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Our Local Food - Food and
Drink produced locally Ceredigion is a land of low hills, tumbling rivers and
fertile valleys. Unsuited to mass arable faming, its many small farms
have specialised in cattle and sheep farming and in recent years many have diversified
to produce a wide variety of local specialties. This has been encouraged
by a massive rise in tourism in the area over the last few years and the
growth of the internet, which has brought about cost effective and wide
reaching advertising for the small producer.
In a recent list Ceredigion was named the top UK destination for good quality food following UKTV
Food's Local Food Heroes report.
The study looked at locations all over Britain to find out which areas made the best use of their local, traditional ingredients.
Aberaeron is right in the middle of coastal Ceredigion
and hosts the well known Cardigan Bay Seafood Festival each year. With
prize winning meats, honey ice cream , the famous Welsh Mustard, local
cheeses, organic vegetables, local seafood and dairy produce, Aberaeron is at the centre of Ceredigion's award winning
food and drink industry with many producers just a few miles
from the town.
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Seafood - Aberaeron has always been famous for
seafood. In 1833 Samuel Lewis wrote: ' 'There is also a lucrative
herring fishery, in which about thirty boats, with seven men to
each'. He also wrote: 'Fish of very superior quality is found in abundance on this part of the coast, soles, turbots, and oysters, being taken in great numbers during the season.
Fish of superior quality - as well as crabs and
lobsters are still fished locally, and sold in Aberaeron in season
at 'Fish on the Quay' - shown on the right, and also at the Jenkins'
fresh fish stall outside the Town Hall. |
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Country Markets - There are a large number
of small fruit and vegetable producers locally, many of which sell
their produce at the weekly Country Markets, including the Aberaeron
Country Market on Tuesday mornings in Alban Square, the larger New
Quay Country Market held on Friday mornings in the New Quay Memorial
Hall and the monthly Farmer's Markets held in Aberaeron on the first
Saturday of the month from May to September. The photo on
the left is the fruit and vegetable table at the New Quay Country
Market.
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Penlon Cottage Brewery at
Llanarth produces a range of beers, all of which are bottle
conditioned and matured to develop the flavours typical of this
traditional brewing technique. They are unfiltered, unpasteurised
and are vegan friendly. Their beers include: Ewes Frolic Lager, Lambs Gold Light Ale, Stock Ram Stout
and Tipsy Tup Pale Ale
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The Welsh Mustard Company was founded by two
local businessmen from Aberaeron, Tom Williams and Owain Peckover.
The Company is now expanding across the U.K. and has recently added
two new products to its range, an Apple Sauce and creamy Horseradish
Sauce. Based on an old Celtic reference to “meat
spiced with mustard seed and mead” The Welsh Mustard contains 42%
honey - the ingredient from which Mead is produced.
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Local Water - In rural
Ceredigion, many farms and country properties have no access to
mains water and get their supplies from bore holes or springs. The
water falls as rain on the hills and mountains and is not polluted
by industry or intensive arable agriculture as in much of the UK.
Ty Nant at Bethania, just a few miles from Aberaeron has
recognised this and now produces a bottled water from ancient rocks
deep below the Ceredigion countryside that is exported worldwide and
sold in some of the best restaurants in the UK. |
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The New Quay Honey Farm produces a
variety of products based on their honey. These include health
products such as pollen from the bees, honey with royal jelly and
pollen enriched honey. Chutneys and preserves include apple, ginger
and honey chutney and honey and mead mustard. They also produce mead
(shown on left). |
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