THE best of Hampshire's food, drink and plants were on show at the Winchester Food Festival.
Producers from across the county were out in force at Hampshire Fare's event in the Outer Close of Winchester Cathedral on Sunday, July 14.
There was cheese from the Book and Bucket Cheese Company, smoked trout pates from Butler Country estates, nibbles from Open House Deli and plenty of pastries, cakes, biscuits and savouries from Beaky Blinders, Madk and New Forest shortbread.
Butter Bike Company, Callaloo Corner, Olives Direct and Mrs B’s Bees honey were also showing off their products.
Local drink producers were represented by the Flower Pots Brewery, Longdog Brewery, Hydes Cyder, River Test Distillery, Candover Brook and Mozzo Coffee.
READ MORE HERE: Winchester Food Festival photos
South BBQ Express was also offering burgers and Hiltonbury Jerseys was selling ice cream.
We spoke to a selection of the producers who were excited for the public to try and buy their goods.
Callaloo Corner specialises in Caribbean sauces and is run by husband and wife team Damian Corneal and Christine Lee Wing. Damian said: “This is Callaloo Corner which is all about bringing the flavours of the Caribbean to the UK. We've lived in Winchester for about 16 years now and in the UK for 24 years. One of the things when you come to the UK is that you want to bring a bit of home with you, so my wife started making these sauces. For us it's about the combinations, so we've got papaya and carrot, beetroot and tamarind, and a bit of heat from scotch bonnet peppers.
“We've also got a pineapple BBQ which is family friendly, a bit milder. We've been doing this for about 18 months now, mostly doing the festivals and fairs around Hampshire. For us, just getting out here and being able to chat with people is absolutely brilliantly. The folks in Winchester are always willing to try new things.”
Open House Deli is a staple of the Winchester business community with its shop in Middle Book Street. Owner Rebecca Smith said: “We're selling some of the brands we stock in the deli. We focus on independently lead, local, plastic free packaged goods. We've had lots of people tasting. It's just such a great location, you can't beat it really. It's also good for signposting people to the deli.”
Philip and Lucy Lundberg initially started the Herriard-based Hydes Cyder as a lockdown project. Philip said: “We made a few litre of cider and we then decided we could make a lot more. So we went commercial at the end of September last year and we are now producing about 100,000 litres of cider this year. We use a lot of apples from the Herriard estate. We bring in some bitter-sweet and bitter-sharp apples from the West Country to give the cider its depth and because of demand, we have had to rent a bigger fermenting premises.”
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Boka, based in Winnall, produces healthy cereal bars. Caroline Beer said: “This is the Boka bar and it's the first time we have come to the Winchester Food Festival and we have just joined Hampshire Fare and we're manufacturing the bars up in Winnall. The bars are vegan and high in fibre.”
Butler Country Estates smoked trout is also based in Winnall. Richard Butler said: “We take River Test trout and bring it to Winnall to smoke and cure it. We then produce nine variety of pate and well as hot smoked and cold smoked. We open on a Thursday and Friday at the Troutlet. People can also find us at the farmers's markets and online.”
Lola Rubio and her family recently started Two & One olive oil based in Cheriton. Lola said: “We are two cultures, one lifestyle. The olive oil comes from my family's farm in Spain. We produce three different olive oils from single variety of olives. I am the fifth generation of olive farmers in Spain, my daughter is the sixth. My husband and I have only been trading since the Alresford Show in September.
“We have been planning to do this for a long time. We live a British lifestyle, but there is always olive oil, no matter what we eat.”
Sam Wallsgrove, from Pepperpot Nursery, said: “We grow fresh herbs in pots just outside Alton. We have about 250 different varieties we grow at the nursery. Generally wholesale to garden centres, we like to grow a range to show to the public and give them the variety to choose from. The business has been operating for 30 years, but we have been in Alton for around eight years.”
Chris Huskins, from Hampshire Veg Box, said: “We started the veg box scheme in Winnall during the pandemic when people were struggling to get local, organic food. It was the flip of how most people do things, so we brought in local produce and had it delivered to people's homes and then managed to survive that storm with people then going back to the supermarkets. We have now moved to Hambledon because we managed to get some of our own land and we have started growing a lot of the produce ourselves.”
For more about Hampshire Fare's producers, visit hampshirefare.co.uk/local-produce.
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