Paula McIntyre: At our local food festivals you’ll find proper jam and rare breed meats

As well as being entertaining, these festivals are a great way of finding products you’ll never see in supermarkets.

You’ll find proper jam, fermented products, infused vinegars, raw milk cheeses, artisan breads, rare breed meats, seasonal vegetables and dairy products.

Often the producers are farmers who diversify in order to add value to their raw products and sustain their business. One thing they all share is a passion for what they do and real pride in their products.

I was cooking at two food festivals last weekend – the annual Moira Speciality Food Show and Omagh Food Fest. One of the relatively new producers, selling at both shows, was Curly Pigs charcuterie from Co Fermanagh. The curly pig refers to the Mangalista, an ancient breed of Hungarian woolly pig. Their meat is superb – red meat with a great layer of fat. Stephen and Rachel McMaster have a herd of sixty animals that they use for meat and charcuterie.

They make a range of salamis and I used N’duja for one of my recipes. This is a spreadable salami that originates in the Calabrian region of Italy and is essentially really good fat and chilli.

A simple way of eating it is to spread it over hot toasted bread and then top it with some ricotta or soft cheese, sliced tomatoes and a few dressed leaves. You can toss it into hot pasta and add grated parmesan for a quick but delicious dish.

At the festival I paired it with Queens potatoes. Melt the N’duja with a little oil in a pan and add cooked queens. Cook to coat then transfer to a baking dish with roast onions and top with a cheesey breadcrumb and parsley mixture.

Mullygarry Farm, an Enniskillen sheep farm run by Rodney and Emma Balfour, was at Omagh with their lamb.

As well as the usual cuts for roasting and grilling, they have ventured into charcuterie and I tasted their cured lamb leg. They bury the leg in salt for a couple of days and then air dry it.

The lean meat with just the right amount of salt and ageing was delicious. You’ll have to go out of your way to source a unique product like this but it will be worth it. When I came home I had the cured lamb on an award-winning bagel from the Daily Apron in Lisburn (who were selling their baked goods at the festival) with some local tomatoes and some dressed leaves.

It was simple but stunning and everything from Northern Ireland. At the show I made a lamb curry with their lamb, with some potatoes and local green beans added.

I’ve included the recipe here and it’s a user friendly one that might encourage even the most avid lamb hater to have a try.