Pork Pies, Stilton Cheese and much, much more...

Doomsday and beyond

Melton Mowbray has been a centre for trade and food since the construction of the massive Iron Age ring fortress near the town. Excavations of their villas show the local Romans appetite for exotic food. Melton on the Danelaw boundary, experienced the fusion of cultures and cuisines between Saxon Britain and Viking England. The market (Tuesdays), the third oldest recorded in the country, was registered in the 1085 Doomsday Book. The medieval wool trade paid for the building of the beautiful ‘mini cathedral’ of St Mary, one of the finest parish churches in the country. Near by is part of Henry VIII’s divorce settlement, called the Anne of Cleaves. Melton Mowbray flourished again in the 1800’s when it became the ‘Capital of Hunting’ visited by the aristocracy and royalty during the season. Edward VIII met Mrs Simpson in Melton.

Stilton – the King of Cheeses

The 1800’s also coincided with the expansion of the dairy industry. Though the exact origins of Stilton are much disputed, there is little doubt that by about 1730 its production was widespread in the Melton Mowbray area. Through family connections the cheese came to be sold at the Bell Inn in Stilton a small Cambridgeshire town on the Great North Road where it was taken by stage coach to London. Over one million Stilton Cheeses are eaten every year, more than all the other blue cheeses in the UK put together. White and Blue Stilton are now both protected under European law to Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. Seven producers are licensed to make the product. Besides Stilton, red Leicester cheese, Slipcote, a runny young cheese and Colwick, a soft white cheese also used to be made locally.

Melton Mowbray Pork Pies

Stilton whey fed a large pig population in the Melton area. Local bakers developed the edible hot crust pastry which is ‘raised’ to make the pie and filled with coarsely chopped pork, salt and pepper. Fresh pork, from pigs killed in the winter, the hunting season, is grey when cooked. The pies were bow shaped as they were baked free standing in the oven. They were filled with hot pig stock which jellified when cool filling all the spaces so that huntsmen could carry them riding without breaking. The pies were soon in hot demand in the London clubs. Protection for the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie is now set to be approved in October by the European Commission after legal battles in the High Court and Court of Appeal. An authentic Melton Mowbray is bow shaped, grey inside and made in the Melton Mowbray area.

Inventing Afternoon Tea and Painting the Town Red

The Melton area gave the country one of its most enduring traditions, Afternoon Tea. Anna, Duchess of Bedford was staying at the time with the Duke and Duchess of Rutland at Belvoir Castle. Tired of the long wait between lunch and dinner, she ordered for herself and her friends tea, sandwiches, buns and cake to be served at five o’clock sharp. When she later moved to London she took the custom with her and so a famous tradition was born. A less sober member of the aristocracy enhanced Melton’s reputation in a somewhat different manner. In 1837, the Irish Marquis of Waterford, drunk after a day at the local races, found a pot of red paint, and proceeded to daub all the buildings and even the toll keeper red, giving rise to the expression ‘painting the town red.’

Not just Cheese and Pies.

Melton is one of the smallest, most sparsely populated boroughs in England, stretching North to South from the Vale of Belvoir to High Leicestershire. Agriculture is still important including arable, sheep, beef, dairy, pork, poultry and the more unusual venison and bison. Nearby Robert Bakewell bred the famous ‘New Leicester Sheep’ and Longhorn cattle in the 1800’s. Lincolnshire, famous for vegetables, is less than ten miles away. Melton Mowbray (pop 26,000) on the River Eye, has a dozen bakeries, six butchers, 14 cafes, 16 restaurants, several takeaways, sausage shop, cheese shop and the famous Ye Olde Pork Pie Shoppe, visited by a quarter of a million people annually. Wymondham windmill grinds flour for local use. There are over a dozen farm shops in the Borough and four local microbreweries produce quality draft and bottled ales. Belvoir Cordials (elderflower) come from the Vale of Belvoir.


A Genius for Invention

Sir Issac Newton was born and raised at Woolsthorpe Manor just ten miles from Melton Mowbray. Melton’s genius however is with the invention of foods and not just Pork Pies and Stilton Cheese. Melton Hunt Beef is a dish of spiced beef made using a curing mixture of salt, spices, shallots and garlic. Melton Hunt Cake, a rich dark fruit cake decorated with almonds and glace cherries is served before hunts. The beautiful Vale of Belvoir, with its pretty honey-coloured stone villages rivalling the Cotswolds, gave rise to Belvoir Castle Buns, Belvoir Ginger Cake and Belvoir Lemon Pudding, not forgetting the Countess of Rutland’s Cake of 1658. Melton Curd Cakes lined the town’s streets on market days in the 1900’s. Plum Shuttles, lozenge-shaped buns, were given to lovers on February 14th and so are also called Valentine Day Buns.

Hospitality - the Gourmet Trail and ‘Melton Hunt Breakfast’

A famous painting, ‘The Melton Hunt Breakfast’ shows the aristocracy at table before riding out to the hunt. Hospitality and the rich abundance and quality of food characterise the numerous restaurants, hotels and pubs in the Melton area. This has now been formalised into a nationally promoted ‘Gourmet Trail’ offering the discerning visitor a guide to the best food and visitor experience in the area. Some 20 hotels and restaurants are listed within a ten mile radius of the town. Some such as Stapleford Park have international reputations, frequented by celebrities. Many grow much of their own produce or source it locally, not surprising given the wealth of quality food that is available in the area. Even the smallest B&B’s will usually offer a superb breakfast, though perhaps more humble than the Melton Breakfast, still made with local food.

Celebrating Melton’s Food Heritage – the Food Festival

Several festivals celebrate the town’s connections with food. The East Midlands Food and Drink Festival, organised by the Melton Mowbray Food Partnership, is held annually on the first weekend of October (6/7th for 2007 and 4/5th for 2008). With over 200 exhibitors it is the largest regional food festival in the country with a wide variety of food and drink on offer. In addition to celebrity chefs and other entertainment, the festival organises an exhibition on a theme connected with food. In 2007 the theme is “Making it Local” and in 2008 “Ethnic Diversity in Local Foods”. Children are encouraged with free entry and with an education day for over 1,000 school children. Other festivals include the Leicestershire Agricultural Show in May, the Country Fayre in June, the National Rare Breeds Show in September and the Victorian Fayre in December.

A Food Heritage Unrivalled in the Country

Melton Mowbray’s food heritage is unrivalled in the country. The town gave rise to two of the most iconic products of British Food; Melton Mowbray Pork Pies and Stilton Cheese. The tradition of Afternoon Tea was born in the Melton area. Our markets are amongst the oldest in the country. The Cattle Market founded by the Melton Mowbray Cattle Market Act of 1869 is one of the few successful livestock markets remaining. The sheep centre accommodating over 6,000 animals is the largest and most modern in the UK. Melton established one of the first farmers markets, visited by Prince Charles in 2000. We have an abundance and quality of local food unparalleled elsewhere. We have some of the finest hotels and restaurants in the region. Our food festival is the largest regional food festival in the country.

Melton Mowbray – Rural Capital of Food

People in Melton Mowbray are proud of the town’s food heritage. There are many reasons given above why Melton Mowbray is described as the UK’s ‘Rural Capital of Food’. New boundary signs celebrate this stating ‘Borough of Melton; Home of Stilton Cheese and Melton Mowbray Pork Pies’ and more recently town signs with ‘Welcome to Melton Mowbray – Rural Capital of Food’. As interest in food grows so do the number of visitors, 2 million at last count worth £65m to the local economy. A ‘Rural Food Centre’ is being developed to celebrate the link with food. Visitors will see pork pies, stilton cheese, beer, bread and others being made on a commercial basis. There will be with an exhibition area available for school and other visits. A restaurant and food hall will offer the food produced in the centre.