Connections, what the Ludlow Food Festival means to us.
To connect: bring together so that a real link is established.
The word we most associate with Ludlow food festival is “connecting” – a coming together of things all food, fun and friendship.
The weekend affords us an amazing opportunity to catch up with old friends and make new ones. Many of the event’s visitors attend year after year, returning for the comfort of the familiar and the excitement of the new. It’s always a privilege to have people stop by to tell us of their culinary triumphs created with their Netherton Foundry cookware; the pride we take in making it carried through to kitchens across the country and beyond. We love the connection with people who own our pans and we appreciate the obvious pleasure they take in meeting the people who actually made their pan. Visualise the chain that is forged as the pan passes from hand to hand through each process in the workshops and from there into the hands of our customers. And being there in person means we can also talk face to face with anyone with a cookware dilemma to resolve, be that a sticking fried egg or a decision on what size pan to choose. We will also be joining with writers Bee Wilson and Mark Diacono to talk about their respective books The Heart Shaped Tin and Abundance. Bee’s book explores the association with kitchen objects that hold particular meanings and resonance for their owners, starting with how, after her divorce, she uncoupled and re-assigned her feelings about the heart shaped cake tin that had been used to bake her wedding cake and then lain neglected in a dresser drawer until it, like her, re-emerged to a new life.
Anyone who has ever read any of Mark’s writing will know that he draws from memories, reliving his earlier years, from other people’s writing be it song lyrics, recipes or whatever else has wormed its way into his brain and stimulated his synapses. There are threads that tie his words together as if gift wrapping them.
We will also be excited to see how the chefs, demonstrating on the Wot’s Cooking and Fire Stage combine raw ingredients with one another, match flavours and textures, and add heat to create the alchemic processes that result in a finished dish. And we always respect the generosity of these kitchen wizards as they share their knowledge and expertise with everyone keen to learn.
And what of the food? Much has been written and discussed about the disconnect between the food we consume and its source; the fact that children think that potatoes come in chip form from McD rather than grown in the ground, the impact of intensive chicken farms on the environment and the ever growing debate about ultra processed food. The food festival offers up a tantalising choice of locally produced foods and the ability to talk directly to the maker to discover more about the provenance of your purchase, to learn how it’s made, where it’s made, the ingredients that are used – the connections between the producer and the product.
Slow Food UK are also in attendance to further our understanding of where our food comes from, how important it is that we respect the environment in which our food is grown, processed and consumed. In the Netherton Foundry sponsored tent in the castle gardens there will be discussion on regenerative farming and other practices that explore the deep connections between the land and our growing need for food; the challenges of the changing climate, and sustainability and its place in the hospitality industry. We believe the root of good food lies firmly in the soil, and in the hands and hearts of responsible producers. We all need to think about the links between good food production and what is good for our health and the health of the planet; they are all inexorably intertwined. This is all about joining the dots, about making us think about what we consume and how we do so.
Which bring us full circle back to our cookware, because we believe that if you are concerned about the source of your food, you should be equally concerned about your cookware. Is there any point in buying free range, grass fed, high welfare steak and then cooking it in a pan with an artificial non-stick coating that will not give you a beautiful caramelised sear? If you are going to honour that beast, then make sure you cook it properly, in a forever pan, not forever chemicals.
Our pans are hand made from pure metals, without any toxic chemicals. The iron cookware is pre-seasoned with organic, British grown, pressed flax oil and our copper pans are lined with pure tin. We source all of our materials as locally as possible and eschew the use of plastics. These are pans for life, and not just one life, designed to last and last to be repairable, so they do not end up being recycled. They are inspired by the past, made for the present and designed for the future, connecting what has gone before with what is to come. So do please come and see us, re-establish your connection with us or come and forge a new one. We are probably the friendliest, and according to the Guardian, the best pan makers you will ever meet.
