Pancakes at Broom House Farm Café

Well, since we were apart on Pancake Day (Shrove Tuesday), we had to wait for our pancakes* as we had to wait for our Valentine's Day dinner. So Saturday morning we drove out to Broom House Farm, northwest of Durham. Beautiful countryside complete with a wind farm as well.

Broom House Farm is a working organic farm that, like so many other farms, has been forced to extend its offerings in many directions in order to survive: it has its own butcher shop that sells its Aberdeen Angus beef, lamb, mutton, Saddleback pork, bacon sausages and gammon plus lots of other interesting things like homemade jam. It maintains a Woodland Adventure Trail for kids, complete with a den, tunnel warren, woodland telephones, a "monster slide" and a zip wire. And when you're exhausted from doing all this, there's a Café with homemade treats, full lunch and Sunday roast menus plus 'supper nights and events.'

I must remember to go for Sunday Roast, since the Café uses meat from their own farm. It promises to be good. But meanwhile, we went to their Pancake Day event on Saturday morning. I had asked twice in advance whether they serve American-style (thick) pancakes or French-style (thin) crepes. The answer was crepes, so imagine our surprise when we were served two thick pancakes topped with bacon and a fried egg (by request), drizzled in Golden Syrup. We missed the maple syrup, of course, and there is never enough syrup on the pancakes unless you drown them yourself. But they certainly satisfied our need for a yearly dose of pancakes!

The farm seems to be doing a good business, and I wish them well. Where would we be without farmers? Our superior local experts need supporting in the face of price squeezes by the big supermarkets. I'll go out again to replenish our supplies of minted lamb patties and minced pork we bought at the butchers!

See their website at www.broomhousedurham.co.uk

Office 0191-371-9697

Butchers 0191-371-8839

Café 0191-371-8382

The Aberdeen Angus of Broom House Farm, shown on their postcard ad,
photographer not stated, but taken in April (note the yellow rape fields in the distance)

*I almost wrote 'flapjacks' here to avoid repetition, but in England, a flapjack is a heavily sugared oatmeal bar, sometimes covered with yogurt or chocolate. Thousands of calories, so I am always dissuading you-know-who from eating them.