Some of Norfolk food and drink champion’s favourite festive suppliers
It’s been a funny year! But how lucky are we as a county to have the amazing farmers, producers and retailers that we do. We are so spoilt in Norfolk as we have some of the best ingredients you can buy, right on our doorstep. So why not make this Christmas a Norfolk Christmas and fill our larders, fridges and cupboards with as many local ingredients and treats as we can? Here are some of my favourite places and people to go to with my festive season shopping list.
MEAT
D A Browne Butchers, Diss and Harleston. The Browne family butcher’s shops have been at the heart of these market towns for many years. Danny and Roger, with their excellent team, offer the best traditional butchery skills with an amazing selection of local produced meats. Christmas poultry must be ordered by December 1, gammon, ham and sausages before December 20. dabrowne-butchers.co.uk or call Diss: 01379 642105 / Harleston: 01379 852235
Peele’s Original Norfolk Black Turkey. Four generations of the same family have been rearing free range Norfolk Black turkeys with traditional methods and outstanding welfare standards at Thuxton, near Mattishall. To order your turkey, contact James Graham on 01362 850237 peelesblackturkeys.co.uk
The Fruit Pig Company. The Fruit Pig Company are butchers specialising in fine, traditional fresh blood black puddings, white puddings, haggis and bacons. fruitpig.co.uk.
Scott’s Field Pork. Rob Simonds and his family rear a pedigree herd of free range Large Black pigs. They are grown slowly to produce sweet succulent pork which is excellent for curing as well as the table. scottsfieldpork.co.uk
FISH
G R Bunning & Co. Our local fishmongers in the heart of Norfolk sell fresh local fish and shellfish as well as their own smoked fish. Visit the family-run fishmongers in Cranworth, or at one of the local markets. bunningsfish.co.uk or call 01362 820702
Gurneys, Burnham Market and Thornham. Definitely worth a trip; the team at Gurneys have counters full of the best in-season fish and shellfish, alongside their own made-in-house range of patés, fishcakes, soups and ready-made dishes. gurneysfishshop.co.uk
DRINK
We have some fantastic vineyards in Norfolk, here are three who sell a wonderful selection of red, white and sparkling wines. Enjoy their knowledge and guidance; they will happily help you chose the perfect bottle for Christmas Day.
Flint Vineyard flintvineyard.com
Humbleyard Wine humbleyardenglishwine.co.uk
Winbirri Vineyards winbirri.com
Whisky – The English Whisky Co mature some of its fine single malt whiskies in Pedro Ximenez sherry casks. These casks are full of beautiful rich, dark sherry before they take delivery, so they decided to take the sherry as well as it is too lovely to leave behind. Once it arrives at St. George’s distillery they add some of their single malt to it and then leave it in the casks to continue maturing. The taste is similar to Christmas Pudding in a glass! englishwhisky.co.uk
Norfolk Cordial works with Norfolk farmers to source local and fresh produce for their cordials, which are made in small batches with handpicked seasonal fruits and flowers, to guarantee high quality flavour. norfolkcordial.com or call 01263 570251
CHEESE
We have some amazing cheesemakers in Norfolk. My Christmas cheese board includes Mrs Temple’s Binham Blue mrstemplescheese.co.uk Fielding Cottage goat’s cheese fieldingcottage.co.uk or Ferndale Farm Norfolk Dapple ferndalefarmnorfolkcheeses.co.uk Keep an eye out for Norfolk White Lady cheese, and soft cheeses from Norton’s Dairy too.
Serve with medlar jelly, made by the lovely Jane Steward at eastgatelarder.co.uk
ICE CREAM
Lakeland Creamery. A wonderful selection of delicious ice creams made in Norwich. lakenhamcreamery.co.uk
FRUIT AND VEGETABLES
C J Chenery & Son, Greengrocers, Vinces Road, Diss. The Chenery Family will happily take your fruit and vegetables order, then have everything you need all boxed up, fresh and ready for you to park outside and collect. 01379 642406 or email sarahchenery@btconnect.com
Ashill Fruit Farm - A small family-run fruit farm and farm shop based in the heart of Norfolk, growing over 40 different varieties of apples, including traditional Norfolk varieties such as Norfolk Royal Russets and Dr Harvey. ashillfruitfarm.co.uk or call 01760 440050
BREAD
Bread Source; this Christmas they will be making traditional Christmas cakes and mince pies along with other seasonal pastries. These can be purchased in their online shop or from any of their retail outlets. bread-source.co.uk or call 01603 666207.
Macarons & More. The passion project of one man; Tim Kinnaird. He makes simply the best sweet treat on Christmas Day. I send several boxes as presents but always order one especially for us! macaronsandmore.com
The final touch...
When Christmas arrives in a whirlwind and I run out of time, I turn to the amazing Gabi for the table centre-piece!
Gabriel’s Garden makes bespoke Christmas wreaths, traditional moss based wreaths full of seasonal festive foliage, flowers and berries and also has fragrant bulbs in a range of stylish planters, urns and containers. Create your own Christmas wreath or table centre with Gabi’s wreath-making kit, which contains all the floristry materials you will need plus instructions on how to make and create the perfect wreath. Order before Monday, December 7. gabrielsgarden.co.uk, email hello@gabrielsgarden or 01379 677793 / 07743920440.
