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with the indigenous breed of Lonk lamb. “I want
people who come to these pubs to get to know the food
and the county. Does using an indigenous breed make
my hotpot taste better? Yes, it does. It brings character
and interest to the dishes. I’m obsessed with high-
quality local food that can compete with the best food
in the world, and that’s something that drives me and
the other producers here.”
Many of the producers Haworth mentions are
in nearby Clitheroe, which is known for its wealth
of artisan shops, including Cowman’s Butchers
(
cowmans.co.uk
), a Lancashire institution that boasts
more than 65 varieties of sausage. Fifth-generation
owner Cliff Cowburn, who creates most of the recipes
is, quite simply, sausage mad. “I dream in sausages,” he
tells me. Also well worth a visit is the labyrinthine
D Byrne & Co wine shop (
dbyrne-finewines.co.uk)
,
with over 4,000 wines and 800 whiskeys; and the
utterly charming cheese supplier Cheesie Tchaikovsky
(
tel: +44 (0)120 042 8366
).
Why is all this local produce so good? Maybe it
has something to do with where it comes from. Take
Gazegill Organic Farm (
gazegillorganics.co.uk
), on
the border of Yorkshire and Lancashire. Gazegill has
been in 31-year-old Emma Robinson’s family for 500
years, and she and partner, Ian O’Reilly, take their job
extremely seriously. Indeed, I arrive just after Rosie,
a five-year-old Oxford Sandy and Black rare-breed
pig, has given birth to six piglets, so it seems a perfect
opportunity to find out what makes their produce so
special. “These are a very rare British breed,” explains
O’Reilly. “They’re very slow growing – we believe if
you’re using an animal for food, you should give it as
natural and as long a life as possible.”
The couple also raise beef and rose veal, and have a
herd of dairy cows, some as old as 18, with names like
Hyacinth and Carrot. “They’re a part of our family –
we get up with them in the morning,” says Emma. The
farm’s on-site shop sells everything from homemade
sausages to whole animals for restaurants and patrons,
and beef is hung for up to six weeks for extra flavour.
So far, so thriving, but it hasn’t always been this way.
In fact, the achievements of these local food heroes
cannot be overstated when you consider that it’s just
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