Get Set To Grow Workshops

An open invitation has gone out to meat lovers across the region to ‘have a butcher’s’ – as Keelham Hall Farm Shop in Thornton, Bradford, this month celebrates both National Butchers Week and Bacon Connoisseurs Week in a fortnight-long feast.

First up in the butchers department at the Brighouse & Denholme Road shop is National Butchers Week, which runs from Monday to Saturday, March 15-20. It encourages consumers to consider their local butcher as their first port of call for all their meat purchases and for their in-depth knowledge on everything from cooking times to menu suggestions.

Free tastings will be on the menu throughout the week, including Keelham Hall Farm Shop’s award-winning traditional and speciality sausages. The promotion also sees the official launch of the shop’s new home-made black pudding, when feedback will be invited following customer samplings.

Butcher’s shop manager Lee Scott will demonstrate the traditional art of sausage-making and will also head up regular ‘Ask the Butcher’ question and answer sessions for customers.

Lee explained: “Our master butchers have over 200 years’ worth of experience between them and we are always keen to offer expert help and advice by answering any questions our patrons may have about meat – for example, how it is raised, how it is prepared, how to find exactly the right piece of meat, and how best to cook it.”

Then, Keelham Hall Farm Shop will be bringing home the bacon for Bacon Connoiseurs Week. It takes place from Monday to Sunday, March 22-28, and provides butchers with an opportunity to showcase their products and inspire consumers to try the best of British bacon.

Keelham Hall Farm Shop sources all its pork – 95% of it is free range – from pigs born and reared in Yorkshire. Free tastings, including the shop’s traditional home-cured bacon, are again promised.

The business’s Victoria Robertshaw said: “We celebrated both events for the first time in 2009 and they proved so popular that we’ve made them bigger and better this year. These days, customers want to know where the meat they eat comes from – and we source it all locally from almost 80 farmers across the region.

“At the same, people demand both quality and value for money. They deserve it and we always try to provide it.”