Читать книгу Britain: The Lake District - Vivienne Crow - Страница 38
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Cumbria’s breathtakingly beautiful scenery may look like Mother Nature’s proudest handiwork, but it is far from totally natural; it is the result of the ancient interplay between man and the environment – in particular, farming and the environment. It is hardly surprising then that the produce of that agricultural landscape is becoming an increasingly important part of any trip to the county, as chefs source more and more of their ingredients locally, and both farmers and artisan businesses market their delicious wares direct to the public.
The county’s reputation for quality food has been growing for some time now. The turning point came in 2001 with the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. Cumbria was one of the worst-hit regions, with thousands of head of cattle and sheep culled and the tourism industry devastated by the closure of the fells. Suddenly, the inter-relationship between farming and tourism made itself felt like never before and, as the region slowly recovered, businesses began to pull together to rebuild – and maybe even capitalize on the unprecedented publicity that the region had received during the crisis. At the same time, consumers became increasingly concerned about where their food was coming from – animal welfare, traceability, provenance and, later, food miles, started slipping off foodies’ tongues just as easily as medium-rare, fine-dining and confit of duck.
Farmers, aware of the need for change, sought to develop new markets, closer to home; hoteliers and chefs could see the potential of using more locally-sourced produce; artisan bakers, jam-makers and smokehouses diversified and looked for new outlets as the tourists returned and business boomed.
Local stores, such as the Lancashire-based Booths chain of supermarkets and the family-owned Cranstons butcher shops, were suddenly stocking as much local produce as possible, proud to let the world know about The Village Bakery’s tasty breads and cakes, the rich flavour of fell-bred Herdwick lamb and the delicious cheeses of the Thornby Moor Dairy. Smaller shops selling local produce also sprang up, including two farm shops at the Westmorland Services on the M6, opened by Prince Charles in 2003. An unusual development for a British motorway, the shops had 12 Cumbrian suppliers when they opened, but now receive regular deliveries from more than 40 producers.
The award-winning Plumgarths, in Kendal, is another good example of how local businesses are working together to promote the area. Run by livestock farmer John Geldard, it brings together small suppliers to help them market their produce both locally and to large supermarket chains, such as Asda.
Farmers’ markets too are pushing Cumbrian produce. Kendal, Carlisle, Cockermouth and other towns host stalls where local producers can sell their wares, but probably the best known in the county is the Orton Farmers’ Market (www.ortonfarmers.co.uk) where more than 40 businesses come together on the second Saturday of every month.
You don’t need to be especially observant to notice that there are a lot of sheep and cattle in Cumbria, so it won’t come as a surprise to any visitor that there’s plenty of meat here – and it’s of a very high quality. Fell-bred lamb crops up on just about every menu you come across, but some very tasty and tender salt-marsh lamb is also produced in the county. Visitors can also expect to find good quality cuts of beef from the stocky Galloway breed, organic venison and rare-breed pork.
If it’s meaty, spicy sausages you’re after, they don’t come any better than Richard Woodall’s Cumberland sausages (www.richardwoodall.com). Using a family recipe that dates back to the 1820s, this Waberthwaite-based business is the proud holder of a royal warrant – bangers made by appointment to HM Queen Elizabeth II. Other top sausage producers include Lakes Speciality Foods Ltd of Staveley (www.lakesspecialityfoods.co.uk), Cranstons of Penrith (www.cranstons.net) and Peter Gott at Sillfield Farm, near Kendal (www.sillfield.co.uk).
As well as being a major meat producer, Cumbria has one of the UK’s largest dairy farming sectors – and that means there’s a lot of cheese being produced in the county. Some of the top producers include the award-winning Lake District Cheese Company (www.lakedistrictcheesecompany.co.uk), run by a farmer-owned co-operative; the Thornby Moor Dairy at Crofton Hall near Wigton; Wardhall Dairy (www.wardhalldairy.co.uk), which makes both goats’ and cows’ cheese; and Holker Farm with its delicious ewe’s milk cheese.
And if you’re wondering who ate all the pies, it was probably the customers of the Hodge family, who run the Threlkeld-based Piemill (www.piemill.co.uk). When the family began selling home-made pies at their pub in Mungrisdale, demand was so high that they had to move into larger premises. With business booming, they eventually sold the pub to concentrate on the pies. Award-winners include the Blencathra beef steak and ale pie and the gorgeous Galloway beef, black pudding and caramelized mushroom pie.
The Lyth Valley is damson country. The orchards and hedgerows surrounding the valley’s many small farmsteads are where you’ll find the unusually small Westmorland damson, which is sold from roadside stalls and in local shops in September. It is also used to make jams and chutneys. Strawberry Bank Liqueurs, of Crosthwaite, near Kendal, uses the local fruit to make the rather unusual damson gin and beer (www.strawberrybankliqueurs.co.uk). Damson Day is celebrated every April, when the valley is filled with the fruit’s white blossom.
Many people forget that Cumbria also has access to the fruits of the sea – from Morecambe Bay in the south to the Solway Firth in the north. The Morecambe Bay Potted Shrimp Company (www.morecambebayshrimps.com) uses shrimps caught by fishermen going out on to the Cartmel Sands from Flookburgh and Bardsea, boils them in butter with a secret combination of spices and then packs them into pots with semi-melted butter. The delicate-tasting end result can be found in Booths supermarkets and in other stores under the brand name Marine Gourmet.
The award-winning Hawkshead Relish Company (www.hawksheadrelish.com) is one of the success stories to come out of the disaster that was the 2001 foot-and-mouth outbreak. Mark and Maria Whitehead were selling their home-made preserves in their busy café, but when disease descended, the day-trippers disappeared. Forced to diversify, the couple began to make more of their tasty chutneys and now their products can be found in shops all over the country, including Harrods. Other chutney and preserve producers worthy of note include Staveley’s Friendly Food and Drink (www.friendlyfoodanddrink.co.uk), which won several awards in the 2009 NW Food Awards, and the Wigton-based Wild and Fruitful (www.wildandfruitful.co.uk). The World’s Original Marmalade Festival (www.marmaladefestival.com), where you can sample some wonderful preserves, is held every February at Dalemain. For those who collect celebrity autographs, Paddington Bear sometimes puts in an appearance.
For the sweet-toothed, Cumbria is seventh heaven. Not only is it the home of Kendal mint-cake, famously taken up Everest by Chris Bonington in 1975, and the supposed birthplace of that most mouth-watering of desserts, the sticky toffee pudding (see here), but it is also where you will find the world’s best gingerbread (see here), the most sumptuous fudge – at the 100-year-old Toffee Shop in Penrith (www.thetoffeeshop.co.uk) – and a range of lovely cakes and teabreads. With rum and sugar once imported in large quantities through the port at Whitehaven, the county is also the place from where rum butter is said to have originated in the 18th century. Another by-product of the trade with the West Indies was Cumberland rum nicky, a rich and sticky pie made with ginger, brown sugar, dates and rum.
While we’re on the subject of alcohol, we mustn’t forget that Cumbria has a blossoming micro brewery scene. At last count, there were 23 producers of cask-conditioned beer. These range from the highly successful Hawkshead Brewery (www.hawksheadbrewery.co.uk), which recently moved into £500,000, purpose-built premises in Staveley, to the tiny Great Gable Brewing Company (www.greatgablebrewing.com), which sells almost all its ales in the adjoining Wasdale Head Inn.
Cumbria’s hotels, restaurants, pubs and cafés are among the best in the country. At the time of writing, there were three Michelin-starred restaurants – L’Enclume in Cartmel, the Sharrow Bay on Ullswater and Holbeck Ghyll Country House Hotel, near Ambleside – and a host of eateries sporting two or three AA rosettes (the only restaurant with four AA rosettes was Simon Rogan’s L’Enclume). Many of these venues specialize in using local ingredients, but that doesn’t mean you’ll find nothing but Cumberland sausage and fell-bred rack of lamb on the menu (although they’re likely to be superb when you do); you’re just as likely to come across terrine of pheasant, partridge and grouse with toasted brioche and Cumberland sauce, or pan-fried duck breast and stir-fried vegeta-bles topped with plum and thyme ice-cream.
The county’s pubs, in particular, have experienced something of a revolution in recent years, shedding the traditional pie-and-pint image and donning much more sophis-ticated garb. The most renowned of the local ‘gastropubs’ include The Drunken Duck near Hawkshead, The Wheatsheaf at Brigsteer, The Gate Inn at Yanwath, the Brown Horse at Winster and the rather upmarket Punch Bowl at Crosthwaite, which won the coveted title of Michelin Pub of the Year in 2009.
If you’re looking for something quick and simple to eat in the middle of the day and you want somewhere a little less formal than a restaurant or a ‘posh pub’, there are dozens of good cafés and tearooms from which to choose. To name them all would be impossible, but some of the most popular include Wilf’s Café in Staveley, Lucy’s On a Plate in Ambleside, Siskins Café in the Whinlatter Forest Park, the Greenhouse at Melkinthorpe near Penrith and Hazelmere Café in Grange-over-Sands, a past winner of the Tea Guild’s Top Tea Place award.
