One of the delights of living in the English countryside is the annual Agricultural Show, and, since moving to West Dorset a dozen years ago, I eagerly look forward to Melplash, which has to be one of the best. In fact even the King has recognised it as such, giving the show the King’s Award for Voluntary Service in 2023. Indeed one of the most impressive things about the show is the amount of organisation involved – mostly by volunteers. And all of them cheerful.
The show has something for everyone, so much so that it’s hard to fit it seeing it all in one day.
Although I always attend, I haven’t actually entered a horticultural or agricultural show since I was a child. But this year, I did. I’d forgotten how much fun it is! Setting up beforehand, watching everyone else get ready; contestants carefully arranging the petals on their dahlias, and snipping stray foliage off fruit and vegetables, you can sense the anxiety!
I don’t have any giant onions, but last year our fragrant and floriferous rose bush inspired me to try making a rose petal wine. On opening a bottle I thought the result was rather acceptable – a beautiful colour and slightly frizzante. So much so that I decided to enter it into the ‘Flower Wine’ class – and to my utter amazement it won First Prize – beating the local trophy winner of many years! What fun. I doubt I’ll be able to do it again, but I can heartily recommend entering – the novice classes especially are not daunting. And of course it is encouraging to get recognition – however small – as it gives you confidence, and drives you to do better. But most of all it is enjoyable, and supports the show.
The Cookery theatre hosted top notch chefs and demos all day, so it was impossible to see them all if you wanted to also see some of the other country pursuits: the Grand Parade of prize-winning animals in the main arena, proudly displaying their prizewinning rosettes; the goats in the goat tent (enchanting); horse and pony showing and show jumping; or The Kings Troop Royal Horse Artillery; or The Sheep Show (all about sheep and wool); or see a demonstration of dry stone walling, or hedge laying; or thatching….to name just a few.
A particularly poignant cookery demonstration this year was from Sarah and Sanjay Choudhury, from the Taj Mahal, who were demonstrating in place of their beloved mother Helen, who sadly died earlier this year. Helen was such a regular at the Melplash and Bridport Food Festival Shows, that it was hardly believable she is no longer with us. But Sarah and Sanjay did her proud, as evidenced by the crowd eagerly lining up to taste what they had made.
The last demo was from Gelf Alderson of River Cottage fame, a champion of locally produced food, and one of the first chefs in the UK to win a Green Michelin Star. Gelf prepared some dishes from his book River Cottage Great Salads, which were inspiring. Demonstrating his belief in ‘no waste’, Gelf showed us how to use all of a cauliflower, including the outer leaves (chopped finely) – which was then roasted in (locally produced) rapeseed oil, “never let a cauliflower go near water – it soaks it up”; finally it was dressed with a satay sauce made using, not peanut butter, but locally produced hazel nut butter – what a great idea. Sadly, until ‘global warming’ really takes off here in Dorset, the coconut milk in the satay has to be imported from warmer climes. Panzanella was another use of left overs – an Italian style salad which includes stale bread. I loved the way Gelf uses salt freely, explaining that “chefs want their food to taste good” – and that is what salt does to food of course.
In the (beautifully photographed) book there is a recipe for a quick kimchee style ferment – a cross between sauerkraut and kimchee, using white cabbage, carrot and apple, which is very sound: good simple instructions and easy to do for fermentation novices; and a recipe for Orange, Kimchee and Seaweed dressing, which I will definitely try. And Beetroot with Tamari Soy Sauce and Sesame Seeds…..
There was just time, before returning to the produce tent to pick up my entries, for a final stroll around the food tent, stopping off to taste some delicious truffle cheddar and engage in some deep and meaningful conversation with Jack from Godminster Cheese; a quick swig of Dorset Nectar Cider, and to drop by the Isle of Wight Garlic stand to pick up my annual pot of Garlic Fertilizer and some bulbs for autumn planting.
With so much to see and do I had to put off watching the ferret racing again – it’ll have to be next year!
By Shirley Booth Moore
