Pearce's Farmshop and Cafe » News

Chilli Tasting, Sat 18th May, 11am-3pm

Aidan — Fri, 18 May 2012 16:23:44 +0000

Do join us tomorrow and try some authentic chillies. Ben from Capsicana is going to be cooking a number of dishes with different chillies for you to taste and appreciate their wonderful flavours as well as discuss how you can use some of the huge variety available. He’ll be with us from 11.00am – 3.00pm, – the chillies are not all hot!

We are still open despite road…

Aidan — Thu, 17 May 2012 09:28:51 +0000

We are still open despite road closure of A10.

Caterer & Hotelkeeper – May 2012

Aidan — Tue, 15 May 2012 16:11:06 +0000

Source: Caterer and Hotel Keeper

Pearces’ in the National News

Aidan — Sat, 12 May 2012 16:57:14 +0000

We’re delighted that the Telegraph has featured the Café in the magazine today – hope you’ll be able to pop in soon too and enjoy a cup of coffee or one of our chef’s home-cooked special dishes for lunch.

The first of our own asparagus is now being cut– despite the weather, though I mustn’t talk about that too much as I expect you are as fed up with it as we are – it’s certainly delaying our strawberries by a couple of weeks but the plants will be stronger for it and will produce good tasting fruit. We are also enjoying local rhubarb and the beginning of the stoned fruit such as nectarines and cherries.

Gardeners will be pleased to know that our stock of bedding plants has arrived and Jenny, our garden expert has selected a colourful wide variety for pots, beds and hanging baskets; from begonias, sweet peas, fuschias, geraniums, hostas, alstroemeria and delphiniums as well as a range of potted herbs and if you also enjoying growing your own veg, there’s tomato plants, courgette, runner beans, chillies and rhubarb – plenty of compost too.

If you are partial to eating crisps occasionally have you tried Corkers, yet? Made from spuds grown in the rich fenland soil of Cambridgeshire, with no artificial flavours or preservatives, they are delicious.

With the Queen’s Jubilee looming, celebrate the event with one our inspiring gifts in patriotic colours from luxury tins of biscuits, praline covered chocolates and Belvoir summer celebration punch and do check out the funky shopper bags – they somehow pack away into a tiny strawberry shape – cute!

Telegraph – 12-5-2012

Aidan — Sat, 12 May 2012 16:43:45 +0000

April Showers, May Flowers – May Newsletter

Aidan — Thu, 03 May 2012 18:43:27 +0000

Hello

On the Farm

April Showers, May Flowers – well we can hope there will be some truth in the old adage. The crops are certainly benefitting from this wonderful rain but some more sun and warmth will really benefit our asparagus and in a few weeks the strawberries will too. May though does see the arrival of some our most wonderful indigenous British produce and there’s probably not much that can beat the British asparagus.

Although it has very short season, only 6 -8 weeks, when it is growing it is unstoppable – cut it in the morning and by sunset another spear has appeared. Do make the most of this wonderful Spring vegetable. It is delicate and tender and should be treated carefully when cooking so as not to crush the beautiful tips, but it is so delicious, sweet, full of flavour and versatile.
Fresh tender asparagus can be served raw, use a vegetable peeler to cut thin shavings into a salad with vinaigrette dressing, or dip whole into aioli sauce; cook in boiling water until just done and serve with melted butter or a Hollandaise sauce, we do have jars in the shop; it also goes well with chopped egg and pasta with shellfish and David’s favourite way is chargrilled with wild mushrooms in a tart.

In the Café

With the change in seasons our chefs are creatively putting the final touches to our new menu for the café which should be ready by the middle of May. We are also going to include Tapas and make the most of the pick and mix items from the Olive Bar, such as olives, seafood, stuffed bell pumpkins and the Purely range that we stock in the shop. This range which is home made by a local team of young chefs in Suffolk is really tasty and includes pesto, hummus, taramasalata and guacomole.

In the Shop

Chilli Tasting – 19 May

If you enjoy cooking Mexican food, come and try one of Ben’s chillies. He owns Capsicana and is really keen for us to share his enthusiasm and appreciate the huge variety of shapes, size, colours and most importantly flavours of the authentic chilli and to enjoy them.

He’ll be with us from 11.00am – 4.00pm, do come and try – they are not all hot!

Cheese for May

We are featuring four cheeses this month which are all new to the Shop.

The Blacksticks Blue, a unique soft blue veined cheese handmade by Butlers, a Lancashire dairy. It has a distinctive amber hue obtained from Annatto, a natural product of a South American shrub. It has a creamy smooth taste with a ‘blue’ bite.
Kirkham’s Lancashire, a traditional crumbly moist Lancashire made by a family firm – it makes a connoisseurs cheese on toast as it bubbles rather than melts.
Old Amsterdam is an aged Gouda with a smooth texture and rich robust taste. It does not have the dry salty properties of an ordinary Gouda though but a rich flavour and easy to slice.
Saint Nectaire, an historic cheese from the Auvergne region of France, that has a silky texture and delicate taste of hazelnuts and mushrooms.

We will be open on Bank Holiday Monday 7 May from 9.00am – 5.00pm

The Pearces

May Cheese Board

Aidan — Tue, 01 May 2012 17:27:23 +0000

These Include:

Blacksticks Blue,

Old Amsterdam,

Kirkhams Lancashire and Saint Nectaire.

All of these cheeses above have 25% off for the month of May.

Look out for the Red Circle in the shop.

Latest updates

Aidan — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 21:51:31 +0000

Well this weather is certainly making the crops grow and the grass is lush and green so at least the cows you see in the fields from the café are happy. We have though had just enough sun and warmth to bring on our own asparagus and are looking forward to picking and selling it in the Shop next week. The British asparagus is the best in the world and although it has a very short growing season, only 6 – 8 weeks, it really is worth looking out for its freshness and unbeatable flavour.

Have you come across ‘nduja yet, the chilli-spiced spreadable pork sausage from Calabria that is being talked about as the greatest Italian food discovery since mozzarella. It doesn’t look great but thinly spread on toast or used as a base for stew, soup or in a pasta dish it spreads its rich flavour and tingling spiciness in such a way that you’ll be wanting more.
A speciality authentic food from the toe of Italy where artisan farmers allow their pigs to forage in chestnut woods in the autumn and give them roots and veg for the rest of the year to produce a wonderful lean meat. ‘Nduja is made from the throat meat and fat, chopped finely and combined with salt and peperoncino, also grown in Calabria and gives it the red colouring. The paste is piped into hemp casing by hand and then cured. Do give it a try and tell us what you think.

Pearces On the 6 o’clock News

Aidan — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 07:02:06 +0000

Some of you may have spotted that Pearces’ Farmshop appeared on ITV’s Anglia News on Thursday night. Anglia chose us as a location to film for the story that traditional varieties of fruit and veg could be more nutritious than their modern counterparts. They spoke to a number of our customers about their views – we were pleased to note that you have all known this fact for years!

Ben our charming cheeseman will be with us on Saturday 21 April giving you an opportunity to taste some of our great British cheeses. Some of you may have already met Ben and appreciate that his knowledge on all things cheese is phenomenal. The cheeses available to try will include the Cornish Yarg, Wensleydale with Cranberry, Rosary Goat and a nod to one of our lovely continental cheese, a Brie de Meaux. Do stop and have a chat to Ben from 10.30am

The first of the Cornish Earlies – new potatoes – have arrived – a real sign that Spring is finally on its way. For those of you who really love their spuds, these small, but oh so sweet new potatoes grown on home soil are truly delicious. Enjoy them just washed and boiled in salted water for 7 – 15 minutes depending on size, drain and toss in a knob of melted butter, some chervil leaves, lemon zest and seasoning.

If you enjoy cooking Mexican food, do try the Capsicana range of chillies that we now have in stock. Ben, (another one!) who is based in nearby Hitchin has been eating spicy hot food since he was a child and it was this obsession with the huge variety of shapes, size, colours and most importantly flavours that led him to setting up Capsicana so we can all enjoy the authentic chilli and dispel the myth that they are only about heat.

We were delighted to see so many of you in the Café over the Easter weekend – thank you for your support, we were sorry though that we were just not able to squeeze some of you in but do hope you’ll come back and visit us soon.

Finally, some of you may know my dog, Beanie – well I think her photographic appearances have got to her this week, not only did she get lost for a few hours down the back of the hay bales, but she has been establishing her own Hall of Fame and laying down her mark, well pad, by trotting all over the newly laid wet concrete!

Enjoy Eating Alfresco

Aidan — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 15:21:12 +0000

We are delighted that our outdoor furniture for the terrace has arrived in time for you to enjoy this beautiful warm sunshine – it feels almost Mediterranean sitting out there and tucking in to one of our chef’s inspired dishes such as the salmon, cod and mussel risotto served with homemade scampi and olive and tomato dressing.

Our planting programme too is benefitting from this weather with nearly half the strawberry plants now in – some 22,000 and we are also planting more raspberries; this year we are trying the himbo top variety, distinctive for their bright red fruit, bursting with flavour and size – they are huge!

As the days get longer and the sun is warmer, it’s so exciting to see the arrival of our wonderful British produce in the Shop including the first English asparagus, glasshouse grown but so delicious and very special. Our chefs have already snaffled some for their daily specials menu with dishes like New season English asparagus with hummus, home made pickled quail eggs, Melba toast and chive aioli.

We’ve introduced a few changes to the Café menu with breakfast, for example now offering bacon or sausage sandwich and eggs Benedict on an English muffin with smoked salmon or honey roast ham.

Hadley’s of Essex will be with us this Saturday 31 March to give you an opportunity to taste their home made Farmer Bill’s ice-cream. Totally free from artificial preservatives and stabilisers it is truly delicious. Do please come and try the range of flavours and tell us which is your favourite.

Our chefs are busy baking in the kitchen for Easter and will have a mouth watering selection of cakes and biscuits ready for the weekend. They are also planning a choice of delicious fish dishes for Good Friday and two traditional roasts for Easter Monday. Please note we are closed Easter Sunday.

Many congratulations to Elliot who, in spite of working hard in the café, still had the energy to run the Eastbourne marathon on Saturday and arrived smiling for work on Sunday – well done!

Easter Opening Hours:

Good Friday, 6 April 8.30 – 5.30
Easter Saturday, 7 April 8.30 – 5.00
Easter Sunday – CLOSED
Easter Monday, 9 April 8.30 – 5.00