Local Food First Wrexham

Nominations are currently coming in thick and fast for the North Wales Daily Post Local Food Hero awards. So far this year, producers featured include artisan cheesemakers Rhyd y Delyn and MooBaaOinc Farm shop – both of course based in Anglesey. Are you a local food and drink producer based in Wrexham? Would you like a page of the Daily Post dedicated to your business? Then get your customers to nominate you. Nominating a company couldn’t be easier – nominations can be sent in via email to localfoodhero@fork2fork.org.uk noting the name of the company, contact telephone number and most important of all the reason behind the nomination. What have you got to loose – get in those nominations today.

Local Food First Wrexham held the first ‘A Taste of Wrexham’ Gala Dinner on Wednesday 11th May 2011 at the Rendezvous Restaurant, Yale College. The dinner was sourced entirely from within Wrexham County Borough and featured canapés, three courses and a cheese board which incorporated 14 local food and drink producers.

The dinner was cooked and prepared by the catering team at Yale College, which was headed by Mark Parsons.

The aim of the dinner was to highlight the amount of produce that is currently grown, reared, cooked and baked within the County Borough. The evening enabled producers to network and meet restaurant owners and managers with the aim of discovering potential new outlets.

Caroline Dawson, Local Food Project Officer who organised the dinner said “This evening was designed to promote and make known the produce in the county through a delicious sample menu. Recipe cards were produced for guests to take home with the aim of recreating the dishes and supporting the local producers”

Canapés featured BLUE, Chirk Trout Farm and Bellis’s Farm Shop.

The starter was braised oxtail wrapped in spring cabbage, which was sourced from Platt’s Farm and Erlas Victorian Walled Garden.

The main course was tenderloin of Saddleback pork served with homemade black pudding, which was sourced from Home Farm and Thomas’s Butchers. The accompanying vegetables were sourced from Bellis’s Farm Shop.

Dessert saw a trio of delights which were made from ingredients sourced from Nant Ucha eggs, Veggie Fayre, The Village Bakery and Erlas Victorian Walled Garden.

The cheese board was made up of a selection of cheeses from Knolton Farmhouse and was accompanied by wine jellies from Seren Foods and chutney’s from Country Markets.

Guests ended the evening with a Wrexham blend of tea and coffee and some handmade truffles from Aballu Artisan Chocolatier.

The event saw 80 guests, including WAG representatives, the Mayor and Mayoress of Wrexham County Borough, local producers and local catering and food outlets.

‘A Taste of Wrexham’ was organised by the Local Food Project Officer and has received funding from the Rural Development Plan for Wales 2007-2013, which is financed by the Welsh Assembly Government and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development.