The Exeter Food and Drink Festival

The Exeter Food and Drink Festival took place from the 9th until the 11th of April and featured food producers from all over SouthWest England ( Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire) 

For three hours, I took every sample that was offered and ate and drank happily under the shade of big tents. There was cheese, beef, pork sausages, jams, chutneys, chillies, elderflower infused everything, and lots of cider. Below is a list of the most delicious things I tried:

Best Drinks:

The Orchard Pig -  cider
In their apple orchard,  rare breed pigs roam and try to eat up all the apples that have fallen from the tree. There are enough apples to satisfy the pigs, make cider and their award-winning apple juice. No pesticides or sprays are used on the apple trees. The cider is dry, golden and slightly oaked -- very much like Normandy cider. Their sparkling cider, Oak Matured Fine is aged in rum barrels, which gives it a nutty, oaked taste. www.orchardpig.co.uk

Field Bar - elderflower wine
All ingredients sourced locally, Field Bar's elderflower wine was floral and dry. One representative claimed it was because they use dried elderflower that they are able to accomplish such a flowery burst, and another chimed in that there was a secret ingredient - but she was shushed before she had a chance to tell us what it was. www.fieldbarwine.co.uk

Best Food:

Cranfields - lime pickle 
Cranfields is a member of Slow Food Devon. The tart lime pickle is made with locally sourced ingredients, that have been grown without pesticides or herbicides. All of Cranfields' preserves and chutneys are cooked in small batches and without additives. They recommend pairing the lime pickle with a strong blue cheese. www.cranfieldsfood.com

Complete Meats - traditional pork sausage
The pork used for the sausages comes from Wellington, Somerset. The pigs are fed a diet that does not contain antibiotic growth promoters or meat and bone meal. The juicy sausage was all pork and succulent seasonings. There were two other sausage producers that I tried, but their sausages tasted pasty, which is usually due to fillers like breadcrumbs. www.completemeats.co.uk

Cornish Sea Salt - salt
  I didn't have any idea that there was sea salt being harvested in Cornwall, but it was really tasty! I dipped a little matchstick of celery into the dish of salt. The taste was mild and like the ocean, and the texture was coarse but crumbled easily ( perfect for chefs, who grab salt in big pinches). www.cornishseasalt.co.uk 

Stapleton - gooseberry yoghurt 
Since 1975, Stapleton has been making yogurt in Devon using local milk from Jersey cows. All of the fruit compotes used are made on site, and are stirred in by hand. This means less waste and more love going into the product. No additives, preservatives or flavourings are used in any of the Stapleton products. Other amazing flavours include: blackberry, rhubarb, strawberry & clotted cream, and fig & date. www.stapletonfarm.co.uk


Cakeadoodledo - cupcakes
Usually I wouldn't promote sugary desserts, but besides having delicious cupcakes, ( I tried samples of coffee and of vanilla - both delicious) this local company does that little bit extra: They work with the British Hen Welfare Trust to rescue unhealthy battery hens and bring them back to health, and then use their eggs in their cakes. When their Goldline hens don't lay enough, they will buy free-range eggs.
www.cakeadoodledo.co.uk

Phil’s Original BBQ

Around 7pm on a weekday, my friend (I call him “Sunny”) and I snag the last table. We are seated at the front of the restaurant, looking onto the not-quite-yet cool section of College Street, a few doors west of Ossington. Reading the small menu, our mouths water simultaneously as we read aloud at the same time, “Pulled Pork Sandwich”. Sunny orders Pulled pork ($6.95) and I order the Small Ribs ($14.50). I look around and notice that I am one of two women in the restaurant. This isn’t a menu for people who get full easily. There are many big men eating big plates of meat. Everything on the menu is cooked slowly with real wood smoke. This slow cooking also translates to tender, juicy meat.
While waiting for dinner, I read the back of the menu. At Phil’s, you can eat and shop too. Souvenirs for sale include: t-shirts, ball caps and two kinds of Phil’s barbeque sauces (Hot & Sassy and Sweet & Savory). Then I dripped drops of a squeeze-bottled sauce marked ‘hot’ onto my finger and tried to guess the ingredients. It didn’t have enough heat to painfully satisfy me, but I decided to appreciate the flavour instead. I couldn’t stop serving myself tip-of-my-finger-sized portions! The smoky tomato base was sweet against the punch of fresh lime juice.
Our food arrived soon after we ordered. The ribs looked juicy and brilliant with dark, shiny sauce. (You can drool over pictures on the website at www.philsoriginalbbq.com.) Brushed with Phil’s own barbeque sauce, four ribs were flanked by coleslaw in a paper cup on the left and beans on the right. I tried the beans first, then the coleslaw before diving into the ribs- saving the most exciting for last. The coleslaw was well seasoned but not anything special albeit strangely yellow and a bit watery. The BBQ Baked Beans ($4.95 for a side order) were a tasty homage to the traditional pork and beans combo, but again, weren’t anything special. Doing a little chair dance of foodie excitement, I moved onto my ribs: Every millimeter of the juicy meat had been infused with flavor and brushed until perfectly sticky. The sweet, slightly smoky, warmly-spiced meat fell right off the bone. It was delicious. Although the menu claims the ribs are “perfect for snacking”, when I finish my “small” 10oz portion I am full, as well as sticky and smiling. (A full order is one pound of ribs for $23.50) My one-ply napkin is in shreds and instead I use my forearm to wipe my mouth. Dainty eaters beware.
Sunny is across from me smiling at his fries. They are hot, crispy, golden and well seasoned with a fluffy centre. I stole “just one bite”- then some more- of his pulled pork sandwich. Pulled pork is sometimes a messy mass of sauce suffocating irrecoverably dry pork- but not Phil’s! His pork was moist and not too saucy but still booming with flavour. My reaction was a mouth-filled mumbling of sounds resembling moans of food-bliss. If you still have room to eat, you have to try the Cachapas ($5.75 for a delicious side of a large corn pancake filled with gooey cheese).
When my friend and I were almost in fully slouched position and slightly giddy, the waitress brought us some delicious Portuguese corn bread accompanied by little packets of butter. I buttered the bread and sopped up the last of the beans.
By dessert I was talking to the food. “Hey there little chocolate pecan pie. I’m going to eat you! The old-school plated Chocolate Pecan Pie (different desserts offered daily and priced accordingly) arrived with a scoop of melting milky ice cream with a maraschino cherry on top.
No doubt Chef Phil Nyman’s years of traveling through “America’s BBQ belt” has paid off. He has been dedicated to barbequing since 1991 and his passion for barbeque is still strong. Sides like coleslaw and beans are disappointing, but easily forgotten about when paired with the mains. The juxtaposition of quality of food makes me think the kitchen staff has also forgotten to pay heed to the sides. However, the ribs, the BBQ Beef Brisket ($16.50) and the pulled pork are all fabulous. When so much love goes into barbequing, you can taste it and love it back.