A LEADING food expert and gastro expert dropped by Booths recently to give Knutsfordians a taste of his new products.

Matthew Fort, a judge on BBC 2’s Great British Menu for the past seven years, conducted tastings of Pork Crackling and Chestnut Ale from his new Mr Trotter’s Great British range on December 17.

“Mr Trotter’s Chestnut Ale is brewed for us by Lancaster Brewery. I first met them at a food fair and was immediately impressed by their beer range and their enthusiasm for creating beers with real flavour,” said Matthew.

“Why did we use Chestnuts? Because my business partner, Rupert Ponsonboy, has a long history of designing quirky beers and wanted a brew which would rub shoulders happily with our pork crackling.”

Matthew knows a thing or two about food and was the Food and Drink Editor for The Guardian for over 10 years. He has also been named Glenfiddich Food Writer of the Year, Restaurant Writer of the Year and Cookery Writer of the Year in the past.

Mr Trotter’s Original Great British Pork Crackling was launched in November 2011 by Matthew Fort, Tim Parker Bowles and their team, as they were ‘dismayed’ at the host of pork scratching being made from Danish pigs.

The Pork Crackling is made from 100pc British pork, Red Tractor approved and triple cooked to Mr Trotter’s own recipe. The crackling have been developed and cooked by RayGray Snacks of Staffordshire.

The range has already gained national recognition and has been featured in a range of publications, including The Times, The Telegraph, The Independant and The Mail.