September 2010
"Live in each season as it passes: breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit." Henry David Thoreau (1817-62). This approach underpins all that we strive for at The Priory Inn and September is a month that offers a bountiful harvest of produce - helped this year by reasonable levels of summer sunshine with some late downpours. It is also the time of year that evokes strong feelings of a new season awakening and fires up our senses with Autumnal smells – tinges of wood smoke mixed with an earthy chill. Bales are busily being stored for winter, views across stubbled fields are soon to be opened up and the hedgerows are displaying their fruits – a bumper year for apples, sloes, blackberries and rosehips.
At The Priory Inn, we believe that our business has a responsibility to support our local farms and producers year in year out by ensuring that the produce they grow and livestock they nurture is on your plates. There are many spin-off benefits from buying food and drink from within our 30 mile zone of Tetbury: environmental; the additional flavour and nutritional value from eating fresh food which has barely travelled; a wealth of community spirit; insight from the network of relationships; an opportunity to convey this to people who want to eat good food; and also the possibility for us and our staff to learn about the produce we are cooking, serving, eating and drinking.
Autumn is the real chef’s season – the local produce and opportunities for the menus creates a great buzz in our kitchen. A trip to any local Farmers’ Market proves the rich offerings currently available and our kitchen is turning their minds to heartier, more robust dishes. We will have mouth-watering local organic venison, autumn lamb and the early offerings from our local gamekeeper. Plus a multitude of earthy vegetables – wild mushrooms, crunchy carrots and cauliflowers, perfect potatoes and parsnips, beautiful beetroots and crisp cabbages. Local fruit is at its best with a variety of apples, pears and ripened damsons to be turned into delicious desserts.
It is no coincidence then that Tetbury’s annual Food and Drink Festival features again this month between 22nd and 26th September. Many fascinating tours and talks are going on in the local area so check out the website for a programme of events. We are hosting a free pizza making session here at The Priory Inn on Thursday 23rd at 4pm (please call to reserve places) and on Saturday 25th between 12-6pm we are going to celebrate everything which is great about local ales and ciders. From 2- 6pm there will be live music from singer/songwriter Phil King and Sian Chandler with Ray Hughes – perfect to chill-out and enjoy some local ales!
Our request for any local gardeners with a surplus of produce bursting out of gardens or allotments to bring them to our “Barter at the Back Door” scheme continues into the Autumn. We are happily continuing to exchange the goods for Priory Inn food and drink vouchers. This scheme has generated a great response with top quality, freshly harvested fruit and veg appearing and we look forward to your Autumnal fayre - you might get a free night out!
The summer months are a great time for us to arrange visits to our suppliers for our chefs, bar and wait staff. In July we dropped down into the peaceful valley containing Uley Brewery and learned about Chas’ meticulous brewing process. We also spent a beautiful sunny morning at the tranquil Bow-in-the-Cloud vineyard watching the hares lope amongst the vines and tasting Keith Willingdale’s delicious wines. Esther Brooks from Country Cotswold Liqueurs came to us to taste-match her delicious liqueurs with our desserts. Last month a great highlight of the “training tours” was a visit to Pickford’s Farm 4 miles from Tetbury in Long Newnton. In truly tough times for livestock farmers, Brian and his family successfully breed pedigree Berkshire Pigs. They have a number of breeding sows who produce 2 litters of around 10 piglets per year. Almost never poorly and very rarely experiencing a runt in the litter, they are exceptionally hardy little pigs, black in colour with six white points. They live a truly happy life in their natural habitat, miles from roads or houses with little huts for shelter - regularly tipping over their water troughs to create delicious mud baths to wallow in! The Pickfords “grow” them slowly and they are reared and fed to Soil Association organic standards. The happy pigs result in a meat with a delicious and superior taste, texture and quality. All our sausages and bacon are from Brian’s Berkshire Pigs and we thank him and his family for taking the time to show us all around and for providing us with a consistently high quality product.
The Beauty Room is being officially opened on September 11th with lots of freebies and tasters when you can find out more about the services that are on offer. She is offering: blissfully chilled massage options; many of the latest facial treatments; waxing techniques from Strip London; a complete range of skin specific Neal’s Yard treatments; make-over options; and, a Garda sun G7200 sunshower as well as many more!
Live Sunday music has become an integral part of our product here at The Priory Inn – we start the music every week at 8pm. Entry is free and we really hope that you come and support live music with us – and there is no better way to forget about Monday morning! On the 5th we welcome Ben Powell; on 12th a great night with Dik Cadbury; the 19th welcomes back Wilcox and Brooks and their homegrown style of whimsical songwriting and soothing guitar picks. On Saturday 25th September we have our Real Ale and Cider Festival taking place so between 2pm and 6pm we have Phil King playing for us and Sian Chandler with Ray Hughes. Click here for more details.
TL Kelly 01/09/2010
