Where are the bits on the side?

Lush pasture, cows lowing through a summer sunset as they amble to the farm to be milked. A quintessentially Kent scene? That’s what I thought too until I had a conversation with Jane at Dargate cheesemakers about Kent butter.

Following tips from emailers, etc, I phoned Jane and subsequently picked up some locally made, delicious, unsalted and hugely buttery butter from Dargate. The phone call was fascinating, Jane giving me a low-down on why she thinks there isn’t a supply of Kent butter, despite her believing there is a demand for it.

Essentially, the problem is . . .  not enough cows! The number of dairy herds in the county has declined and this means there isn’t a steady supply of cream for butter-making - there is a strong, summertime seasonal demand for cream and this diverts off supplies that could otherwise be used for butter.

As supply is intermittent it isn’t a viable proposition to buy automated butter-making kit, so any made is produced by hand, hence supply is small, occasional and relatively expensive.

So, don’t all rush to the dairy!

Lesson No. 3 – while it is becoming evident that buying day-to-day Kent products is fairly easy, often good quality and often good value for money, it’s the bits around the subject, and, indeed, on the side of the plate, that are tricky to find and expensive, for example, have you ever come across Kent mustard?

I’m adding Shepherd Neame (I had one of their enticing elixirs last night, bliss), Quex Farm (rape-seed oil, good for cooking), Perry Court Farm (Kent flour) and Barkaway’s (Kent bacon, amongst other things) to my list of those on the side of the food angels.