Trip to Suffolk Part 2- Blythburgh Free Range Pork

Day two started off pretty early with a hearty breakfast at the hotel, and off we went to Blythburgh farm where Jimmy and Alastair Butler met us. We piled onto a dusty farm tractor of sorts and they drove us through their farm, stopping by in between to talk us through the whole process of free range pig rearing. Jimmy and Alistair are clearly very passionate about what they do at Blythburgh - to produce great tasting pork- and works a great deal to prove how the pigs are reared makes a huge difference to how they taste.

 

 

We got a chance to see and carry some new born piglets, the most adorable ones, and spent a significant amount of time watching the pigs in their comfort zone. They explained how they are born outside and spend their entire lives outdoor in the fresh air, with freedom to roam around, resulting in the pigs growing at a slower rate. This in turn assures that the free range pork is more flavourful and succulent, which you dont get with the mass produced pork.

That said, the farm also has large and airy tented barns (as seen in the 1st image) with loads of bedding straw for the pigs when they need the shelter

 

We then went on to St Margarets farm where Gerard King from craft butcher Salter & King was waiting for us to do a pork butchery demo. This was most certainly a very interesting sessions with the very charming Gerard carving his way through a carcass,  showing us different cuts of meat and explaining how to cook them. He gave us some very interesting recipes, the rolled pork belly stuffed with chorizo is still fresh in my mind and i cant wait to get hold of some good pork to try it out. His shop is in Aldeburgh and he sources all his meat from free range, organic or small scale farmers who are passionate about what they do.

 

 

We all then sat down to a glorious lunch put together by Pauline Butler where we got to taste delicious pulled pork among other dishes and more Suffolk cheese, cider and other produce. The pork produced by Blythburgh is vastly appreciated for its good quality and is popular among both celebrity chefs and home cooks alike.

It was a lovely 2 day trip full of learning and inspiration and i cant stress how Polly and Lucy of Food Safari did a fabulous job making us feel at ease and arranging this press trip. Of course if it wasnt for the fun bunch of food enthusiasts and bloggers, this wouldnt have been half as fun :)

With thanks to Food Safari for inviting me on this press trip.