'Everyone would value food more if they understood what a hard life farming is'

Livestock

One of the main marketing challenges for livestock producers, says Rachel, is to work out ways to encourage consumption of meat cuts that have become less fashionable.

“I was brought up on ‘pigs fry’ – the liver, the kidney and the fattier ends of the shoulder, all braised down together in a rich stew with onions and carrots,” she says. “Some of the more traditional butchers in this area still sell it as a mix. It’s delicious.”

She is confident there will always be a place for meat in the nation’s diet, despite the “noise” around veganism at present. She says: “It’s great that people have choice, but I certainly can’t see us eating laboratory-grown meat in my lifetime.”

Rachel takes every opportunity to extol the virtues of dishes from her region, traditionally a pig-producing area – whether that is chine, a baked, herb-stuffed shoulder of cured pork, plum bread, a loaf made with lard, or the much-coveted sausages. “We make the best sausages in the world here,” she says.

She has done this in the mainstream media too, with TV appearances on such shows as C4’s Daily Brunch and ITV’s The Alan Titchmarsh Show, plus as a guest on numerous radio shows including BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Radio London.

She says: “Buying local products reduces food miles, it tastes better and you’re supporting the rural economy. Change is inevitable, expansion is inevitable, but there are still a lot of smaller and tenanted farms in Lincolnshire and we have to make sure they have a future.

“I’ve lived in London, Scotland, Ireland – even Thailand for a while – but I love this part of the world. I was born in Grimsby and adore Grimsby smoked haddock.”

She is also a big fan of game, particularly pigeon and venison, and is giving a cookery demonstration at this year’s Game Fair at Hatfield House in Hertfordshire, rustling up a pigeon eggs benedict.

“I like to choose recipes that the audience can do at home and that have a few different, interesting components,” says Rachel. “People like there to be a genuine risk that the dish might not turn out perfectly. A tea towel caught on fire at the Lincolnshire Show this year – luckily everyone laughed, and the marquee didn’t burn down.

“I’m at my best in front of an audience and I love that feeling of pressure. That’s part of the excitement and drama of the food world.

“Often it’s not the really fancy, high-end restaurant dishes I like to cook or eat, I go for big robust flavours where the ingredients are allowed to speak for themselves.”

Never mind the modern cooking techniques either, referring to ‘water bath’ cooking. Rachel is more interested in the smell of caramelised meat in a pan.

“That’s why I love open fire cooking,” she says. “It’s all about the flavour – lovely meats and charred vegetables.

“Plus, there’s something very primal about it. A lot of men think cooking on open fire is their territory, well it’s not.”

If you really put her on the spot, though, what would her desert island meal be? “Lincoln Red beef with a Béarnaise sauce, with spuds and asparagus grown in my garden,” she says.

And how would that beef be cooked? “Very rare. Basically, just cut the horns off."