PubChef Live - Buy Local, Buy British

That's the message from celebrity chef Phil Vickery whose pub, the King of Prussia, formed the stage for our third PubChef Live. Mark Taylor reports

Celebrity chef Phil Vickery's pub, the King of Prussia, was the venue for the third PubChef Live. Chefs and publicans from a number of south-east pubs attended the educational event on a sunny Monday in the Berkshire village of Farnham Royal.

The day included a number of talks, demonstrations and tastings - all with the aim of encouraging pub chefs to source more local produce. Phil Vickery kicked things off with a brief introduction, during which he urged chefs to "buy local, buy British" and to forge closer relationships with local suppliers.

"If you look after your local supplier, they'll look after you, you'll forge long friendships with them and you'll be repaid with their loyalty," he said.

Phil also encouraged chefs to use cheaper cuts of meat, rather than relying on premium cuts. "Any fool can chuck a steak on the grill and charge £20, but cooking a shank of pork or a belly of pork slowly takes skill and is a different kettle of fish," he said.

The first presentation of the day was by Amanda Kamin of Food from Britain, the market development consultancy for food and drink. She answered a number of questions from PubChef editor Jo Bruce about sourcing locally. The following are brief summaries of the day's presentations:

Food from Britain

Customers are willing to pay more for locally sourced food, according to Food from Britain. One of the main reasons is differentiation - if you make your offering different, your customers will be willing to pay a premium price.

Around 70% of British consumers want to buy regional produce and 49% want to buy more than they do now, so there is a consumer demand for locally sourced food. There is the added benefit that it supports the local community and you'll get more people recommending your pub if you use the farmer next door.

Take advantage of internal and external tourism. Tell tourists about the specialities you use and tell them why that product is local to that area.

Charge a premium on a speciality product but explain why, so people know why the food is worth it.

Amanda talked about the Food from Britain website (www.regionalfoodanddrink.co.uk), which has a search engine where chefs can put in the product they're looking for, specify a region and end up with a list of 3,500 producers, contact details and links to their website.

Big cheeses

Mike Smales from Lyburn Farmhouse Cheesemakers in Wiltshire explained the distribution problems faced by small producers. Mike's gouda-style cheeses, produced with milk from his herd of 230 Friesians, are available at farmers' markets and through small local outlets, as well as direct from the farm.

"When you bring a new cheese to the market, you're entering a market where there are 1,000 cheeses out there and you have to establish your brand, promote your product and tell people it's out there," says Mike.

"We then have to get it to you and that comes back to distribution. There are a number of cheese wholesalers out there and some of them are handling more than 1,000 cheeses at a time. We can't supply them all and some of them don't want to deal with small producers like us.

"If you want to find smaller niche products, you have to find a wholesaler who is prepared to work with the smaller guys. Hampshire farmers markets were key to us and they still take 40% of our output."

Sandy Rose started Two Hoots Farmhouse Cheese in 2003 and her Barkham Blue and Barkham Chase have won gold awards at the British Cheese Awards and the World Cheese Awards.

She says: "Farmers' markets have been excellent for us, but we have a few wholesalers, delis and farm shops and we can also sell direct to pubs and restaurants via chilled couriers."

Local food groups

Representing small to medium-sized food producers across Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire, Oxford, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire, Henriette Reinders of the South East Food Group Partnership advised pub chefs to put regional food directories in their kitchens as an easy reference for tracking down local producers in their area.

Tasting table

Guests were then invited to sample a selection of products made by small producers from the south east including:

Hand-made pickles and chutneys from the Jam Factory in Romsey, Hampshire; Mustards from Shaken Oak Products in Hailey, near Witney, Oxfordshire; English wine from Brightwell Vineyard in Wallingford, Oxfordshire; Vegetable crisps from the True Food Company in Fareham, Hampshire.

Pork butchery demonstration

Armed with a razor-sharp knife, butcher and British Pig Executive (BPEX) meat consultant Viv Harvey gave attendees an impressive lesson in alternative or "seam" butchery using a fore end of free-range pork from Blythburgh to produce economical cuts such as daubes, pork collar, mini joints, steaks and shoulder blocks. Viv explained how versatile British pork is and that chefs should be looking at different cuts for various situations.

He stressed how important specification is, and how it is vital to form a good relationship with your butcher or supplier.

"Specification is as detailed as you want it to be and at the end of the day you only get what you ask for. You're in control, so don't lose control to the butcher."

Richard Fagan of BPEX went on to dispel various myths that surround pork.

"Pork suffers from a bad image and its menu inclusion is less than 6% across the board," he says. "It's sold as a cheap option on the menu so that doesn't build a lot of confidence and it's seen as dry and tough, tasteless and bland, and fatty.

"The environmental health officer tells chefs that they have to cook pork to 75°C, but they're wrong and cooking it at that temperature results in tough, bland meat. The current law says nothing about serving rare pork. Cooking pork to 65°C results in tenderness, juiciness and flavour, so treat pork in the same way as lamb or beef."

The lunch

After the talks and demonstrations - including a cookery demo from Phil Vickery and a beer tasting by Shepherd Neame head brewer David Holmes - attendees sat down to enjoy the four-course lunch created by Phil and his head chef, Andy Knight. Courses included:

Plate of Great British Tasters - Whitebait, pork pie made by Dickinson & Morris in Melton Mowbray; Andy Cook's Littlestone brown shrimps; marinated trout with lime and walnut oil; griddled Hampshire asparagus from Durleigh Marsh Farm; olive oil-poached rabbit with black pepper and sea salt; and smoked eel from Brown & Forrest in Langport, Somerset.

Main course - Suffolk pig farmer Jimmy Butler's Blythburgh free-range pork "Osso Bucco cut" served with sherry vinegar and watercress, new potatoes and local vegetables.

Dessert - The King of Prussia's Rocky Road brownie with vanilla crème fraîche dip.

Cheese - Todd Trethowan's Caerphilly from Gorwydd Farm in Llanddewi Brefi, Sandy Rose's Two Hoots Barkham Blue, Winchester made by Mike Smales of Lyburn Farmhouse cheesemakers in Landford, Salisbury, served with quince cheese made by Elspeth Wainwright of Quince Products in Aston Rowant, Oxfordshire.

Each course was accompanied by a different bottled beer from Shepherd Neame: Organic Whitstable Bay, Spitfire, Bishop's Finger and the raspberry-flavoured, chocolate-friendly Bellevue Framboise.