Visitors to home & lifestyle show can sample A Bite of Cornwall

Mini-foodfest to feature at popular annual exhibition in May

Foodie visitors to this year’s Cornwall Home & Lifestyle show are in for a treat, as the organisers are planning a mini-foodfest.

A Bite of Cornwall will be a zone dedicated to selected local food and drink producers who will be able to showcase some of the very best that Cornwall has to offer. They will also be pleased to chat to people about the provenance of what they have for sale, how it is made and how visitors can use it once they get it home.

Juliet Eavis, from St Just-based Worthy Cheddar, will be selling Cornish Blue and Cornish gouda, as well as truckles of her own Westcountry cheese.

Cornish gouda is made by Giel Spierring at his family’s Talvan Farm, Lanreath. A Dutch family, they moved to Cornwall in 1998 and began making the cheese to help compensate for poor milk prices. They now produce mild, medium, and semi-mature cheeses, gouda with herbs and spices, and their incredible mature gouda.

Cornish Blue has been made by Philip Stansfield on his farm at Upton Cross, near Liskeard, since 2001. It is a distinctive, mild, creamy blue cheese that has won many awards including the World Cheese Awards champion cheese title for 2010, and best blue and best English cheese in 2007. Cornish Blue has now become an iconic Cornish cheese.

Also at the show will be Angela Douglas, from Hedgerow Deli. Angela, who is based in Falmouth, forages for the best of wild ingredients and then combines them with fine spirits to produce wonderful liqueurs. She is going to be showcasing her blackberry whiskey, among other things, which was made using last year’s bumper hedgerow harvest.

She said: “People are surprised by the blackberry whiskey, because it doesn’t actually taste of whiskey. You get this wonderful, rich fruity flavour, and of course it’s got a bit of a kick, too.”

Angela will also be hoping to interest people in her blackcurrant and elderflower infusion which puts a Cornish summertime twist on the French favourite crème de cassis – famous for its use when mixed with white wine or fizz to produce kir or kir royale.

St Austell-based family business Nature Kitchen will also be cooking up some interest at the show. The company specialises in making its own spice blends which are all freshly ground, quickly packaged, and contain no bulking agents, salt, or MSG – unlike many pre-packaged mixes on the market. Unlike bigger national and multi-national firms, the spices are all ground in Cornwall by Jacob Watkins, packaged and immediately sold – so do not sit on warehouse and supermarket shelves for weeks on end.

“Most pre-packaged mixes only make one serving,” said Ally Watkins, who is in charge of the company’s sales and marketing – and is also Jacob’s mum. “Ours will generally make four or five meals to serve four people, so they are good value – and you can certainly taste the difference because of the purity and freshness.”

Also exhibiting at A Bite of Cornwall will be Swannacott Manor Meats, the local agent for Riverford Home Delivery, St Ives Cider, Atlantic Brewery, Warrens Bakery, and Patnick’s Preserves.

Show managing director Andrew Weaver said: “Lots of people come along to the show to look at major improvements to their homes or significant lifestyle investments, but everybody who comes out for the day likes to take something home with them. That is why we have expanded A Bite of Cornwall and the Homeware Market. They have been really successful and enjoyable in previous years and I am sure this year will be no exception.”

Cornwall Home & Lifestyle Show 2015 will be held at the Royal Cornwall Showground on the weekend of May 2 and 3. Headline sponsor of the show is Cornish Traditional Cottages, while Cornish Woodburners is an associate of the show.

Anybody interested in exhibiting in the Cornwall Home & Lifestyle Show 2015 can call the organisers on 01872 888733 or email: exhibit@cornwallhomeshow.co.uk. Alternatively lots more information is available from the show website, www.cornwallhomeshow.co.uk