Finest food in the west on hand to tickle your tastebuds

Sausages, bacon, burgers and steaks; smoked kippers, trout and mackerel; fresh crab and lobster; and hand- made cakes, chocolate creams and even freeze-dried strawberries are just some of the South West produce on show at the third Exeter Festival of South West England Food and Drink today.

The festival - being held in the city's Northernhay Gar- dens from today until Sunday- is a chance to try taste and indulge in the finest flavours, tastes and aromas of the South West.

In the Taste of the West Food and Drink Pavilions, more than 80 regional food and drink producers will be displaying their wares. Visitors will be able to put the south West's reputation for beautiful meat to the test with delicious sausages from Happy Hogs of Whiddon Down, near Okehampton, which are made from livestock born and reared on the Fishleigh Estate near Hatherleigh. There will also be a hog roast from Kenniford Farm, Clyst St Mary.

Wyld Meadow Lamb, of Bridport in Dorset will be bringing along their tasty spicy lamb burgers and lamb dogs, and Barrow Boar of Yeovil, Somerset, will be cooking wild boar and apple burgers and wild boar steaks.

Meanwhile, first-time exhibitors Fishes Ltd, of Exeter, will be showing that our stunning coastline is also capable of producing some tasty fresh crab and lobster.

There will also be a huge selection of the finest West- country cheeses. Norsworthy Farm, Crediton, which won a gold award in the World Cheese Awards last year will be bringing along its Norsworthy mild traditional goat's cheese.

Quickes, based in Newton St Cyres, will be demonstrating just why their cheddar and smoked cheddar have won countless awards.

For something a bit different, visitors can sample a goat's cheese washed with sherry and mead wine made by Woolsery Cheese in Dorchester. Other dairy products include sheep's milk ice cream from Styles Farmhouse lce Cream of Minehead, West Somerset; chilli chocolate from the South Devon Chilli Farm in Kingsbridge; and thick Devon cream from Langage Farm, Plympton.

There's also plenty of fresh produce - organic sprouting beans and seeds from Living Food of St Ives, Cornwall, which are highly nutritious and packed with anti-oxidants; delicious soups created from vegetables grown on Rod and Ben's organic farm near Exeter; and organic fruit juice and cider from Heron Valley in Kingsbridge.

Farming and food production have always been vital to the South West's economy and events such as the Exeter Festival of South West England Food and Drink give local producers a valuable opportunity to spread the message of local, sustainable industry.

For first-time exhibitor Nick Steer of Fishes Ltd, it's a great opportunity to persuade festival-goers that fresh fish is nothing to be scared of.

He said: " A lot of the chefs we supply are doing demonstrations at the festival and we decided we would put on a stall.

"We've been here for 18 years, but it's the first time we've ever done a show. The time seems right because more people than ever before are interested in fresh food and where food comes from. Our fish is definately fresh!

"We get our fish predominantly from the Westcountry and supply hotels and restaurants.We've also got a retail shop on Wardrew Road, St Thomas, with a huge variety of fish.

"We will be showing off our Wares - all local fresh fish, shellfish and seafood. There will also be some cooked samples for people to try."

This will be the third time Dave and Marilyn Johnson, of Norsworthy Dairy Goats, have exhibited their goat's cheeses at the festival. Last year their stall in the food and drink pavilions was so popular it left them with some problems.

Dave said: "Last year was really good because it made us short of cheese! We are only a small producer and, because of the sales we had last year, we were playing catch-up through the summer.

''This year we are bringing three hard cheeses. One is a Norsworthy cheese, which won a gold medal in the World Cheese Awards in London. That's more your traditional type of goat's cheese. We're bringing another one called Gunstone, which is a semi-hard washed curd, which gives you a creamy, buttery texture. That has a bit more flavour because we mature it longer. Our third hard cheese is a Posbury, which has got garlic, onion, horseradish and paprika in it. Then we've got a soft, fresh goat's cheese, sold in round pates, which is plain or with mixed herbs. That's very fresh and soft and can be grilled."

Dave and his wife started milking their goats at Crediton in 1999 and just as the food festival has grown, so has their business.

Dave said: "In 2002 we had a bit of surplus production, so we thought we'd produce some cheese. We got a cheesemaker to make for us, which she has been doing for the last four years. I deliver the milk to her in Holsworthy then I bring the cheese back and we mature it on the farm here. She's retiring, so last year we applied for planning permission for a dairy on the farm and we successfully applied for a grant from Defra.

Now we are in the process of building a new dairy here. Hopefully that will be up and running this summer.''

The festival is a great way for producers like Dave to meet the public and talk about their products. He added: ''It's about talking directly to the public and getting them to realise what's involved. It's local and we sell local, so there's no food miles involved."

Strolling around the festival can be thirsty work, but Heron Valley, of Kingsbridge, will be on hand with organic fruit juice and cider and the Somerset Cider Brandy Company with its aged brandy made from pure apple juice and Somerset Pomona, made by mixing half-fermented cider with cider brandy and ageing it in casks.

Back by popular demand, the South West England Beer Festival hosts the Contented Cow, where visitors can sample some of the region's real ales and cider from the region's craft brewers and cider-makers.

There will be more than 15 draught beers to try from the Barum, Branscombe Vale, Clearwater, Exe Valley and Otter breweries, together with Green Valley cider.

For the first time, there will be a West Country Cafe, hosted by Miles Tea and Coffee from Somerset serving light bites and a festival ploughman's.

If you can manage it, indulgent cream teas will also be available, made with freshly baked scones, real Cornish strawberry jam from Boddingtons in Mevagissey, thick Devon cream from Langage Farm in Plympton, and plenty of Miles tea to wash it down.

Author:  Becky Moran
Photographer:  Matt Austin
Publication:  Express & Echo
Publication date: 17 March 2006