The road signs tell you everything about the town's tourist ambitions - “Welcome to Melton Mowbray. Rural Capital of Food”. In an attempt to increase its slice of the short-break market, this corner of Leicestershire is unashamedly playing the foodie card.

Not that there is anything wrong with that. Melton Mowbray is as inextricably linked with the pork pie as Cornwall is with the pasty or Birmingham with the balti. But there are several other good gastronomic reasons to visit Melton Mowbray.

For a start, Stilton, one of the great names in English cheeses, is made here in a number of village dairies. There are four small breweries in the area plus - for abstainers - Belvoir Cordials. There is the delicious Melton Hunt Cake, numerous bakeries producing fine bread, often made with locally ground flour, and even a chance to buy and eat bison from a local herd. Rest assured, you will not go hungry in a weekend in Melton Mowbray.

Unquestionably at the heart of all this impressive activity is Dickinson & Morris's Ye Olde Pork Pie Shoppe in the centre of the town. Here, more than 4,000 pork pies are sold every week, many to the coachloads of visitors who come here just to get the authentic pork pie experience.

If you are lucky you might meet Stephen Hallam, below, the managing director of Dickinson & Morris, a man with an evangelical gleam in his eye as he talks about pork pies. He explains the three components that make the Melton Mowbray pie distinct from those produced elsewhere: fresh uncured pork that is grey when cooked; the bow shape caused by the absence of a supporting hoop or tin during baking; and its production within a defined geographical region.

After many years of legal work the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Association - an alliance of ten bakers in the region - is hopeful that the EU will soon recognise the regional uniqueness of its product in the same way as it does, say, champagne. You suspect that Hallam will raise a glass of the sparkling stuff on that great day.

Not that he is unduly biased towards his company's most famous product. Hallam is a man on a mission to promote the delights of the whole area and had much to do with the placing of those enticing road signs that greet the visitor.

So, once you've consumed your pork pie quota, what else does Melton Mowbray have to offer? Well, next door to Ye Olde Pork Pie Shoppe is Dickinson & Morris's alluring sausage shop and, a short walk away, The Melton Cheeseboard, a good place to buy Stilton, obviously, but it is also worth investigating some of the other delights on offer. In particular, it was good to discover that real red Leicester is not

the pallid offering on sale in most supermarkets. There is also a Polish deli and a number of bakeries and cafés, although those expecting an East Midlands version of the famed foodie haven of Ludlow will be disappointed to find that there are also well-patronised branches of Gregg's and Subway.

The magnificent St Mary's Church is an essential detour. Here you will get reminders that much of the history of Leicestershire is linked to hunting, a connection that no amount of legislation will sever. It was Melton Mowbray, for instance, where in 1837 a well-refreshed visiting huntsman, the Marquis of Waterford, ran amok with a can of red paint, gifting the expression “painting the town red” to the world.

Away from the town, the impressive edifice of Belvoir Castle, with magnificent views over the surrounding countryside, is a prime attraction. The home of the Duke and Duchess of Rutland, and a star of the forthcoming The Young Victoria film, it is said to be the birthplace of that most English of customs, Afternoon Tea. It is impossible, it seems, to escape for very long from food and drink in these parts.

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