Fleischerei Dutschke

Joachim Dutschke and his family have for many decades worked as Charcutiers (Metzgers) in the small village of Tundern near Hameln in Niedersachsen in Germany.

A mornings work hanging in the fridge maturing 

Joachim in the small shop front

Here Joachim's family are busy mixing a black pudding before it is filled and then cooked in the huge cooking vat.

Stirring the black pudding during cooking is essential to stop any solids including back fat from settling at the bottom of the wurst.

Tee Wurst awaiting to be smoked

Sealing the black pudding casings before cooking

Some wurst being cooked by steam

Real blood being used in yet another recipe of Blutwurst

Cooked whole tongues being filled with the mix

The Dutschke family make a huge amount of sausage and too many to mention here, but if you get the chance to visit the shop, then you will get to see a variant and a chance to try before you buy.

Another bucket of cooked tongues awaiting to be used

The shop front maybe small, but don't be fooled as the working area is huge, this is of no surprise when you learn that the Dutschke serve a large area of Niedersachsen including providing a catering service.

Next door to Joachims family business is a Butchers Museum of which he has built single handed and is filled with butchery tools some of which are centuries old.

If you find yourself near Hameln (Hamlin the town of the Pied Piper) then take time out and visit this small but very friendly family and their butchers shop and museum.

DANKE Joachim !

http://www.knabberstangen.de/start.html

Gloucester Old Spot Festival

Recently I attended the Gloucester Old Spot Festival at the Ludlow Food Centre where the sun shone in what had been a dark spell of bad weather and where the crowds came from as far as Devon.

The event started the evening before with a meal prepared to celebrate the breed, one occasion not to be missed so I attended with head butcher John Bereton.

Check out this wonderful menu !

The starter was just perfect.....

This main course was everything a pig should be and the pork & black pudding crocquet was heavenly.

I was enjoying my meal so much I completely forgot to photograph the dessert and cheeseboard but then came coffee with a homemade chocolate with a pork scratching topping, this should not of worked but it was just so right!

The Earl of Plymouth Estate where the food centre is situated farms the Gloucester Old Spot traditional breed of pig having given up several years ago the commercial breeds.

This festival to celebrate the breed was their first festival which brought in visitors of all ages and if the numbers were anything to go by it will not be their last.

Food was available in many forms on the day and there was as you might expect the obligatory pig roast on offer.

Having roasted many pigs myself over the years at events its always difficult to judge numbers and true to form this event was no exception and the spit roast was popular and quickly sold out.

Inside the marquees proved to be as busy as outside and the trade stalls of which were many were going about their business in a flurry as the pedestrian traffic kept coming.

I hope the Food Centre holds another event of this sought and that those who attended in their sun hats have the chance to come again and support this magnificent breed of pig.

Luckily Ruth of Native Breeds had time to check out that wonderful book on Charcuterie before the gates opened ;-)

It takes a great team effort to put on such an enjoyable event, so to all those involved I salute you ! Tres Bien...

All Things Pork

Some weeks ago now I was invited to visit Redhill Farm in Lincolnshire, this being a pig farm I was not expecting anything out of the ordinary as I've visited pig farms all over Europe in my time and albeit I'm pleased to visit them I usually don't get surprised.

Well on this occassion I was quickly given a tour by Terry who is one half of husband and wife team who run their farm with the help of a small team of farmworkers, butchers and sales staff.

I was surprised to see such happy pigs running freely on acres of soft sandy soil with food and drink available to them 24 hours a day.

Of the hundreds of pigs I saw, I witnessed or more correctly I didn't see a single lame or ill pig anywhere on the farm, just fit clean happy pigs.

These pigs are some of the finest commercially reared pigs I've ever seen, these pigs when ready are slaughtered and in the farm butchery and kitchens they are turned into some really nice products and then sold locally at farmers markets.

I sampled whilst there many of the products made on the farm including a Sunday roast joint of a loin of pork with lots of perfect crackling.

Terrys wife Jane is totally submerged into ensuring the farms produce is the very best it possibly can be, I was really taken in with her passion for food excellence, albeit we did not agree on the ingredients of a Lincolnshire sausage (just a little private joke).

All jokes aside, there is no doubt that this farm is a model for others to take note from, the slick operation that is in place is to be highly commended.

Whilst I was there Jane was researching the possibility of providing pork pies for a certain celebrity chef for his restaurants, albeit it would be unprofessional of me to name the chef in question, I can only say that his mate "Jimmy" must be browned off! ;-)

In summary I would like to say both Terry and his wife Jane have the finest and best welfare system of free range pigs I have ever had the privilige to witness. Given this standard Is the highest they possibly could be, I urge anyone and everyone to try some pork from what is probally Britains best free range operated farm. Well done guys, you deserve all the business you can handle, I only wish I had an award I could offer you!

www.redhillfarm.com  

Ham ham ham where is all the ham ?

Recently I was approached by a television production company asking could I share some facts on British Ham for them and also to provide names of some of the known ham producers as they wished to film about the British Ham and it's heritage etc. This I duly did, for those that know me, this is exactly what I get off on, in particular sharing information.

Soon the researchers were back in touch asking if I knew any more Artisan ham producers as they were trying if possible to feature a company that has not had or only had little TV coverage, I said I would look into it and get back to them.

Well I started my own research and I was horrified to discover that all but a handful of the Artisan Ham producers have all but disappeared!

Thankfully one of those surviving Artisan producers www.dukeshillham.co.uk has survived and are still making Ham as it should be. Albeit they are in a commercial environment and they employ a team of people don't be fooled, for everything they do is in an Artisan way. All their recipes and techniques are carried out in a traditional fashion, dry and wet curing and the maturing is still done today as it was generations ago.

They even still produce a Black Ham, theirs is called "Shropshire Black" identical to the Bradenham Ham, black hams used to be very common and some well known varieties such as the Suffolk Black and the Devon Black are rarely seen today.

Here is Neale Hollingsworth the founder of www.dukeshillham.co.uk proudly inspecting and giving his approval before allowing his Hams to leave the premises. Neale and his company proudly display that they have achieved the highest approval they could wish for, for they have a "Royal Warrant" say no more. We need more Artisan producers, so please help save our food heritage and start to cure your own hams today !

Butcher Baker Farmer

You know I meet many butchers on my travels, some good and some not so good and then every now and again I meet a really good one, Gordon Atkinson is one of those rare talents.

Gordon showing off a tray of pork & prune crepinettes he'd just made

 Butcher Baker Farmer is proudly stencilled over the the outside of Gordons shop, I'll say no more than pop inside and chat to him on any one of those subjects, be warned though, order a coffee from his modern continental coffee machine as you maybe there sometime. (I think he ought to add "Barista" to his list of skills)

 If you ever find yourself in Harrogate Yorkshire, then there are two things you must do, one is visit www.bettys.co.uk tea rooms and the other is to visit Gordon of www.elite-meat.co.uk where you will receive a warm welcome and get the chance to chat about traditional fayre, baking (bread is a passion of Gordons), farming and charcuterie.



Gordon showing off again, this time his wonderful Beef Truffles

You know the best part about meeting Gordon was, I found him to be a real nice genuine bloke with tales well worth listening to, no banter, no hard selling just this pride that encompassed his craft.

Breakfast in the Barn

Where does the time go? I was reminded this morning it was 2009 when my farming neighbours Keith and Roz Partridge of www.duckallerfarm.co.uk  first started doing "Breakfast in the Barn" since then I've been meaning to blog about this simple but very successful idea of theirs to farm diversify.

Well 3 years on and Keith is still cooking the bacon and sausage which he makes from his free range traditional breed of Berkshire pigs.

People arrive by cycle and on foot as well as by car, they are of all generations and the cold weather never seems to put them off. Since those early days the barn is now fitted with a roaring wood burner and various gas heaters to take the worst of the chill off, albeit warm clothes are still recommended.

The diners are encouraged to bring their dogs with them if they so wish, in order they become acquainted with the farms livestock and surroundings. They can meet Paul the farms butcher and perhaps discuss the different cuts of meat which are also available on the day.

Keith explained he now holds these breakfasts every 3 to 4 weeks with more than 120 people attending at any one time, most opting for the Full English and a cup of tea albeit there is plenty of homemade cakes and soft drinks.

Farm walks are also organised, encouraging people to take in the local wildlife whilst building up a hunger for that wholesome breakfast that awaits them in the barn.

If you would like to learn more about what's happening down on the farm, then checkout their website www.duckallerfarm.co.uk  or better still pop on down when they next have a breakfast in the barn, where a warm welcome awaits you.