Lots of hand made sausages at the farm this week as two of last summer’s Saddleback girls went to Long Compton. The meat is now back with us and we are all delighted – deep purple in colour, tender and delicious – a testament both to the qualities of the Saddleback breed and to our farming methods. Extensive “pasturing” with the growing pigs rooting through their field in search of grasses and weeds, their roots and any passing invertebrates, has produced large, healthy pigs whose pork has great eating qualities.
For the coming year, we are planning to extend the pigs’ “grazing” by sowing mixed forage (beets, carrots, mangels, lupins and grasses) and having all the fattening pigs eat a 100% farm grown diet – the plan is to avoid having to import any feeds or supplements from outside the farm. Not only will this massively reduce the associated food miles, but we will also remove soya from the pigs diets – even organic soya has very negative implications for land use in the originating countries.
For the moment the team are busy salting hams, bacon and hocks, cooking pots of Rillettes and also making fresh sausages. Over the coming week, we will be making a couple of old favourites – Worton Country Sausages and Tuscan Fennel. All the sausages are made with 100% fresh, field-reared Pedigree Saddleback Pork (a house blend of Shoulder and Belly Pork) mixed only with spices, garlic and red wine – absolutely no rusks or fillers of any sort. The first batch of sausages will be a slightly spicy Tuscan Fennel available for sale in the shop from Wednesday but you can also buy on-line for Click and Collect or Delivery to make sure you get your share!
Plenty of pork on the restaurant menu as well. Home-cured Ham served with Beluga lentils and Piccalilli, Sausages with Borlotti Beans, Scratchings with Apple Sauce and, on Sunday, the return of our 24hr Roast Pork Shoulder.
Fresh fish again from Cornwall this week: chunky, white cutlets of Pollack in the Goan Fish Curry and the return of Oven Roast Lemon Soles at the beginning of their season.
For anyone still peckish after all that, we will also be serving some tasty cakes and deserts including a Pavlova topped with Jersey Cream and Rhubarb and Ginger.
Our full menu for the week is set out below- we look forward to greeting you in the shop or in the restaurant.
