The Edstone Music Festival was the first outing of our ‘thislittlepiggywenttomarket’ van, and was also the first chance for the public to sample our home-reared pork. We’re happy to say it went down a treat! It wasn’t just the This Little Piggy food that went down well, we have to take our hats off to all the performers too, as the music was great.

Not only did we have our home-reared pork on the menu, but also lamb and game sausage that came from the Carlton Towers estate. We were serving food until around midnight, and we then provided the much needed bacon butties the next morning.

The ‘thislittlepiggywenttomarket’ food trailer will soon be wrapped in our ‘This Little Piggy’ design and is ready for more events!

Please contact us to enquire about catering for your event.

This will be the first time the public will be able to sample our home-reared pork, and we can’t wait to hear your verdict!

There will be an eclectic mix of music to suit all tastes, and the festival is very much a family affair. To find out more about the festival, the cause and how to purchase tickets, please visit the Edstone Festival website or their Facebook page.

…characteristic toffee-coloured coat blotted with black splodges…

In recent years, the number of Oxford Sandy and Blacks had declined significantly, so much so that the breed had come close to extinction. It was not until 1985 that a group of dedicated breeders founded the Oxford Sandy and Black Society to ensure that a herd book was kept and promote this historic breed’s wellbeing.

Known for their excellent temperament and mothering abilities, the Oxford Sandy and Blacks are natural foragers and less inclined to put on excess fat. Higher boned than other breeds, they produce a good ratio of meat to bone and are valued by breeders, as they produce not only excellent bacon and ham, but also memorable pork.

Find out more about this charming breed at www.oxfordsandypigs.co.uk.

The intention is to use the pork in classes at Cooks, with the rest for sale on the This Little Piggy Went to Market site and at a market stall in London. The first class is in May when we welcome back expert Master Butcher David Lishman with a one-day butchery Nose to Tail Class using Carlton’s exquisite pigs.

But for now these little delights seem very content snuffling around the walled garden at Carlton Towers and indeed, loving the lovely spring sunshine, when it does manage to peep through.

Read what The York Press has to say about us and the pigs

These handsome creatures very much represent a new exciting project at Cooks, the Carlton School of Food. Cooks is not just about cooking, but rather about the whole story of food from start to finish, how it is grown and produced, and how it is prepared and finally cooked. This historic breed of pigs, which are known to be natural foragers, are an ideal addition to Carlton Towers estate. With acres of woodland for the Oxford Sandy and Blacks to roam freely around, Carlton is the perfect backdrop for these exquisite pigs favoured by many for their lean memorable pork and excellent quality bacon and ham.

Rearing animals and growing our own produce has been the missing piece of the puzzle in the plan to use Carlton Towers estate to its full potential. Carlton’s grand state rooms have long been the ideal venue for dream weddings and memorable special events. More recently, in May 2014, the servants’ passage and kitchen were returned to their former glory, now housing Cooks, the Carlton School of Food. Cooks classes run regularly with a wide range of cuisines and cooking styles to suit everyone’s culinary taste, age and cooking skills. But be sure to keep an eye for the courses with Carlton’s own porkers.

The Oxford Sandy and Blacks were the obvious breed of choice…

The Oxford Sandy and Blacks were the obvious breed of choice in the plan to turn Cooks into an academy of food, in which to learn every step in process of creating the delicious dishes we love to eat. Not only do they produce excellent bacon, lean ham and pork, but the historic breed are great foragers, too. These little piggies are currently working hard fertilising the land in the previously unused walled garden, which will be used to plant our own vegetables and eventually hops for The Carlton Towers Brewery.

Apart from the plan to use the pork for Cooks courses -the first samples of the scrumptious home-reared pork went down a treat- our This Little Piggy Went To Market van will be making an appearance at local festivals and events, which will give the public a chance to sample some of this delicious home-reared pork.

Master butcher David Lishman is also excited about this new addition at Carlton Towers. Together with our resident chef Richard Walton-Allen, David ran the first ‘Carlton Porkers’ cookery class at Cooks with our first batch of home-reared pork. There is also going to be a ‘Park to Plate’ arrangement with David Lishman, as the meat form our pigs will be excellent for his traditional curing butchery classes.

So what are the next plans for these charming Oxford Sandy and Blacks?

Soon they will be moved to Carlton’s woodlands where they will roam and forage freely in a perfectly natural way. And there are plans that these characterful pigs will one day snuffle for truffles around truffle-infused oak trees- Lord Gerald received one as a present from daughter Flossy for Christmas. Watch this space.

This Little Piggy Went To Market
Carlton Towers
Carlton, Yorkshire
DN14 9LZ

01405 861662

info@thislittlepiggywenttomarket.co.uk

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