The Artisan Farmher
(Halwill, Nth Devon) -
Devon Honey & Nutmeg ChipolatasWe were contacted by the owner/operator of the Natures Rest Collective, in Halwill, North Devon recently. They wanted us to try their sausage product and say what we thought about it before they began promoting any commercial activity in selling such. The Artisan Farmher (a lady farmer) stressed that they don't use any artificial ingredients or chemical preservatives in the products at all. Sounds interesting...
Now we would like to avoid repeating
what can be read on their web site
about the ethics for Natures Rest
Collective, so please use the link
provided below.
Tracey
Slocombe (The Artisan Farmher) has
told us that all their sausages are
made from their own free range,
pastured, rare breed Welsh White
pigs, using their own unique blend
of ingredients and are hand tied in
natural casings. They also benefit
from being both totally UPF and Gluten
free!
Tracey added
that all the pork was outdoor reared
on a nature reserve, fed fruit
daily, antibiotic free, nothing
artificial, no preservatives, no
allergens, homegrown ingredients
used beyond organic garlic and
bought in organic Duchy Oranges as
she hadn’t managed to grow any of
those…yet it was great that the
public were waking up to the tricks
of the commercial convenience food
industry at last but were they
prepared for the real price and
inconvenience of doing real food
properly? This is a very
good point worth making.
We'd
received a cold box of frozen product
and we
had popped a couple of the samples in
the freezer to review at a later
stage. The pack of Devon Honey &
Nutmeg chipolatas thawed out quite
nicely when it was their turn. We
like chipolatas, well come on who
doesn't? However I'm personally not
that struck on honey if honest. It's
not something I'll normally
entertain, OK I'll eat it in a port
& honey sauce over some roasted
duck, but that's about it. Look it's
the potential sweetness that gives
concern here given Tracey says that
the mix has actually got 10% honey
in it.
OK then, head down,
let's just do it!
80% plus
free range pork with local Halwill
Town honey, nutmeg, black pepper, sea salt
flakes, organic buckwheat flour and
being all gluten free
and non-UPF in natural skins really does sound
and look good...(gritting teeth,
still not sure about sweetness)...
Cooked up
there was a sweetness of aroma I
suppose but not what I had expected.
Much in control to be honest. The sausages
browned really well, and with these
we didn't notice any of that white
emulsion we've seen previously. I
was expecting some stickiness in the
pan given the amount of honey and
perhaps some additional oil, but
nothing to give concern.
Excellent natural skins, no splits
or bursts at all. The texture of
filling was medium fine and well
minced and the bite and chew was how
you would expect a chipolata to be.
The flavour was very much OK
and not too sweet, with hint of
nutmeg. We're not dissing these but
they're not perhaps as succulent as
you would expect from someting that
has 10% honey in it though we note.
Personally, not my
cup of tea, however the troops liked
them. £18.90/kg though is quite top
end for chipolatas but as Tracey has
said, you need to be prepared for
the real price and inconvenience of
doing real food properly!
These
Devon Honey & Nutmeg
Chipolatas are very good.
The Artisan Farmher (Halwill, Nth
Devon) - Devon Honey & Nutmeg
(Mar
2025)
Here's the
sample details:
140x22mm before cooking, 135x22mm
after.
65g before cooking, 61g after
approx.
That's a shrinkage of approx 3% & weight loss of approx
6%.
6 chipolatas loose 370g @ £7
(£18.90/kg)
natures-rest.yolasite.com
For more information, or to
order you can contact Natures Rest
via phone/text (07737775205)
or
through their Facebook page
