One of the most beautiful aspects of a relationship is the sharing of food and food experiences, which ultimately influence each other’s day-to-day food habits. I know I’ve influenced Mikee’s eating habits with my Vietnamese heritage by introducing rice as a regularly enjoyed ingredient in our household and he has also influenced and enriched my foodie life by introducing the vast, versatile and wonderful world of British chutney to me. We eat chutney almost as regularly as we eat rice (mainly as a pre-dinner snack with cheese and crackers) and I admittedly have grown to really love the flavour of sweet, caramelised fruits combined with the bitey, earthiness of cheese and crackers. The perfect snack to whet your appetite for what’s to come!

So you can imagine what we had to buy on our recent trip to England to spend Christmas with Mikee’s family ”“ chutney, and lots of it. Lucky for us, Nicki and Paul took us just over the border to North Wales to the Hawarden Estate Farm Shop, or ”˜chutneyland’ as one could probably describe it. I might just be green to chutney shopping, but this shop had a literal wall full of every gourmet chutney flavour you could ever dream up. Being quite overwhelmed by the choice of chutney, I left the decision making to Mikee (the chutney expert) who ended up choosing these:

Aside from the amazing selection of chutneys, I thought the Hawarden Estate Farm Shop was a store worthy of mention. A great shop selling the best food produced on-site, or sourced in and around North Wales and neighbouring Cheshire. The store even has a small cafe where you can enjoy a relaxing cup of tea and choose from the many home-style cakes ”“ a kind of boutique English version of Eataly NY.

I could’ve been wooed by the rustic farmhouse style merchandising, but the fresh produce was some of the best I’ve seen… There’s something very romantic about seeing deep orange carrots still covered in dirt and festive green Brussels sprouts still on their stalks. The British often get a bad rap for their increasingly poor food habits but we easily forget about the population of Brits who are really dedicated to sustainably farmed, organic, quality produce and keep great shops like this one open ”“ I have them (and Nicki & Paul!) to thank for all the Chutneys I am about to enjoy!

Hawarden Estate Farm Shop
Chester Road
Hawarden
Flintshire CH5 3FB
United Kingdom
http://hawardenestate.co.uk/

Share this