Category: Features & Updates

Wander down Lower Wharf of Bude Canal past the lock to the harbour which still used by traditional fishermen. Or visit the cafes, eateries and various workshops housing local crafters you will find along the canal

It’s also where you find the Bude Farmers Market on Fridays during the summer months. Offering locally sourced produce such as freshly caught fish and meat.

As well as beers, ciders, cheeses, ice-cream, baked goods and homemade pastries.

But what I like about this market is the mix between the home cooked food on offer,

The fresh farm produce,

and the vibrancy of the crafters stalls

Hand thrown stoneware by Rebecca Davies of Shore Fired Pottery who uses glazes that are often a bright azure and sometimes a monotone palette just as the natural contrasts that Cornwall brings.

Unique pieces in wood from Jatzii Wood, including spoons, chopping boards, beautiful bowls and stunning jewellery.

One of the most pleasant markets I have found locally is the Hampshire Farmers Market in Emsworth.

A quaint coastal village, Emsworth is a perfect setting with stall holders offering farm fresh fruit and vegetables, artisan bread, cakes bakes and the best scotch eggs on the South Coast.

Fresh fish, potted plants and a good selection of wholesome pies, pastries and homemade bakes, cakes and biscuits.

[Edit] Closed after Covid but see them around now and again

When Bill O’Hagen moved to England from South Africa in 1974, the English sausage had earned the dubious distinction of being the bin end of the market. They were stuffed full of rusk and scrap meat to keep costs down and looked as well as tasted the part.

He was a journalist at the time he started making sausages in his garage.

They became so popular with his work colleagues he was persuaded to open a shop, turning the industry on it’s head and ushering in a revival of the proud tradition of the English gourmet sausage.

O’Hagan’s fresh artisan sausages do not contain artificial additives or ingredients. Many of their recipes date back as far as the 1800’s when England was renowned for producing the worlds best sausages. Then there are O’Hagan originals inspired by years of passion, commitment and experience.

I will admit I know very little about pork pies. I have always enjoyed one now and again but would battle to explain why hand cut pies are preferable to other types of pork pie.

So when confronted by Jakes artisan pork pies at the Hampshire Farmers Market in Emsworth, instead of asking the obvious question, I was intimidated in buying one to try.

Which now calls for a visit to the Hornet Ale House to see if I can get a few more.

Just exactly what you expect from a local farm shop.

Lots of fresh local farm produce.

Bread, cakes, home-made style Cheese, local Chutney pickles & relishes  good selection of local Fruit

Honey, jam, preserves and home cooked meat pies

As well as a colourful selection of plants and seedlings

I battle to find content on what is on offer at the Montessori Friday Market. So if anyone is interested in trying their hand at a bit of blogging I run a free ‘no frills’ blogging and internet marketing workshop for Dummies.

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Infused oils and vinegars, herb mixes and salad dressings

Over forty oils and vinegars on tap which customers can taste from Zest for Taste.  They also offer all natural freeze-dried herb mixes, tasty sauces and dressings.

Recipe suggestions, as well as an array of beautiful hand-painted ceramics, kitchen tools and gadgets that can be found at the Drapers Yard in Chichester. A market for small independent retailers, designers, makers, arts and crafts, artisan food, bread and locally roasted coffee.

Kay Mawer bought an old pub premises a few years ago to house her haberdashery and ClothKits workshop. She then erected 13 sheds in the defunct pub garden to create a hub for small retail independents to encourage creatives and their talents.

Creating something special.

What are Artisan foods? Everyone else seems to know the difference except me. And I think it’s time I got caught up in something I know very little about.

An artisan (from Italian: artigiano) is a skilled manual worker who makes items that may be functional or strictly decorative, including furniture, clothing, jewellery, household items, and tools. The term can also be used as an adjective (spelled “artisanal”) to refer to the craft of hand making food products, such as bread, tofu, beverages and cheese.

Manufacture by hand and with hand tools imparts unique and individual qualities to artisanal products, in contrast to mass produced goods where every one is nearly identical. Artisans traditionally work in media such as stone, wood, ceramics, glass, common and precious metals, basketry, textiles, esparto grass, leather, fur, wax, paper, and flowers.

And then there is slow food:

Slow Food is an international movement founded by Carlo Petrini in 1986. Promoted as an alternative to fast food, it strives to preserve traditional and regional cuisine and encourages farming of plants, seeds and livestock characteristic of the local ecosystem. It was the first established part of the broader Slow movement. The movement has since expanded globally to over 100,000 members in 132 countries. Its goals of sustainable foods and promotion of local small businesses are paralleled by a political agenda directed against globalization of agricultural products.

And this is where things start getting complicated. Artisan food is something which I think I understand. But slow food starts getting a little more sinister. I have a difficulty with movements and particularly movements that claim to be anti-globalisation in the same breath as counting their membership in 132 countries. Stupidity has no place in the kitchen. It’s a personal thing. Its about individuals and how they express themselves. Slow to me means dull, unimaginative and parochial. Either that or just another excuse for bad service. And just to make myself clear and ensure that there is no ambiguity, I believe that only the very best establishments get this right. Bad service is part of the mix. Who in their right mind would ever start up a restaurant in the Garden Route? Bad service is our stock in trade. And it is only those restaurants who manage to survive despite the bad service, which we have over time perfected to a fine art, that are worth eating at. So next time you come across a review claiming that the restaurant of choice in the Garden Route offers impeccably good service, proceed with caution. The chances are that the quality of food is also synthesised and just as tasteless.

The restaurant at Dassiesfontein offer visitors generous portions of traditional Boerekos accompanied by a beer or a steaming hot cup of koffie. On most Saturdays diners can enjoy a local speciality, curried tripe, and on Sundays they offer a large buffet.