Chef’s call of the wild at Wilton (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Chef’s call of the wild at Wilton

9:49am Thursday 20th May 2010

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About 600 people enjoyed a festive time at Wilton Windmill at its annual fundraising open day, a Victorian Food Fayre, on Saturday.

TV chef and author Mike Robinson was surrounded all afternoon by interested people of all ages as he demonstrated how to prepare, pluck, skin and clean wild food such as deer, rabbits and pigeons before cooking them on the barbecue. On another part of the site, Punch battered the lights out of Judy after putting their baby in the sausage machine to screams of delight from the young audience. But it was not all blood and guts. There were stalls selling Victorian sweets and traditional posies. The cakes and tea stall did a terrific trade as did the beer tent run by Bill Norrey of The Swan Inn at Wilton.

Sheep and lambs grazed peacefully in their straw pen. Kev Challen organised traditional country games such as tug of war and sack races. Carlos Andriazola from Argentina thrilled children by lassoing them on the run. The sun shone and the windmill’s sails turned gently towards the prevailing wind.

New Devizes MP Claire Perry visited during the afternoon and pulled her weight for the victorious girls’ team in one tug-of-war heat. Touring the grounds with Windmill Society chairman Christopher Cannon, she said: “It is incredibly exciting to be here and I encourage everyone to buy the Wilton Windmill flour, milled from locally grown wheat. Food doesn’t get more local than this.”

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