The title of the night is a misnomer. Its main focus, for us at any rate, was locally-produced foodstuffs. Mmmm! - what a novel idea for a fundraising event – an evening of excellent local goodies both liquid and solid rather than the inevitable cheese & wine affairs.

Speaking as a recent ‘incomer' to the area as well as a long-standing food lover, I can assure readers that the range and quality of the local foodstuffs available around Lancaster is second to none I have experienced anywhere in the UK.

That is some compliment from a Yorkshireman. Arrgh! – even the spellchecker rejects that word. But I digress – I sincerely hope that no-one who lives in these parts ever takes the region's wonderful fare for granted. And on this night we were well treated to an excellent supper, in a conducive environment. The Gregson has a tradition of hosting events like Potato Day and, more recently, Apple Day and their own catering focuses on local produce too.

Among the delights on offer were local cheeses from Westmoreland, near Preston and Ribblesdale and even Yorkshire. Flavours ranged from the potent garlic through other herb combinations to a luscious rich and potent Highland Oak-Smoked Scottish Cheddar. All these are made within some 25 miles of Lancaster City centre. To accompany, traditional British varieties of apples, including Egremont and Cox, were intelligently served. For wine, one should buy on apples, but sell on cheese – or is that the other way round?

As well as the usual cows' milk varieties there was buffalo cheese from near Settle too: Yorkshire Mozzarella from Romanian buffalo. Well, we are thankfully in the EU now as tastes grow more cosmopolitan. And as if that were not enough, we then had to sort out the sheep from the goats, but not biblically. These delights were even more a treat to the palate, with the mature goats comparable to a good, properly-aged Edam such as one sees so rarely.

There were more treats available, with lovely warmed sausages from Sillfield Farm near Kendal. Also featured were local Salt Marsh lamb (I have spoken about this before) and out-door reared pork sausages from the Forest of Bowland. (see food links below)

This occasion was not exclusively carnivorous as we had a fish course of the famous Morecambe Bay Shrimps. These were from James Baxter & Sons of Morecambe, who have been in working the Bay since 1799. They were delicious with the fresh and crusty bread provided.

And then more cheese – the centrepiece of the buffet was a huge Mrs Kirkham's Creamy Lancashire from Mrs Kirkham at the strikingly-named Goosenargh near Preston. I cannot even think of repeating how Goosenargh translates from the Polish – certainly not in a food column. The rich, complex taste belies the old heresy that Lancashire cheese is only good for toast or cooking. The supermarket plastic-wrapped stuff, maybe …
(see: http://www.thecheesedetective.com/tastetrail.html)

There was also pudding; yes, it was a complete meal. there was the famous Furness fare from Cartmel. Sticky Toffee Pudding (recently seen featured by Rick Stein on the BBC) needs no introduction, and was gorgeous served with Wallings' ice cream from Cockerham.

Whilst we were content to enjoy the complementary wines provided, we also ventured a tiny taste of the beer on offer. The aptly-named Shrimpers' Stout (ABV 4.7%) is a sturdy and rich brew from Bryson's Brewery in Heysham. I cannot understand why, apart from The Waterwitch and at the University bars, their range of beers is not regularly available more in the locality.

All in all, an excellent gourmet evening – a worthy celebration of local foods and drink. Space precludes praise of the excellent music which was provided by the grassroots from the PTFA. I gather too that the School benefited to the tune of some £400 – and why not. Their idea for the format of the evening was excellent, and one I hope to see repeated more often in Lancaster and the surrounding area. Again – and again.

Food links:
http://www.nw-fine-foods.co.uk/cgi-bin/nwff.pl?method=exact&search=Lancashire

http://www.cumbriaorganics.org/consumefood.htm

Copyright © 31 October 2003 Michael Nunn