A Taste of Northumberland

One of the things I enjoy when on holiday is trying local food and on a recent visit to the lovely county of Northumberland it was a real treat to discover a number of Northumbrian food producers and some great retailers too.

Cheese-making is something I find particularly fascinating and while researching my book Great British Cheeses I’d come across a number of delicious cheeses made by Doddington Dairy in Northumberland. During our visit to Northumberland, Maggie Maxwell of Doddington Dairy very kindly took time out of her busy schedule to show us around the cheese side of the dairy at Doddington Farm.

As we were shown first around the cheesemaking area, then the storerooms lined with shelf after shelf of her cheeses maturing, what came across from Maggie’s tour was the phenomenal amount of hard work she did and the energy and drive it required. Maggie makes a range of six cheeses, ranging from washed rind, semi-soft to hard, all patriotically named after local places and heroes such asAdmiral Collingwood. Having worked with cheesemakers in Holland, there is a definite Dutch-style element to Maggie’s range of cheese, such as the Gouda-style Berwick Edge. Of Maggie’s cheeses, I was particularly taken by Doddington cheese, the first cheese ever made by the Dairy,; matured for over a year, this has a full, salty-sweet flavour, making it very more-ish indeed.

The milk used to make both the cheese and the scrumptious Doddington Dairy ice cream made by Maggie’s brother Neill and his wife Jackie comes from the farm’s own herd of 300 cows, which are milked twice daily at 5am and 5pm. Maggie proudly took us to see the farm’s cows, grazing contentedly in a nearby field. All the Doddington Dairy Dairy cheeses are made from unpasteurised milk used while still warm from the cow. The freshness of the milk is important to Maggie; “one of the advantages I have here is a hot milk system’, she explains. Producing this many cheeses on this scale requires a lot of organisation and an eye for detail; “I write very good notes,” laughs Maggie. Huge local demand for her cheeses means that Maggie sells most of what she makes in Northumberland, but you can buy her cheeses on-line at www.doddingtondairy.co.uk

On our visit on a sunny summer’s day, the farm, surrounded by beautiful rolling countryside, looked peaceful and idyllic. In September 2009, however, the Maxwell family were faced with the worst floods for 140 years as the River Till broke its banks. Maggie vividly described how quickly the water had risen higher and yet higher, with everyone on the farm risking life and limb wading through flood waters to move the farm’s livestock to safer land. ‘If our cattle had gone to the other side, as we wanted them to at first, we’d have lost them all,’ explained Maggie starkly. Luckily, the cattle were saved and the Dairy continues to produce its cheeses and ice cream, but the danger of flooding still remains and is an obvious source of worry for Doddington Farm and other local farms.

Up the coast, the little village of Craster is noted for producing one of Northumberland’s iconic foods: the Craster kipper. Established over a hundred years ago, L Robson and Sons, now run by the fourth generation, carry on the work of smoking herring the traditional way over smouldering fires in their smokehouse. The result of their careful work are plump, golden-coloured kippers with a rich texture and distinctive smoky flavour. Their down-to-earth shop sells their freshly smoked fish to a steady stream of customers and they can also be bought on-line at www.kipper.co.uk.

Not only does Northumberland have some great food producers, it also has some excellent food retailers too, such as The Good Life delicatessen in Wooler (www.goodlifewooler.co.uk ), which stocks locally-produced foodstuffs including Doddington Dairy cheeses. 

My family and I were staying near Rothbury where I was delighted to discover Rothbury Family Butchers (www.rothburyfamilybutchers.co.uk). A member of the prestigious Q Guild of Butchers, which includes famous butchers such as Lidgates in Notting Hill, this is run with verve by jovial owner Morris Adamson. Having worked as the in-store butcher in Rothbury’s Co-op store, Morris lost his job when the store moved to selling only pre-packed meat. At this point, Morris decided to take the plunge and set up his own butchers in Rothbury, opening in a small shop in May 2000.

The business has flourished and Morris has expanded since his opening, with his distinctly smart shop now complete with a deli section. In 2006, Morris’s shop was visited by Prince Charles and Camilla, a source of great pride to Morris and his team. In addition to the excellent locally sourced meat, Rothbury Family Butcher is noted for its sausages, an array of which take pride of place in the window display. “ From the day we opened I started making sausages, explains Morris. “I thought there’d be a market for good hand-made sausages and there was. The secret is to have a great basic sausage mix. Once you’ve got that right, then you can play with flavours.” So popular are his sausages that they account for nearly quarter of his sales. The range includes the Cragside Cracker , flavoured with rosemary and red onion, four times winner of a Gold Smithield Award, and novel creations such as Pork, Ginger and Spring Onion. Having sampled several varieties, we can testify that they were all seriously tasty, so try them for yourself if you get the chance.