To find an organic box scheme in your area use the Times Organic Box Finder

Following the model of Bristol’s regular Slow Food Market, Exeter is the second Slow Food Market to be set up in Britain and encapsulates everything that is good about Devon – produce from the rolling hills, fertile red soils, the moors and the stunning coast which still has abundant stocks of fish and shellfish – despite reports to the contrary – including Dartmouth and Brixham crab and the special but not so prolific Clovelly Herring, only available for a short season in late autumn, but well worth seeking out.

On the third Saturday of each month - though not in winter - on Exeter’s Quay you will find the likes of Emma’s Bread, artisan sourdough and rye breads, lovingly made in small batches, and organic fruit and vegetables from Martin Bragg at nearby Shillingford Organics. Then there is honey produced on the edge of Dartmoor, smoked fish from Tracey Mill near Honiton, and goat's cheeses from Dave Johnson of Norsworthy Dairy Goats, made just outside Crediton in mid-Devon.

At this time of year heather-fed lamb from Dartmoor is in season, along with deeply coloured and intensely flavoured mutton from Exmoor. Beef comes from the county’s two traditional beef breeds, South Devon and the Devon (also known as red rubies because of their deep red coats), both of which produce tender marbled beef.

Expert View

I can remember a time when using herbs was considered adventurous in Irish cooking

Darina Allen

• More

• Post a comment

Related Links

• Good food miles

• Seasonal seafood

The county is spoilt, too, with a high number of independent butchers who know the farms where the animals are raised, the breeds and sometimes even the fields where they have grazed.

Try Pipers Farm in Exeter, which also sells by mail order and works with a dedicated network of producers around the county to secure regular supplies of top quality beef, lamb, venison, pork and poultry. Complete Meats, in Axminster and Honiton is legendary for its prize-winning sausages, and then there’s Anne Petch at Heal Farm in North Devon.

Tucked away in the far north of the county, Anne started a pioneering mail-order business in the late 1980s and has never looked back. Starting first with speciality pork from traditional rare breeds, she went on to build a range of other meat products and now supplies everything from hot smoked lamb to gourmet ready meals and hand-raised pies, most made on site in her purpose-built kitchens.

Once in Devon you quickly come to appreciate the county’s rich dairy tradition. There are dozens of artisan cheeses from ewes’ milk and goats and even buffalo mozzarella. My last, very approximate, count revealed 60 cheeses, from cheesemakers of all sizes and scale.

Quicke’s Traditional have been producing some of the best Cheddar outside Somerset for decades – it is regularly exported to France, Australia and America. Then there’s Rachel Stephens at Curworthy, who has quietly beavered away on the north side of Dartmoor for longer than she cares to remember. Further south is Robin Congdon, now making only three outstanding blue cheeses – Devon Blue (cows' milk), Harbourne Blue (goats' milk) and Beenleigh Blue (ewes' milk), which matches the best that Roquefort can produce.

The easiest way to find most of these cheeses is to make your way to Country Cheeses. Based in Tavistock, with branches in Topsham and Totnes, Elise and Gary Jungheim specialise in selling almost exclusively West Country cheeses.

If eating out is the way you want to enjoy Devon’s food, the county has several Michelin-starred restaurants, starting at the top with the two-starred Gidleigh Park, where Michael Caines still reigns supreme in the kitchens. Then there’s the New Angel in Dartmouth, the Masons Arms in Knowstone and The Elephant in Torquay. Equally good but without the Michelin fancy furbelows are The Harris Arms near the Cornish border at Portgate, the Dartmoor Inn at Lydford and the Jack in the Green at Rockbeare. If food with art is your fancy then try Damien Hurst’s The Quay in Ilfracombe.

Slow Food Devon is fortunate in having such a wealth of top-quality food producers to work with chefs who appreciate the range of local ingredients available to them. Many are building special relationships with small growers and producers and promoting the fact. They really are following the Buy Local principle rather than just paying lip service to it.

If this whistle-stop tour of the county has whetted your appetite then there are also plenty of good wines to accompany the food. Devon has several vineyards producing some award-winning wines, including Pebblebed Wines, near Topsham and the Yearlstone Vineyard overlooking the River Exe in Mid Devon. Further south, Sharpham has stunning wines, wonderful views over the River Dart and makes excellent cheeses.

And in this part of the world you cannot forget cider and apple juice. Traditional cider makers have been joined by newer businesses recognising the growing demand for good, clean cider and sharp, refreshing juices. One of the newest is RealDrink, a company that specialises in taking apples from small orchards from close to its base at Stoke Gabriel in South Devon. The result is a range of ciders and apple juices all identified by their specific locations – a drink with real provenance. The company also makes a sparkling cider using the Normandy cidre bouchée method and elderflower cordial.

In November Slow Food Devon is holding a Thanksgiving Dinner, working with the University of Plymouth’s catering and hospitality department. It seems appropriate to enjoy this traditional event not far from the Mayflower Steps, from where the Pilgrim Fathers departed for Massachusetts in 1620. It will follow the American custom of asking guests bringing a pie to share for dessert.

Carol Trewin is Food Editor at the Western Morning News

For more information see Slow Food Devon or call Fred Dudbridge, Acting Slow Food Devon leader, 07708 371862.

For the best local produce in your area visit the Times Real Food Directory

Explore Food & Drink

• Gordon Ramsay

• Heston Blumenthal

• Recipes

• Wine

• Real Food

• Anjum Anand

• Eating Out

• Video Recipes

Times Recommends

• English wine has always been possible
• AA Gill reviews Foxtrot Oscar
• The authentic taste of Italy: Veneto