THE very best food and drink the county has to tempt the palate drew thousands of people into the Cornwall Food and Farming tent.

Long queues snaked their way outside the huge white tent, which has been extended this year to accommodate new stalls. Stallholders worked hard to make sure the hungry public was kept watered and fed with samples and sales.

For the past eight years, the Trewithen Dairy at Lostwithiel has been a regular feature. Owned by husband and wife team Bill and Rachel Clarke, the stall was busy with customers buying pots of clotted cream, milk and milkshakes.

Mrs Clarke said: "Business has been really brisk today and sales are going really well. We've just brought out a strawberry-flavoured yoghurt milkshake which people really seem to like.

"The show is a great opportunity for us to see our customers face to face because normally we deal directly with retailers. It's a great opportunity to get some feedback about our products."

Wonderful aromas wafted throughout the tent with customers standing four-deep around the stalls. A popular attraction this year is the Ansome Bangers stall, where husband and wife team Gayle and Martyn Sargent busily sizzled frying pans full of pork sausages.

The impressive menu included the Toulouse pork sausage peppered with garlic, parsley and smoked bacon, chorizo spiked with chilli, paprika and garlic and a somewhat surprising strawberry and champagne-flavoured pork sausage.

Mrs Sargent, who runs the unit at East Looe with her husband, said: "The strawberry and champagne is proving a big hit with the crowds and we've sold lots of packs. I don't think they've ever tasted such a flavour – it is rather unusual."

Dozens of thirsty show-goers found their way to the Healey's Cornish Cyder Farm stall where staff were kept busy handing out delicious samples.

The farm near Truro has been going for more than 25 years and offers drinkers a real taste of Cornwall with tipples including Rattler, Pear Rattler, Scrumpi as well as jam and chutneys.

Sales manager Jo Nicholls said: "We've brought 150 cases of stock with us and I wouldn't be surprised if we ran out. Ciders are becoming more and more popular and an event like this is great for us because it raises our profile further with people who might not have heard of us before."

Over at the Baker Tom's bread stall, customers were sampling and snapping up a variety of specialist breads including cinnamon and raisin, organic white bread and Dutch crunch. Plates of individual fruit flans and rich, tantalising chocolate cakes were also on offer.

David Hazzledine had been left running the stall while his son Tom, who runs the shop in Truro, took a well-earned break.

Mr Hazzledine said: "Business is unbelievable. We brought 300 mixed speciality breads and we'd run out by lunchtime. These days, the public want something more than the usual sliced white loaf."

Liz and Paul Sibley, owners of the Bosue Vineyard at St Ewe, St Austell, were at the event to showcase the latest addition to their wine menu. And customers were only too pleased to taste the vineyard's new sparkling wine.

At Rodda's Cornish Clotted Cream and strawberries stall, Richard Goldsworthy, assistant sales manager, said: "We brought 2,500 pots of cream and they are all going pretty fast. We're having a great day."