Norfolk Pickle Day
Two Norfolk men will be offering free tips and advice on how to preserve food the old
fashioned way at the first Norfolk Pickle and Preserves Day on Saturday 12th September.
If you grow your own veg 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 bounty of the harvest when summer has
gone. It was growing Mediterranean herbs in a warm walled Norfolk garden that
inspired Chris and Sheila Gates of Burlingham Hall , to first start drying bunches of
herbs as a way of preserving the intense aromatic flavours of summer sunshine. Following a
friend’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’s a recipe I
made up and gorgeous to serve 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 has been making Norfolk pickles and chutneys in his
specially designed pickling room for four years 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.”
Jims favourite pickle is made with butternut squash which tastes like a mild piccalilli
and says, “There are lots of secrets to making a good pickle which used to be passed
down through families. It’s become something of a dying art, but with more people
growing their own I think we are in for a pickle resurgence”
Jim who pickles almost anything in season including Samphire, is working to rekindle
interest in pickles and will be joining Chris at the first Norfolk Pickle Day at Wroxham.
Norfolk Pickle Day Saturday 12th September 2009 10 am - 2 pm part of the Produced
In Norfolk Farmers Market at Wroxham Barns
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Thursday 3rd November 2009
St Andrews Church Hall, Sheringham
13:00 to 15:30 and 16:30 to 19:00
Remember to give blood this September
The National Blood Service (NBS) is reminding blood donors to give blood
in September and asking them to bring along a friend, colleague or family member to start
the life-saving habit too.
Blood stocks are turned over in just a few days and with the seasonal coughs and colds
expected to start in September coinciding with many people returning to work after the
summer holidays, members of the public are being asked to help save lives now.
Ruth Greenaway, Media and PR Manager at NHS Blood and Transplant, said: "Only four
per cent of the eligible population currently give blood so we are asking those people to
come along and donate and to encourage others to do the same.
Blood is used for a wide-range of medical procedures including cancer
care, general surgery, in maternity care and for accident and emergency situations." |
