans for it that involve duck!

As per normal there was one last stop on the way out that just so happened to have a ‘I must have that’ on it. Hand weaved Willow basket just perfect for collecting Wild Mushrooms in a perfect gift for a forager.

And that was it, I long trudge back to the car laden with foody goodies and before you know it I was back home examining the finds!

The EYFC or Essex young Farmers Country show is a definite must whether you are a farmer, foody or just enjoy the country life! Can’t wait for next year!

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Barleylands Farmers Market - Local Food Adventures Essex

Saturday 8th May and I woke up with a mission in mind.. From a few searches on the net I had already found out that Barleylands had a Farmers Market on.. The market started and finished early (930 – 1230), so I was determined to sacrifice my Saturday lay in and get there nice and early!

I woke up early on the Saturday and couldn’t wait to get started. We had already decided to get breakfast there so within 30 minutes of waking up we were in the car and heading towards the farmers market.

Barleylands itself is huge! It is a massive combination of Farm Park and a Jumble of Craft Shops selling everything from teddy bears to blown glass ornaments. We parked in the car park which was already very busy, rolled up our sleeves and prepared to do battle!

The farmers market at Barleylands is held in an outside barn, half inside and half outside. The first stall we were greeted by was a stall selling game, game that was shot locally, I recognised their green van instantly as it regularly does the markets in and around Essex. Next was a vegetable stall by Manor Farm and then a new stall to me called the Giggly Pig.

We were confronted by a passionate member of the Giggly Pig team who begun her pitch as soon as we were in range. She continued her rhapsody whilst thrusting a wooden toothpick into each of our hands and beckoning us to taste the various sausages on her tray.

She continued to tell us that all of the pork was reared on their farm in Harold Hill I later found out that the pigs are all rare breed Saddlebacks. She continued, they make 40+ flavours of Handmade Sausages and they are even launching a specific range for the World Cup, no doubt inspired by the countries that are in the tournament. We tasted the sausages that they were cooking behind the stall and well, they were tasty. Hot Chilli sausages spiced with Scotch Bonnet and an interesting sausage spiced with Chilli and Lime. Strangely delicious at the time but I wonder what I am going to do with them!? I also bought Hickory smoked sausages which I am looking forward too and sausages that contained whole pieces of their very own bacon. I purchased the sausages and then we moved into the market ready and primed to taste even more treats.

We wanted to recon the market so the next step was to force our way through the people and see all of the goods that were on offer.. There was about 10 stalls in the barn selling everything from sun dried tomatoes and Olives to the more traditional Chutneys and Preserves. We scouted around the market planning which route to take and then following our noses ended up at a Sausage barbecue were we picked up breakfast!

Once the sausage rolls were consumed it was to the bread stall. The bread stall was stunning. Stacks and piles of different breads in all colours and shapes. Knitted loafs to huge round buns, I had been craving some excellent bread and we were not disappointed! The bakery that provided this generous show was McCarthys of Brentwood and we were quick to take him up on a 2 for £10 deal where we had a half a round of Rye bread and a Sourdough loaf.

We moved around the market until we were at the back of the barn until we were stood in front of a small stall adorned with many green bottles. Bottles that were familiar to us both as we had been regular buyers of this fantastic Apple Juice. We were standing in front of Stoke Farm Orchards stall and the brand of Apple juice that we were so familiar with was Appletree Hill.

Speaking to the owner of the farm we discovered that the orchard was only considered to be a small orchard (30 acres or so), but my god do they create some fantastic juices! We were offered tastes of the 10 or so varieties they had on show. They press juices from many types of Apples including Bramley, Russet and Cox all which are grown in the farm in Suffolk. I settled for my favourite Cox’s Orange Pippin and Discovery. Both of which have a lip smacking taste that is just delicious!! We were also offered a home made lemonade that was very nice and another product that I also bought a cider called Dog Rapper, apparently a very dry cider and one that I am looking forward to tasting!

Sausages, Bread and Apple juice in the bag we moved just a few feet onto the next stall where a lovely older lady stood proudly behind her biscuit stall. I am sorry to reference the ladies age in the previous sentence but I do this for a reason! Baking to me is a skill that I believe takes many many years to develop. There are tricks that older cake and biscuit makers probably aren’t even aware that they are using that seem to make a huge difference when preparing these delicate treats!

The company was called the Perfectly Delicious Company and to say that the name underrated the ladies produce was an understatement. The biscuits were packed and packs of six but prior to making a purchase we had the traditional tasting!! We were offered pieces of the handmade biscuits and told that she made them in many flavours including Coconut, Ginger Snap, Shortbread and Classic Cookie flavours. The flavours of biscuit that we settled for were Oatmeal with Fruit and another essential flavour, Chocolate. Now referring back to my original point – never trust a young biscuit maker – the chocolate biscuits that I chose were amazing. The strong rich aromas of chocolate that filled the nose and the mouth were one thing but the unnatural and extraordinary crunch was something else. The dark art of biscuit baking, especially when it comes to the WI is usually a secretive world of experience and tricks but I had to know and pressed the kind lady for her secret. It turns out that the Chocolate'y biscuits crunch was down to crushed Organic Corn Flakes being added to the mix, a trick that I will now borrow and use! Biscuits in the bag we moved on to another familiar local brand Wicks Manor Farm.

Wicks Manor is a local food success story. Wicks Manor is a pork farm that produces high quality pork that it sells locally and in some Supermarkets. They are a pig farm but also have a large amount of arable land that they use to grow the food and bedding for the pigs reducing the food miles dramatically and creating an uber local and fantastic product. Personally I love their bacon. They produce a dry cured smoked back bacon that is simply delicious, I was told by the gentleman running the stall that they also smoke their pork on the farm too. The bacon, well is lovely. While I sit here writing this post I have just eaten a sandwich made from the Wicks Manor Farm bacon and the Sourdough bread bought earlier on. I grill the bacon so that the fat almost soufflé’s and the tender meat crisps – stunning sweet meat! We bought two packs of the delicious bacon and moved on to the busiest stall of them all, a Cheesemonger that had set up camp in the middle of the barn.

I unfortunately forgot the Cheesemongers name; I must have been drunk on the strong smells of mature cheeses.. The stall had huge rounds and wheels of cheeses all nicely tagged with their names, countries and regions for ease of identification. The portly cheesemonger was run off his feet and the queue snaked around and past his stall obscuring a second bread stall from view. As people queued past his stall they were entertained by other people’s purchases. Soft Ripe cheeses almost needing a spoon rather than a knife to cut, a pink cheese flavoured with port and blue cheeses from all over the UK and indeed Europe.

By the time it was my turn to pick I had already made my mind up on two of the three cheeses I wanted to buy. Brie made in Somerset that had been smoked, the edges cracked and aged and the skin brown with the flavours of smoke. The second cheese a Cornish Org dressed in its coat of nettle leaves and the third I needed direction on.. I asked the stall holder for his opinion. I love Cheddar, but I love Cheddar that is seriously mature!! I want a piece of Cheddar to twang the taste buds and almost burst the saliva glands in your mouth as it releases its amazing flavours!! This is what I requested and to my amazement I was asked to taste an Austrian cheese.

Not being Cheddar or British, at first I declined until he persuaded me to taste. Well, the thin soft slice of cheese was amazing, not deeply flavoured but it did have a twang that was sheer pleasure. I enquired about a huge Cheddar standing proudly in the middle of this cheesy display and asked for a taste of this proud looking cheese. This was what I was after!! The unpasteurised cheese was delicious rounded mature flavour, tangy and delicious!! I bought a wedge and that was my cheese purchased.

My final stop was the veg stall standing at the entrance to the barn. I picked up my seasonal veg including some fat round Radish, Purple Sprouting Broccoli and Spinach.

My day was not over yet as on the return journey we also stopped off at the Billericay Cook Shop, picked up some essentials at Waitrose and then foraged a few Wild Food goodies in a nearby wood.

A fantastic foody day that we are going to remember for ages. I fully recommend a visit to Barleylands Farmers Market, great selection of foods and many delicious treats available!

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