THE PRODUCE
Harewood’s incredible produce is the reason The Harewood Food & Drink Project was set-up. We had to tell it’s story and make it accessible to fellow foodies.
"The garden, livestock and the land are the inspirations for our menus. Their quality, provenance and minimal food miles is what gets us excited. To be able to share that with our guests is a true honour."
- Zaal Adams, Executive Chef
Harewood Meat
Our animals are low intensity farmed using traditional methods. There’s no growth hormones, minimal medical intervention and they graze lush green pastures all year round.
In a time where consumers have a heightened awareness of where their food comes from and how it’s produced, we like to think that we’re evidence that eating meat can be done with a clear conscience.
Don’t eat more meat, eat better meat.
If you’ve been walking round the estate you’ve likely seen the cattle, sheep and deer and if you’ve been to one of our events you’ve likely sampled the final product.
It’s our commitment to be ethical in our practices and always treat these beautiful animals with the respect they deserve, minimising waste by using every part of these wonderful creatures #nosetotail and by keeping food miles to a minimum.
Hebridean Black Sheep
Heralding from the wilds of St Kilda in the Outer Hebrides, off of Scotland’s West coast.
The flock were brought to Harewood by the 6th Earl in the 1880’s after he’d seen them when visiting friends in Northumberland.
A breed rarely found farmed commercially as fully grown, they don’t have the yield farmers look for in commercial breeds.
They may be small in size, but the high fat content creates an intensely flavoured meat and beautiful meat.
Highland Cattle & Aberdeen Angus
Our spectacular red haired cattle herd from the Scottish Highlands. They’re built for the hardiest of conditions so Yorkshire winters are plain sailing.
We just love them. They’re stunning creatures, passive and docile (unless with their young). The herd have called Harewood home for 25 years, they’ve settled in well.
The Highland meat has an incredibly rich flavour.
Dry-aging intensifies the flavour as moisture is lost through evaporation, concentrating sugars and amino acids.
Guests who attended our first “Dining Room” event would have had the sirloin and the ribs at our “Dinner in the Woods” event.
Red & Fallow Deer
Red deer have been a feature on the landscape here at Harewood since medieval times. The sight of a red deer stag in full antler is something you never tire of.
The herd at Harewood are classed as wild, they have 350 acres of grassland and woodland to roam.
They forage throughout the year helping to manage the land and keep the ground fertile. The only human intervention they have is when the ground’s frozen we’ll give them sugar beet and hay. This helps give them the nutrients they need in the cold winter months when other sources are scarce.
As with most game, venison has a very low fat content which makes it a healthy alternative to other, fattier red meats such as beef and lamb.
It’s rich in flavour and is an environmentally sustainable choice of meat, it’s not commercially farmed and has minimal carbon footprint.
The Harewood Walled Garden
The spectacular Grade I listed walled garden at Harewood was built in the 1750’s whilst Harewood House was still under construction, so that there was a fully operational kitchen garden ready for when the grand house was completed.
In the early 19th century double insulated walls - similar to a central heating system - were installed to the walled garden which created a warm, tropical climate to grow the most exotic of fruits. Items like mangoes, passion fruits, sugar cane and even pineapples, all grown here, in Yorkshire in the 1800’s. Incredible
Present day Harewood, still uses traditional growing methods, everything is hand-picked and hand-tended to with no pesticides used, just as nature intended.
Some big, some small, some fat, some tall.
There’s an ever changing range of stunning seasonal, heritage varieties of produce coming out of the gardens throughout the year.
Wild Food
The landscape at Harewood is a foragers paradise.
An expert eye will soon see that Harewood’s woodland, wetland, moorland, lowland and highland contains a larder of wild foods to satisfy any chef.
From Wild Garlic in Spring to Elderflower in Summer, Mushrooms in Autumn and Hawthorn in Winter, at Harewood you’ll find it all.
Our menus regularly feature seasonal foraged foods picked directly from natures larder.