nourish team The arrival of September marks a welcome return to roast dinners – surely one of the best meals of the week. Claire Hudson from Tavern Tasty Meats in Swafield shares her favourite things about the humble roast dinner.
Tavern Tasty Meats is a Norfolk butcher specialising in traditional breeds. We supply traditional breed meats and for over 30 years, we have been providing the community with local produce including meats, wines and spirits, cheeses, chutneys, vegetables, fruit – in fact, everything you could possibly need to feed your family!
A joint of meat can go a long way, making a great cold cuts dinner for Monday as well as sandwiches for the lunchbox the following day. We have a range of meats to suit the whole family, many of which are suitable for slow cooks; it is worth investing in a slow cooker as they use less electricity than an oven, plus it does its thing while you get on with your day.
Our beef comes from just two miles from our shop, a traditional Aberdeen Angus cross farmed by the same family for generations. We mature the beef for a minimum of 21 days and offer all the cuts you could want: topside, rolled sirloin, bone-in rib, silverside, all of which make amazing roasts. We also offer steaks and burgers for those making the most of alfresco dining, plus mince for the perfect cottage pie.
All our traditional breed pork comes from our own farm, and we have British Lops, Gloucester Old Spot, and Large Blacks. We use a slow outdoor rearing process, and our pork has a strong heritage, traceability, and an excellent ratio of muscle to fat. This all results in excellent pork, perfect for roasting and casseroling. Whether you want pork leg or shoulder, both make excellent crackling, as does pork belly. Our diced pork is perfect for slow-cooker casseroles, and we also offer gammon – perfect for ham sandwiches throughout the week!
As well as having our own pigs, we also have our own flock of Southdown Sheep in Smallburgh. The Southdown are a traditional British breed of domestic sheep, and the smallest of all the British breeds. Despite their size, they produce a high-quality smooth rich and flavoursome meat, perfect for shepherd’s pie as an easy midweek supper, and leg and shoulder roasted for the weekend. If you are planning a special event, one of our saddles of lamb, stuffed with fresh herbs and flavours, is a great choice. Diced lamb makes a wonderful tagine, and this is a very versatile and forgiving meat.
The welfare of our produce is at the very heart of our ethos. We stock barn reared chickens and cuts from both South Norfolk and Suffolk, including Sutton Hoo free range chicken, a traditional slow-growing breed that lives on the Suffolk meadows and is grown on average for 10 weeks – 25% longer than standard free-range chickens. We believe a roast chicken is a wonderful thing, and there is nothing better than a cold roast chicken sandwich the next day!
Of course, it’s not all about the roasting joints. We have over 12 flavours of sausages, all made in the butchery, and the meat is minced once, meaning they are as meaty as they possibly can be! Our award-winning Olde English sausage has won Battle of the Bangers twice, no small feat, and we also produce gluten-free and skinny sausages.
- If you’d like to know more, visit our website www.taverntasty.co.uk.
