The Lake District Cuisine in Lake District Restaurants and Hotels

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Author: Applegarth Villa

Whether you are staying in the area or just visiting for the day you will discover a fantastic local cuisine from Michelin starred Lake District restaurants through to excellent traditional public houses, all using locally sourced produce.

Cumbria - the Lake District is well known for its outstanding natural beauty, but the region has so much more to offer including a great selection of high quality Lake District accommodation, first class visitor attractions and activity providers, plus some of the finest food available in the country.

Meat constitutes a significant part of Cumbrian produce, which is no surprise because the climate and geography of the region lends itself better to breeding animals than it does to growing crops. The most famous of the meat products is the traditional Cumbrian sausage, which is easy to recognise because, unlike other British sausages, it is not linked, but long and coiled, and sold by length or weight. It is always made from rough-cut pork and contains 85% meat. Other ingredients include a blend of herbs, spices and seasonings and most butchers have their own secret recipe, some dating back over a hundred years.

Cumbria provides a superb range of local produce including fellbred lamb, beef and pork, plus poultry and game from local farms and estates. Cumbrian rose veal is highly thought on in the restaurant trade with menus as far away as London ordering this sought after Cumbrian product. You will also find a range of jams and chutneys made from Cumbrian hedgerow fruits, plus pickles and preserves, puddings and pies, all with that special taste that comes from being made by people who care about the good food they make.

Water is an obvious natural resource associated with the Lake District, which should not come as a surprise given the seventeen lakes that can be found in the region. Only Bassenthwaite uses the word Lake in its title, each of the others use either the word mere, i.e. Windermere, or water, i.e. Coniston Water. The water in the Lake District is very soft, and makes for wonderful drinking water. For anyone wanting to take some of that experience with them, there are three companies which bottle and sell spring water.

With the popularity of places such as Windermere, it 's not hard to believe how it has become a food centre for the Lake District. Surrounding the town and all the way down to the lake are a plethora of Windermere hotels and Lake District hotels. The choice really is endless. Windermere has an excellent choice of Lake District restaurants and they really are spoilt with the amount of fantastic local produce. Cumberland sausage, herdwick lamb and fantastic cheeses are in abundance along with artisan bakers and chutney producers. The real ale in Cumbria - the Lake District is second to none and what better drink to go with Cumberland sausage and mash! There are micro breweries in the back of public houses through to breweries where they offer's tours.