Ginsters Farmonic Orchestra Review

Ginsters, makers of the nation’s favourite Cornish Pasty, is putting on a unique musical extravaganza ‘The ‘Farmonic’ Orchestra at The Other Palace this November. ONIN were treated to this weekend to the preview performance of the first ever vegetable based production to hit the West End.

Ginsters has partnered with The London Vegetable Orchestra, the UK’s only ensemble offering audiences home-grown entertainment. They create music with instruments made from vegetables such as courgettes, peppers, butternut squash and carrots. In this performance- ‘Playing Pasties’- these classically trained musicians, for the first time, played potatoes and swede. These veggies, alongside onions are the only vegetables in an authentic Cornish Pasty recipe. The vegetables are meticulously carved just before the performance and a couple of lucky audience members got to try their hand at these instruments.

Going into the performance we really had no idea what to expect and were pleasantly surprised. Compere Dan Mersh kept us chuckling with plenty of puns. We were stamping our feet and clapping along to The Monkeyfists- the UK’s most land-locked shanty band. The London Vegetable Orchestra performed a variety of classics, West End anthems and pop hits. We had a blast singing along to ‘lettuce bean’ and ‘swede carrot lime’ (for those who may not know veggie speak- Let it Be and Sweet Caroline).

The show also stars Merryn, Ginster’s farmer character, in her stage debut. We were introduced to Merryn through the ‘Taste the Effort’ TV advert campaign where she shared her unique farming techniques such as singing to her veggies and the difficulties with watching them grow only to leave home (to become Ginster pasties). Merryn ensures high-quality, local produce is used in Ginsters products, whether that’s pasties, slices, bakes or rolls.

Ginster’s knows the only way to know this is to taste test, so at intermission there’s one included pasty per ticket. Ginster’s use locally sourced veg from the Cornish peninsula meaning veg can go from being harvested to baked the same day. 100% British beef with Ginsters distinctive seasoning gives it a peppery kick, all encased in a golden puff pastry. Ginsters also have a vegetarian option made with quorn which my friend said was very nice. Biting into the warm pastry after hearing about the veggies made me appreciate the pasty even more, and as I’m writing this I’m now wanting another pasty for dinner! This was paired with Orchards Cornish cider to showcase the lovely products from Cornwall.

We really enjoyed our low-key Sunday afternoon. We laughed, we sang, we had good food and caught up with friends-is there much more you want from a weekend? So if you’re looking for an all-ages activity for Sunday 3rd November head to Farmonic. What’s even better is that this one-off event is raising money for The Trussell Trust- an organisation helping to combat food poverty across the UK. Tickets are only £1.95 – the cost of a Ginsters Cornish Pasty.