IT IS the height of bad manners, I know, to cut straight to the end of a dinner party held to demonstrate the lifeblood pumping through Kirkwhelpington Village Hall.

But, oh my God, the dessert had to be tasted to be believed. Imperfect and deceptive in appearance, the pastel de nata – or Portuguese custard tart – was utterly divine.

Created by the monks in the Jerónimos monastery in 18th century Lisbon, legend has it that they used egg whites to starch their clothes and had to find a way of using the yolks to avoid wastefulness.

Whatever the truth, the puff-pastry baskets of custard sprinkled with cinnamon are now a staple of Portuguese cultures all over the world.

The only problem? “Far too small – I wanted more,” said my famously food-relishing colleague the next day.

While I’d transported a tray of the delicacies back to Hexham, the good burghers of Kirkwhelpington are lucky enough to have easy access to them, thanks to Victor and Daniela Martins.

The tarts, it turns out, are just one of the many offerings to roll out of the village hall each Saturday afternoon courtesy of their fledgling Food Artisans takeaway service. It is certainly a venture with a difference.

The green, red and yellow of its logo flies the flag for Portugal and the Mediterranean influence the couple have imported into the historic hinterlands of the Reivers.

And the fact the food is mainly vegan, all bar the eggs and milk needed for the custard, is another splash of novelty in prime farming territory.

Victor’s job as a software designer with Sage brought the couple to the UK last year when he was transferred from its Portuguese head office to its international HQ in Newcastle.

Daniela was a marketing officer with Portugal’s biggest supermarket chain, Continente, but the move here gave her the space and freedom to indulge her real passion – food.

The couple are gradually expanding into catering for private occasions and they plan, in the fullness of time, to launch cookery courses – but for now their local village hall is the focus.

They open from noon till 6pm on Saturdays, offering a choice of three different main courses each week.

One day it was Portuguese shepherd’s pie, alfredo pasta or bean burgers, another, autumn risotto, miso noodles or the Little Frenchie sandwich, one of their compatriots’ takes on France’s croque monsieur.

Already vegetarian, the couple tip-toed over the line into veganism after watching the controversial documentary Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret.

Animal agriculture is the leading cause of deforestation, water consumption and pollution and is responsible for more greenhouse gases than the transportation industry, the programme argued, so why do world leaders refuse to discuss it?

Victor said: “Our signature dish used to be coq au vin, but then all the warnings about not washing raw chicken came out and the next time I looked at one, I thought, ‘I’ve got something poisonous in my kitchen’.”

Key to the Food Artisans business, though, is the very fact they are Portuguese.

Daniela said: “We grew up with vegetables, fruit and bread as the basis of our diet – it is very Mediterranean. Just about every meal begins with garlic, olive oil, bay leaves and onions.”

Our starter at the dinner party, hosted by the chairman of the village hall trust, David Pearson, his wife Jenny and their son Jonathan, was rosemary focaccia served with tapenade and hummus.

The focaccia was made with two parts wheat flour to one part cornflour for a lighter texture, along with garlic powder and olive oil.

“You don’t have to knead it,” said Daniela, “just mix it, spread it on a tray and let it arrive.”

The main course was a vegetable paella starring an ingredient that the couple, who cook together, were only introduced to when they arrived in Kirkwhelpington.

Villager John Rowland hails from California and is something of an ambassador for the artichoke

“He buys many tins of them, I think,” she smiled.

It was two of the other guests, Carole and Steve Chorley, who answered my query about how vegan food had gone down in the shires.

Steve said: “We eat far too much meat as a couple. I get sick of it, but Carole loves it, so this is a bit of a welcome break!”

Carole admitted: “I am a real carnivore. But when I tried their ‘meat’ balls dish, I was a convert – it’s got so much flavour.”

Just as importantly, in Steve’s books, is the additional zing Victor and Daniela have added to village life.

“Without a vibrant village hall, a village struggles,” he said.

“We have a youth club, an art group and bowls and now the meals they provide on a Saturday give everybody another reason to go to the hall.

“People go for the food, but they will be there for an hour, and that’s what a place like Kirkwhelpington needs.”

Having previously lived in Belsay, where they ran the village shop, Steve and Carole know what it’s like to live in a place that doesn’t have a hall pulsing with life at its heart.

There, the hall is on the outskirts of the village and shared with the school, which takes precedence in terms of usage.

Back in Kirkwhelpington, David Pearson was instrumental in relocating the local post office when it was threatened with closure five years ago.

“We encouraged the postmistress to come into the village hall, and that has kept a great facility here,” he said.

Victor and Daniela’s approach to village life has been key to their rapid integration, it should be said.

They regularly help out at the youth club, run by Steve and John Rowland, running cookery sessions for members among other things.

“We made pasta and beans with them one week,” said Daniela, “and soup in a cup another time.” That went down well.

Steve said: “You get a lot of people moving into the village and they are off to work during the week and you never see them at the weekend – there are people at the top of the village hardly anybody knows.

“But Victor and Daniela have moved in and everyone knows them, because they have joined in, and that’s what we need.

“It’s very simple really. The more you get going in a village hall the more vibrant life in the village as a whole is.”

Further information on the Saturday afternoon takeaway in Kirkwhelpington Village Hall is available at the website: www.facebook.com/foodartisans.