The Classic Taste Of Britain – Top 20 Specialty Dishes

There is something in Britain that you won’t find anywhere else in the world – authentic British meals. Even if you find the food, nothing can beat the environment, the surroundings and the feeling of being there in person. These 20 gourmet tours on our list have specially been included so that you get the best taste of the country. 

•  An apple a day keeps doctor away: Day’s Cottage in Brookthorpe has such an interesting assortment of apples that you’d find the names kind of poetic. Helen Brent Smith and Dave Kasper grow the apples in the orchard and sell cider, apple juices and perry in their small cottage. The two people behind the idea of this cheerful cottage produce the sweet apple juice which, if defined in one word, is blissful.
• Take your Berry pick: Wotton Farm Shop in South Gloucestershire is a berry-lover’s dream come true. Managed by the Grimes family, it has so many varieties of berries – raspberries, gooseberries, strawberries, blueberries and redcurrants. They are one of the members of the Gloucestershire Farm Shops which is a producers and growers group. But that’s just for your general knowledge; the moral of the story is that the berries are remarkable and without a doubt, you should pick your favourites on a hot summer day.
• As sweet as honey: Les and Jill believes that there is a season especially for honey – March to October, sometimes lasting till November. It is during this time that the Chirnsides running Llanover Skirrid Honey Farm in Monmouthshire extract honey from the honeycombs and pack them in jars. Everyone is more than welcome to taste and talk honey here but call before you drop in on them – they might be busy as the bees.

• Tea-ing in Cornwall: Britain is crazy about tea. The hot beverage is comforting as well the preferred drink when ladies need to share some grapevine. Interestingly, there is just one tea state, one in Cornwall that takes care of the whole of Britain’s tea addiction. In Truto, Tregothnan Estate has climatic conditions very similar to the tea producing areas like India and Sri Lanka. The bushes are hand-plucked and the production is given all the time it needs – there is just no hurry. With 30 Chinese and Assamese varieties of tea, it is quite proficient in giving Britain it’s most sought out hot beverage.

• Cheese has it: Italy gave the world pizza. Mozzarella is it’s mouth-watering discovery too. Campania in Southern Italy is where it was traditionally prepared with water buffalo’s milk and then Laverstoke Park Farm started making cheese in Britain so as to bring Italy’s cheese home. The 2,500 acre farmland has the biggest water buffalo herd you’ll ever find in UK and when they have the buffalo it takes, they make the mozzarella Italians make.

• Say Caerphilly Cheese!: The distinct flavour of the Gorwydd Caerphilly cheese made in the Trethowan’s Dairy in Ceredigion is the reason why it has won numerous awards, one of which is the Best Welsh Cheese Award in 2001. The dairy is a family business which promises the populace one of the world’s best cheeses. Other than making cheese, they also teach others the art involved in preparing and appreciating it by collaborating with Fiona Beckett, a food writer.

• Bread earners in Montogomery: Sandwiches look so simple – just two slices of bread filled with cheese and pickle or tuna but what goes into making bread is a lot of sweat and hard work. The secret behind its flavour and smell is that it is prepared with love, care and given a hell lot of time to settle. Nothing is worse for the fate of bread than haste and heat. Ask Matt Scott of Bacheldre Flours fame and he’ll say the same – go slow when making the dough. It is same reason why top-class chefs and bakers use the bread prepared by him to make cakes and breads.

• 100 years of fudge: The Toffee Shop in Penrith doesn’t have a lot on its window display and even inside the shop, there is just heaps of toffee, slabs of fudge wrapped in greaseproof paper and sweet aroma of sweet toffee. It may be named after toffee but the shop has the reputation of making the best fudge. From past 100 years, same recipe is being used to prepare this special fudge and time hasn’t made it any reduced its popularity.

• And some more cheese: Loch Arthur Community in the Dumfrieshire hills has a farm which sticks to stringent biodynamic principles. Two types of cheeses, which have won quite a handful of awards, are produced in the farm – the soft Crannog cheese and semi-soft Criffel cheese. Once you get here, make sure you try the cheese, obviously, but also look around, see the farm, the bakery, creamery, studio and the workshop.

• Survival of the fittest: After the Shipwrecked series, survival expert Nick Weston took it a step further – he now teaches people shooting, fishing and cooking. From April to October in his one day and two day courses, he cooks whatever is available in the wild and in that season – he even explains where and how to find the things they need and the procedure to cook them.

• Bodmin fizz: British wine wasn’t anywhere on the charts when it was initially produced. Tables have turned now – it is surprisingly feisty and especially the sparkly one grabs a lot of awards. So if you are already in the country, try the sparkling wine they make at the Camel Valley vineyard. No wine sparkles more than the Camel Valley’s and it keeps winning awards too – in 2009 in the International Wine Challenge, it got a trophy and even a Gold medal.

• The farm that has always been there: In Chepstow, there is a Madgett’s Farm that has been there, in the landscape where Wales and England meet. Do you know about the Doomsday Book? It is in there too. Anyway, if you are in the area anytime, don’t think twice and get a bird and take it home. Chickens, turkeys, geese and ducks have a reputation of having a deep flavour and perfect texture.

• A piece of Beef: Denbighshire has a place called Rhug Estate with 12,500 acres of land, 2,500 out of which is the organic farm. The glorious herd of Aberdeen Angus cattle are reared near Caernafon and later taken to Rhug to mature. Top-notch beef is produced here and you’ll be lucky to get a piece of it.

• Hands on pies: Lake District is a beautiful place to be and Cumbria is particularly amazing. But what’s even more enchanting here is the variety of pigs and the range of pork products is what the Sillfield Farm is famous for. Peter Gott, the man behind the farm, has got many fans including Jamie Oliver and the cute and the dashing prince Charles.

• Simply Kippers: The delicate flavour of the kippers, salt that tinkles your taste buds is wonderfully delightful. Found in the Isle of Man, Moore’s Traditional Curers are producing, gutting, splitting, smoking and salting herrings since 1884. They are take pride in the work they do – showing off their productions from May to September.

• Something’s fishy: Salmon is the kind of fish that no fish lover can say no too. Hugh Montgomery, of Kinloch Lodge in Sutherland on the north end of Scotland, pays a little too much attention to detail while smoking the Salmon, ducks, mackerel, venison, trout and a lot of sausages.

• Kent and the Shellfish: Whitstable is famous for its oysters but the snails keep workers in the Wests on their toes. At the harbour, whelks are unloaded to pots, they are then graded and boiled for 20 minutes after which they are plucked out of the shells and viola, ready for you to eat.

• School For Artisan Food: A block of stables from the 19th century were renovated and now they house the School for Artisan Food where you can learn how to make sausages or cure a ham. In Wellbeck, Nottinghamshire, you can take a tour and look around the bakery, dairy and the butchery section of the place. Microbrewery is going to open soon here.

• Adnams in Suffolk: If you want beer, Adnams at Southwold has been brewing since 1872 using the raw materials grown locally. Not just beers, but they deal in gin and vodka too which have all bagged awards. The admission entry of £10 of the tour makes you entitle to a discount on the bottle in the nearby Adnams shop.

• Beer, Brewing and Burton upon Trent: Beer is being brewed in Burton upon Trent since it was discovered that the properties of water are ideal for brewing. Before you go for your favourite pint in The brewery Tap bar, take a tour of the National Brewery Centre to understand how beer is actually prepared and attend a tasting. After all, Burton upon Trent has been the capital of brewing in Britain. What place would be better than this?