Robert Lloyd - a Sir Gar Blog of random news . . . and some Clecs!

A Carmarthen butchers has accepted a plaque advertising the protected status of its traditional family recipe ham. Carmarthen Indoor Market’s Albert Rees Butchers was given the Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) for its Carmarthen ham recently by the European Union. Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs Leslie Griffiths visited Carmarthen Market on Friday in the company of Carmarthenshire County Council executive board member responsible for markets Cllr David Jenkins to present the plaque. PGI is one of three European designations created to protect regional foods that have a specific quality, reputation or other characteristics attributable to that area. It acts like a Trade Mark and stops manufacturers from outside a region copying a regional product and selling it as that regional product. Albert Rees was set up in 1962 by Albert and Brenda Rees. In 1989, Chris and Ann Rees took over the business on the retirement of Chris's parents in Carmarthen and Pembro...

Albert Rees in Carmarthen In a nutshell: Forget Parma Ham, it’s Carmarthen Ham that matters at Albert Rees the butchers in Carmarthen’s Indoor Market. Chris Rees, a fifth generation member of the Rees family, is one of Rick Stein’s Food Heroes. The theory goes that when the Romans conquered Carmarthen they stole the recipe for air-dried hams. http://www.carmarthenham.co.uk/ Carmarthen SA31 1QY 01267 237687 The longer view: “When the Romans conquered Carmarthen, they pinched our recipe for Carmarthen ham.” So says Chris Rees, the fifth generation of the Rees family to supply cured hams and bacon to the Carmarthenshire community, a family business that stretches back to the 19th century. Chris – one of Rick Stein’s “Food Heroes” – makes the award-winning air-dried Carmarthen hams, with his wife, Anne, to a secret recipe, for which they’re seeking appellation status. You can see the hams hanging high above the counters at Albert Rees, the butcher’s shop Chris runs in the Carma...