Hylands house - The Essex Foodie Market

 

Nestled within the picturesque Hylands Estate in Chelmsford, the Essex Foodies Market has become a vibrant highlight of the region's culinary scene. Held on the second Sunday of each month, this market showcases a diverse array of local food vendors, artisans, and crafters, offering visitors a delightful blend of flavors and handcrafted treasures. The collaboration between Essex Foodies and Hylands Estate not only supports small, independent businesses but also enriches the community by providing a regular platform for local entrepreneurs. As guests meander through the stalls set against the backdrop of the historic Hylands House—a Grade II* neo-classical villa—they are treated to an immersive experience that celebrates the rich tapestry of Essex's food culture and artisanal craftsmanship.

Lucky for us, the house itself had an open day today meaning you can wander about the ground floor levels and wonder at the craftmanship of the hand gilded ceilings and period décor. If you haven't been before, there are multiple car parks around the estate and today we were able to park closer to the house itself (as opposed to the furthest car park away). In the summer, it is sometimes nice to park further away and walk through the park itself, through the shade of the trees, and see the small historic groundskeepers house. 

Today there were guided tours at the house, storytelling (which looked great fun by the way), live music at the stabled, nature themed activities in the terrace room, and if you haven't visited before, you need to visit the secondhand bookstore. Something to bare in mind, there are parking charges but around £5 for the whole day really isn't that bad.

Our trip was brief today as unfortunately my mother in law (who we brought along) became ill as she suffers quite badly with vertigo. She is doing a lot better now and we managed to get our hands on some goodies (turns out a huge almond croissant can help you feel better - crispy, light, and packed full of rich marzipan/almond paste).

Lets start with my husbands choice. A barbequed brisket bun/bap from bar-down barbeque.

It cost £10 but neither me or my husband were particularly impressed. For those of you that have not had barbecue brisket before, it should be juicy and tender but not quite falling to pieces. It should also be flavorful with a pink smoke ring around the outside but it shouldn't just taste of smoke. There should be deep flavours from the bark (the herb/spice crust coating). This.. was not it. The texture was 90% there, but it was overcooked. However, the flavour was awful. It tasted like drinking liquid smoke. You couldn't taste the beef, you couldn't even taste any flavour from the bark, just pure smoke. The cheap buns didn't help. They were falling apart and were crumbly. The chillies were a nice addition but the over smoked beef and bread ruined the whole sandwich. If the beef was perfect, then it would be easy to overlook the bun. My husband still smells like puff the magic dragon, 6 hours later. Sorry but this gets a 3/10 from us. 

Now. Onto my choice. £11 for the porchetta 'sandwich' from the hungry hog bbq. They also had steak sandwiches, philly cheesesteak and skin on fries (I got some fries for my mother in law to try and raise her blood sugar a little after the vertigo fiasco).

Onto the sandwich. It was MASSIVE. Served in a delicious, soft (maybe a tiny bit too soft?) huge ciabatta roll, with a big slab of tender, juicy, but toothsome piece of pork belly. Dressed with a herb aioli, spicy mayo, coleslaw, handful or rocket and crispy onions. The pork was beautiful. The herb aioli (or what I thought was aioli, turned out to be the porchetta herb and spices bled) I was a little unsure of because it was quite lemony/citrusy (turned out to be fennel seed after talking with the owners) forward. But with the pork, spicy mayo and other components, it actually blended beautifully. The coleslaw was homemade but was fairly plain (as coleslaw usually is) but the vegetables were crispy and it was a beautiful shade of pink from the purple cabbage and it added a welcomed crunch to the soft bread and juicy, fatty porchetta. The spicy mayo was the real showstopper here. It was tangy, spicy, a little smoky and garlicky and a needed contrast to the fattiness of the pork. It just cut through the fattiness beautifully. We kind of wanted the bread to be crisped up a little but it was still a beautiful balance of flavours and for that, the porchetta sandwich gets a 8.5/10. Would definitely get again. 

I am also going to give the hungry hog fries an 8.5/10. They were £4.50 which seemed a little steep for what you got. I wasn't offered any sauce, but they were honestly delicious, crisp, hot, and salty by themselves. They were skin on fries and from a freezer bag as are all fries/chips from food trucks nowadays. Mother in law enjoyed them but if you are looking for something a little more plain at a food event like this, then these do nicely. Just remember to ask for sauce! 

We are looking forward to going back to the Hylands house foodies market next moth and trying some different food. I was desperate to try the curry goat or the little Mexican truck but with time being of the essence on this trip, I have to say I was not disappointed with my choice. 

If you see the hungry hog at an event, give them a try. Did any of you go to the foodies market at Hylands house in Chelmsford this weekend? What did you try and who do you repeat buy from? Let me know below!