Raglan butcher Neil James wins UK award

South Wales Argus

4 hours ago

The award-winning butcher has scooped first prize in this year's Countryside Alliance Awards. Neil trades as N S James and can be found on Crown Square, Raglan.
Previously, Neil topped the Welsh leg of the butchery section and won a trip to the House of Lords, where the Countryside Alliance UK finals were held.
Neil then faced off against one Scottish, one Northern Irish and five English butchers in the high stakes final. Naturally, Neil's famous faggots and general expertise brought home the bacon.
Neil's faggots are made from prime cuts of pork and lamb, sourced locally. The butcher uses named local farms to cut down on food miles and combines support for local farming and superb animal handling with secret spice mixes for both the lamb and the pork which are contained within the faggot. These are then combined to transform the much-maligned meat into a multiple award-winning treat.
Neil continues to challenge the serotype of faggots being 'dull, poor man's food'. Like many an educated palate, Neil knows that good food comes from traditions and how folk had to learn and pass on simple tricks on how to make food go further and do better.
N S James has previously been featured on BBC's Hairy Bikers programme, where Dave Myers challenged local youngsters to try the unfashionable food. Naturally, Neil's faggots won many young converts.
Neil's commitment to the countryside won this compliment from the Countryside Alliance: 'With a steadfast commitment to low food miles and locally sourced livestock, they're not just feeding the community, they're nourishing its roots.
'Their in-house abattoir and hand-crafted produce demonstrate a level of care and expertise rarely seen today. Add to that their presence at rural events and support for local producers, and it's clear that N.S. James is more than a butcher, they are the beating heart of a thriving rural network, proudly flying the flag for farming and food heritage.'
The Countryside Alliance Awards were born of a need to support and promote rural communities. They celebrate people going the extra mile to ensure that rural Britain's food and farming industry, small businesses, traditional skills, forward-thinking enterprises and, most of all, its people, can flourish.
As a business, N S James, the oldest independent butcher in Wales, supply both the wholesale trade, award winning chefs, local institutions and its all-important shop customers.