Along with the sunshine, April saw the welcome return of The Park Market. Held on Newcastle Circus in the heart of the historic Park Estate in Nottingham, this little gem of a market brings together some of the best local food and producers in the area.
First stop was the Brockleby Pie stall. To be fair, you could enjoy a different pie each week from their selection which are made with fresh, locally produced ingredients, including their famous British Pie Awards champion, The Wild Beaver Pie. I took home a slightly less wild local cheese and potato pie which I look forward to trying.
For more information visit www.brocklebys.co.uk or follow them on Twitter @BrocklebysPies
With picnic weather in mind, I picked up a Blue cheese topped Pork Pie from Smith Hall Farm, organic meats and catering in Derbyshire. The company supply quality meats, sausages and pork pies produced from animals born and reared on their farm in the Derbyshire Dales. For more information tel: 01335 370350 visit smithhallorganics@hotmail.com or emailsmithhallorganics@hotmail.com
Ugly Bread Bakery. Many of their breads are sour dough and have been fermented for at least 24 hours. No colourings or artificial colourings have been used in the breads and they use only tiny amounts of salt giving a truly traditional bread product.
For more information visit www.uglybreadbakery.co.uk visitwww.uglybreadbakery.co.uk, email uglybreadbakery@outlook.com or follow on Twitter @UglyBreadBakery
I used the focaccia to dip into the tasty hummus I bought from Stripey Beetroot. The Nottingham based catering produces hummus in a range of flavours which change seasonally, including roasted Beetroot, Moroccan rose, chilli and lime and spiced pumpkin. For more information visitwww.stripeybeetroot.co.uk/email stripeybeetroot@virginmedia.com/call 07960 382907 or follow on Twitter @StripeyBeetroot
For more information call 9605901/visit the website http://www.jtbeedham.com/ visit the shop at 556 Mansfield Road, Sherwood or follow Johnny on Twitter @JohnnyPusztai
Perfect for a sausage cob or two I picked up some tomato ketchup from the Sauce Shop. The Sauce Shop is about bringing the customer delicious fresh sauces, made by hand using natural ingredients. All the vegetables are fresh, all the tomatoes are vine ripened, all the citrus juice is from fresh fruit, all their salt is from the sea and they don’t add water unless absolutely vital to the recipe.
For more information Tel: 07860 367609/visit sauce-shop.co.uk, or follow on Twitter @sauceshop
There were many other stalls which I which I didn’t get to visit this time. Next time I’m on a mission to do a Ready Steady Cook type haul and see how many meals I can create throughout the week and beyond using only my Park Market haul, so watch this space.
Of course I could go without mentioning the very lovely, Very Little Coffee Company with their cute little custom-built van selling freshly ground fair trade coffees, teas, chais and hot chocolates plus tasty home-made cakes and biscuits. I enjoyed resting my feet and my purse whilst watching the world go by from a park bench in the beautifully maintained green with a Cappuccino sprinkled with nutmeg.
For more information call 07855 496685 or follow on Twitter @VLittleCoffee
The next Park Market takes place on May 31st between 11am – 3pm, with even more stalls promised, don’t miss it.
By Tanya Raybould
