This year, with a notebook and camera in hand, I knew I couldn’t miss it come rain or shine! So on Sunday the 22nd of April, I drove up the long drive to Knebworth House to be confronted by a sea of cars the marquees poking above the trees just over the hill. Unlike the day before, the sun was shining, so I was hopeful for the food filled day ahead!
There were three main marquees, 1 for crafts which was a
little larger than last year and 2 filled with various food stalls including everything
from breads and oils to cider and sweets!
Buying Bread...
Within minutes of entering the first food marquee my partner had bought a delicious red onion and stilton loaf! So much for being sensible and checking out all of the stalls before buying! But, to be honest it was worth it. The loaf is has a lovely crust, slightly crisp but soft enough to tear, and topped with beautiful stilton cheese the red onion running through the rest of the loaf. (We are hoping to enjoy the rest of it with a delicious terrine we brought made from nettles, wild garlic and clever (the long plant that sticks to clothes, you may know it better as sticky willy) as well as other vegetables.
Who ate all the
pies!?
The next stall we stumbled across was the Lime Tree PantryFarm. They were selling a variety of meat and fruit pies. I had the chance to taste the chicken and leak pie and was pleasantly surprised. I find chicken, ham and leak are often swimming in sauce or too dry! This was perfectly balanced. The chicken was well combined with the sauce which was a lovely texture in the mouth. I could’ve eaten a whole pie to myself! In the end we chose to go for the Game and Red Wine pie! We will be having that for dinner tonight with mash potato and veg from our garden.
Seasonings and
Salts...
After wandering around tasting the many freebies on offer I was next drawn to the Flavour Magic stall. They had a number of seasonings/rubs which could be used to flavour meat, fish or salads. The rubs could also be mixed with oil to make a dipping sauce. I was impressed mostly with the concept of the seasonings. They were a mix of rock salt and other herbs and spices which when ground and added to a tomato as a sample added a whole new world of flavour. I was particularly impressed with the lemon and dill seasoning which I hope to use in salads, on fish and white meat. It is such a simple concept and they were brilliantly priced at 3 for £10 including the flavour magic grinder.
