It's a Food Fest!

I made my return to Ludlow (Cittislow) for the 2009 food festival. Previously, I was there working the Slow Food Booth all three days in September 2005. I was a go-for, cooked and served blood pudding, handed out brochures about Slow Food (more info to follow in blogs to come) and Perry, set-up and cleaned-up for the classes on Cheshire cheeses, local honey and also local bread. It was a blast and Slow Food is a good cause, but I had a small amount of time to actually take in ALL of the festival....This year was different! While I still didn't technically see it ALL, I did see quite a bit more. For the one day I was there it was alot! The one thing that is a must next time is the Sausage Trail, since I managed to miss that again. I also hope that the butcher that smokes the duck that I used at The Clive will start that endeaver again. I still have dreams about it.

The series of pictures say and show it pretty well. The one thing it can't show however is the flavour and freshness of the thin crispy crust. This particular pizza is of the pesto variety.



Fresh produce galore, including several seasonal, new to me items to play with such as Cob Nuts (similar to hazelnuts) and Greengages.

Freshly shucked oysters from Essex to taste, I can't pass that up.
http://www.maldonoyster.com/aboutus.asp

Oh, there are loads of speciality foods to sample at the fest. Pickled Green Walnuts are a new one on me. There is enough beer, cider and perry to quench any thirst.
Here we see some Welsh cheeses, including Laverbread cheese....For those that are wondering what Laverbread is, it is seaweed.

You can't go to Ludlow and pass up the baked goods. On one of my trips to Ludlow the flat I stayed in was above a bakery! It was great to wake-up to the smells that came with that particular location.

There are many cooking demos going on during the three day festival. This is the chef for The Boyne Arms near Bridgnorth. He created a pasta dish with broad beans, olives, cream, spinach etc. The starring ingredient was goat's cheese, as it was a goat cheese demo. I made this dish or as close to it as possible....That will feature on a later blog.


Ludlow is known for quality butchers around the town. Also featuring during the fest was Spanish sausages and ham. I had to take some Serrano and Chorizo home with me. It was great for dinner with ash rind goat cheese from Herefordshire on the lightly toasted Ludlow Brown bread and a homemade damson preserves I whipped up (more about that later.) It was soooooo good with Pinot Grigio- three nights running!!!!

Also, Fordhall Farm had a booth going. An organic farm near Market Drayton.
http://www.fordhallfarm.com/home.html

Right, did I mention cider and Perry (pear cider)? This gent was kind enough to show how they do it:

The juice is running without being pressed.

Now we have a stack of a dozen and it is being pressed-Whooooosh..... The wood barrel isn't big enough, so he has to slep it to a bigger holding tank.

The final product,which I tried and can report that it was very nice indeed.

Don't get me started on Ludlow, a place very dear to my heart! Ok, there is much more to tell. In upcoming blogs will be featured the markets, about Slow Food, bakeries, butchers, restaurants. All Ludlow, all of the time.....24/7!