Maynard, Adventures of a Bacon Curer

Maynard Davies, the last of the apprentice bacon curers, tells his intriguing story in his own distinctive style. Always one to turn a challenge into an opportunity, Maynard took pleasure in learning the skills of the old master curers of the Black Country and he shares with the reader the secrets of top quality bacon, learnt over a lifetime: the methods, recipes, smoking and curing. His passion for, as he puts it, 'good food for good people', is his motivation - made by experts, using the best ingredients, and cutting no corners. Funny, wise and very human, Maynard's unsentimental tale will remind readers that old fashioned virtues of pride in one's profession, hard work, an open mind and a lot of optimism go along way.

Maynard Davies was one of the last apprentice-boy bacon curers, and he was trained in the dying arts of his trade in post-war Staffordshire. Becoming a master bacon curer, he went on to expand his repertoire by travelling to America where he taught the inmates of a large prison how to cure. With a young family, he then set up a small-holding in the Peak District and ran an (eventually) very successful farm, with home-spun smoking, curing and selling direct to the public. Maynard had four daughters and he and his partner Ann lived in north Shropshire where he was regarded as one of the country's leading experts in his field. In order to pass on his expertise as he retired, he wrote up all his practical curing and smoking advice in his full-colour Manual of a Traditional Bacon Curer.  Maynard was hailed by Rick Stein as a 'Food Hero' and he had been on The Food Programme and several television programmes on quality, traditional British food. Maynard published two books about his 'life in bacon', the first part in Maynard, Adventures of a Bacon Curer and the second part in Maynard, Secrets of a Bacon Curer.