It is just over a year since the Lake District was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site by the World Heritage Committee at its 41st session in Krakow, Poland, in 2017.
To mark this momentous occasion, Hawkshead Relish has created a limited edition World Heritage Relish, which will make its debut appearance at one of the UK’s most significant cultural events, the Westmorland County Show, on Thursday 13th September 2018.
The Hawkshead Relish Company, a family owned business, is an integral part of the continuously emerging foodie fabric of the Lake District. A business that uses traditional Cumberland and Westmorland recipes to create the jams, preserves and condiments they and their team handcraft at their Hawkshead HQ.
The Lake District and Cumbria has the most fascinating food heritage, largely thanks to both its people and its landscape and Hawkshead Relish’s limited edition World Heritage Relish is testament to that heritage.
The area’s food heritage has long been influenced by other cultures, influences that have been fully embraced and form the backbone of Cumbria’s foodie traditions. From the introduction of orchards by the Romans, herb lore by the Saxons, the Normans with their use of exotic ingredients, and more recent times seafaring trade routes during the 18th and 19th centuries bringing about the large scale importation of herbs and spices from India, Madagascar and the Caribbean; as well as sugar and rum, which have all influenced the county’s culinary heritage.
Maria Whitehead, MBE, co-owner of Hawkshead Relish, said: ‘’Our limited edition World Heritage Relish is a salsa, infused with a carefully chosen selection of herbs and spices, something of a fitting testament to the development of many unique food creations over hundreds of years by the residents of Cumbria. Cumbria’s food heritage is informed by a number of factors, our traditional farming communities who worked wonders with the fresh local produce available to them and in more recent history as these communities were able to access more exotic herbs and spices which had become more readily available through the area’s seafaring trade routes around the world.’’
Maria, added: ‘’So to celebrate the influence our farming communities have had on our culinary heritage it is only fitting that we launch World Heritage Relish at one of the UK’s most significant cultural events, The Westmorland County Show, and celebrate the Lake District’s first year of inscription as a UNESCO Cultural Landscape World Heritage Site.’’
Stephen Henwood, Chair of the Lake District National Park Partnership, said: “It’s been encouraging to see businesses, farmers and residents starting to embrace the exciting opportunities the UNESCO World Heritage inscription brings. We are delighted that Hawkshead Relish have celebrated the World Heritage brand by launching this special product.’’
‘’Our hope is that many more local companies, farmers and producers will follow suit and tap into all the unique business benefits that being based in a UNESCO World Heritage site brings.”
