The East Neuk of Fife is one of our favourite places to head to for a wee run in the car. Hmmm that makes me sound a bit like my Gran, but it’s true! The area has so much to offer from lovely beaches, quaint little seaside villages, lovely walks and of course it’s a foodies paradise! The East Neuk is home to top class eateries such as The Peat Inn, The East Pier Smokehouse at St Monans and don’t forget the famous Fish and Chips at Anstruther.
On this occasion it’s fine dining of a different sort and we were heading to Ardross Farm shop for mince! If you haven’t tried Ardross Farm shop mince, you haven’t lived. In 2005 Ardross was set up as part of farm diversification during a time when the cost of transporting produce was on the rise and the big supermarkets were squeezing smaller producers for profit. The family decided to open up a farm shop and try to sell their own beef direct to the public. It worked and they now have a thriving farm shop that won Farm Shop and Deli of the year 2014.
The farm shop is just outside Elie on the coast road. It’s well signposted but you do need to keep an eye out for the entrance as you come onto it quite quickly. There’s lots of car parking and the farm shop is all on the ground floor with no steps.
Once inside you are met with the freshest looking vegetables you will ever see. The display just makes you want to pick them up and put them in your basket. The majority of the vegetables are grown in fields around the farm and are harvested each morning. The carrots were dirty and absolutely massive – perfect for a big pot of Scotch Broth! The farm shop tends to have a range of around 40 seasonal vegetables and herbs at any one time. When we visited they had lots of little bags of herbs just picked that morning!
You can tell that this really is a business with traditional wholesome values. You can see from the shelves and freezers that they support many of Fife and Scotland’s artisan food producers.
This weekend, Sunday 9th November, from 11am until 4pm they are hosting a Taste of Christmas Food Fair in the loft above the farm shop. Lots of local producers like The Little Herb Farm from Pittenweem with their fruit vinegar gift sets; The Marshmallow Lady with her scrummy mallows; Elaine from Wicked Chocolate with here wonderful chocolates, truffles and hot chocolates and Mara Seaweed with their seaweed seasonings. Lots of other producers will also be there on the day including Eden Mill Distillery and Brewery and St Andrews Brewing Co.
The shop also hosts lots of other events in the Loft so keep an eye out on their Facebook page for the up to date goings on. The next event after Taste of Christmas is Christmas in the Loft on 6th December.
Now back to the mince! We were successful in our quest and got some mince and very naughtily we also picked up a mince round for tea. We just had to buy it as we needed something to go with the wonderful potatoes and fresh cabbage already in the basket!
We also couldn’t resist some of The Marshmallow Lady’s Raspberry Marshmallows which were gone by the time we reached St Andrews! They are light, fluffy clouds packed with flavour.
If you are looking for something to do this weekend, or indeed any weekend, why not take a trip along the East Neuk coast and pop in to Ardross Farm Shop for a browse.
The only downside is that they don’t have a cafe or tea shop at the farm. There must be a really good reason why they don’t have one, but on each occasion we visit, we wish they did!
Ardross Farm Shop
Elie
KY9 1EU
01333 331400
