Taking a butchers at the best meat men in the land
IT’S A STORY OUR REPORTER JUST LOVED GETTING HIS TEETH INTO
THEY are seemingly something that no good town or village can do without.
Packed to the brim with fresh, local produce, butchers are often bastions of the community and have built a reputation over generations.
Owen Taylor and Sons, in Main Street in Leabrooks near Alfreton, is no different, and it has the awards cabinet to prove it, having recently added to its collection by winning the Meat Management magazine’s Catering Butcher of Year award for 2021.
It is the fourth time they have won the award, after beating off competition from the nation’s supermarkets to win the same accolade in 2016, 2017 and 2019.
So, what better way to test the quality of their produce than by heading down to try some for ourselves?
Richard Taylor, managing director of the butcher’s, began working at the family business set up by Owen, his grandfather, aged just seven. When his father died in his early fifties, he took over the business in 1992.
He said: “We just do a consistent quality, and service is second to none. We put ourselves out there for people and it pays dividends.
“We go through beef, pork, lamb, chicken, sausages, marinated products like duck breasts, lamb rumps, all sorts, bacon smoked and plain and we have packs for quick serving. We have barbecue packs when we need to, but we missed out a bit this year.”
A platter provided for this review consisted of the butcher’s own Huntsman pork pie, among several other items. The pie was an idea that came to Richard a few years ago. The whopping pie was filled with traditional pork topped with layers of moist chicken and well-seasoned stuffing, which was quite frankly delicious and very filling.
On the platter was also pastrami something I had never tried before which was wafer-thin and had a strong peppery punch - certainly something I will have again. The sausage rolls were apparently a firm favourite among the company’s loyal band of regulars, which include several businesses and schools, which frequently request them.
The moist pork was surrounded by some light puff pastry produced in the factory behind the shop - again beautifully seasoned with salt and pepper and I could see why it was a favourite.
Last but by no means least on this lovely platter was a mini cheese and caramelised onion quiche. Now, I’m a big fun of caramelised onions and their flavour, so these went down a treat, possibly even slightly too well.
I was left thoroughly impressed by the range of produce available too. Chatting to Richard, he detailed how they covered game, veal, venison, rabbit, duck, geese and several other products which were not visible behind the counter.
They also serve a selection of freshlybaked cakes, made by a local baker, and they bake their own bread, with Richard’s great-grandfather having been a miller.
They kindly gave me with one of their Huntsman pork pies, one of their Ploughman’s pies with pickle and cheese running through, and two
meat pies - one with lamb and mint and another with chicken, ham and leek - to take home to try.
Half of the Ploughman’s pie is gone at the time of writing - it tasted fantastic with a healthy dollop of HP sauce on the side and last night I tried the chicken, ham and leek pie.
I didn’t season it, wanting to taste its actual flavour, and in any case none was needed, having plenty of salt and pepper running through it while retaining the taste of the individual ingredients. It was clear to me that the quality of the food was well above what I was used to.
If you have a butcher near you, you may well be surprised at the quality of what they can offer - if it is anything like Owen Taylor and Sons I’m sure you won’t regret it.
The whopping pie was filled with traditional pork topped with layers of moist chicken and well-seasoned stuffing.