Huge regional award for 'small but beautiful' food library in Northampton
On Cecil Road in the heart of Queens park there is a library of books dedicated to food & drink from which a kitchen garden, artisan preserves and liqueurs, monthly dining and self-sufficiency workshops stem. It is called The Food Library and is run by Northampton couple Michael Mayhew and Laura Elliott.
The Food Library has just been awarded the 2024 Muddy Stilettos Regional Award for "Best Local Food and Drink Producer".
Michael says "this is a huge accolade for us and a celebration of the local, the artisan, the sustainable, thanks to everyone that voted.
"Many hundreds of books inspire this company and our 'small but beautiful' approach proves you don't have to be a large food brand to win the hearts and minds of the public."
Laura says "we create food and drink with almost zero food miles. What we cannot grow we can source or forage locally and now Northamptonshire has voted for us we'd love to welcome more people to our dining clubs, foraging, fermenting workshops and to sample our delicious wares."
The Food Library creates an array of produce, employing the chemical free ingredients they grow. There's Award Winning Spicy Rhubarb Chutney, Raw Apple Chutney, Blackberry Rhubarb & Cardamom Liqueur, Pear Liqueur, Northampton Cassis … to name a few of the true flavours of the garden, creatively captured in the collection.
The Food Library also puts on a bespoke monthly Dining Club stated by one customer as "the best food I have eaten in years”.
Michael says "my fine dining menu is put together with combinations of the cultivated, the wild, the fermented, the pickled and the infused. It is utterly seasonal and is unique to every event. One customer said it was ''the most delicious, creative, and sustainable food (they had) eaten'".
Bringing A Library of Ideas To Life
To share the wisdom and experience found in the Food Library book collection they are literally offering 'food for thought' with ideas, skills, knowledge and practical insights into how to become more self sufficient, with their "How to" Workshops including foraging, fermenting, wild food, cooking with fire & how to grow food.
"See it as a re-introduction to our relationship with food & drink. We work with expert collaborators to literally take people back to our beginnings" says Elliott, "exploring the foods we don't eat but could, producing food and drinks straight out of the garden, surrounding parks and hedgerows, learning how to get the best nutrition and flavours out of vegetables, weeds, flowers, game.
"We believe small is beautiful...but this award is massive and fantastic! Please do come and see for yourself. Search The Food Library or visit https://food-library.co.uk"
Upcoming events with the Food Library….
June 15th - 'How to' Forage Workshop 10-2
June 16th - 'How to' Ferment Workshop 10-2
July 13th - 'How to' Cook with Fire Workshop - 10-4:30pm
July 20th - Dining Club - 5:30-10:45pm