Where : Ludlow, UK
When : 9 - 11 September 2010
When : 9 - 11 September 2010
Ludlow is a real foodie town, I was told over and over again. When I arrived, it was easy to see why - lots of good restaurants and shops that make their own stuff rather than just stock lots of off-the- shelf gourmet products that you can easily find in some gastro-shop.
What's nice about the festival is, it completely takes over the Ludlow Castle. A little something extra is added when it doesn't take place in some big non-descript field, not that any of the food was reflective of a medieval era. I think the location gives a sense that all the food available there have been grown and prepared with the same tradition, integrity and spirit as before.
It is great when an ancient castle, where the historic richness and life it had, now mostly referenced as something long dead and passed by books well intentioned to chronicle life but also inevitably chronicles the end of, is able to bring a sense of richness to the living food around today. A bit of history does come alive.
And whatever the castle grounds can't hold is spilled out onto the streets.
It is great when an ancient castle, where the historic richness and life it had, now mostly referenced as something long dead and passed by books well intentioned to chronicle life but also inevitably chronicles the end of, is able to bring a sense of richness to the living food around today. A bit of history does come alive.
And whatever the castle grounds can't hold is spilled out onto the streets.
The festival folks have come up with things like the Sausage Trail, the Real Ale Trail and the Bread Trail. In each of them, you pay a nominal fee (Sausage : £3.50, Real Ale : £6.50, Bread :£1), get a piece of paper that shows you all the locations, follow the map or follow the waft of grilled sausages, get walking and start sampling what each butcher shop, pub and bakery has to offer. Then you have to rate each one and cast your vote on the best.
It's hard work and a whole lot of responsibility. Not the walking but the eating. You need to be able to stomach it all. On the sausage trail, there were about 10 locations, the real ale, 19. That's 10 sausages and 19 pints before you pass out or to be passed out of you.
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| One of the sausage trail locations. Queue up, you're handed a sausage and then get busy tasting and rating. |
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| Butchers come up with different recipes each year to outdo the competition. |
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| This is how long the queues at the sausage trails go on for. People are willing to wait. All of them are that good. |
