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Savin Hill Farm is going places. With their rare breed pigs
and cows, not only did they win the "Producer of the
Year 2003" award at Manchester Food & Drink Festival
(judged by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall), but they also took
the only gold awarded in the pork sausage category at the
Great Taste Awards in London which attracted over 60 entries.
They also appeared on Rick Stein's BBC2 "Food Heroes"
series last year with their delicious beef and damson pies
which are prepared locally to a recipe unique to Savin Hill.
So what's their secret? According to Michelle Partington
(who runs Savin Hill alongside her father, Roy, and brother,
Shaun), the secret is in the taste. The unique taste of the
meats they produce comes from a variety of factors - the breed,
the lifestyle, and (not to put to fine a point on it) how
they're slaughtered and hung.
The animals at Savin Hill are traditional native breeds to
England. British White cows originated in Lancashire although
the breed has been popular in Norfolk since the 1500s when
the original breeders fell out, the wife taking her half of
the herd to Norfolk and continuing to breed them successfully.
There are now only 2500 breeding females in the UK - preserved
by farms such as Savin Hill.
 British
White cows take twice as long to mature than most commercially
produced cows. Similarly, the pigs kept at Savin Hill are
Middle White pigs which are also slow to mature and have smaller
litters (average eight as opposed to an average of 24 for
hybrid breeds). They may be less economically viable for the
farmer, but the end result is well worth waiting for - flavoursome,
moist and finely textured. The meat on these breeds has a
decent, but not excessive covering of fat which gives the
full flavoursome taste. Once cooked, the fat disappears and
you can taste the difference. Michelle is so convinced of
the superior quality of taste for these breeds, that she will
not order meat dishes when out for a meal anymore for fear
of being disappointed!
The animals also have more human contact than is usual. At
least twice a day they have contact with Michelle or Shaun
as they are mucked out and fed. They even have names and different
personalities; of the two boars they have to keep the sows
entertained, Rupert is more popular than Henry who can be
a little boisterous and rough. Marmaduke, one of their stock
bulls, will be taken around various county shows and looks
set to become a prize bull. During the summer, all the animals
lead a carefree outdoor life, coming in for warmth and shelter
during the winter months.
The difficulties faced by the Partington family from rearing
rare breed pigs and cows come from the lengthy maturation
process and rules and regulations surrounding specialist slaughter,
all of which increase costs and push up prices. In order to
be able to produce the best meat possible at a good price,
the Partingtons decided that they needed to add value to the
end product. Here, the Cumbria Fells and Dales LEADER+ programme
was able to help. With financial assistance from the LEADER+
programme, a new kitchen is currently being built by Shaun,
allowing Michelle space and facilities to experiment and develop
new products to add to her award winning sausages and popular
pies. And she won't stop there. Her plans include creating
dried continental style sausages, summer barbeque burgers
and providing picnic hampers stuffed full of regional foods
(even the butter for the hamper will be produced on a farm
down the road).
You can buy Savin Hill products at both Kendal and Orton
Markets, as well as further afield in Manchester, Hogton Towers,
Poulten-le-Fylde and Ramsbottom. Alternatively the new Food
Hall, due to open at Holker Hall in Easter will stock a wide
range of Savin Hill fresh meat and cooked meats.
For further information, call Michelle Partington on 015395
68410 or visit their website at www.savin-hill.co.uk.
Please click on the links below to view other
projects of the month:
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