Gourmet food at the Brinkburn Music Festival

Jun 27 2008 by Jane Hall, The Journal

If music be the food of love, then why not combine them? Brinkburn Music Festival is doing just that, with concert-goers this year being offered a menu of gourmet Northumberland delights. Jane Hall reports.

FOOD and music have had a long love affair. How many pop tunes can you name with food in the title?

Don McLean’s American Pie, The Archies’ Sugar Sugar, Aerosmith’s Taste of India, The Beatles’ Strawberry Fields and Peaches by Presidents of the United States of America, are just some of the latter-day hits that spring to mind.

Long before Herb Alpert reached number one with a Taste of Honey from his 1965 album Whipped Cream and Other Delights, composers had been celebrating the link between music and our tastebuds.

Berlioz’s Damnation of Faust, Hahn’s Ciboulette, Puccini’s Tosca and Offenbach’s La Pericole, all rely heavily on eating and drinking to advance their operatic plots.

Meanwhile, who can forget Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite and the Sugar Plum Fairy, Schubert’s The Trout and Handel’s Alexander’s Feast?

With such impressive antecedents, few would deny that good music and great food make an exhilarating combination. It’s an intoxicating mixture that Brinkburn Music Festival has capitalised on during its 15 years in existence, offering spectators everything from picnics to a full sit-down silver service menu.

But visitors to the annual classical music concerts held over two weekends in the picturesque surroundings of Brinkburn Priory, on the banks of the River Coquet near Rothbury, are in for an extra-special treat this year when the festival gets under way next Friday.

For aside from a top-class musical programme featuring the likes of pianist Joanna MacGregor playing a selection of American-inspired jazz and blues classics to mark Independence Day on the opening evening, the best Northumberland fare is also going to be on the menu.

From roast sirloin courtesy of Steve Ramshaw’s Northumbrian Quality Meats at West Woodburn, to in-season vegetables from Nick Craigs of Tritlington Fresh Produce near Morpeth and local cheeses from Wooler-based Doddington Dairy, festival-goers will hopefully be shouting “Brava! Bravissima!” for more than the music when the Pavel Haas Quartet play the last note of this year’s event on Sunday, July 13.

Brinkburn Music Festival has a history of supporting the Northumberland economy, using marquee and sound equipment companies based in the county to directing visitors from outside the region to local hotels and bed and breakfasts.

But putting on a culinary performance that champions Northumberland’s quality producers, has proved more of a predicament for organisers, not least because the site doesn’t lend itself to catering on a mass scale with no fresh running water and problems with electricity supplies.

The festival’s general manager, Jane Blackburn, remembers well the early attempts to feed and water musicians, ticket-holders and back-stage staff alike. Jane, now on her 13th festival in charge, says: “Food and music certainly didn’t go together in the early years. When I took Brinkburn over there was no food at all, it was just about the music.

“But I was worried that people might be coming along straight from the office and would have had nothing to eat, so I used to drive into Rothbury and buy a big bag of cakes. It was local, but not very luxurious.

“But the thing about Brinkburn is that once you get here, you leave behind your normal busy, pre- occupied life and enter a world of tranquillity and harmony that is complemented by the music. And the natural accompaniment to all that is good food.

“We had always wanted to work with Northumberland producers, and in the early days we brought on board Mark Robertson of the Northumberland Cheese Company. That worked very well and set the standard for local producers. But it is very exacting doing food here with long days and no amenities – you have to bring your own water – so the Northumberland Cheese Company reluctantly gave it up. We then got a Newcastle-based firm in to do the catering, but they are very busy over the summer. We were left in a bit of a quandary as firstly I believe hospitality is an important part of the festival, and secondly so is local food.

“Brinkburn is not about being the Glyndebourne of the North East where you put on black ties, quaff champagne and eat strawberries and cream and pay a fortune for it. Brinkburn is Barbour country and we do things our own way here. The festival is about showcasing the best Northumberland has to offer in a calm and relaxed manner; it’s about fantastic music and wearing wellies or sandals and a T-shirt – Brinkburn seems to have its own micro-climate as the sun always shines during the festival.”

Step forward Alnwick-based chef Richard Sim to save the day. His buffet and afternoon tea menu, including daily vegetarian options, uses ingredients that reads like a who’s who of quality Northumber- land producers.

Ham, pork and chicken is coming from the Blagdon estate, smoked salmon from Swallow Fish of Seahouses, asparagus from St Coombs Farm on Holy Island and cream and milk from Northumbrian Pedigree at Slaley.

The only out-of-county concession he has made is taking bread and cakes from the Cafe Royal Bakery in Newcastle.

As consultant chef for the Made in Northumberland (MiN) project, set up to showcase the county’s home-grown food and cultural projects, Richard has no qualms about opening people’s minds to the quality in-season produce available between the Rivers Tweed and Tyne.

“Local produce is something I have always advocated and tried to do. And as a chef it gives you great scope to have local produce on the menu.”

Richard is working on behalf of MiN, the first time the project set up by Northumberland Tourism just over 12 months ago, has been involved in an outside catering event.

He is keen to explain that MiN has no desire to set itself up as an outside catering firm, but says: “We see this as a trial to see if this sort of offering can be made for other events.

“We see this event as a great chance to promote Northumberland both inside and outside the region.”

Nearly 3,000 people are expected to attend the nine concerts in the Brinkburn Festival programme on the weekends of July 4-6 and July 11-13.

Richard has opted for a buffet to reflect Brinkburn’s laid-back atmosphere. “Because Brinkburn is such a nice place, people relax and time there shoots past. Festival-goers want to see friends and to have a drink, but to do a sit-down meal is very formal. A buffet is more easygoing.”

Jane, who also works as cultural and tourism manager for Northumberland Strategic Partnership and as the marketing and development co-ordinator for Northumberland Music Festivals dealing with all such events in the county, says this year’s food offering at Brinkburn will be the “most comprehensive local menu we have ever had. It is about us putting money back into the local economy in as many ways as we can.”

Richard adds: “The customer who comes to Brinkburn is the sort of person who will put extra effort into finding local food. They will shop at R Green and Son the butcher’s in Longframlington and David Carr, who runs the village store. This is our chance to show people how good the local beef and salmon is.”

Jane nods her head in agreement. “The Brinkburn Music Festival has always been about bringing the best of the world of music to Northumberland, now we are bringing the best of Northumberland to the rest of the world.”

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