Norfolk Pickle Day in the Norfolk Broads
12 September 10am – 2pm
Produced In Norfolk Farmers Market Wroxham Barns
Chris Gates of Burlingham Hall and Diss pickle expert Jim Marshall will be offering free tips and advice on how to preserve food the old fashioned way, at the Norfolk Pickle and Preserves Day, Wroxham Barns, Saturday 12 September, 10am to 2pm, part of the Produced in Norfolk monthly Farmers' Market.
If you grow your own vegetables and need imaginative uses for a bumper crop or just want to snap up great seasonal food, getting the whole family making pickles and preserves can be one of the best ways to continue to enjoy the harvest when summer has gone.
Growing Mediterranean herbs in a warm walled Norfolk garden inspired Chris and Sheila Gates of Burlingham Hall to start drying bunches of herbs as a way of preserving the intense aromatic flavours of summer sunshine. Following a frien's suggestion to make apple mint jelly, they now produce an extensive range of home preserves with rosemary jelly one of their specialities; a sumptuous accompaniment to roast lamb or stirred into the gravy.
"Horseradish jelly is also delicious", explains Chris, "it is a recipe I made up and is gorgeous with beef or beetroot and an ideal way to make use of a glut of apples in the garden."
Diss pickle expert Jim Marshall, who pickles almost anything in season including samphire, is working to rekindle interest in pickles. He has been making Norfolk pickles and chutneys in his specially designed pickling room for four years. Jim says: "Pickled onions are favourites but peeling large quantities of onions takes some determination; the trick is to put them in hot water for 5 minutes before trying to take off the brown skins; it softens them and makes the job a lot easier."
Jim's favourite pickle is made with butternut squash, which tastes like mild piccalilli. He says: "There are lots of secrets to making a good pickle that used to be passed down through families. It has become something of a dying art, but with more people growing their own I think we are in for a pickle resurgence"
Wroxham Barns is open daily 10am to 5pm, 10 miles from Norwich, take A1151 to Wroxham then follow brown and white tourist signs for 1.5miles on the Tunstead road. Free parking. Tel. 01603 783762
Wroxham Barns is one of Norfolk's most popular visitor attractions offering a range of shopping and crafts, together with activities for younger family members including the award winning Junior Farm. The restaurant-café serves breakfast, morning coffee, lunches and afternoon tea, all freshly made, using local, seasonal produce where possible.
Established by Director Ian Russell MBE in the early 1980s, Wroxham Barns opened on May 24, 1983. Silver Winner Outstanding Customer Service, National Enjoy England Awards for Excellence 2009, Winner of East of England Tourism's, Enjoy England Awards for Excellence, Outstanding Customer Service Award 2007 and 2008 and Taste of England Award 2008. Runner up National Farm Attractions Network Awards 2008 and one of The Independent Newspaper's Top 50 Farm Shops (2008).
