Christian Dymond at Lanercost

When Annette Gibbons came to Lanercost to talk about local produced spring food we were lucky enough to have Christian Dymond in the audience.

This is what he said about the presentation:

It was perfect timing. A few days after traditional Cumberland sausage received its coveted PGI status in March, Cumbria’s champion of local food, Annette Gibbons, was at Lanercost to talk about the riches residing in this beautiful county.

‘We’ve got so much great food here,’ she told her guests at Lanercost where Victoria and Mike Farley’s delightful farm shop stocks meat, jams, chutneys, chocolates and beers from numerous local producers.

Much of this produce was used by Annette as she showcased several dishes in Cumbria on a Plate - Taste of Spring, one of a number of lunchtime events that Lanercost is promoting through spring and summer.

Annette, herself, is well known for her Cumbria on a Plate food safaris where people can see food and drink producers at work. She also runs a dining club, taking members to hotels and restaurants north and south of the border.

Naturally, traditional Cumberland sausage was one of the foods that she talked about. The granting of Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status by the European Union means that from now on anything calling itself a traditional Cumberland sausage must be produced in Cumbria, must be in one continuous coil and contain at least 80%, coarsely chopped meat.

The sausage that Annette served for her lunchtime guests, along with fiery orange chutney, is made especially for Lanercost by nearby Hallsford Farm. The chutney was produced by Wild and Fruitful whose Jane Maggs was described by Annette as the ‘queen of preserves’. Jane’s award-winning hedgerow chilli jelly was also an accompaniment to savoury herb scones, the first dish on the menu.

Jane’s passion for making jams, jellies and chutneys is quite evidently shared by all the producers whose food Annette made use of at the talk and tasting: The Watermill at Little Salkeld which provided its 85% flour (organic) for the scones, for instance, Eva’s Organics whose salad leaves were the basis for the scrumptious Birdoswald salad that Annette prepared.

The salad came with chopped walnuts and small pieces of Birdoswald cheese, the cheese produced with milk from a herd of Ayrshire cows at Slack House Farm near Hadrian’s Wall. The salad dressing was made with vinegar, oil and Cumberland honey mustard and the latter also put in an appearance in the Cumberland mustard mash which followed the salad.

Two more producers that Lanercost stocks are Askerton Castle and Geltsdale Brewery and it was their beef and their beer respectively which were used in the appropriately named ‘Askerton Castle casseroled shin beef in Brampton Bitter’. Stir fried spring kale (Eva’s Organics) and leeks came next and the event was rounded off with a compote of spring rhubarb, served with Lanercost shortbread and Eden ice-cream.

What made this event so engaging was Annette’s enormous enthusiasm for the subject, the wonderful tastes that people experienced and the knowledge that here in Cumbria are food and drink producers whose passion and expertise is second to none. The best way to support them is to buy their produce at food and farm shops all over Cumbria. And that, of course, includes Lanercost.


You can read a little more about Christian's work here and see his guide to food and drink here.