The Larder at Burwash Manor

This week The Egg Award 2014 Blog heads to The Larder at Burwash Manor near Cambridge.  It's a renowned foodie destination with over 1500 products on its shelves. They're passionate about food, so you'll only find food in their shop from suppliers that they believe in. They sell a lot of organic produce (some from their own farm) but their basic philosophy is to sell the very best - that way their customers will never be disappointed by anything they buy from them.

The Larder is situated on a working organic farm that holds the highest level of stewardship for conservation, so customers can expect them to maintain an interest in providing good quality food. 

Local produce is sourced wherever feasible and they've kept the look and feel of a true farm shop - still selling organic vegetables and meat from the farm - but an ever expanding range means that you can get everything you need including eggs, milk and flour to make your own cake, or even experiment  with one of their tasty cake mixes.

June 8th 2014

OPEN FARM SUNDAY

Head along to Burwash Manor for a fun day on the farm – and meet the farming family and their team of helpers!

What really goes on behind the farm gates? Open Farm Sunday gives visitors the chance to see for themselves the work that farmers do to produce the best quality food for our tables, and what measures they take to look after the countryside and manage wildlife habitats. More than 5 a day is the theme of our Open Farm Sunday this year. Children will see the wide variety of vegetables grown on the farm and can cook up some tasty vegetable dishes with Paola Davies, the Food Hall’s chef, in her field kitchen!

Watch demonstrations of sheep shearing, spinning of alpaca wool from their newly arrived flock, willow weaving, ferreting, blacksmithing, stick making, field sports, and their own asparagus preparation and packing before tucking into barbecued Burwash Sausages and a local beer from the beer tent.




There will also be guided tractor trailer trips, pond dipping, farm walks and talks from the RSPB – not forgetting a children’s activity tent with quizzes, games, art activities, play tables, worksheets, and a machinery display. And before you leave, don’t forget to say hello to the lambs, calves, piglets and farm dogs!

Open Farm Sunday is a free event with plenty of free parking - 10am til 4pm.

Macknade Fine Foods

Over the four months of The Egg Award 2014 we'll be looking at a number of businesses that mirror the ethos of the competition. The first being Macknade Fine Foods based in Faversham in the Swale District of Kent. 

Macknade Fine Foods farm shop & food hall is a genuine alternative to the superstore culture that has come to dominate food and drink retail.

Macknade Fine Foods are a generational, family business sourcing local & global, high quality products that they make sure is offered at their true value whilst striving to source hard to find items and they back their range with a real knowledge about their products, business and rich food and drink culture.

As a family business, crossing several generations, Macknade Fine Foods understand the impact they have on the environment and the effect that they will have on the future as well as the present. They work to do all they can to reduce any negative impact they may have and to manage their development hand in hand with their environmental goals. 




Macknade Fine Foods have two stores - a Flagship Foodhall at Faversham and a more intimate, traditional grocers in the heart of the town. The main store is conveniently situated less than two minutes from the M2 on Selling Road. It's on the outskirts of Faversham and is surrounded by beautiful countryside in the heart of the Garden of England. 

With a large car park immediately outside, shopping at Macknade Fine Foods couldn't be easier. On the site of the main store there is also a Fishmonger, a Coffee Shop, an adjacent garden centre and the Hercules Wine Warehouse. Coach parties are always welcome by prior arrangement.

Macknade Fine Foods source with individual customers in mind, as they build an understanding of their expectations and needs, and with hundreds of suppliers they are able to offer their trade customers a genuine, bespoke service. They offer a full range for wholesale so customers can visit them to view stock on show plus taste and discuss ideas.








Faversham Flagship Foodhall



Selling Road, Faversham, ME13 8XF
Telephone 01795 534497

Normal opening Hours :
Monday to Saturday - 9.00am to 6.00pm (deli closes at 5.30pm)
Sunday - 10.00am to 4.00pm

Café opening hours :
Monday to Saturday - 9.30am to 5.00pm
Sunday - 10.00am to 4.00pm

Please note that the delicatessen closes 30 minutes 

before the main store and the café closes 

60 minutes before the main store

For printable directions please click here Google Maps Location

Foodlink Northwest

Welcome to the first of our weekly bulletins on businesses and organisations that mirror the ethos of The Egg Award 2014.  Due to interaction on Twitter with Foodlink Cheshire and more we take a look at the Foodlink Northwest Project

Foodlink Northwest encompasses the whole of the field to fork activities of the local food chain in the Northwest and represents a partnership of interests with a passion for the region’s locally produced foods.



At the outset they obtained support for the project from a diverse group of individuals, charities, businesses and not for profit organisations that recognise the connection local foods have on the environment, communities, sustainability, tourism, and lifestyle choices.  In understanding the driving philosophy behind the Foodlink Northwest project it is easiest to consider it as a compendium of common cause which will be brought together in a flexible approach where converging aims and objectives define a need for co-operative effort.





In that sense the Foodlink Northwest project isn’t about them, but more about the connections they make during the project with others who share common views.  This was one of the features that attracted The Egg Award 2013 to take a look at what they do.

As the project develops they hope to enlarge this initial co-operative arrangement as others see the benefits of working to the common cause and the flexibility the project has to enable differing interests to be drawn together and contribute in the local foods common bond whilst maintaining their own individual characteristics.

The Foodlink project encompasses the whole of the region including the three predominately rural counties of Cheshire, Cumbria and Lancashire, and the two metropolitan counties of Greater Manchester & Merseyside.

Within this region is arguably one of the most diverse food-producing areas in the country. Rural Cumbria is noted for its sheep & beef production together with a well established artisan micro producer base. Cheshire is the county of orchards, cereal, dairy and vegetable farming.




Lancashire bridges the two with sheep and beef from its Bowland & Pennine regions; cheese and other dairy products from the green pastures between Chorley and Lancaster; and vegetables from the lowlands on both north and south sides of the Ribble estuary.

Tourism features strongly with the counties of Cumbria and Lancashire boasting designated areas of outstanding natural beauty (AONB) whilst Manchester, Merseyside, Chester and Blackpool are increasingly seen as tourist hubs to commence the journey to explore the rural northern heartlands.




Cumbria is world renown for the Lake District and all five counties have significant river and waterway leisure systems whilst all except Manchester are bounded by the Irish Sea.

The Northwest is certainly blessed with geographic diversity which is then reflected in its local foods.

Support for the Foodlink Northwest application came from a number of sources across the region all of which we would like to thank here, and as the project rolls out we will take the opportunity to thank in person.  Support has been received in a variety of forms including encouragement, pledges to the project, and letters of support which they were able to include in their successful application.




Without the wide support received they would not have been successful and it is testimony to the fact that engagement can and does make a difference.

Here's a list of those who provided letters of support included in their submission for funding and these include:

Cumbrian Delight/ Friendly Food & Drink	www.cumbriandelights.co.uk
Appleby Creamery Ltd	www.applebycreamery.com/
Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution	www.rabi.org.uk
Country Harvest	www.country-harvest.co.uk
Enterprise4all	www.enterprise4all.co.uk
Ladies in Beef	www.ladiesinbeef.org.uk/
The Watermill	www.organicmill.co.uk
Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses	www.butlerscheeses.co.uk
Cumbria Farmers Network	www.thefarmernetwork.co.uk/cumbria
Food4Macc	www.maccinfo.com/Food4Macc/
Farming & Countryside Education	www.face-online.org.uk
The Lake District Hotels	www.lakedistricthotels.net
Friends of the Lake District	www.fld.org.uk
The Lowry Hotel	www.thelowryhotel.com/
Mawsons of Bailey Ground	www.mawsonsofbaileyground.co.uk
Bailey Ground Hotel	www.baileygroundhotel.co.uk
Low Sizergh Barn	www.lowsizerghbarn.co.uk
Blakemere	www.visitblakemere.co.uk
CPRE (Northern)	N/applicable
Nurture Lakeland	www.nurturelakeland.org
Councillor Lynn Wilson (Hyndburn BC)	http://bit.ly/lur6KE
Northcote (Nigel Haworth)	www.northcote.com
Alderley Edge Hotel	www.alderleyedgehotel.com
The Sun Inn – Kirkby Lonsdale	www.sun-inn.info
Macdonald Manchester Hotel	www.Macdonaldhotels.co.uk/Manchester
Freemasons at Wiswell	www.freemasonswiswell.co.uk
Radisson Edwardian Manchester	www.radissonedwardian.com/

In compiling the application they had more detailed and substantive discussions with The Kindling Trust, The Cumbria Fells and Dales Action Group, and The Solway, Border and Eden Action Group.

These groups gave help and encouragement in working up the bid and helping to formulate elements of the project’s direction. 

The Kindling Trust      http://kindling.org.uk/

The Cumbria Fells and Dales Action Group    http://www.fellsanddales.org.uk/

The Solway, Border and Eden Action Group    (http://www.cumbria.gov.uk/business/rdpe/sbe/rdpesolwayborderandeden.asp)

The Egg Award 2014

Dani Garcia

After the success of The Egg Award 2013 which was won by 2 Michelin Star chef Dani Garcia from Spain, it's nearly time to kick off The Egg Award 2014!

The competition will again be run online using Twitter.

 The Egg Award was borne out of food blogger @justlovefood's community love for local egg farmers and producers to promote the difference in flavour between a freshly laid organic egg and a commercially produced product.  So no matter whether it's a large farm or a local neighbour whose hens lays fresh eggs every day, as long as they're fresh organic eggs and not supermarket bought it's time to get cooking!

Last years winning entry

Professional chefs entering will be encouraged to serve their egg recipe using their locally sourced eggs in their cafe/pub/restaurant and promote it as they see fit.  The Egg Award will promote them on Twitter using the hashtag #BestEggyChefRecipe


Home cooks and food bloggers will use the hashtag #BestEggyHomeRecip






Keep your eyes open for The Egg Award attempt at making the worlds biggest Scotch Egg with Jon Fell...




Conditions for entering a recipe:



Your egg recipe will have to use locally sourced eggs.  

When submitting please add: 

1: Where the eggs come from. 
2: Who is producing them and their ethos. 
3: A photo of the farm, the birds or the eggs.

You'll need to add: 
1: A list of ingredients. 
2: The method. 
3: A photo of the finished dish.



Here's a link to one of last years entries by Food Blogger Ann Allchin to give you an idea of what's eggspected - Duck Eggs in Prosciutto Baskets 

Send your entry by email to..... 

TheEggAward@mail.com

All entries will be published on this blog and promoted on Twitter.

Closing Date 18th December 2014.




The Prizes:

Prizes this year will include 2 Polyscience Smoking Guns donated by sousvidetools.com who are the UK's leading supplier of sous vide and vacuum packing equipment. 

Based in the North West of England they are a family run business that distributes all over the UK, Ireland and Europe to aspirational chefs and foodies who enjoy cooking, who strive for consistency and accuracy whilst always looking to further refine their cooking skills.

At sousvidetools.com their portfolio of products offers everything you would need for sous vide cooking commercially or domestically, from sous vide water baths, thermal circulators, vacuum sealers, vacuum packing machines and vacuum pouches.





Great news for chefs entering this year as I.O.Shen Knifes Mastergrade Knives are putting up as a prize for the professionals, the choice of any knife in their prestigious range! I.O.Shen Knives have just been voted top choice in Take Stock Magazine and it's no surprise as  after their launch in 2004,they are now established as a firm favourite with chefs and budding amateurs alike.

With some wonderful testimonials and amazing Press and TV coverage – you are sure to find the right knife for the job. We were once hailed in one of the Sunday tabloids for being “The Luke Skywalker light sabre of chef’s knives”.

In 2007, I.O.Shen won the converted Excellence in Housewares Award (equivalent to an industry Oscar!) and we were finalists again in 2011.

The range was voted for by a panel of experts who recognised that the combination of an amazing cutting edge, a uniquely designed handle and astonishing price points could only mean that I.O.Shen was a force to be reckoned with!

Home cooks this year will be competing for prizes that include Mason Cash mixing bowls and their new range of Hen's Nests. Mason Cash have been producing beautiful, functional, iconic kitchenware for over 200 years. 

Famed for classic kitchenware designs such as the Mason Cash mixing bowl and pudding basins, the products and brand have endured the test of time and have become design icons. In fact, some designs have barely altered for over a hundred years.

Mason Cash are committed to upholding their fine tradition of producing the highest quality products that combine functional benefits with beautiful aesthetics, giving each consumer an ever-lasting experience. it is no wonder that Mason Cash is, and always has been the choice of the home cook and baker.






Another addition to our growing list of prizes is this Fine Art print by Jennifer Copley-May, 'Gull On A Boat'.


The print has been donated by Armadillo Central who publish original writing alongside fine art and photography.

They are independent publishers of new fiction, poetry and non-fiction, showcasing the best writing alongside original and limited edition art and photography, most of which is exclusive to them.  They ship worldwide.  Prices convert to local currency as you purchase.  

To keep up to date with latest news, special offers, new products and other events join their mailing list.

Jennifer Copley-May's Gull On Boat is one of Armadillo Central's most popular prints and comes in two sizes. Bearing in mind that last year's Egg Awards prize was sent to Spain - to 2 Michelin Star chef Dani Garcia no less - they're keeping it simple and offering the A4 version, easy to post and frame.

This is no ordinary seagull - it was captured in paint in Brighton by Jennifer Copley-May and is reproduced here as a high quality Giclée print on Hahnemühle Fine Art paper, professionally printed using archival inks.

The Judging:

Recipes will be judged on the ethos of the egg sourced and creative use of the egg.



Final date for entries is the 30th September 2014 and the winner will be announced 14th October 2014.



The Egg Award Organiser...

About Just Love Food


The Egg Award started last year after and idea by Justlovefood blog which was founded by partners Chef / Fashion Designer Claudia Escobar and Environmentalist / Fisherman Cliff Norman, from Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland.  They recently opened their first 'Country Style Kitchen' cooking wild produce with love and it was a great pop-up experience.

Ralph had a word with Claudia before last year's Egg Award about their plans - 

Claudia: "Our aim was to cook Scottish produce in a country camping style with the best we could get our hands on,so we dished out wild birds,line caught fish by us,foraged plants and molluscs and were honored to work with local butchers and bread makers in Leith."

They also run a recipe blog, with unique recipes developed by them.  They're now  focusing on private catering, the pop- up kitchen, food festivals and fairs.  As if that wasn't enough they also go foraging, fishing and work on menu design. They're also on the hunt for cool premises to set up a social enterprise kitchen open to the whole community to participate and make great food!

 "We are very focused about community projects where we can add value,give and share what we know with others."

The Egg Award 2014 Judges...

The Egg Award is pleased to welcome back Alec Tomasso to the judging panel. Since last year the former Master Chef contestant has finally taken the plunge and given up his engineering career, and having parted ways with The Cheese Kitchen after a brief but successful time, he now looks after his twin daughters, and has newly set up a private catering service The Weeping Chef whilst still managing to spend time in Michelin kitchens.

Egg Award 2014 judge Hugh McGivern is a seasoned chef with 30 years international experience catering to an eclectic mix of people. He spent his early years in Glasgow serving a classic apprenticeship before embarking on the Army, on leaving the Army he ventured to America where he worked as a food manager on the cruise ships. Catering to various VIPs including His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan and Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson when he stays in the UK. An advocate of Future Chefs he has undertaken mentoring to students for Springboard and judging at their annual awards ceremony. With his foodie pedigree we're delighted that he's agreed to join The Egg Award judging panel.





We're delighted to welcome The Egg Award 2013 Runner Up Tony Singh to The Egg Award 2014 Judging Panel. He's one of the absolute characters of the foodie world appearing on numerous TV food programmes. His new cookery book Tasty has just been released to much critical acclaim and he's recently taken over the reigns of a new restaurant Edinburgh. 

As one half of BBC2’s culinary duo, The Incredible Spice Men, award winning Tony Singh brings a unique blend of Sikh tradition and fresh British produce to his cooking. Born and bred in Leith, Tony’s fusion of global influences come together to create food which truly knows no boundaries. 






In-keeping with The Egg Award 2014 ethos the first of this years competition judges to be announced is Jon-Robert Fell whose passion for fresh local ingredients, especially in his adopted home county of Cumbria, is legendary.  Jon- Robert Fell is head chef at the stunning Sella Park Country House Hotel which is set in 6 acres of beautiful gardens next to the River Calder.

He is also a presenter on the YouTube food channel The Fat Chat Show which features the people behind the businesses that make Cumbria buzz. Whilst he's committed to all fresh Cumbrian produce, seafood cookery is his absolute passion and he's currently working on his first seafood cookbook.