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Post by lugg on Sept 28, 2019 17:47:36 GMT
I went to a food festival a couple of weeks ago in Ludlow, which is a lovely medieval town just over the border in Shropshire (about 20 miles from Hereford city) Here are a few photos of Ludlow town centre, The town centre stands on top of a hill, probably because it expanded around the site of the castle and then spread out and down. Ludlow is a planned town but not in the modern day sense – it was planned by the Norman De Lacy family. At one time it was a fortified town and some remnants can still be seen today. It has a wealth of listed buildings including some fantastic Elizabethan/ Jacobean buildings. Economic stagnation at the end of the 1800s meant that it escaped the demolition and re building that took place in other towns. The medieval layout is still pretty much intact. To give you an idea about its size – the population is about 11,000 currently. The Buttercross built in 1746 in the classical style, it was originally the site of the High Cross, which was the official centre of the town and would have been where in medieval times people gathered to buy / sell/ exchange butter, milk , eggs etc. There was a market in the square that leads to the castle entrance. Next time I need a frilly pinny I will come here Opportunities to snap some reflections in this Airstream. The building reflected in the Airstream is the Castle Lodge which is a much altered medieval stone house with late 16th Century/early 17th Century timber framed upper storey; dates from the early 13th century, rebuilt in 1580. In Tudor times it was the home of Elizabeth I's Master of Requests and was once used as a prison. It is reputedly haunted by Catherine of Aragon Later it was the lodging of the Porter of the Castle and home of leading officials of Council of the Marches. In more recent times around the time of the Berlin Airlift it was bought by the Suez Canal Company as a bolt-hole just in case their Paris HQ was taken by the Russians. Nowadays it is open to the public and has Grade 1 listed building status. This cannon indicates we are getting close to the castle entrance Ludlow’s food festival is now in its 25th year and is held in the grounds of the ruined castle. The castle is one of a string of castles that were built in The Marches. Building of the castle probably started around 1086, with many later additions. More history can be found here ; www.castlewales.com/ludlow.html
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Post by lugg on Sept 28, 2019 18:28:44 GMT
First a bit about Ludlow’s link to gastronomy. A few years ago Ludlow had more Michelin stars than anywhere else outside of London. Now not though, but maybe the food / cost / experience in the town is all the better for it? What’s a Michelin star anyway? I read that Marco Pierre White had turned down an offer of a star for his latest restaurant in Singapore. “They sell tyres and I sell food” The food festival was designed to showcase the food yes but also to increase tourism. We paid the entrance fee and in we went. I think the strength of food & drink in my home area is a plentiful supply of local produce. We have great beef, lamb and pork, asparagus, potatoes, hops, apples , pears, asparagus, cheese strawberries, cherries and so on which attract a really good number of independent restaurants and pubs and food/drink businesses who use the produce in a multitude of ways. Some of the produce is known internationally such as Hereford beef, Tyrells crisps and snacks (and its off shoot Chase Vodka and Gin) and of course cider from the major cider producers. Lots of stalls showcasing local produce –many with sample tasters The castle chapel had been turned into a gin den! Anyway it was time for some lunch. In the outer bailey is a food court with seats and live music A little of what is on offer there; Anyway this is what we opted to share between us; The soft shell crab with saffron mayo was to die for. The halloumi fries very good and the rhubarb cider was very rough, so rough I could not drink it and had to pour it away. This little girl really enjoyed the music Dogs are welcome in the festival; there were lots but this giant stood out; I did not take my Zeb because his brains would have been fried by the sight and smells of of all the food he could not have. ( Labrador !)
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Post by bjd on Sept 28, 2019 18:39:17 GMT
Looks like fun. I liked some of the pottery. But do tell me, what are halloumi fries?
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Post by lugg on Sept 28, 2019 18:42:20 GMT
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Post by mossie on Sept 28, 2019 19:32:36 GMT
How nice to see a proper old town, with a good old fashioned butchers. The castle is the real deal, that chapel entrance is a real Norman doorway.
Thanks for your efforts
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Post by kerouac2 on Sept 28, 2019 21:45:56 GMT
The town looks lovely, as do the ruins of the castle.
Food fairs are always fun, especially when there is a lot of space to wander about like at this one. Although I almost never eat anything at such an event, I really enjoy watching other people discovering new food items.
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Post by lagatta on Sept 28, 2019 21:58:12 GMT
The old-style butcher shop and the food festival appealed to me too, and they had large (not infantile) yellow fowl. Is there a weekly market? Rhubarb cider does not appeal, but I love good DRY cider. Until recently, too many in Québec were too sweet, as while prohibition was never complete in Catholic Québec, far too many of the Breton and Norman apple trees were chopped down. Fortunately this is changing. We have some good dry ciders now, and I'd love to taste authentic farmhouse ones from your region. Sad that too much British cider is crap for kids to get hammered on, but I'm sure "real" cider, like real ale, is being revived, from a look at that festival. I'd love to visit that town; are there good rail connections? There is a wiki voyage page on Ludlow: en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Ludlow_(England)#Q839811 While the rail connections aren't bad, the page says that there isn't really budget accommodations, but there might be some kind of b&b sublets; who knows?
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 29, 2019 2:10:03 GMT
Soooo jealous, Lugg! Not only does this look like tons of fun, but I had no idea of the variety of food riches in your area. It's lovely to see that they are not only appreciated, but venerated. Do you have a local market fairly close to where you live? That would be heaven.
I loved all the pictures, but you really took off with the ones of the castle ~ so moodily romantic.
Do you think the cider was so rough because it just wasn't made right, or because rhubarb did not wish to become cider?
Lugg, how much Welsh influence is there on your side of the border? I saw the sign for the Welsh beef and lamb -- is it fairly common to tout food as being Welsh?
Loved the cow hides and the kilims, and know I would have gone ga-ga over some of that pottery. Lucky you to share a day like that with your daughter and your sister ........ and now with us ~ thank you~
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Post by lugg on Sept 29, 2019 9:49:28 GMT
Thanks for the lovely comments guys. Bjd, Halloumi fries are simply Halloumi cheese cut into soldiers and then dipped in breadcrumbs or flour and deep fried. Hopefully this link will work for you, www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/halloumi-friesMossie - thank you for the info I knew it was old of course but did not realise it was Norman. Laggata - There are quite reasonable train links and the town has a station. Although some hotels are expensive there is plenty of affordable accommodation - two Travelodges but actually much nicer and cheaper accommodation through AirBnB which is completely legal here. Are you planning a trip to the UK ? Yes there is a regular market several days a week. Re cider yes some great local cider (Colcombe House/Olivers/ Gwatkins/Westons) I too prefer dry. We have several cider festivals during the year across the county which celebrate local ciders. Our biggest producer which was Bulmers is now owned by Heineken but recently has introduced a new range of " artisan" ciders as consumer tastes move towards drier cider. Herefordshire farmers still supply the apples but I don't believe they are still processed in Hereford - at least I have not smelt the lovely apple pie smell that used to pervade the air in Autumn. Bixa- I think the cider was just too young and not ready for drinking; maybe the rhubarb which is so tart did not help either. Yes, in Hereford City there is a regular market - I realise yet again that I have actually never really posted a thread about Hereford City or our 5 market towns . I really should make an effort.
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Post by lugg on Sept 29, 2019 9:50:22 GMT
PS K2 I admire your powers of resistance . I could never not eat at a food festival
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 29, 2019 14:33:58 GMT
Yes, please! on more of your area! Reading your reply to us above, I scrolled up the page to check out the picture of halloumi. (Sort of wish I hadn't done that, as now I'm yearning futilely all over again for the softshell crab.) Coincidentally, just last week I decided after googling that halloumi is just about the same thing as the ubiquitous queso fresco here. The cheese lady assured me that it didn't need breading or anything before frying, so I only let it drain well before pan frying slices in olive oil. It worked beautifully and make the cheese less salty, which surprised me. That's not to say that I wouldn't love to give the nice crunchy deep-fried ones in your photo a try.
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Post by kerouac2 on Sept 29, 2019 15:17:28 GMT
I have known about melting cheese most of my life -- pizza, macaroni and cheese, as well as various gratin items, etc... but the first time I ever encountered the concept of frying cheese was in Copenhagen around 1980 when I found "fried camembert and strawberry jam" on a menu. This seemed like a total abomination to me at the time, but I have warmed to the idea of fried cheese over the years albeit sans strawberry jam. In France, we now bake and brown round goat cheese pallets for a variety of uses, and this makes me want to experiment more.
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Post by bjd on Sept 29, 2019 15:55:39 GMT
When my husband lived in Texas for a year, he bought a cookbook called The Vegetarian Epicure. In it there was a recipe for tomatoes fried with some onions, then a camembert cheese sliced in half through the middle (making two rounds), placed on the tomatoes until it melted. It was pretty good, although we haven't eaten it for years.
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Post by mich64 on Sept 29, 2019 22:11:26 GMT
You gave us so much here Lugg. I enjoyed all of your photographs and the written detail. I will daydream about this thread. I would have had a seat in the "Gin Den".
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 30, 2019 17:47:11 GMT
Ha ha ~ now we know the truth about you, Mich! Since I'm here, let me say again what an enjoyable thread this is, and also a refreshing reminder of what we can find to show and tell about in our own back yards.
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Post by lugg on Sept 30, 2019 17:51:42 GMT
Thank you Mich ( if only I had not have been driving ! )and again Bixa
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Post by lugg on Sept 30, 2019 17:53:53 GMT
Coincidentally, just last week I decided after googling that halloumi is just about the same thing as the ubiquitous queso fresco here. The cheese lady assured me that it didn't need breading or anything before frying, so I only let it drain well before pan frying slices in olive oil. It worked beautifully and make the cheese less salty, which surprised me. That sounds good, is queso fresco squeaky too ? Although when you cook Halloumi the squeak disappears anyway so no matter.
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Post by lugg on Sept 30, 2019 17:56:44 GMT
the first time I ever encountered the concept of frying cheese was in Copenhagen around 1980 when I found "fried camembert and strawberry jam" on a menu. I love baked camembert and think I have had it fried - both good. Yes agree I would have ditched the jam too. I like putting a few cloves of garlic in the middle before baking and then have it with a sour / spicy chutney.
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Post by lugg on Sept 30, 2019 17:57:52 GMT
In it there was a recipe for tomatoes fried with some onions, then a camembert cheese sliced in half through the middle (making two rounds), placed on the tomatoes until it melted. Sounds delicious ; will have to try it now .
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Post by mich64 on Oct 1, 2019 14:56:41 GMT
Ha ha ~ now we know the truth about you, Mich! I had my very first Gin & Tonic in Ireland on our holiday last September after which I had to try one or two each evening there after that! I even bought a bottle at the duty free and had a G&T sample party with some friends when we got home. This summer I experimented with the many new flavored tonics available.
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 1, 2019 16:16:33 GMT
I didn't know that there were flavored tonics! I just love the smell of the regular tonic & congratulate myself for warding off malaria when I drink it, ha ha. Gin & tonic is the most dangerous of drinks when it's hot. Someone will hand you one with ice tinkling in it and that lovely scent of gin, tonic, & citrus mingling refreshingly, and all you want to do is pour it straight down your throat & then have another one. Apologies to you, Lugg, for all this food and beverage diversion, but it's your own fault for making this report so compelling and delicious-looking.
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Post by mossie on Oct 1, 2019 19:16:28 GMT
Gin was known as 'mothers ruin', so take it steady.
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Post by kerouac2 on Oct 2, 2019 14:24:27 GMT
I even bought a bottle at the duty free I have had to be very careful with duty free gin which is generally 47° whereas the gin sold in France is only 35°, which makes a big difference.
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