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EDITOR Emma Dance editor@foodlovermagazine.com ADVERTISING MANAGER Zoe Thorner zoe@foodlovermagazine.com

Welcome FOODLOVERS! There are many things to love about living in the West Country, but one of the best is our proximity to the coast, and the wonderful seafood that’s found there.

GRAPHIC DESIGNER Pamela Evans, Palm Design FRONT COVER IMAGE Cuttlefish and chorizo stew (p.25).

Recipe and image by Seafish

This issue, we’re truly celebrating seafood, so if you’re partial to a fish dish, you won’t want to miss our special feature (from p.22) packed with expert insight and delicious recipes.

PUBLISHED BY ignyte Media

THE WEST COUNTRY FOODLOVER® T: 01761409831 www.foodlovermagazine.com Whilst every care has been taken in compiling this publication FOODLOVER® shall not be made liable for any inaccuracies therein. The opinions expressed in the magazine are not necessarily those of the Editor.

We’re also exploring Asian flavours (from p.32) and marking Organic September by finding out more about the benefits (and challenges) of going organic (p.42).

And that’s not all! There’s a whole host of tasty recipes starring seasonal ingredients (p.45), we get the lowdown on local spirits producers (p.57), and chef, Harriet Mansell tells us all about her new opening — Lilac in Lyme Regis.

Emma

I hope you enjoy the issue! facebook.com/ foodlovermag

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Contents

Emma Dance, Editor

editor@foodlovermagazine.com

22 Seafood special Expert insight and tasty fishy dishes

Love local:

04 news

32 Asian flavours

07 Shopping list

42 Organic September 60 Chef profile

The latest foodie news from across the West Country

New products for you to try

09 What’s On

Tasty events you won’t want to miss

An exploration of some of the most popular East Asian cuisines

Find out more about the benefits and challenges of going organic

In season:

56 Good spirits

Meet some of the area’s best spirits producers

We catch up with Lyme Regis chef, Harriet Mansell

Cooking companion:

45 Duck

62 Cookbooks

11 One-pan suppers

50 Celeriac

64 Little Cooks

18 Packed lunches

53 Plums

66 Competitions

10 Editor’s Picks Dining details inspired by the sea

Maximum flavour, minimum washing up

Bites to brighten up your lunch hour

Some “quacking” dishes to try

Ways to make the most of this nobbly, nutty root

Delicious desserts starring the autumnal stone fruit

Get inspired by these new cookbooks

Try your hand at making an apple scone twist

Win a night in a brand new Bristol hotel, or a bundle of wasabi goodies

NEWS

NEWS&EVENTS

CORNWALL

The latest foodie news from across the West Country

HEADLINE SPONSOR FOR DARTMOUTH FOOD FESTIVAL One of the most popular events in the South West is back this autumn with award-winning seafood restaurant group Rockfish as its official headline sponsors.

Founder of Rockfish and neighbouring Seahorse restaurants, Mitch Tonks, said the decision to support the Dartmouth Food Festival over the next three years, is a commitment to the long-term future DEVON of the festival and will help promote and rebuild Dartmouth’s hospitality industry after an especially tough 18 months. He said: “Even though it’s been very difficult for us as a business recently, we want to be part of helping our town to bounce back. The timing of this year's event from 22-24 October means people can feel a real sense of celebration coming back to this incredibly popular food festival showcasing the South West right by the waterside.” www.dartmouthfoodfestival.com

New chef for Heligan

Chef Nat Tallents has joined the Lost Gardens of Heligan. Recently seen on BBC1’s Great British Menu, Tallents has also appeared on MasterChef: The Professionals (2012) and was a semi-finalist in Britain’s National Chef of the Year in both 2019 and 2021.

“Heligan is all about food,” she says. “The award-winning restoration of its Victorian Productive Gardens was the first of its kind, a living archive to the gardeners who, in an age before refrigeration, supplied the needs of the estate for 365 days a year. Today more than 500 varieties of (mostly) heritage fruit and vegetables are grown here — culminating in our annual Harvest celebration (9-24 October).

"Heligan is also home to the first Rare Breed Farm Park in the South West, which we showcase through events such as our Rare Breeds Month in September but I want to extend the offering further so visitors can really see how the gardens and estate work together.

“Next year will be the 30th anniversary of the gardens opening to the public and I want to showcase the unique palette of flavours

4 | THE WEST COUNTRY FOODLOVER

It’s a gin thing Family run award-winning Italian wine producer and distiller, Bottega, has officially launched its elegant Bacûr Gin into more than 50 bars in Cornwall, turning the west coast into the new Mediterranean — and certainly flooding it with the delicious gin! Boasting fresh notes of lemon, herbs and spice, this tipple will give gin lovers a taste of a sunny beachside taverna. bottegaspa.com

CORNWALL

that is Heligan. The gardens are still one of the UK’s top tourism destinations, an inspiration to gardeners worldwide. The skills and knowledge of the gardeners that worked here need to be celebrated, by preserving the past and learning from it, we protect our future and have a good time doing it.” www.heligan.com

NEWS

Bath Soft Cheese Co has invested in a bit of top tech to help streamline the production of BATH one of their award-winning cheeses.

The automated affineur, which has become known as ‘Basil the brush’, is an unusual addition to a UK artisan cheesemaker, with most still doing the age-old task by hand.

Basil has been made specifically for Bath Soft Cheese by Somerset-based Barvick Engineering and is used for the business's award-winning Wyfe of Bath Cheese. The semi-hard, Gouda-style cheese — which takes its name from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales — is matured for five months, or 12 months for the extra mature version, and needs to be regularly 'brushed' with brine as it ripens to ensure its distinctive flavour. That task, part of the "affinage" process, is usually done by hand but Bath Soft Cheese is taking a step forward by enlisting the help of Basil to brush thousands of cheeses as they ripen.

The robotic affineur has five large brushes — two on either side and one for the circumference of the cheese — which do the same job in much less time, freeing up human staff for the more skilled task of making more batches of the cheese. Managing director, Hugh Padfield, said: “Until now we've always brushed our Wyfes by hand, but with several thousand now in our ripening rooms, we needed a bit of extra help. Robotic affineurs are used in some countries, with a Swiss firm making them for turning and brushing cheese, but we think this is fairly unique in the UK. The fact we've had Basil specifically made by a local company is even better and he's doing a brilliant job. At Bath Soft Cheese we've always been proud of the traditional, manual methods we use when it comes to our cheese, and while we will never stray from that, we also know when we need a bit of help, and Basil the Brush is the perfect way to ensure we can keep these thousands of cheeses exactly as they need to be and continue to produce the Wyfe of Bath that everyone knows and loves.” www.parkfarm.co.uk

ECO GROCER OPENS IN PORTISHEAD Portishead has become the new home for a store which champions organic, ethical, and local produce. Earthfare, run by Andrew and Henry Quinlan, opened on 4 August, with a focus on sustainability. The shop stocks organic fruit and vegetables, fresh organic and artisan breads, organic dairy and eggs, artisan cheeses, as well as more than 30 plant-based milk options.

BRISTOL Wherever possible, produce is organic, local, ethical and packaging-free and sustainable. Andrew said: “Portishead Earthfare aims to offer our customers sustainable shopping paired with convenience. We are excited to join the Portishead community and want to work with them to continue improving the way we operate. We have high ethical standards, we want to keep waste to a minimum and sell organic and local produce wherever possible, and we know that to get it right, we need to listen to our customers. As an independent and family-run business, our heart is always in the local community, and we do our best to listen, adapt and change whenever possible.”

The Portishead store will follow a similar model to the Glastonbury Earthfare, and will be a specialist stockist of plant-based produce. Nothing is sent to landfill, and all food waste, glass, card, paper and plastics are all recycled. No plastic bags are provided, favouring the re-use of carboard boxes that arrive in the store. There is also the option for purchasing reusable organic cotton tote bags. Materials in-store are re-used and re-purposed whenever possible. www.earthfare.co.uk

CORNWALL

Treleavens' Mark Chrusciak (left) and Harbour Brewing's Eddie Lofthouse (right).

Image: Adam Sargent.

Top Tech For Artisan Cheese Makers

Trio of new Cornish venues North Cornwall’s Harbour Brewing and Treleavens Luxury Cornish Ice Cream have opened three new Cornish hospitality venues. The joint ventures include a new open-air bar and restaurant at Watergate Bay, the opening of the St Tudy Inn which has been closed since December 2020, and a new café in Wadebridge.

Harbour Brewing's Managing Director, Eddie Lofthouse, said: “The new venues are in such great locations, and the Harbour and Treleavens board members agreed that investing in the Cornish hospitality sector was a very positive step.”

The new open-air bar and restaurant at Watergate Bay, which opened in early June, comprises food and drink offerings in converted shipping containers adjacent to the beach. Footlong Franks is serving up gourmet hot dogs, Nuvola Pizza is offering stone-baked speciality pizza, while Harbour runs the bar and Treleavens serves its signature luxury ice cream.

The Treleavens team, headed up by Managing Director Mark Chrusciak, will take the lead on the new café in Wadebridge, located in a circular building in the heart of the town. Mark said: “Locals will be familiar with the building on Eddystone Road — right in the centre of town. The café, which we’re calling Luna, will showcase our artisan Cornish ice cream, alongside crêpes, smoothies, milkshakes, and great coffee.” www.harbourbrewing.com

FOODLOVERMAGAZINE.COM | 5

SHOPPING

MINI BERRIES £1/100g from Waitrose These small, sweet strawberries are similar in size to raspberries and blackberries and picked by specialists, making them the perfect addition to your breakfast, lunchbox or dessert!

WATERHOUSE FAYRE EXMOOR POND WEED CHUTNEY £3.75 from waterhousefayre.co.uk Despite the name, this Taste of the West gold award-winning chutney isn’t actually made from pond weed!

Instead, it’s created with homegrown green tomatoes, apples, onion with just a touch of fresh garlic and ginger and more than a touch of green chillies. Yum!

Shopping list The products we’re putting in our baskets this month JIMMY’S ICED COFFEE £1.85 from Waitrose and Tesco Jimmy’s, the family-owned iced coffee brand from Christchurch in Dorset, have launched their hero iced coffees, Original and Mocha, in an infinitely recyclable ‘BottleCan’ format.

Now available on shelves, this is the next step in the brand's pledge to do better for the environment and to remove single-use plastic from its range.

YEO VALLEY RASPBERRY KEFIR FOUR-PACK FREDA’S PEANUT BUTTER WITH CORNISH SEA SALT £4 from fredas.co.uk Freda’s make a dazzling array of peanut butters from their Cornish base (think chocolate and orange, coconut and even chipotle chilli), but we’re especially partial to the Cornish Sea Salt version which is simply marvellous munched with celery or apple.

£2 per pack from Tesco, Ocado, Waitrose and Sainsbury's Kefir is an ancient way of fermenting milk, a process that has been around for centuries.

The result is a deliciously creamy, slightly tangy yogurt packed with billions of live bacteria. Yeo Valley Organic Kefir has a unique combination of 14 different culture strains specially selected to work together for maximum gut flora diversity.

FOODLOVERMAGAZINE.COM | 7

The Great Bath Feast 24-26 September 2021 Be prepared to indulge your taste buds as the city of Bath goes all foodie.

The Great Bath Feast, in association with The Bertinet Kitchen, celebrates the best food and drink in the South West, as well as taste-sensations from further afield, appealing to culinary connoisseurs everywhere.

The festival kicks off with a buzzing market on Milsom Street in Bath with chef demos, pop-ups and a Food & Drink trail for all to enjoy.

With a number of curated and fringe events across the city throughout October as well, there will be something to suit every taste!

A LUXURY FAMILY RUN FOODIE HIDEAWAY IN DEVON INFO@LEWTRENCHARD.CO.UK

01566 783 222

DARTMOUTH FOOD FESTIVAL 22-24 October 2021 The Dartmouth Food Festival is back for 2021 with a tempting mix of delicious regional food and drink, chef demonstrations, workshops, lively food debates and fun for all the family. Set in the beautiful estuary town of Dartmouth in the South Hams, the 3-day event is a foodie’s heaven, celebrating the very best food, drink and culinary skills from the South West.

The festival sees around 20,000 people flock to the town and is paradise for food fans with more than 100 South West producers showcasing their delicious produce, a packed programme of events and a line up of celebrated chefs demonstrating their skills and inspiring festival goers.

Entry to the festival is free with a charge for some events.

8 | THE WEST COUNTRY FOODLOVER

WHAT'S ON

WHAT'SON

WELLS FOOD FESTIVAL 10 October 2021

Some of the most delicious events taking place across the region.

Image: John Law

Bristol Wing Fest 2021 11-12 September 2021 The world’s largest chicken wing festival: Wing Fest, is making its debut appearance in the South West for the first time ever this September, paying homage to one of the world’s favourite meals.

Bristol Wing Fest is set to take place on Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 September, at the Lloyds Amphitheatre showcasing a range of restaurants, street food traders and pop-ups, who will display their culinary talents and compete against each to answer the age-old question of “Who makes the best wings in the UK?” The competition is split into two categories: the best buffalo wing; the battle for who can execute the perfect classic spicy sauce, and the best wild wing; where the traders can let their creativity run wild with flavours and toppings to transform a humble chicken wing into a flavour explosion. Wing Fest’s legendary competitions will be held on both days, and it’s set to get seriously heated with a deadly Lava Wing Challenge hosted by Clifton Chilli Club — the UK’s hottest wing challenge and renowned for the carnage it causes. If you’re a true wing aficionado, then it’s time for the Bull's-Eye Wing Eating competition hosted by the Food Review Club, where ticket holders who are hungry and brave enough, compete against each other to see who can eat the most chicken wings — easily the messiest spectacle across the two days. www.wingfest.co.uk

Taste East Devon Food and Drink Festival 11-19 September 2021 Taste East Devon is a nine day food and drink festival taking place across the whole of East Devon from 11-19 September. Award-winning venues, producers, chefs and restaurants throughout East Devon have joined forces to celebrate the incredible food and drink on offer across the region. From farm feasts to brewery open days, seafood tasting experiences to barbecues and parties: some events will be ticketed, some will be open freely for all. www.tasteeastdevon.co.uk

Set in the medieval heart of the city of Wells, the Wells Food Festival is set to be a jampacked celebration of Somerset’s rich farming and food heritage. In the Artisan Market, a record-breaking 200 producers and street food sellers will be selling their creative, culinary delights, with stalls set up in the Market Place, along the Moat and into the Recreation Ground.

Gastronomic treats await with everything from dim sum to traditional Somerset Cheddar, washed down with locally distilled gin and award-winning cider.

Feature areas for 2021 include a Celebration of English Wine with wine tasting sessions (tickets available online). Children can get involved with five cookery workshops throughout the day, providing a fun and informative look at seasonal ingredients. In the Beyond Somerset area, artisan food and drink producers from across the South West have been invited to the festival. www.wellsfoodfestival.co.uk

Vegan Markets 11 September (Plymouth), 9 October (Bath), 6 November (Bournemouth) Vegan Markets will be coming to various South West locations this autumn. Vegan Events UK Vegan Markets, provide the ultimate guide for the vegan novice, featuring the latest food, plus tips, information, beauty products, clothing, and so much more. www.veganeventsuk.co.uk

FOODLOVERMAGAZINE.COM | 9

LIFESTYLE

EDITOR’S Picks

SEASIDE VIBES Dress your dining area with these seaside-inspired finds

POT LUCK

Abstract enamel mussel pot, £49.99 souschef.co.uk Kapka’s Abstract enamel mussel pot is bursting with character and is guaranteed to make guests exclaim with delight as you bring it to the table filled with mussels steamed in cider, white wine or ale. Beautiful!

CARRY ALL

Under the Sea Tray, £39.95 annabeljames.co.uk This deep-sided large tray in Matthew Rice's Under the Sea design is perfect for afternoon tea or breakfast in bed. Great for carrying glasses, crockery and cutlery to your table, the tray will make a design statement in your kitchen.

TIME FOR TEA

Cornish Large Betty Teapot, £55 cornishware.co.uk Legend has it that a factory worker was inspired by Cornwall’s blue skies and white-crested waves during a holiday to the county — giving Cornishware its name. This curvaceous teapot holds enough tea to satisfy even the most ardent tea-lovers.

SHOW SOME MUSSEL

Silver mussel eaters, £34.95 annabeljames.co.uk This pair of mussel eaters is a great way to serve mussels. Silver plated pincers, fashioned into the shape of a mussel shell, allow you to remove mussels from their shell quickly and easily. Simply nip the mussel into the sprung mussel eater, pull — and enjoy!

10 | THE WEST COUNTRY FOODLOVER

LIFESTYLE

FISHY DISHY

STAUB fish dish with lid, £249 uk.zwilling-shop.com Ideal for cooking and serving up fresh whole fish, STAUB’s 32cm enamelled cast iron fish dish with lid releases absorbed heat slowly and evenly for a gentle cook perfect for delicate white fish. Its low profile design keeps moisture locked in, ideal for letting the freshness of the fish speak for itself.

CUT OUT

Fish cookie cutter, £2.99 lakeland.co.uk Making biscuits is smooth sailing with this fish cookie cutter. From cakes to cookies, whether you’re baking a birthday feast for a Pisces or welcoming a pescatarian to your home, this is the best catch for you to use to bake your best biscuits and charm your guests.

OPEN WIDE

Opinel oyster and shellfish knife, £15.99 souschef.co.uk Oysters are delicious, but prising them from their shell can be a bit tricky unless you have the right tools. And this short-bladed knife is just that. The narrow point of the blade easily gets in between the two shell halves, and the African bubinga wood handle provides good grip for the twisting motions needed to prise open the shell.

KNIFE EDGE

Robert Welch Flexible Fish Filleting Boning Knife, £49.99 lakeland.co.uk Filleting fish will be a breeze with this knife thanks to its thin, flexible blade.

(It’s also pretty handy for filleting meat and poultry too, just FYI).

BOWLED OVER

Nautical Mixing Bowl, £32 masoncash.co.uk Bring a bit of the beach to your baking with this mixing bowl. The large bowl has detailed embossments of salt and freshwater creatures in a vibrant navy blue colour, and the embossment also helps to grip the bowl when mixing making it both practical and pretty!

SEA GLASS

Artland Marine Goblets, £25.50 notjustjugs.com This gorgeous set of four goblets in co-ordinating ocean blues and greens, each embossed with sea flora and fauna, will add real seaside style to any dining table.

FOODLOVERMAGAZINE.COM | 11

ONE PAN SUPPERS

Hand crafted cider bursting in flavour.

Lovingly hand picked and pressed in an old press in Dorset

Visit us at our Cider Barn or shop online www.laycockcider.com

ONE POT AUBERGINE AND MOZZARELLA BAKE SERVES 4

1 jar of cocktail onions, rinsed and drained 2 large aubergines, cut into 3cm slices 5 tbsp olive oil 3 garlic cloves, sliced 1 tin chopped tomatoes 100ml white wine 2tsp dried oregano 1 mozzarella ball 25g parmesan cheese 75g breadcrumbs Chopped herbs, to garnish

1 Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4. laycockcider

Email: info@laycockcider.co.uk - Tel: 07730 452 426 Church Farm, Purse Caundle, Sherborne, DT9 5DY

2 Take a large frying pan, add 1-2 tablespoons of the olive oil and cook the aubergine slices in batches over a high heat. Ensure the aubergines get nicely browned for maximum flavour.

3 Transfer the aubergines to a snug oven dish, overlapping the slices.

4 Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the frying pan and cook the cocktail onions until they start to brown.

Add the sliced garlic and cook for 1 minute. Pour in the white wine, tinned tomatoes, dried oregano and season with salt and pepper. Spoon over the aubergines.

5 Tear the mozzarella and place over the dish. Then sprinkle over the parmesan and finally scatter over the breadcrumbs.

6 Bake for about 20 minutes until the cheese is hot and bubbling. Serve with crusty bread.

Hints and tips: Ciabatta makes the best breadcrumbs, however any thick crust bread will work well.

Recipe by Opies (www.opiesfoods.co.uk)

12 | THE WEST COUNTRY FOODLOVER

ONE PAN SUPPERS

n i o l n l e A

These one-pan dishes provide maximum flavour, but minimum washing up.

FOODLOVERMAGAZINE.COM | 13

ONE PAN SUPPERS

BEEF & WATERCRESS BOURGUIGNON SERVES 6

1 tbsp rapeseed oil 1kg braising steak, with some fat or chuck/ skirt, shin, cut into large pieces 2 onions, finely sliced 3 garlic cloves, minced 200g button mushrooms, whole 50g watercress 1 tbsp plain flour 2 tbsp tomato purée 500ml red wine 500ml rich beef stock 4 bay leaves 10g parsley stalks 3 sprigs of thyme Salt & black pepper

14 | THE WEST COUNTRY FOODLOVER

1 Preheat the oven to 115˚C/Gas Mark ½.

2 Heat the oil in a large casserole dish over a medium-high heat. Mix the flour with a little salt and use to coat the beef.

8 Add the stock and tie the bay, parsley and thyme in a bundle with string. Add this to the pan along with the watercress.

9 Cover with a lid and pop into the oven for 3 Brown the beef in 4 batches on all sides, waiting 3 hours.

10 Check the meat, it should easily yield to until the meat releases itself from the pan with ease. Do not overcrowd the pan or else the meat a blunt fork. When done, remove and allow to cool to room temperature. Chill in the will steam instead of caramelising. fridge overnight.

4 Remove with a slotted spoon to a plate to rest.

5 In the same pan, add the onions and a small splash of water. Scrape the base of the pan to release the crusted pieces and reduce the heat to medium. Cover and sweat the onions for 10 minutes or until soft, translucent and sweet.

11 The next day, bring the stew back to room temperature before heating in a low oven until hot through. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper as the flavours will be more mature by now.

6 Add the garlic and the mushrooms and cook for 4-5 minutes more or until the mushrooms begin to caramelise and lose their moisture.

12 Serve with pillows of mash and green vegetables.

7 Add the tomato purée and cook out, stirring for 2 minutes. Add the meat back to the pan and pour in the wine. Increase the heat and bubble for 3-4 minutes or until reduced by 1/3.

Hints and tips: This is best made the day before you want to serve to allow the flavours to develop.

Recipe by Love Watercress (www.watercress.co.uk)

ONE PAN SUPPERS

PORK, APPLE AND WALNUT CASSEROLE SERVES 4

CHICKEN FRICASSEE SERVES 4-6

2 In the meantime, if using them, peel the

1 tbsp oil 600g pork fillet, cut into 1cm slices 1 onion, sliced 100g walnut halves 2 tbsp flour 500ml bottle cider 1 chicken stock cube 1 tsp Dijon mustard 1 red apple, cored and sliced 2 tbsp crème fraiche 25g parsley, chopped

carrots and asparagus and cut in thick,

1 Preheat the oven to 180˚C/Gas Mark 4.

diagonal pieces and peel and quarter the potatoes. Clean the peas. Halve or quarter the

1 chicken, around 1.8kg 1ltr chicken stock 2 sprigs of thyme

mushrooms, depending on size.

3 Add the carrots and potatoes to the

1 tbsp crushed black peppercorns

chicken and allow to boil covered for 15

200g pea pods

minutes. Then add the vegetables and boil

150g mushrooms

covered for another 10 minutes. Afterwards,

50g butter

remove the chicken and vegetables from

2 tbsp flour

the stock and allow to cool slightly. Sieve the

100ml dry white wine

stock into another bowl.

200ml cream Salt and black pepper

4 Clean the cocotte, then add the butter

Juice of ½ a lemon

and allow to foam before stirring in the flour.

2 bay leaves (optional)

Cover the roux with wine then pour in the

2-3 cloves (optional)

stock and cream. Reduce the liquid by a third.

3 carrots, approx. 200g (optional) 4-5 spears (each) of white and green

5 In the meantime, remove the skin from

asparagus (optional)

the cooked chicken and pull the meat from

200g medium-sized waxy potatoes (optional)

the bones.

1 Halve the chicken and add to a cocotte along with the chicken stock, herbs and spices. Bring to the boil, then cover and allow to simmer on a gentle to medium heat for about 60 minutes.

6 Add the chicken and vegetables to the reduced sauce and stir in. Season the fricassee with salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste.

2 Heat the oil in a large frying pan and fry the pork slices in 2 batches until browned.

Remove and set aside.

3 Add the onion and walnuts to the pan and fry for 3-4 minutes until softened. Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Gradually blend in the cider, stock cube and mustard and bring to the boil, add the pork back to the pan with the apple and season. Transfer to a casserole dish, cover and bake for 1½ hours until pork is tender.

4 Stir in the crème fraiche and parsley and serve with rice or mashed potato and fresh vegetables.

Recipe by California Walnuts (www.californiawalnuts.co.uk)

Cook's Tip If you don’t want to use cider, a little white wine and chicken stock will work well too. Try adding wholegrain mustard instead of the Dijon.

Recipe by Staub (uk.zwilling-shop.uk)

FOODLOVERMAGAZINE.COM | 15

ONE PAN SUPPERS

GARLICKY PRAWNS WITH PARSLEY, LEMON AND RADICCHIO With all the flavours of the summer, these juicy prawns drizzled in butter and topped with fresh herbs and leaves make an impressive centrepiece without being difficult to make. It can be prepared ahead leaving you to relax and enjoy a glass of wine with your guests. Served with crusty bread that can be griddled on the barbecue for a smoky flavour — they're a real showstopper dish for outdoor entertaining.

SERVES 4

2kg fresh raw prawns 100g unsalted butter

WINE PAIRING You don’t need to pair with expensive wines; serve with a fresh white wine such as Andrew Peace Signature Chardonnay 2020. It’s seriously refreshing and rich white with subtle flavours of tropical fruit and a splash of delicate citrus. And it’s £5.50 from selected Co-op stores. apwines.co.uk

1 tsp dried red chilli, crumbled finely 4 garlic cloves, crushed 1 bunch of flat leaf parsley, leaves only, chopped Juice of 1 lemon 1 tbsp dry sherry (Fino) Leaves of radicchio Crusty bread, torn or thickly sliced

1 Start by peeling the prawns, discard the shells but reserve the heads. Place a large, heavy based pan over a medium to low heat. When warm, add the butter and allow to melt.

2 Once the butter is melted and beginning to foam, add the prawn heads. When they are bright red, squeeze the juice from the heads into the pan (the easiest way to do this is by using tongs).

3 Remove the heads and discard. You will be left with a beautiful sauce that will really enhance the flavour of the final dish. Add the chilli and garlic, reduce the heat slightly and cook for 30 seconds or so, being careful that the garlic does not burn.

4 Add the prawns and cook for 1 minute or until just translucent.

5 Squeeze over the lemon juice, add the sherry and parsley and stir well to combine.

6 Finally add the radicchio.

7 Meanwhile, griddle on the barbecue or lightly toast chunks of the bread until slightly charred/browned.

8 Enjoy al fresco, by spooning onto a warm sharing plate and serving immediately with crusty bread.

Recipe by Skye Gyngell

16 | THE WEST COUNTRY FOODLOVER

Tips If radicchio isn’t available substitute with any fresh greens and it will be equally delicious.

Don’t skip cooking the prawn heads as they add so much flavour to this dish. This also makes a great pasta sauce - simply cook some pasta and once cooked add to the pan with the prawns and toss together well to combine.

ONE PAN SUPPERS

ONE-PAN MAPLE, SQUASH AND PANCETTA PASTA SERVES 4

½ a butternut squash, around 500g 4 sprigs of rosemary, leaves picked 2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced 8 slices pancetta, finely sliced Olive oil ½ tsp chilli flakes ¼ tsp ground cinnamon 2 tbsp maple syrup (preferably amber syrup for its rich taste) 1ltr vegetable stock 350g dried pasta Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 60g parmesan, finely grated

1 Carefully remove the skin from the squash and cut into

2cm chunks. Roughly chop the rosemary leaves.

2 Place a large saucepan or casserole (big enough to fit all the ingredients) on a medium–low heat and add a good drizzle of olive oil.

3 Fry the pancetta and garlic for a couple of minutes until just golden then stir in the chopped rosemary leaves, butternut squash, chilli flakes and cinnamon.

4 Fry for 4-5 minutes, until the squash is a little golden.

Drizzle over the maple, fry for a couple more minutes until sticky and pour over the stock. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down a little and simmer for 3 minutes.

5 When the squash feels about half cooked, stir in the pasta. The stock should just cover the pasta, but if not add a splash more boiling water.

6 Season generously, reduce the heat and cover the pan. Cook for a further 8-10 minutes — you want the pasta to be al dente so check the packet instructions 7 When it is ready, remove the lid, turn up the heat and continue to cook for a minute or two to reduce the stock — it shouldn’t be soupy, but still a little wet, the pasta will absorb this as it cools.

8 Add most of the parmesan and more black pepper. Taste and tweak the seasoning.

9 Wait for 2-3 minutes to absorb more of the liquid off of the heat and give it a few more stirs, until silky and glossy. Then serve with the remaining parmesan over the top.

Recipe by Maple from Canada (www.maplefromcanada.co.uk)

FOODLOVERMAGAZINE.COM | 17

PACKED LUNCHES

Pack it in!

Say goodbye to boring packed lunches with these tasty recipes

CZECH POTATO SALAD SERVES 4

200g diced potato 300g small diced mixed root veg — such as carrots, kohlrabi, celeriac, parsnip 100g peas (if using frozen, defrost in boiling water) 2 tbsp chopped gherkins 1 tbsp finely chopped parsley 1 small red onion very finely chopped 60ml mayonnaise (You can make this vegan by substituting for a vegan mayonnaise)

1 Cook the potatoes and roots in boiling salted water for 5-6 mins.

2 Drain and allow to cool.

3 Mix the gherkins, parsley, red onion and vegan mayo together in a large bowl. Add the cooled vegetables and mix well.

4 Add more mayo according to your personal preference — the veg should be well coated but not too runny.

Recipe by Louise Palmer-Masterton, founder of multiple award-winning restaurants Stem & Glory (www.stemandglory.uk)

CHEESE STRAWS MAKES 20

100g salted cooking spread 100g Cheddar, grated 200g plain flour 1 tsp baking powder

2 Preheat the oven to 190°C/Gas Mark 5.

Divide the dough into 2, then roll each piece into a rectangle 15cm x 30cm. Brush one with a little beaten egg white and place the Parma ham slices on top in a single even layer. Brush again with egg white and place the second rectangle on top, roll lightly to seal.

¼ tsp cayenne pepper 1 large egg separated 3 slices Parma ham 2 tbsp parmesan, finely grated

1 In a large bowl, beat the spread. Then beat in the cheese and add the flour, baking powder and cayenne pepper and mix. Add the egg yolk and 1 tablespoon of cold water and mix together to form a smooth dough, adding a little extra water if needed. Shape into a flat disc, wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

18 | THE WEST COUNTRY FOODLOVER

3 Cut into 20 x 15cm strips, twisting each strip a few times before placing on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment. Brush the strips with egg white, sprinkle over the parmesan and then bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until golden.

4 Leave to cool for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe by Homepride (www.homeprideflour.co.uk)

PACKED LUNCHES

SMOKED CHICKEN AND PARSLEY PESTO QUICHE SERVES 6

FOR THE SHORTCRUST PASTRY (makes 350g): 200g plain flour A generous pinch of salt 100g butter, well chilled and cut into small cubes 30g parmesan cheese, grated (optional) 1 medium egg yolk, beaten About 3 tbsp ice-cold water FOR THE FILLING: 2 tbsp olive oil 1 onion, finely chopped 4 spring onions, finely sliced (white and green parts) 200g skinless cooked smoked chicken breast, torn into pieces 1 small bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves finely chopped 1 small bunch of fresh chives, snipped Zest of 1 lemon, grated 250ml double cream 3 medium eggs and 1 egg yolk, lightly whisked 2 tbsp roughly chopped hazelnuts Salt and freshly ground black pepper Fresh rocket leaves, to serve

FOR THE SHORTCRUST PASTRY How it’s done — by hand

Sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. Add the butter cubes and use your fingertips and thumbs to lightly rub it into the flour until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the parmesan (if using) and rub again until the cheese is mixed in evenly.

Now add the beaten egg yolk and water, and use a roundbladed knife to combine the wet ingredients with the dry until the pastry comes together. Gather it up with your hands and knead very briefly into a ball on a lightly floured surface. Try not to handle it too much at this stage, or the fat will get warm and the pastry will become tricky to use and may turn out tough and chewy. Wrap in clingfilm and chill for 30 minutes before use.

How it’s done — in a food processor

Making shortcrust pastry in a food processor takes just minutes.

Process the flour, butter and cheese (if using) until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolk beaten with the ice-cold

water. Pulse until the mixture just comes together to form a dough, adding a tiny bit more water if you think it’s needed. Wrap in clingfilm and chill for 30 minutes.

FOR THE QUICHE

1 On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the pastry to about 3mm thick and line your tart tin with it, making sure the edge of the pastry stands above the rim of the tin. Trim the edges, then prick the base with a fork and return it to the fridge for 30 minutes. Don’t be tempted to skip this step — it will help prevent shrinkage in the oven.

2 Preheat the oven to 200°C/ Gas mark 6 and put a baking sheet in to heat up. Remove the tart tin from the fridge, line with crumpled non-stick baking paper, fill with baking beans and bake on the hot baking sheet in the oven for 20 minutes.

3 Reduce the oven to 190°C/Gas Mark 5. Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Cook the onion for 5 minutes to soften, then stir in the spring onions and cook for another minute. Remove to a large bowl and cool. Mix in the smoked chicken, herbs and lemon zest and spoon into your cooked pastry case. Whisk the cream and eggs together and season well with salt and pepper. Pour into the pastry case and scatter the chopped hazelnuts over the top.

4 Carefully transfer to the hot baking sheet in the oven and bake for 25–30 minutes or until the filling has just set and the pastry is golden brown. Serve warm, scattered with fresh rocket leaves.

Recipe by Higgidy (www.higgidy.co.uk)

Remove the paper and beans and return the tart tin to the oven for 5–8 minutes or until the base has dried out.

FOODLOVERMAGAZINE.COM | 19

PACKED LUNCHES

CHERRY TOMATO AND ROSEMARY FOCACCIA SERVES 6-8

500g strong white bread flour 7g sachet fast action yeast 2 tsp fine salt 5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 375ml lukewarm water 1 tsp of sea salt 250g cherry tomatoes, halved 5 sprigs of rosemary Extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar, to serve

MEXICAN SAUSAGE ROLLS WITH BREAD PASTRY MAKES 6

6 slices of wholemeal bread 200g pork sausage meat, removed from skins 1 tsp of cider vinegar or lime juice Large fistful of very finely chopped fresh coriander 1½ tsp smoked paprika ½ tsp ground cumin ½ tsp dried oregano ¼ tsp 70% cocoa powder ½ tsp of ground black pepper 1 tsp of green chilli sauce (optional) Lime wedges Soft butter

1 Preheat the oven to 200˚C/Gas Mark 6.

1 Start by placing the flour into a large bowl.

On one side of the bowl, add the yeast and the on the other side, add the fine salt, then mix everything together with a wooden spoon until combined.

2 Create a well in the middle of the flour and pour in the lukewarm water and 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and then mix until you have a sticky dough. You can either knead this on a lightly floured surface for 10 minutes, or you can do this in an electric mixer with the dough hook attachment — knead until the dough is smooth and slightly less sticky.

3 Once kneaded, place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a clean tea towel.

2 Put the sausage meat in a bowl and add all the other ingredients, except the bread and butter.

3 Mix together well and put to one side.

4 Take six pieces of the bread without their crusts and butter each slice on both sides.

5 Divide the sausage mix into six equal parts and form into a small sausage shape once again.

6 Laying the sausage meat along the shorter side of the slice, roll it over until the two sides meet. They do not need to be pinched together or overlap, but simply need to meet.

7 Give all a gentle stabilising press and lay the roll seam side down on a tray.

8 When all six are in, sprinkle the tops with a little extra smoked paprika 9 Roast in the oven for 8-10 minutes or until crisp all over and serve with little lime wedges and more chilli sauce.

Recipe by Valentine Warner, in partnership with Allinson’s (www.allisonsflour.co.uk)

20 | THE WEST COUNTRY FOODLOVER

Top Tip

Never throw away your crusts! Chop leftover crusts up into 1cm squares and bake, before storing as croutons or leave to dry out to make breadcrumbs.

Leave in a warm place and allow the dough to prove for 1 hour until it has doubled in size.

4 Preheat the oven to 200˚C/Gas Mark 6.

5 After the dough has proved, knock the air out by kneading it again briefly and deflating it. Grease a 25 x 35 cm baking tin with olive oil.

Pull and stretch the dough so it roughly fills the bottom of the tin, then place the tea towel back over it and leave it to prove once again for 30 minutes.

6 After 30 minutes, your dough is ready to top.

Use your fingers to make dimples in the top of the dough and to help spread it into the corners of the tin. Dot the cherry tomato halves across the top and then add small sprigs of the rosemary in and around them. Drizzle over 2 tbsp olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Place into the hot oven and bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown on top and the tomatoes have softened and charred slightly.

7 Remove from the oven and drizzle over the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil to soak into the warm bread. Allow to cool slightly before removing from the tin and slicing up whilst still warm. Serve with a mixture of olive oil and balsamic vinegar to dip the bread into.

Recipe by Maldon Salt

PACKED LUNCHES

FINANCIERS Legend has it that these sophisticated little French cakes are so named because they are wonderfully rich, and resemble gold bars.

They make a great alternative to the better-known madeleines or macarons.

MAKES 9

170g unsalted butter 120g ground almonds (or any of your favourite nuts) 40g flour 4 egg whites 140g icing sugar, sifted TO FINISH 30g 70% dark chocolate 30g 47% ruby chocolate 50g pistachios, shelled and chopped

1 Preheat the oven to 160°C/ Gas Mark 3.

2 Prepare a nine-cavity financier mould. Financiers are best made in silicone moulds, but if using a metal mould, prepare by brushing the cavities with a little melted butter.

3 In a small saucepan, melt the butter and continue to cook on a low heat, watching carefully, until you have a beurre noisette (once

butter has started to brown and foam slightly). Then remove from the heat.

4 In a mixing jug, combine ground almonds and flour. Whisk the egg whites with the icing sugar into a soft peak meringue.

Gently fold in the almonds and flour with a spatula, until well combined. Slowly incorporate the melted noisette butter and continue to fold with the spatula until all is thoroughly mixed.

5 Pour the batter into the moulds; each should be two-thirds full.

Bake the financiers for 20-25 minutes, until the little cakes are golden and firm to touch. Cool on a wire rack.

6 Melt both chocolates in separate bowls over simmering water.

Decorate the cooled cakes one by one, dipping half of each financier into the dark chocolate, then drizzling with ruby chocolate as shown. Top with chopped pistachios and set aside until the chocolate has hardened.

7 Store in an airtight container, for no longer than two days.

This recipe is taken from Knoops — Chocolate Recipes Throughout The Day, £20 from www.knoops.co.uk

Recipe by Knoops (www.knoops.co.uk)

RAINBOW COOKIES MAKES 14

125g unsalted cooking spread 175g light brown sugar 1 large egg, lightly beaten 1 tsp vanilla extract 250g plain flour ½ tsp baking powder ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda 150g Smarties

1 Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4 and line 2 large baking trays with baking parchment.

2 Beat the spread and sugar together with a hand-held electric whisk until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the egg, a little at a time, beating well between each addition, then add the vanilla extract with

the last of the egg and fold in the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda until fully incorporated, then fold in 100g of the Smarties.

3 Using an ice cream scoop, spoon the dough onto the prepared baking sheets — you should get 14 cookies out of the dough, but this could be more or less, depending on the size of your scoop.

Leave a gap between the cookies as they spread as they cook. Press a few of the remaining Smarties into the top of each cookie.

4 Bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes until golden brown, leave to cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe by Homepride (www.homeprideflour.co.uk)

FOODLOVERMAGAZINE.COM | 21

SEAFOOD

DE R N U

Emma Dance finds out more about the west country seafood scene.

From seasonal and sustainable produce, to top seafood restaurants.

22 | THE WEST COUNTRY FOODLOVER

Photo by Cristian Palmer on Unsplash

THE

SEAFOOD

&

Seasonal sustainable We might be used to seeing all kinds of seafood in the supermarkets all year round, seafood is — just as most fresh foods — seasonal. Seasonality in seafood, however, isn’t just about climactic seasons. In fact, it’s primarily about when fish are at peak harvest and at their most abundant. For example, if fish are harvested during spawning season then stocks could diminish. Additionally, buying “out of season” fish doesn’t only have a negative effect on fish stocks, but also means that in all likelihood, they’ve been sourced from far away, so bring a lot of food miles.

Here in the West Country, we’re lucky enough to have miles and miles of coastline, with waters that produce some of the best seafood that the UK has to offer, so there’s plenty of delicious fishy goodness on offer all year round. Fresh, locally caught seafood will almost certainly taste better than frozen varieties, which will likely have travelled large distances before reaching your plate.

Caroline Drever owns Dorset Shellfish, which provides quality fish and shellfish caught from

her partner Graham’s boat, as well as other day boats working out of Weymouth, so is something of an expert when it comes to the best locally-caught seasonal seafood available.

“We catch all year round,” explains Caroline.

“The fishing tends to be better in summer and autumn with more species, but it is very weather and tide dependant.

“At the moment, we are catching crabs, lobsters and sea bass, which are our main species.

“We produce dressed crabs from our own catch which are great just with some watercress and Jersey Royals. Sea Bass is good baked in the oven whole or pan fried fillets, served with homemade salsa verde.”

Doing the right thing Eating seasonally, is all tied into “sustainability” and “responsible sourcing” — terms that are used frequently when it comes to seafood. But what exactly does it mean?

To help us understand more, Seafish, the organisation that supports the UK seafood sector has put together a handy guide.

“Sustainability is about meeting the needs of today’s consumers in a way that does not compromise the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. For seafood to be responsibly sourced, it needs to be caught or farmed in a way that: • minimises impact on fish stocks and the marine environment; • supports the livelihoods of fishing and coastal communities; and • respects basic human rights including welfare and equality.”

Caroline Bennett is the founder of Sole of Discretion, a collective of small-scale fishers fishing out of Plymouth harbour, and she is passionate about spreading the message of the importance of sustainability in seafood.

“I started Sole of Discretion because I’d been working on marine issues for two decades, and being a pragmatist, it troubled me that there was no bridge between the well intentioned and highly knowledgeable environmental NGO community and people that wanted to do the right thing,” she says. “Plenty of my friends would ask me what fish to eat and where to buy it, and there really were no easy answers. The only thing I could tell them was to look out for MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) species in the absence of any other clear guidelines, which was

Dorset Shellfish produce dressed crabs from their own catches.

FOODLOVERMAGAZINE.COM | 23

SEAFOOD

frustrating, as I knew there were far better fisheries out there. So the pragmatist got together with the fantasist in me and Sole of Discretion was borne out of a desire to make it easier for the conscientious shopper to eat fish without that nagging doubt they might be contributing to a depleted and damaged marine ecosystem. It is nigh impossible for most people to be able to differentiate fish that had been caught with minimal impact to the marine eco system and those that have wreaked considerable damage and I was determined to make it easier.

“Knowing where to start in an incredibly complex marine world is tricky — while everyone knows that to limit damage on the seas hand-line caught fish are some of the best, while it doesn’t get much worse than dynamite (outlawed and yet still practiced in some parts of the world), but what about the rest? The vast majority of fishing lies somewhere in the middle of these two extremes.

In this 99 per cent ‘grey’ fishing area, there are some practices that are significantly better than others, and Sole of Discretion’s aim is to help you navigate your way through. In a perfect world perhaps we would return to anglers catching all of our fish with a rod and line, but handline caught fish will satisfy only a fraction of demand so becomes elitist, amplifies fishing pressure on a limited number of species, and

just as importantly, does nothing to differentiate between the most damaging fisheries and many of the better small-scale ones.

“Small-scale fishers around the globe face similar problems — access to the fishing areas or to quota, limited days at sea due to weather or seasonality, limited or no access to ice or processing facilities, inability to command control over prices and limited or no presence at policy level.

“Moreover, on the land side, their fish is not differentiated from those of the industrial boats, meaning that consumers are not able to actively buy fish from the smallscale fishers. For the most part, recognisable access to market, except at the very local level, is non-existent and all traceability is lost. This is in spite of the fact that more and more people are now actively choosing to buy ‘local’ or ‘ethical’ and take an interest in where their fish comes from as a result of rising awareness of the degradation of our seas.”

Support small So, by buying from your local small-scale fishery, you almost certainly getting fresh produce, that has been sustainably and responsibly sourced. At Dorset Shellfish for example, they use static crab pots for the crab and lobsters which allows them to sort the size of the live crab and

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Head over to our website www.foodlovermagazine.com.

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24 | THE WEST COUNTRY FOODLOVER

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lobster, and return unharmed any which are too small, or wrong species. The sea bass is caught by a rod and line, and again any undersized or the wrong species is returned to the ocean to live another day. At the same time, you are also supporting a local business in an industry which faces a plethora of challenges.

Caroline Bennett explains further: “There are a number of hurdles the small-scale fishers are up against. Modern food systems are wasteful and inefficient — they require large volumes of the same species, of the same size, in order to be processed mechanically.

This in turn requires industrial vessels to target certain species, of a certain size, and in large volume, thus facilitating this wasteful and inefficient means of fishing. The small-scale fishers tend to catch a wider range of species in lower volumes and of varying sizes, making their fish inappropriate for the today’s industrial scale food processing systems.

“It is often suggested that the world can’t rely on the small-scale fishers to meet global demand, and yet, research shows this to be fallacy.

We are therefore committed to providing the public with better access to the catch of these smallscale fishers, in the knowledge that used wisely, the small-scale fishers are able to meet demand.” www.dorsetshellfish.co.uk www.soleofdiscretion.co.uk

Top tips for buying sustainable seafood Seafish has put together a handy guide to help you shop for sustainable seafood.

Ask for info If you’re shopping at the fishmonger, don’t be afraid to ask where the fish came from! They will be able to tell you about the origins and the catching methods of the fish they sell.

mix it up Some species can be put under more strain than others because we buy them more often. By eating a more varied range of species we can be more sustainable. (See page 29 for some ideas!)

Utilise online resources Doing some research before you shop can help inform your choices when it comes to buying seafood.

SEAFOOD

CUTTLEFISH AND CHORIZO STEW SERVES 4

1 large cuttlefish 200g chorizo 1 red pepper cut into 2cm dice 1 onion chopped 2 teaspoons tomato purée 3 plum tomatoes 2 cloves of garlic chopped 2 tins of tomatoes (skin, deseed and diced 2cm) 150ml white wine 250ml fish stock (optional) Olive oil Salt and pepper

ON THE COVER

1 Cut the cuttlefish tentacles just below the eyes and remove the mouth from the middle of the tentacles.

2 Remove all the guts from inside the hood and remove the bone.

3 Peel skin from outside of the hood.

4 Cut the hood in half length ways, then into strips and cut tentacles in half.

5 Sweat off the onions, garlic and chorizo in olive oil until soft, then add cuttlefish. Cook for 8 minutes, add white wine and cook for a further 5 minutes.

6 Now add diced peppers and tomato puree.

7 Place the tinned tomatoes in a liquidiser and blitz, then pass through a strainer to get rid of the pips.

8 Add the strained tomato juice and cook at a simmer for another 8 minutes, then add diced plum tomato and season.

9 If the sauce is a little thick, add some fish stock.

10 Simmer gently for 10-15 minutes until the cuttlefish is tender, then serve.

Recipe by Seafish (seafish.org)

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SEAFOOD

A guid e to labels Seafood can be sourced from supply chains which are shown to be sustainable, either through certification or where fisheries are working towards an improved level of sustainability. While not all sustainably sourced seafood is labelled as such, checking the label on products in store is still one of the easiest ways to find out more. The sheer volume of labelling can be confusing though, so Seafish has decoded some of the most common labels below — you’ll be an expert in no time!

Marine Stewardship Council The MSC blue label is an independent sustainability label which indicates that seafood has been sourced using methods which minimise impacts upon the marine environment and fish stocks. The MSC’s standards comply with UN guidelines on eco-labelling.

Dolphin safe/ friendly Dolphin safe/friendly labels indicate that your tuna or other seafood has not been sourced in a way that is harmful to dolphins. However, this does not necessarily exclude the possibility that other unwanted seafood and animal species have been caught using dolphin-safe methods.

RSPCA Assured The RSPCA Assured welfare standard covers farmed salmon and trout and all aspects of the fish’s lives, including health, diet, environment, care and handling.

Pole-and-Line caught This label indicates that seafood (e.g. tuna) has been caught using the pole-and-line method, which minimises the risk of catching other species (e.g. endangered turtles and sharks), making it a more responsible method of fishing.

26 | THE WEST COUNTRY FOODLOVER

CACCIUCCO SERVES 4

700g assorted fish fillets such as whiting, hake, red mullet, fresh or defrosted 250g pack cooked seafood cocktail 5 tbsp olive oil 2 onions, sliced 2 carrots, sliced 2 celery stalks, sliced handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped 2 cloves garlic, chopped 2 red chillies, finely sliced 2 bay leaves 2 sprigs of fresh thyme 2 average glasses Italian red wine 6 vine tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped 1 ltr fish stock Salt and black pepper 12 slices Italian ciabatta

1 Preheat the oven to 200˚C/Gas Mark 6.

2 Cut all the fish fillets into large chunks and season.

3 In a large pan, heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil and add the onions, carrots, celery, cooking for 2 minutes. Add the parsley, garlic, chillies, bay leaves and thyme. Cook for 3-4 minutes.

4 Add the red wine and bring up to a boil.

Reduce to a simmer and continue to cook until the wine has reduced by half, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the tomatoes, fish and stock.

5 Bring to a simmer and cook for about 15 minutes before adding the seafood cocktail.

6 Drizzle the bread with the remaining olive oil and bake in the oven for 5 minutes.

7 Lay the fish in the bottom of 4 bowls and ladle over the fish soup. Serve with the bread, to soak up all the lovely fish juices.

Recipe by Seafish (seafish.org)

SEAFOOD

Killing kindness

with

When it comes to eating meat, most people like to know that the animals have been welltreated and humanely dispatched. But how often do we consider how the crustaceans (lobsters, crabs, prawns etc) that we consume have been treated? The chances are, rarely — if ever. It’s just not a conversation that is often had. This is starting to change, however, and newly opened Paignton restaurant, Crab & Hammer, is aiming to be the first of its kind in the UK to use humane methods to kill or dispatch crustaceans prior to cooking.

The restaurant is owned by The Blue Sea Food Company, one of the country’s largest crab processing factories, which has for many years used a “Crustastun” machine, which stuns the creatures, a method acknowledged to be a more humane way of dispatching crabs and lobster. A smaller version of the same machine is used in the restaurant.

Director, David Markham, said: “The treatment of crustaceans has always been an interesting area — and also quite contentious.

“In the factory, we process such large volumes we don’t want to think that we are treating animals cruelly. Where we can, we try to mitigate anything. There are huge implications about the transport of live

lobster, for example, so we are working on certain things we can put in the boxes to keep stress levels as low as possible. We have the same ethos in the restaurant.”

Crustastun is recognised by a number of leading welfare groups, including the RSPCA, as a humane and swift method of stunning crustaceans. Compared to boiling, which can take up to three minutes to kill even a small lobster, and cutting the animal in half which is unreliable, Crustastun interrupts the nerve function of the animal within half a second, meaning the shellfish can not feel pain. The animal is also killed in under 10 seconds, making it a dramatically quicker process compared to existing methods.

“Apart from stunning, spiking is considered the most humane method,” continues David.

“Done properly, the animal is killed almost instantly. But it does have to be done properly.

“There’s huge lobbying in government to recognise crustaceans as sentient creatures and include them in animal welfare protections.

Crustacean Compassion — an organisation which campaigns for the humane treatment of crabs, lobsters and other decapod crustaceans — has really raised the game. The biggest fear for the whole industry though, is that if the legislation is passed then some smaller producers, shops and restaurants will struggle.

The stunner is an expensive bit of kit, and the small guys will find it difficult to afford it.

There are some great small producers out there doing hand-picked crab etc — they are really important and they do a brilliant job.”

find out more

crabandhammer.co.uk crustaceancompassion.org.uk

FOODLOVERMAGAZINE.COM | 27

SEAFOOD

HAKE IN A HURRY SERVES 4

4 hake fillets, de-boned and skinned Vegetable oil, such as rapeseed oil Breadcrumbs, to coat Salt and pepper, to season Seasonal veg and lemon to accompany Spoonful of tartar sauce per person

1 Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 5.

Wash and dry the hake fillets.

2 Pour a little oil into a large baking tray; then place the hake fillets in the tray and gently turn over and around the oil to cover. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the top and then turn the fish fillets over and sprinkle more breadcrumbs over the other side.

3 Season the breaded fillets with salt and pepper and bake in a pre-heated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the crumbs are golden and crispy.

4 Serve immediately with lemon wedges, tartar sauce and seasonal vegetables and potatoes.

Recipe by Seafish (seafish.org)

28 | THE WEST COUNTRY FOODLOVER

SEAFOOD

different

options

You've heard the phrase, "there's plenty more fish in the sea," well, it's certainly true when it comes to the variety that you can use in cooking.

Chris Hart, director and fishmonger at Harts Natural Seafoods, gives the lowdown on some lesser used, but highly tasty options.

Cuttlefish

ling

A great fish to try, it's a very firm fish and goes well in stews or curries. Most fish like this are in a higher price bracket but ling is one of the cheaper fish, so it can be swapped for monkfish or halibut if you are on a budget.

Although it isn't the most sustainable, comparatively it is a better one to go for.

This is a great fish to highlight. It's half the price of squid and works just as well in any recipes I've tried. You will need to have the beak, head, innards and backbone removed. The tentacles are edible along with the side fins, although these might be a bit tougher than the body.

Dabs, Witch, and Megrim are all great substitutes for plaice or sole recipes.

I like to fry the fillets in breadcrumbs making them into goujons and have them in tacos, because the fillets are small and thin they are ideal for this and it makes a quick and easy meal.

dab

witch

hake

Another fish which is a perfect alternative to cod and haddock, Cornish hake is one of the most sustainable fish you can buy at the moment.

megrim

Harts Natural Seafood is a family-run fishmonger — experts when it comes to supplying top quality fresh fish to local residents and businesses. You can find them at markets in Glastonbury, Castle Cary, Wells, Frome, Bradford on Avon, Shepton Mallet, and Warminster. hartsnaturalseafoods.com

FOODLOVERMAGAZINE.COM | 29

SEAFOOD

buy

well

Tim Greenslade, of Greenslade Fish in Torbay, shares his top tips for buying fish.

Always buy from real fishmongers. The knowledge they have about their fish is always the best.

Buy fresh daily.

The fish comes into the local fishmongers daily and simply can't be beaten.

Get there early. The best fish goes so fast.

Look for whole locally caught fish. You get a much better idea of the freshness when buying whole fish.

Ask your fishmonger to prepare the fish for you. This will save you time at home and stop your bins smelling all week.

greensladefish.co.uk

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SEAFOOD

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trio

Three of our favourite West Country seafood restaurants

White Row Farm café and chippy

er Crab & Hamm

Fatbelly Fred’s Fatbelly Fred's Fish and Seafood is an award-winning, family-owned restaurant in Barnstaple. The team prides itself on sourcing local and sustainable produce from across the North Devon coastline, and goes to great efforts to make sure each dish is fresh and individually prepared to suit you — even if you’re not a fan of fish!

It might not be a traditional seafood restaurant, but the fish and chip shop at this farm shop on the outskirts of Frome has won awards for a reason.

The new addition to Paignton Harbourside, Crab & Hammer puts sustainability and humanity at its core, aiming to become the first of its kind in the UK to use humane methods to kill or dispatch shellfish prior to cooking (read more about that on page 27).

Signature dishes include a hot or cold seafood feast with Singapore chilli sauce, Cajun sauce or as nature intended, ‘straight-up’, and a crab bahn mi — a take on the South East Asian classic baguette. Also available are oysters, classic crab and lobster rolls, a crab cocktail/salad, as well as an epic burger and several delicious vegetarian options including a burrata salad. crabandhammer.co.uk

For a light meal, the crab salad made with locally caught crab is not to be missed, or for something really special, go for the fruits de mer platter (just be sure to order a day in advance!). fatbellyfreds.com

The fish used in the café and chippy is the same stuff stocked on the shop’s fish counter (also award-winning) which is sourced from the day boats in Cornwall and Portland to the Isle of Skye, Brixham Looe and more, and expertly prepared by fishmonger and head chef, Adie Ware. The daily specials are based on what comes in off the boat.

For example, you might be able to enjoy lobster with home-grown and home-made chips, garlic butter and aioli or pan fried or battered lemon sole. You can even order a particular fresh fish from the fishmongers for the chippy to cook for you! www.whiterowfarm.co.uk

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ASIAN FLAVOURS

Look East Discover the flavours of some of the most popular East Asian cuisines

China Town ccording to a recent survey, one in four Brits names Chinese as their favourite takeaway. But it’s actually not that difficult to create fabulous Chinese-style dishes at home. When cooking Chinese food, try to remember that classic Chinese food strikes a perfect balance between hot, sour, sweet and savoury. To help achieve this balance, there are a few ingredients that are key to authentic Chinese cooking. Of course, since China is such a huge country, there are some big differences between regional cuisines, but there are some ingredients which are common to most.

Soy sauce

Sesame oil

Oyster sauce

Soy sauce is probably the ingredient most people think of when it comes to Chinese cookery. Light soy sauce is thinner and saltier than dark soy and is typically used for seasoning or as a dipping sauce. Dark soy sauce is aged for longer and is richer and more robust than the light variety. It’s used in marinades, stir-fries and to add flavour to rice dishes.

Sesame oil is one of the most recognisable flavours in Chinese cooking. When choosing your oil, look for a dark amber colour and rich aroma. It can be quite an overpowering flavour though, so use it sparingly!

Made from a mixture of cornstarch, salt, sugar and oyster essence, oyster sauce adds a distinct savoury, umami flavour to dishes.

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Chinese five spice Usually a mix of star anise, cloves, Chinese cinnamon, Sichuan pepper and fennel seeds, this all-purpose seasoning has been designed to be a perfect balance of hot, sour, sweet and savoury. It’s ideal as a dry rub for meats like pork or beef.

Shaoxing rice wine If you’re wondering why your homemade Chinese food doesn’t taste like the stuff you get in restaurants, Shaoxing wine might be the answer. Although in some areas of China it’s used as table wine, any sold outside China has almost certainly been brewed for cooking rather than drinking.

ASIAN FLAVOURS

BLACK BEAN BEEF WITH TENDERSTEM BROCCOLI SERVES 4

500g beef short rib/brisket 200g wild rice, washed 200g broccoli, florets 4 carrots, chunks 4 garlic cloves 2 spring onions, chopped 2 bay leaves 1 star anise 1 cinnamon stick ½ piece of ginger, sliced 1 tbsp vegetable oil 1 tbsp corn flour Pinch of sea salt

FOR THE SAUCE 2 tbsp black bean garlic sauce 1 ladle of poaching liquid ½ tbsp light soy sauce ½ tsp brown/palm sugar

1 Place the star anise, cinnamon, cloves, bay leaves and sea salt in a saucepan on a medium heat for 30 seconds. Fill saucepan with 1-2 litres of boiling water. Place the beef inside and simmer for 2-3 hours.

2 Add the carrots and broccoli for 3-4 minutes. Remove vegetables and beef, and cool for 5-10 minutes.

Rub corn flour on the meat.

3 Place the rice in a saucepan and cover to 2/3 full with cold water. Boil on a high heat and turn low to a simmer for 30-40 minutes. Pour through a sieve and back into the pan until ready to serve.

4 Place vegetable oil in a wok on a high heat. Add ginger, spring onion, carrots, broccoli and beef into the wok and stir fry for 2 minutes. Pour the sauce mix over the top and boil for 2-3 minutes.

Continue to stir. Garnish with coriander and chilli. Serve.

Recipe by Jeremy Pang for Lee Kum Kee (uk.lkk.com)

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Thick but silky, spicy yet sour; an invigorating bowl for the senses. A mainstay of Chinese menus, I love the way this soup wakes up your tastebuds at the start of a meal. Getting it right is not easy. It is a dish predicated on balance, and striking the exact ratio of salty, sour, sweet and spicy flavours guarantees deep satisfaction. If you are too heavy-handed with any one flavour, it topples, so taste as you add each ingredient, to build up the exciting flavour journey.

SERVES 4

1.5 litres vegetable stock or dashi 6 large dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked for 1–2 hours until fully hydrated, then drained and finely sliced 100g bamboo shoots, sliced into thin matchsticks (optional) 100ml rice vinegar, or to taste 70ml light soy sauce 2 tsp caster sugar (superfine sugar) 2 tsp grated fresh ginger 1½ –2 tsp chilli garlic sauce from a jar, or to taste 30g cornflour (corn starch) 250g silken tofu, cut into 1cm cubes 2 tsp toasted sesame oil 2 large eggs, lightly beaten ½ tsp fine sea salt

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½ tsp freshly ground white pepper 4 spring onions, finely sliced 1 large red chilli (not too hot), deseeded and

Image: Yuki Sugiura.

HOT & SOUR SOUP

finely sliced

1 Heat up the stock in a saucepan and add the mushrooms, bamboo shoots, vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, ginger and chilli garlic sauce. Simmer for 3–4 minutes, then reduce the heat to low.

2 In a small bowl, mix the cornflour with 4 tbsp of water and stir until smooth, then add to the pan; the soup will slowly thicken.

3 Add the tofu and sesame oil.

4 Swirl the soup so there is some movement in the pan. Drizzle in the eggs from a height to create ribbons, then turn off the heat.

5 Add the salt and pepper, then taste; if you like it more sour, add more rice vinegar, and if you like it spicier, add more chilli garlic sauce. The balance of this dish is down to personal taste.

6 Before serving, sprinkle with the spring onions and red chilli.

TWISTS Adding prawns (shrimp) with their shells on adds extra umami flavour to this soup, while slices of roast ham are a quick way to add flavour and texture, too. A mix of wild mushrooms to soak up the silky soup also works well. Smoked tofu could be used instead of silken tofu, for a deeper flavour.

This recipe is taken from Tofu Tasty: Imaginative tofu recipes for every day by Bonnie Chung, published

by Pavilion Books.

ASIAN FLAVOURS

Land of the rising sun hanks to the Olympics and the Paralympics, the spotlight has been well and truly on Japan this year. When it comes to Japanese food, most people’s thoughts will immediately turn to sushi — and while that is certainly an important element, there’s a whole lot more to this country’s cuisine. Here, Jon Old, Managing Partner of The Wasabi Company in Dorset, shares some of the key ingredients in Japanese cookery.

Wasabi Wasabi is known for its pungent heat which develops rapidly and rises up the sinuses where it dissipates quite quickly, rather than getting held in the mouth.

This is because in wasabi, the irritating compounds (isothiocyanates) are volatile which means they evaporate when they leave the food and travel up into the nose where they activate pain receptors. It is thought the isothiocyanates then react with other compounds in the nose and change structure into something that doesn’t sting.

In contrast, the irritant in chili (capsaicin) which provides its heat, is not so volatile and so goes where the food does, on the way scorching membranes in the mouth and throat. Because capsaicin readily dissolves in oil and the cell membranes in the mouth tissue are oily, the pain remains for a longer time. The wasabi rhizome must be grated in a circular motion to instigate the chemical reaction which produces the heat, and The Wasabi Company also sells the specialist grater required.

Miso Miso is produced by fermenting soybeans with salt and koji and is a traditional Japanese seasoning. Rice, barley, or other ingredients are added to influence the flavouring. The result is a thick paste used for sauces and spreads, pickling vegetables or meats, and mixing with dashi soup stock to serve as miso soup.

Soy sauce Soy sauce is made from fermented soya beans and gives a salty umami flavour to food and comes in a wide variety of colours and textures from light to dark, and thick to light. To make soy sauce is a lengthy process that can take years: soya beans are cleaned and soaked, then steamed, mixed with a

yeast culture and wheat flour before being fermented for a minimum of two years and then filtered and bottled.

Japanese soy sauce is distinctly different from Chinese soy sauce: Usukuchi is light and less salty than Chinese light soy sauce.

Tamari is dark, thick and less salty, yet still strong in flavour and Shoyu is aged for up to two years with a full flavour.

Ponzu Ponzu is a citrus-based sauce commonly used in Japanese cuisine. Tart, thin and dark brown it delivers a distinctive umami flavour. ‘Pon’ in Japanese means ‘punch’ and ‘su’ is vinegar so the name literally translates as ‘vinegar punch.’ Ponzu is made by simmering mirin, rice vinegar, katsuobushi flakes (tuna) and seaweed. Once cooled and strained, the juice of either yuzu, sudachi, daidai, kabuso or lemon is added. Ponzu is used as a dressing for salad, grilled meat and fish, or a dip for sushi and sashimi. It also works very well as a marinade for fish, steak and ribs. Chefs from The Fat Duck, Sat Bains and Mark Hix use The Wasabi Company’s ponzus and vinegars on their menus in a variety of ways: marinades, dips, dressings and sauces.

Sake The best way to round off a Japanese meal is with a glass of sake. Sake is classified in several ways, including the rice and yeast that are used and the geographical provenance. The defining classification, however, results from how ‘polished’ or milled the rice grains are that have been used to make the sake and whether or not a small amount of brewer's alcohol (distilled alcohol) has been added to heighten the flavour and fragrance characteristics. thewasabicompany.co.uk

CHARRED CORN, WASABI & FINGER LIME FRITTERS WITH SANBAIZU SERVES 4

2 corn cobs, or 300g tinned corn 1 tbsp rapeseed oil, plus more for shallow frying 2 red peppers, finely diced 3 spring onion, finely sliced 1 avocado, finely diced 2 finger limes, drupelets only 2 tbsp fresh coriander, finely chopped 130g self raising flour 2 tbsp wasabi powder ½ tsp salt 2 eggs 100g milk or ½ milk ½ natural yogurt/kefir Sanbaizu for dipping

1 Remove the kernels from the corn cobs or drain the tinned corn. Heat the 1 tbsp oil in a frying pan and fry the corn until golden and a little charred. Set aside to cool.

2 Mix the peppers, spring onions, avocados, finger limes, coriander and corn together. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, salt and wasabi powder together.

3 In a third bowl, whisk the milk with the eggs. Make a well in the flour mix and slowly whisk in the egg/milk mix to form a smooth batter. Add the vegetable mix and stir until just combined. Don’t over mix, as this will make your fritters tough.

4 Heat enough oil to shallow fry over a medium heat. Add spoonfuls of the batter and cook for 1-2 minutes each side, depending on the thickness of your batter, drain on kitchen towel and continue cooking in batches until the batter is used up.

5 Any cooked fritters can be kept warm in an oven preheated to 120˚C. 6 Serve with a bowl of Sanbaizu for dipping.

To win a selection of goodies from The Wasabi Company, turn to page 66.

Recipe by The Wasabi Company (thewasabicompany.co.uk)

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ASIAN FLAVOURS

YUZU FONDANT WITH YUZU SOY CARAMEL SERVES 4

FOR THE YUZU FONDANT 100g unsalted butter, softened 100g icing sugar 2 large eggs, plus 2 egg yolks 100g dark chocolate, melted 2 yuzu, zested 25g plain flour 15g cocoa powder, plus extra for dusting FOR THE YUZU SOY CARAMEL 100g caster sugar 200ml double cream 40ml yuzu soy 20ml yuzu juice 150g unsalted butter, softened

1 Begin with the fondants.

Generously butter 4 Dariole moulds and liberally sprinkle with cocoa powder. Tip out the excess and chill in the fridge while you make the batter.

2 Beat the butter and icing sugar until soft and fluffy, beat in the eggs and yolks. The mixture will split but that is fine.

3 Mix in the melted chocolate until smooth then finally add the flour, cocoa and yuzu zest. Mix until combined then divide between your moulds. Chill for at least 3 hours in the fridge.

4 Meanwhile make the caramel.

In a frying pan, sprinkle over some

of the sugar in a single layer and heat over a medium heat. As the sugar begins to melt in patches, sprinkle over a little more to cover the patches, as if you were filling the gaps. This method of making a direct caramel ensures that you stay in control. Do not at any point stir the caramel or it will crystallise, just swirl to mix.

5 Once all the sugar has melted, increase the heat until it forms a deep amber in colour. Whisk in the cream, soy and yuzu juice. it will splutter and the caramel will seize on the whisk but keep whisking and it will all come back.

6 Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter bit by bit until you have a silky caramel. Set aside.

7 When ready, preheat the oven 180C fan. Cook the fondants for 10-12 minutes on the middle shelf, mine take exactly 11 minutes. Allow to cool for 1 minute before turning onto a plate.

8 Rewarm the caramel if necessary and serve straight away. The unbaked fondants will keep in the fridge for 3 days so bake as required. The caramel can be reheated over a medium heat in a saucepan.

Recipe by The Wasabi Company (thewasabicompany.co.uk)

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Head over to our website www.foodlovermagazine.com.

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ASIAN FLAVOURS

thai tastes Angus Aarvold, founder of Hill & Vale Spices in Bristol, talks all things Thai.

here are few cuisines which balance the taste of sweet, sour, saltiness and heat quite as boldly as Thai cooking. From the delicate aromatic notes of lemongrass to the fiery heat of bird’s eye chillies, the diversity in Thai flavours and ingredients are a fantastic match for many a palate. As with many Asian cuisines, Thailand’s staple food is rice. Such is the importance of rice in Thai cuisine that both rice and food actually share the same Thai word: Khao. From sticky rice to jasmine rice to rice noodles, the uses of this one ingredient in Thai cooking are many and varied and often integral to most meals. In flavour terms, probably the most important ingredient in Thai cooking is coriander. All parts of the coriander plant hold distinct but important roles in Thai recipes; the seed contributes an earthy sweetness, the herb a citrus freshness and the root a pungent peppery flavour. Aside from coriander, other important flavour ingredients in Thai cuisine include; tamarind, kaffir lime, galangal and Thai basil.

THAI RED CURRY WITH GREEN BEANS, AUBERGINE & SHITAKE MUSHROOMS SERVED WITH JASMINE RICE Combining sweet, citrus and spicy flavours the Thai red curry epitomises much of what Thai cuisine is all about.

SERVES 2

1 aubergine, halved lengthways then into 3cm chunks

Tamarind is the star ingredient for bringing

sourness and acidity to a recipe. This tropical fruit is peeled and its pulp is pressed into a block which can be used to really amp up the astringent qualities in a dish.

100g green beans 120g shiitake mushrooms, roughly chopped 400ml coconut milk 100g jasmine rice, to serve 10g fresh coriander finely chopped FOR THE THAI RED PASTE

1 tsp ground galangal (ginger can be used as a substitute) 1 tsp lemongrass 4 kaffir lime leaves 2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped 1 tsp turmeric 2 tsp paprika 1 tsp olive oil

1 Begin by making the curry paste. Add all the ingredients to a food processor and blend together. If the paste seems too dry, add water (teaspoon at a time) until reaching a thick consistency.

2 Spoon 2 tablespoons of coconut milk into a large pan with a fitting lid and stir in the paste. Cook for 2 minutes on low heat.

3 Pour in the remainder of the coconut milk and mix together.

Kaffir lime leaf although also offering sourness to a dish, it has a sweeter citrus taste with underlying floral notes. It can be used fresh or dried and in either form, much like you would use a bay leaf to flavour a stew, or ground to form pastes or spice blends.

4-6 red chilies, deseeded and roughly chopped

Galangal, a close relative of ginger, is another potent spice providing earthy base notes with citrus and piney flavours. As with ginger, it can be used either fresh or dried & ground. Much like with ginger, the taste of dried galangal is much spicier and less sweet, but is more commonly used ground.

1 tsp sea salt

6 Serve the curry with the rice and garnish with fresh coriander.

Zest of 1 lemon

Recipe by Hill & Vale (hillvale.co.uk)

Thai basil shares some of the same qualities of sweet basil more commonly used in the UK and Europe, but has more of a liquorice, anise flavour. It is usually used fresh rather than dried and is great either stirred into food or used as a garnish.

1 onion, roughly chopped 1 tsp black peppercorns 2 tsp cumin seeds 1 tbsp coriander seeds 10g fresh coriander with stalks, roughly chopped

Hill & Vale is a spice importer and blender with an ethical focus. They offer single origin spices sourced directly from farmer co-operatives and authentic tasting blends representing different cuisines from around the world. Their aim as a company is to provide both superior flavour through better sourcing and processing of ingredients, as well as easy to cook vegetarian and vegan recipes for their spices. Hill & Vale is owned and run

4 Add the vegetables and stir well.

Cover the curry with a lid and let simmer for 25 minutes.

5 Cook the jasmine rice according to packet instructions.

by Angus and was started with a singular purpose of improving our food supply chain.

Herbs and spices hold a unique role in our food system in that they make any type of food taste better, and by harnessing the power of these flavours, Angus believes Hill & Vale can help home cooks to create tasty food that's both good for you (nutritionally diverse) and good for the environment (biodiverse).

www.hillvale.co.uk

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ASIAN FLAVOURS

RAINBOW PAD THAI WITH SEASONAL VEGGIES This is a veggie variation on this street food Thai classic.

We used carrot, courgette & chard from our local food box delivery alongside sweet red pepper and beansprouts.

SERVES 4

100g peanuts 2 carrots 1 courgette 1 red pepper Small bunch of chard 2 eggs, beaten 3 nests of rice pad thai noodles (approx. 200g) 100g beansprouts

15g fresh coriander, finely chopped 15g fresh Thai basil (or sweet basil if you cannot find it), finely chopped 1 fresh lime FOR THE SAUCE 100ml vegetable stock 2 tbsp soy sauce 1 tsp chilli powder 4 tbsp white wine vinegar (substitute 2tbsp for tamarind paste if you have it) 4 tbsp brown sugar Juice of ½ a lime

1 Begin by cutting the veggies (carrots, courgette, red pepper) into long strips to match the shape of the noodles (if you have a spiralizer, even better!)

2 Mix all the pad thai sauce ingredients together in a small bowl. Stir well and set to one side.

3 Heat a small pan and dry fry the peanuts on a medium heat for 4-5 minutes stirring occasionally so they don’t burn. Remove from the pan and transfer to a pestle and mortar to cool before lightly crushing.

4 Cook the rice noodles according to packet instructions then drain and put to one side.

5 While the noodles are cooking, heat the oil in a separate frying pan or wok if you have one, and add the carrot, courgette and red pepper. Cook for 3-4 minutes until tender and crisp. Lastly, add in the chard and cook for a further 1 minute until wilted.

6 Remove the veggies from the pan/wok and add the noodles.

Fry for 1 minute, pour over the sauce and toss until evenly coated for a further 2 minutes.

7 Move the noodles to one side of the pan and pour in the beaten eggs. Let the eggs cook for 30-40 seconds before combining with the noodles.

8 Transfer the veggies back into the pan with the bean sprouts, half of the crushed peanuts & half of the herbs. Mix together with the noodles and sauce and cook for a further 1-2 minutes.

9 Serve immediately with a squeeze of fresh lime and a sprinkle of peanuts and remaining herbs.

Recipe by Hill & Vale (hillvale.co.uk)

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Taste of Malaysia enny Koo’s Kitchen in Dartmouth dishes up mouthwatering fare inspired by the flavours of Asia, and with her Malaysian heritage, Jenny is the perfect candidate to talk about the country’s cuisine. “Malaysian is a fusion of Chinese, Thai, Indonesian and Middle Eastern cuisines,” she says. “Some of Malaysia’s best known dishes are curries, such as beef rendang, and chicken and potato curry, which both use coconut — like Thai curries. The main difference you’ll notice between Malaysian curries and Thai curries though is that the Malaysian versions tend to be a bit thicker and sweeter. Pandan chiffon cake is also very popular. Pandan leaves look a bit like yucca leaves and have

40 | THE WEST COUNTRY FOODLOVER

a unique flavour — not quite vanilla, but close — and they are used in both sweet and savoury dishes. We use it for colouring as well as flavour as it gives a beautiful green colour. Other key ingredients in Malaysian cooking are garlic, ginger, shallots or onions, lemongrass, gula melaka (a bit like palm sugar), turmeric and curry leaves. The curry leaves are different from the ones you typically find in the UK though — those smell of curry.

Malaysian curry leaves are fresher. You can usually find them in Asian supermarkets, or you can buy a plant — mine came from Stoke Fire Chilli Farm in Stoke Gabriel.” www.facebook.com/jennykooskitchen

ASIAN FLAVOURS

SPICED SMOKED MACKEREL PÂTÉ SERVES 2

2 medium-size smoked mackerel, or 4 smoked mackerel fillets 200g cream cheese Sichuan chilli oil, to taste Zest of 1 lemon 1 tsp of lemon juice Ground black pepper, to taste A pinch of sea salt Ground turmeric, to taste 3-4 fresh curry leaves or lime leaves

1 Remove the skin and bones from the mackerel and flake the fish into a bowl.

2 Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl.

3 Mix well, or for a smoother consistency you could blitz in a blender.

Recipe by Jenny Koo’s Kitchen

TURMERIC CHICKEN SERVES 2-4

6 chicken thighs, boned, skinned and cut into strips 1 tsp fresh root ginger, minced 1 tsp fresh root turmeric (optional) 1 tsp ground turmeric 1 garlic clove, minced A pinch of chilli powder Salt and cracked black peppercorns, to season 1 tsp soya sauce or tamari ½ tsp sugar or honey

1 Put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix together. Leave to marinate for at least an hour.

2 Heat a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and add two tablespoons of vegetable oil.

3 Add the marinaded chicken to the pan, stir occasionally until the meat is cooked through.

4 Add the soya sauce or tamari, honey or sugar and season to taste.

5 Serve hot or cold, with a salad.

Recipe by Jenny Koo’s Kitchen

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ORGANIC

Organic growth I

Since this month is “Organic September”, we’ve enlisted some local experts to share their expertise and explain what the O-word actually means — and why going organic is a good thing.

n a world where we are facing ever-increasing issues relating to climate change, diet-related illhealth and a widespread decline in wildlife, the need to be mindful of our food systems, and make changes to the way we view them, has never been greater.

Organic September is a month-long campaign by the Soil Association, to raise awareness of the benefits of organic food and farming.

WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN? Organic is a word that's bandied around a lot these days, but for many people, what the label really means is a bit of a mystery.

In reality though, it's not too complicated — at least not according to people at Yeo Valley Organic in Somerset (and they should know, since they’ve been an organic brand for more than 25 years!). “It means no chemical pesticides, fertilisers; not using antibiotics as a preventative measure (antibiotics can be used if the animals are sick when it becomes a necessary medicine),” says Adrian Carne, Yeo Valley Managing Director. “It means higher animal welfare and truly free-range livestock fed on a grassbased diet.”

Mark Bury, founder and director of Eversfield Organic in Devon, explains more. “Organic food is made in the most natural way,

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without any artificial fertilisers, pesticides, livestock feed or manmade resources — the way nature intended,” he says.

ANIMAL WELFARE According to the Soil Association, organic farming has the highest animal welfare standards of any international farming system; which means truly-free range animals, encouraged to forage, graze and roam, with plenty of space, fresh air, and conditions that allow them to express their natural behaviours.

This is certainly the case at Eversfield Organic, as Mark tells us: “At Eversfield Organic, our cattle and lamb are only fed on a 100 per cent organic grass fed and finished diet, with our other meat fed on organic, natural feed. The animals are also allowed to roam, graze and forage freely, expressing natural behaviours. This high level of animal welfare also means the need for antibiotics is reduced — keeping these out of the food chain. Indoor living forces the requirement of veterinary visits and antibiotics.”

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT Modern life means that almost every part of our lives has some impact on the environment, but by choosing food that has been produced organically, we can lessen the negative effects, as Tom Richardson, Communications Manager at The Community Farm, near Chew Magna in

Somerset, tells us. “The way food is produced has a massive impact on our health and the health of the planet. A whopping 75 per cent of land in the UK is used for agriculture and about 20 per cent of our greenhouse gas emissions come from food, so the food system has a huge role to play in answering the climate and nature crises. According to a recent report by the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations, if Europe’s farmland all went organic, agricultural greenhouse gas emissions could drop by up to 50 per cent by 2050 and we’d still provide plenty of healthy food for everyone,” he says.

Eversfield Organics’ Mark agrees: “Organic food is better for the planet, as avoiding man-made fertilisers and utilising waste products, such as organic compost in our closed-loop regenerative farming model, provides naturally nutritious soil to sustain crops and livestock.

Using less energy than intensive, traditional farming, organic farming and supporting local farm shops can reduce food miles and ultimately CO2 emissions.”

He continues: “It’s also better for the soil, which is a vital investment into our future. Organic farming adds to the natural humus (no

IN SEASON

chickpeas involved) of the soil, which acts as a glue, important for the health of all living things. As we continue to improve the soil, we also use a rotational grazing system for our cattle. In this, livestock are moved to different areas of fields to allow the other sections to rest and recover. Increasing soil fertility and organic matter can help to draw CO2 out of the atmosphere (carbon sequestration), an effective strategy to offset the rise in atmospheric CO2.”

habitats like hedgerows, giving wildlife the space to thrive!”

The team at Yeo Valley Organic take a similar approach. “At Yeo Valley Organic, we always strive to put nature first,” says Adrian.

“Organic farming does more than any other system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture. Healthy, organic soils are one of the biggest carbon sinks, locking away — or ‘sequestering’ — carbon, keeping it out of the atmosphere and helping to prevent climate change.”

GOOD HEALTH

PROTECTING WILDLIFE

Mark agrees. “As the food chain continues, organic food presents higher nutritional values than traditionally produced food,” he says. “Organic, grass-fed meat contains lower levels of saturated fats and boosts omega-3 fatty acids with organic dairy and fruit and vegetables also seeing more essential vitamins and minerals.”

“Organic is great for the ecosystem and community dynamics within our wildlife,” continues Adrian from Yeo Valley Organic.

“Without widespread chemical use, organic farms, like Yeo Valley, tend to have high levels of wildlife — on average, 50 per cent more than on other kinds of farms! We help this along by looking after

“Plus,” adds Tom from The Community Farm, “the chemicals used in conventional, non-organic, farming can be hugely damaging to pollinators, pollute our waterways and are degrading our soils at such a rate that, according to the UN, we could have as little as 60 years of conventional farming left.”

So, we’ve established that the organic thing is better for the animals, and better for the environment. But it turns out that it’s better for us as consumers too.

“There’s a growing body of research that suggests that food grown organically has a greater amount and variety of antioxidants and micro-nutrients, as well as being better for your microbiome and gut health,” says Tom.

“Organic milk is not only high

in protein, calcium, and iodine; research suggests it contains around 50% more omega 3 fatty acids than non-organic milk,” adds Adrian.

“Our bodies only produce a small amount of omega 3 fatty acids naturally, which means we need to get as much as possible from our diets to promote a healthy heart and blood circulation.”

fermentation, that is used to feed the cows organically from late autumn until early spring. As you can imagine a lot of time and effort is needed working out the perfect balanced diet for each of our cows and most of their food is grown on the farm.”

With so many benefits, it might seem that adopting organic practices should be a no-brainer for all food producers. But it does pose some challenges, as our team of experts knows only too well — especially when it comes to dealing with the seasons and the unpredictable nature of British weather.

“The main challenges of organic farming come from learning to work with nature, rather than fighting against it,” adds Tom. “For example, here at The Farm, we plant flowers in our polytunnels that encourage insects that might eat the ‘pests’ that would otherwise damage our crops. And we work hard to keep our plants healthy, as healthy plants are far less vulnerable to attack than unhealthy ones that have relied on artificial fertilisers to grow.”

“Whilst organic farming is sometimes a battle against the weather, it can also be a race against time, especially in autumn,” says Mark. “Our organic cows must genuinely be free range and spend most of their time outside grazing on grass, on average 215 days per year! In fact, their total diet must be at least 60 per cent grass-based (but we aim for more!). Therefore, as summer turns to autumn, and the growth of the grass starts to slow down, we are preparing the silage, which is preserved grass through

Overcoming the challenges can take a bit of thinking outside the box sometimes too, as Adrian tells us. “We’ve been an organic brand for more than 25 years, and throughout this journey we have had to find innovative approaches to farming organically. For example, organic standards mean you can’t use a nitrogen fertiliser so we use clover instead. Clover is considered a nitrogen fixing plant, meaning that it will take nitrogen from the air and get it into the soil so that our crops and grass can use it to grow.”

FACING CHALLENGES

The Community Farm.

FIND OUT MORE: www.thecommunityfarm.co.uk www.eversfieldorganic.co.uk www.yeovalley.co.uk www.soilassociation.org

FOODLOVERMAGAZINE.COM | 43

ORGANIC

CONSUMER EXPECTATIONS Another aspect of organic farming that can pose some challenges is meeting the expectation of consumers, who often expect their fruit and veg to look perfect, and have a long shelf life. “Environmental conditions mean it’s not always possible to meet public expectations with the food we grow,” says Tom. “Some of our veg is wonky, or a bit smaller than you might find in the supermarket, and we can’t grow all types of produce all year round. Obviously, we can only sell what the public will buy, so building an understanding of what natural and seasonal food looks like is another challenge that we all need to work to address. That’s why we encourage everyone in our community to visit the farm, get their hands dirty and experience the realities of food growing. Most people find it really enjoyable as well as educational.”

44 | THE WEST COUNTRY FOODLOVER

“Organic fruit and veg also sometimes doesn’t last as long as normal fruit and veg due to not using any artificial preservatives,” adds Mark.

final cut of meat more expensive too, but is made with more care, thought and precision than traditional methods — and tastes a whole lot better too!”

HIGHER COSTS

“It goes without saying that organic cows need organic food,” adds Adrian. “They’re designed to eat grass, and we’re firm believers that free-ranging, pasture-fed cows produce the very best milk.

During the winter months, when it’s too wet or cold for them to be outside, we bring them into our warm, dry barns and feed them conserved grass, cereal crops and hay — all organic and entirely produced on the farms. Once the spring comes, they all go back to the fields to graze on the fresh grass in the clover-rich fields. But of course, there will be higher costs associated with organic approaches, but we wouldn’t have it any other way.

You might notice the price tag on organic products is a bit higher than on the non-organic equivalents. But it’s for good reason.

“Organic farming takes a lot more work and planning than traditional farming,” says Mark.

“Artificial methods and resources are used in mass production of food for a reason: they are cheaper than natural methods. Farmers and producers of meat often choose grain designed to pack on weight to their animals to rear them more quickly and hence receive payment quicker. The grain also usually comes at a cheaper price than maintaining grass fed animals. Rearing grass fed animals at a more natural, slower pace is more expensive, making the

“As organic farmers, we see ourselves as custodians of the land, which means we work to

leave it better than we found it for future generations.”

“Our current food system doesn’t account for the true cost of the food that it produces,” says Tom. “If you included the cost of environmental damage, greenhouse gas emissions, health problems caused by poor diets and exposure to farming chemicals, to name just a few, the Sustainable Food Trust estimates that nonorganic food should cost about double its current price! Growing food organically deals with a lot of those negatives through care and attention throughout the growing process, but this takes more people and more time, and that’s where the extra costs come in. If nonorganic food was priced to reflect its full cost, the price difference would most likely disappear. It’s just that at the moment, when we buy non-organic food, we save money at the moment of purchase, but we pay the difference in the health of ourselves and the planet.”

IN SEASON

Duck tales

R

ich and full of flavour, duck meat is a real treat!

Weight for weight, you might not get as much meat as you would from a chicken or a turkey, but it’s so flavoursome that you’ll find a little goes a long way. There’s various breeds of duck available — but if you want to buy British, then look for Gressingham, Goosenargh or Avery. If you’re going for wild duck, then it’ll most likely be mallard. As with

The meat that makes a “ qua ckin g” m ea l!

any meat, make sure you get it from a source that you trust such as a good supermarket, butcher or farm shop. Whole ducks roast well, breasts are ideal for dry frying or grilling (make sure you render the fat to make it delicious and crispy), while legs are perfect for slower cooking in stews and casseroles.

European cookery frequently pairs duck

with fruity flavours such as oranges, raspberries, cherries or blueberries, and the sweet meat is also excellent used in Chinese or Thai dishes. Because farmed duck meat is fattier and richer than most other poultry, there’s no need for a marinade, but wild duck can be drier so might benefit from being marinated for up to 24 hours. (Slash the skin to help it absorb as much flavour as possible). All recipes are by Gressingham Duck (www.gressinghamduck.co.uk)

FOODLOVERMAGAZINE.COM | 45

IN SEASON

CONFIT DUCK LEGS

DUCK JUNGLE CURRY

This classic yet versatile duck dish is delicious any time of the year.

Serve with Puy lentils and braised red cabbage.

A great curry packed full of flavour and spice. We use half a roast aromatic duck here but you can use any leftover duck, or simply roast two duck legs then serve them whole on top of the curry or shred them into the sauce. Serve with steamed rice.

SERVES 4

6 tbsp coarse rock salt Few sprigs of rosemary and thyme 1 garlic bulb, cloves separated, skins on, flattened with a large knife 4 large Gressingham duck legs 1 tsp whole black peppercorns 2 bay leaves 1 orange, zested 1kg duck fat

1 You will need to start the confit process at least one day ahead. Scatter one fifth of the salt, herbs and garlic in a deep tray or dish big enough to hold the duck legs. Place the legs skin side down in the dish and sprinkle the rest of the salt, herbs and garlic over the legs along with the peppercorns, bay leaves and orange zest. Cover and place in the fridge overnight.

2 When you are ready to cook, remove the duck legs from the fridge, scrape off the herbs and salt, rinse under cold water and dry well with kitchen roll.

3 Preheat the oven to 125°C/Gas Mark ½.

Place a large ovenproof saucepan or casserole dish on a low heat and melt the duck fat.

Carefully place the duck legs into the pan or dish, ensuring they are fully covered by the fat. Cover with a lid or foil and place into the oven. Cook for 2½ to 3 hours until tender. Test if the meat is ready by piercing with a skewer; it should be soft and yielding. If not, return to the oven and test every 30 minutes.

4 When the duck legs are ready, remove the pan or dish from the oven and allow them to cool in the fat for 1 hour. Take the legs out of the fat and place them on a wire rack in a roasting tray, skin side up. If you wish to store them at this stage, you can put the legs into a container, cover with duck fat, put the lid on and refrigerate for up to a month. Otherwise, keep the fat for your next batch of confit.

5 To roast your confit legs, preheat your oven to 200°C/Gas Mark 6. Place them in the oven and roast for about 30 minutes until the duck is heated through and the skin is crispy. To help speed up the process of crisping the skin, you can place them under a hot grill for the last couple of minutes before serving.

46 | THE WEST COUNTRY FOODLOVER

SERVES 2

FOR THE CURRY PASTE 1 lemongrass stalk 2cm root ginger, peeled and roughly chopped 2 small onions, peeled and roughly chopped 6 garlic cloves, peeled 2 red chillies, roughly chopped 1 tbsp lemon juice 1 tbsp vegetable oil 1 tsp white pepper ½ tsp ground turmeric FOR THE CURRY 1 Gressingham half aromatic duck 2 tbsps vegetable oil 5 kaffir lime leaves 200g butternut squash 1 aubergine 200ml chicken stock 1 tin of coconut milk (400ml) 2 tbsp fish sauce 2 tsp palm sugar 10 mangetout, washed A few sprigs of fresh basil

1 Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas Mark 6. Remove any packaging from the half aromatic duck, place it on a baking tray and roast in the preheated oven for 30 minutes.

2 Meanwhile, make the curry paste.

Remove the hard end and dry top half of the lemongrass stalk, then roughly chop the remainder. Grind all the ingredients for the paste together in a pestle and mortar.

Alternatively, you could blitz everything in a blender to a smooth consistency.

3 Put a large pan onto a low-medium heat and pour in the oil, then add the curry paste and lime leaves. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding a little water if anything starts to stick. Meanwhile, prepare the butternut squash and the aubergine by peeling the squash, topping and tailing the aubergine, then chopping both into 2cm dice.

4 Add the butternut squash and aubergine to the pan, lightly season and stir for 2 minutes.

Pour in the stock and coconut milk, bring to the boil and then simmer until the duck has

finished roasting. Remove the duck from the oven, carefully shred the meat off the bones with two forks and add it to the curry sauce along with the fish sauce and palm sugar. Stir everything together and simmer for a further 10 minutes, adding a touch of water if the sauce is drying out too much.

5 When the curry is almost ready, stir in the mangetout and adjust the seasoning after tasting the sauce. Spoon the curry into two warm bowls and garnish with fresh basil just before serving.

IN SEASON

FOODLOVERMAGAZINE.COM | 47

IN SEASON

CHILLI CON CANARD A delicious twist on the classic chilli con carne, using shredded cooked duck legs instead of beef. You can use kidney beans or black beans depending on your preference, and serve this with rice, tortilla chips, or both.

SERVES 4

2 large Gressingham duck legs 1 red onion, peeled and finely sliced Vegetable oil 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed 100g cooking chorizo 2 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp dried oregano 1 tsp smoked paprika 1 tbsp tomato purée ½ tbsp chipotle paste 1 tin of kidney beans, drained (400g) 1 tin of chopped tomatoes (400g) 1 lime, halved TO SERVE Fresh coriander Soured cream Grated cheese Fresh chillies Tortilla

1 Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas Mark 6. Pat the duck legs dry with kitchen towel. Prick the skin all over with a fork or sharp knife and season well with salt and pepper.

2 Place them on a baking tray and into the preheated oven. Cook for 45 minutes then remove from the oven, leave until cool enough to handle and shred the meat from the bones with two forks.

3 Meanwhile, gently fry the red onion with a little oil in a pan over a low to medium heat, until softened. Add the garlic and chorizo and cook for 3-4 minutes.

4 Next add the cumin, oregano, paprika, tomato purée, chipotle paste, kidney beans and chopped tomatoes.

5 Turn up the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, then stir in the shredded duck and a little water if the sauce is getting too thick.

6 Cook the chilli for a further 10 minutes, then finish with salt, pepper and lime juice to taste. Add a sprinkle of paprika if you like, then serve the chilli alongside all your chosen accompaniments.

48 | THE WEST COUNTRY FOODLOVER

IN SEASON

PUFF PASTRY DUCK PIE SERVES 6

4 Gressingham Duck Legs 4 rashers smoked bacon 3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped 1 onion, peeled and diced 1 tbsp tomato purée 3 sprigs of thyme 500ml good red wine 300ml chicken stock 1 large carrot, peeled and diced 1 leek, washed and sliced 1 tbsp cornflour 1 packed ready-rolled puff pastry (320g) 1 egg, beaten

1 Prepare the duck legs by removing any excess fat, piercing the skin all over with a skewer and seasoning well. Place a casserole dish on a medium heat and sear the duck legs gently skin-side down until the fat has rendered. Turn the legs over and sear the other side until golden brown, then remove the duck from the pan.

2 Carefully pour off the excess duck fat from the pan. Add the bacon, garlic and onion then fry gently for 5 minutes, or until the onion has softened. Add the tomato purée

and thyme, cook for a further 2 minutes, then place the duck legs back in the pan.

Cover them with the wine and stock, then leave to simmer for 1 hour with the lid on.

3 After the hour, add the carrot and leek to the pan. Cook for a further 30 minutes, then carefully lift the duck legs out of the pan, remove the meat from the bone and set aside in a warm place. Mix the cornflour with two tablespoons of cold water and add the paste to the pan, stirring until the mixture thickens and turns glossy. Fold the duck meat back into the sauce, taste to check the seasoning, then spoon your pie filling into six individual dishes and allow to cool.

4 Unroll and cut out pieces of pastry large enough to top each pie. Brush the edge of each dish with a little beaten egg. Place the pastry on top and press firmly on the edges.

Trim off any excess pastry with a sharp knife, then brush the pie lids with beaten egg.

You can store the pies in the fridge for up to three days at this point.

5 When you are ready to cook, place the pies in a preheated oven at 180°C/Gas Mark 4 for 35 minutes until the pastry is risen and golden.

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FOODLOVERMAGAZINE.COM | 49

IN SEASON

Good Root Celeriac might be the unsung hero of the veg world.

N

obbly celeriac might not be the prettiest of veg, but its subtle celery-like flavour with warm, nutty overtones makes it a bit of a hero in our books.

True, its tough skin might make it a bit of a brute to prepare, but the effort is surely worth it.

PREPARING CELERIAC The best way to tackle your celeriac is to top and tail it, then remove the skin using a potato peeler. Don’t worry if your celeriac looks massive either, you’ll find that you lose up to about a quarter of it once you’ve prepared it.

HOW TO USE CELERIAC Once you’ve done the leg work, celeriac can be used in a variety of ways. You can cube it and toss it into stews, or it makes an absolutely banging soup. It also makes a tasty alternative to mash, roast it, or blitz it up to make a purée if you’re feeling fancy. Or, of course, you could always make like the French and turn it into remoulade.

TAKE NOTE One thing to remember though, it will discolour quickly once peeled or chopped so, if you’re not planning on cooking it straight away, cover it in cold water with a squeeze of lemon or splash of vinegar to keep it looking fresh.

50 | THE WEST COUNTRY FOODLOVER

CELERIAC CURRY WITH CHARD AND CARDAMOM RICE Celeriac has a wonderful ability to soak up flavours, whilst also bringing its own subtle, nutty fragrance to proceedings. You can use a peeler to remove the skin but I find it easier to use a sharp knife instead as the root end can be a little gnarled, tangled and hard to navigate. A little wastage is acceptable for a clean result.

SERVES 2

1 onion 2 garlic cloves 25g fresh ginger 1 celeriac 1 head chard 2 tomatoes Oil for frying e.g. sunflower or light olive 1 tsp mustard seeds A few curry leaves 1 tbsp curry powder ½ tsp turmeric 400ml coconut milk 1 chilli 1 tbsp ground almonds A few cardamom pods 150g brown basmati rice Salt and pepper

1 Put a large pan of salted water on to boil.

Rinse the rice in a sieve under cold running water. Peel the onion, garlic and ginger. Grate them all on a fine grater, or pulse them in a food processor with a splash of water if you have one. Alternatively, you could just chop them all very finely.

2 Wash and peel the celeriac. Cut into 2cm cubes. Wash the chard and strip the leaves away from the stalks. Finely dice the stalks and shred the leaves. Roughly chop the tomatoes.

3 Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a saucepan.

Add the mustard seeds and curry leaves. Fry briefly until the mustard seeds start to pop.

Add the onion, garlic and ginger. Mix and cook gently for 3 minutes. Tip in the curry powder, turmeric, tomato, celeriac and diced chard stalks. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring continuously. Add the coconut milk. Season well with salt and pepper. Stir well and simmer for 20 minutes.

4 While it cooks, take the time to deseed and finely slice the chilli. While the celeriac cooks, bash the cardamom pods once or twice with the butt of your knife or a rolling pin.

5 Tip the rice into the pan of boiling water along with the cardamom pods. Stir once and lower to the gentlest of simmers. Cover and cook for 20-25 minutes. Taste the curry; if you would like it a bit hotter add some of the sliced chilli. If unsure at this stage, you can garnish with raw chilli at the end to add more heat.

6 When the celeriac is just tender, add the chard leaves and ground almonds. Simmer for a further 8 minutes until everything is tender and the liquid has thickened into a sauce. Add a dash more water if it looks too dry. Check the seasoning in the curry.

7 When the rice has cooked, drain it and remove the cardamom pods. Fluff it up with a fork and serve topped with the celeriac curry.

Recipe by Riverford (www.riverford.co.uk)

IN SEASON

FOODLOVERMAGAZINE.COM | 51

IN SEASON

CELERIAC AND MUSHROOM PIE This is a dish that fits so snugly into the category of 'winter warmer' it gives the heartiest of meat pies a run for their money.

SERVES 2

1 celeriac 1 red onion 2 garlic cloves Light olive or vegetable oil 25g butter 1 tbsp cider vinegar 200g portobello mushrooms

2 Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large saucepan.

Get it very hot, so that it is shimmering and nearly starting to smoke. Add the celeriac, being careful not to splash yourself as the oil will hiss and spit for a few seconds. Keep it moving so it doesn't catch or burn and after 2 minutes, add 50ml of water, half the butter, the cider vinegar and a good pinch of salt. Pop on the lid.

3 Keep checking every 5 minutes, adding a dash more water if it looks like it may be catching. You want it to cook through, so the edges become soft and the middle retains a toothsome bite, about 15 minutes. Remove the lid for the last 5 minutes to evaporate any excess liquid.

Salt and pepper

4 Meanwhile, melt the remaining butter in a frying pan with 1 tablespoon of oil and fry the onion on a medium heat until starting to soften, about 10 minutes. While they cook, thickly slice the mushrooms. Add the mushrooms to the onions, turn up the heat and cook until they start to brown and release their moisture, about 5 minutes.

1 Peel the celeriac and cut into 1½cm cubes.

Peel and slice the onion. Peel and finely chop the garlic cloves.

5 Pour the wine into the mushrooms, add the chopped garlic and let the liquid bubble and reduce until you have a dark, sticky mess. Season with salt and pepper. Strip the leaves from a

75ml red wine 1 small sprig rosemary 150ml double cream 1 nutmeg 1 egg 1 pack puff pastry 200g spring greens

52 | THE WEST COUNTRY FOODLOVER

small stalk of rosemary and finely chop them.

Combine the celeriac and mushrooms in the pie dish/roasting tray.

6 Pour in 150ml of cream, grate in a little nutmeg and add the chopped rosemary. Mix gently and adjust the seasoning with more salt, pepper or nutmeg if you see fit. Preheat the oven to 200°C/ Gas Mark 6. Lightly beat the egg. Unroll the pastry and cut it out to the size of the rim of your dish. Place it over the top of the filling, tucking it in around the sides.

7 Brush with the beaten egg, lightly score a criss-cross pattern with a sharp knife and slash a couple of holes in it for the steam to escape.

Bake for 20–25 minutes, until the pastry is golden and the filling is bubbling around the edges.

8 While the pie cooks, wash the greens and strip away and discard any tough central stalks. Slice the leaves into a fine shred. Heat a little oil in the other pan and cook the greens until wilted and tender, 8-10 minutes, on a gentle heat. Season with salt and pepper. Divide the pie between 2 plates and serve each with a pile of greens.

Recipe by Riverford (www.riverford.co.uk)

IN SEASON

A plum deal

Photo by Alexandra Kikot on Unsplash

Fill your fruit bowl with plums this autumn.

A

s summer wanes, we might lament the passing of the sweet berry goodness of strawberries, raspberries et al, and the juicy flesh of peaches and nectarines, but fear not, there’s another fruity treat just ready to come into season — the plum!

For some reason, this autumnal stone fruit doesn’t seem to reap the accolades, but it’s got so much to offer. There are several varieties — some

sweet, some more on the tart side — so there’s something for everyone. And when it comes to appearance they can differ widely too, with some boasting a deep red or purple hue, others yellow or green. You might notice a cloudy bloom, but it’s not an indication of poor quality. One thing all varieties have in common though is the smooth, colourful skin, hard stone in the centre, and a wonderful taste.

Plums are fabulously versatile too, lending themselves brilliantly to cooking.

When choosing your fruit, look for smooth, unbruised skin and firm flesh that gives a little with a gentle squeeze. Since the colours of plums can vary so much, it’s not a guide to ripeness, but if it’s soft at the point where the cleft meets the stem, it’s overripe. Avoid any that are split or shrivelled too.

Your plums should keep for three to four days at room temperature, and a day or two longer if stored in a perforated bag in the fridge.

FOODLOVERMAGAZINE.COM | 53

IN SEASON

YOGHURT PANCAKES WITH BAKED PLUMS Based around a traditional Russian recipe called oladi, these yoghurt pancakes have a slight sour tang that works perfectly with sweet fruit.

SERVES 4

500ml yoghurt 1 egg, plus 1 egg yolk 40g caster sugar 300g plain flour 1 tsp baking powder Pinch of salt 6 ripe plums

54 | THE WEST COUNTRY FOODLOVER

1 cinnamon stick 1 star anise 1 nutmeg 3 tbsp honey Zest and juice of ½ an orange

1 Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4.

Halve the plums and place them in a snugfitting roasting tin. Throw in the cinnamon stick, star anise and a cautious grating of nutmeg.

Tip in the honey, orange juice and zest. Give everything a mix. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the plums are soft and beginning to collapse.

2 While the plums cook, whisk the yoghurt, eggs and sugar together in a mixing bowl. Sift the flour and baking powder into the bowl and

then add a good pinch of salt. Mix together until smooth. Leave to rest for 10 minutess or so.

3 To cook the pancakes, heat a thin layer of oil in a non-stick frying pan and dollop generous spoonfuls of the mix into the pan. Cook over a medium heat, until golden brown on the bottom. Flip them over and cook the other side.

You'll probably have to cook these in two or three batches, so keep the first lot warm in a low oven. You should get at least 12 pancakes.

4 Serve the pancakes alongside the warm baked plums.

Recipe by Riverford (www.riverford.co.uk)

IN SEASON

SHORTBREAD WITH ROASTED PLUMS

1 Preheat the oven to 150°C/Gas Mark 2.

An easy-to-make and delectable combination of plums roasted with honey, cinnamon and orange and crisp, buttery traditional shortbread. Add a dollop of crème fraîche if you like when serving. Any shortbread not eaten will keep well for a week in an airtight container for a teatime treat.

sugar until creamy. Add the flours and salt and

2 First, make the shortbread. Beat the butter and bring together with your fingertips.

3 Tip into a 23cm flan or Swiss roll tin and press into the sides. Prick all over with a fork. Bake for 45-50 minutes until pale golden.

4 Sprinkle lightly with sugar and cut into 8 triangles (flan tin) or fingers (Swiss roll tin).

Leave for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire

SERVES 8

rack to cool.

FOR THE SHORTBREAD 225g unsalted butter 100g golden caster sugar, plus extra for sprinkling 225g plain flour 100g cornflour 1 tsp fine sea salt

5 Increase oven temperature to 180°C/

FOR THE PLUMS 8 large plums (plus a few more if small) Finely grated zest and juice of 1 orange 2 tbsp honey 1 tsp ground cinnamon Crème fraîche, to serve

over the plums. Sprinkle with cinnamon and

Gas Mark 4.

6 Halve the plums and remove the stones.

Place cut side up in a baking dish.

7 Mix the orange juice and honey and pour orange zest.

8 Bake for about 20-30 minutes. Serve the plums with the shortbread and crème fraîche.

Recipe by Riverford (www.riverford.co.uk)

FOODLOVERMAGAZINE.COM | 55

Image: Luke Phillps Photography

GOOD SPIRITS

CHEW VALLEY DISTILLERY cvdistillery.co.uk Joe Kelly, founder, owner and distiller at Chew Valley Distillery, tells us more about his venture.

Chew Valley Distillery is a relatively new venture isn’t it? How’s it going?

Launched in February 2020 Chew Valley Distillery was only ever supposed to be a house gin for my father’s restaurant — The Lazy Lobster. Now just over a year later, we have our own distillery and bar in the heart of Chew Valley, which is based between Bristol and Bath.

Our spirits are now multi-award winning on an international scale (we won Bronze at the World Gin Awards, and Silver and Bronze at the London Spirit Awards. We were also awarded gold and silver by Taste of the West, and Gin Guide named us winner in the London Dry,

56 | THE WEST COUNTRY FOODLOVER

Navy Strength categories). The distillery itself was voted the New Distillery of the Year at this year’s international Gin Guide Awards.

All gins in our range are distilled by me in traditional copper stills, using only the best botanicals and purest water which is provided by Cheddar spring water.

That’s brilliant!

So what’s next?

We have secured a premises to upscale and plan to begin the journey distilling rum and vodka alongside our gin early next year.

Anything else we should know about Chew Valley Distillery?

We also distil gin for other companies. We currently distil for Clevedon Distillery, XV Gins (two players from Bristol Bears Rugby team) and Suave Owl (a men’s formal wear producer based in Bath). We have a few more exciting, but secret, collaborations in the pipeline too!

GOOD SPIRITS

Good spirits

Meet some of the West Country’s finest spirits producers

DEVON RUM COMPANY devonrumcompany.com We get the lowdown on the Devon Rum Company from head of marketing, Brad Wicks.

coasts and countryside, we also take sustainability seriously — serving up our award-winning drinks in 100 per cent plastic free bottles, while maintaining a carbon negative status.

Tell us a bit about the Devon Rum Company…

Established in March 2020, the Devon Rum Company was created to share the joy of handcrafted spiced and flavoured rums with the world. Our range of artisan, small-batch craft spirits include a super smooth Premium Spiced Rum and a golden Honey Spiced Rum. These delectable drinks are blended by hand in the heart of Devon, using locally sourced spring water, rich flower honey, aromatic spices and fresh citrus fruits.

With a true appreciation for our

What do you think makes Devon Rum Company drinks special?

From day one, our Founder, David Seear, has used a unique recipe that puts the exotic rums, spices and fresh local ingredients we use in the spotlight. This is achieved by removing vanilla from our blend; vanilla can sometimes be a little overbearing as a flavour and can mask the great depth that spiced rums have. Instead, we enhance our flavours with rich maple syrup to provide a finished product that’s unlike anything else in the emerging craft rum market.

Do you have a signature product?

Our Premium Spiced Rum was the first product we ever launched. It begins life as a unique blend of exotic pot and column Caribbean rums. We then enhance these flavours by adding soft Devon spring water, aromatic spices and fresh citrus fruits. The result is a super smooth rum that can be enjoyed on the rocks, with a quality mixer, or in mouthwatering cocktails.

Have you been working on anything new recently?

We recently expanded our range with our new Honey Spiced Rum. This new flavour offers a slightly sweeter pour in comparison to our Premium Spiced Rum. It’s blended with locally sourced flower honey from our friends

at Quince Honey Farm in North Devon. To emphasise the rich sweetness of this golden nectar, we soften the blend with a little extra spring water, to create a slightly lighter drink that’s perfect for the summer.

We’re always experimenting with new flavours too, and we’re in the early stages of developing a third blend. All I can say right now is that it’s sure to bring the heat!

Have you won any awards recently?

Yes! We’re very proud to say that we were recently awarded with two Taste of the West Gold Awards in the competitive wines, spirits and liqueurs category.

Our Premium and Honey Spiced Rums received one award each, making us the only rum brand to win multiple gold awards.

FOODLOVERMAGAZINE.COM | 57

GOOD SPIRITS

SALCOMBE DISTILLING CO

to build on our collection of non-alcoholic spirits and aperitifs which we hope to launch later this year. We’re also working on our next Voyager Series gin — a collection of limitededition gins developed in collaboration with world renowned chefs and iconic wine makers.

www.salcombegin.co.uk Salcombe Distilling Co’s UK Marketing Manager, Stephanie Garnett, tells us more about the Devon-based brand.

Can you give us a bit of background to the Salcombe Distilling Co? Inspired by the coastal vitality of Salcombe and its shipbuilding heritage, Salcombe Distilling Co's collection of exceptional spirits are distilled and crafted at their waterside distillery on Island Street, Salcombe; one of the world’s only distilleries directly accessible by boat. Drawing influence from the famous 19th century Salcombe Fruit Schooners and their precious cargo, SDCo use only the finest fresh citrus fruits and spices to create their range of multi-award winning Salcombe Gins, each led by flavour and inspired by history.

Do you have a signature product?

Salcombe Gin 'Start Point' is our multi award-winning flagship gin, launched in 2016.

Distilled to the exacting one-shot London Dry method, this classic citrus led gin is elegantly smooth, distinct and complex yet extremely versatile. ‘Start Point’ is created using the finest Macedonian juniper berries selected for their high limonene content and the fresh citrus peels of red grapefruit, lemon and lime which are hand peeled each day prior to distillation.

A further nine botanicals including English coriander seed, cardamom, cubeb berries, liquorice and angelica root are used to create this exceptionally smooth London Dry Gin. The iconic ‘Start Point’ lighthouse marked the beginning of the 19th century voyages of the Salcombe Fruit Schooners which carried the

TWO DRIFTERS DISTILLERY www.twodriftersrum.com Gemma Wakeham, director of the Exeterbased Two Drifters Distillery, fills us in…

Tell us a bit about what makes Two Drifters Distillery different…

Two Drifters Distillery is just over two years old, and unlike most British rum distilleries, who buy in Caribbean rum and carefully blend it, we make rum from scratch. We start with 100 per cent molasses and ferment, distil, flavour and bottle in our aircraft hangar style warehouse near Exeter Airport. We also built the business with sustainability at the core, we are the world’s first rum distillery to have a carbon negative footprint, meaning we remove

58 | THE WEST COUNTRY FOODLOVER

exotic goods, fruits and spices that inspire this gin’s signature flavour.

What sets your drinks apart?

Each of the botanicals we use has a story to tell, none are mass produced, all are traceable to their source and all are picked at their best.

Of utmost importance and often overlooked in distillation is the quality of the water used for blending. Water plays an important part in creating SDCo’s phenomenally smooth collection, we use pure naturally soft Dartmoor water; some of the softest and purest water in England, sourced from high up in the wilds of Dartmoor National Park.

What have you been working on lately?

Over the past 12 months, we have launched the following products: Salcombe Gin Voyager Series ‘Phantom’; Salcombe Gin Voyager Series ‘Daring’; our non-alcoholic spirit ‘New London Light’; Seamist Liquid Garnish and Salcombe Rum ‘Lantern Rock’.

We’ve also been exploring some unusual processes and innovative flavour combinations more CO2 than we create — from sugarcane plantation in Central America all the way through to our customers doorstep.

What’s proving popular with your customers at the moment?

Our Overproof Spiced Pineapple Rum 60% abv has been a huge hit over the last 12 months, it’s a premium rum with added fun!

With flavours of salted caramel, tropical pineapple and crème brulee, it makes the perfect rum and coke.

What are you working on at the moment?

We have a cask-aged rum being released in early 2022. We have also been working on our rebrand since December 2020, and have just launched our beautiful new bottles and low-carbon website as well as an organic

Sustainability is an important part of the Salcombe Distilling Co ethos isn’t it?

Can you talk a bit more about that?

A big focus for us is sustainability and the protection of the oceans is very important to us. With this at the forefront of our thought process, we have been working on meaningful initiatives to ensure that we minimise our impact on the environment whilst making the most positive contribution we possibly can to improve the health and wellbeing of our oceans. We recently launched our ‘One percent for the Ocean’ campaign where for every 70cl bottle of Salcombe Gin ‘Start Point’, Salcombe Gin ‘Rosé Sainte Marie’ and our non-alcoholic spirit ‘New London Light’ sold in the UK, we donate 1 per cent of the retail price to the Marine Conservation Society’s seagrass regeneration project. In parallel to this, we’re also working on other initiatives to reduce our impact on the environment, with carbon neutral shipping on all UK web orders, prohibiting the use of plastic and evolving our packaging, as well as using electric energy from renewable sources across our business. Following the recent opening of our Dartmouth retail store, our popular gin refill scheme is now available at multiple sites in the South West and that’s just the beginning! Our commitment to our oceans is unconditional and our approach to do our very best for oceans is work in progress and will remain so. merchandise range, with products created using 100 per cent renewable energy.

You’ve been busy then! Any other news you’d like to share?

Our Pure White Rum won silver in the International Wine and Spirit Competition.

DEVON COVE www.devoncove.co.uk Devon Cove's Director and Founder, Leanne Carr, gives us the lowdown.

Do you have a signature product?

Our Cove Damson Liqueur is an absolute favourite with our customers. It’s made from our Gold award-winning Cove Vodka, so is exceptionally smooth and it has an incredible fruity burst from the damsons. People often comment that it is too good and the bottle never lasts long enough. We recommend serving simply over ice, or it is absolutely delicious in a glass of bubbly. We call it a Cove Royale, Devon’s take on a Kir Royale.

What sets Devon Cove apart from the rest?

Our Cove Vodka is exceptionally smooth and made from King Edward potatoes which are lovingly grown in rich soil and the Atlantic sea air on my family farm overlooking Hope Cove, Devon. Our vodka and liqueurs are distinctly smooth and delicious and capture the essence of our county. Who doesn’t love the sea and fresh home-grown food?

We were recently awarded ‘Gold’ at the Taste of the West Awards for our luxuriously smooth

Cove Vodka and our divinely fruity Cove Damson Liqueur.

Do you have any new products?

We are very excited to have launched Cove Rum in August.

It’s a handcrafted British Rum with hints of orange blossom, smooth caramel, creamy light spice and a lick of tobacco and rich vanilla to finish. Our oakaged golden rum is made in small batches from molasses, oak from our family farm overlooking Hope Cove, Quince’s Devon Honey, Salcombe Dairy Cocoa Nibs and Devonia Spring Water.

Absolutely scrumptious and best sipped over ice. We also love a cocktail by the sea.

That sounds delicious!

Have you got anything else in the pipeline?

Following the launch of our Rum, we will be launching a range of rum-based Cove Cocktail Kits to add to our current range of vodkabased cocktail kits. These are available to buy on our website and are incredibly popular

for birthday gifts, anniversaries, date nights and just to spread a bit of cheer. Our Rum will feature in our Christmas Eve boxes for grownups and we also have more new products in development ready to launch next year...

COVE ICED CARAMEL COFFEE RECIPE SERVES 1

35ml Cove Vodka 15ml Monin Caramel Syrup 60ml of espresso 200ml milk

1 Make the espresso by putting the coffee bag in 200ml of boiling water for 3 minutes.

2 Pour 35ml Cove Vodka and 15ml Monin Caramel Syrup into a tall glass over ice and stir.

3 Top up with milk.

4 Pour in 60ml of espresso and garnish with coffee beans. Enjoy!

Recipe by Devon Cove (www.devoncove.co.uk)

FOODLOVERMAGAZINE.COM | 59

GOOD SPIRITS

HATTIERS RUM www.hattiers.com We find out more about Devon-based Hattiers Rum from Founder and CEO, Philip Everett-Lyons Do you have a signature product?

Our signature rum would have to be our first release ‘Egremont’. When Hattiers Rum launched in 2017, Egremont Premium Reserve Rum was the result of eighteen months of research, development and tasting, followed by more research, more development, more tasting (followed by much more of the same) until eventually, the first release was ready.

Quickly it began to gain recognition from respected and admired individuals and institutions across the globe, so we knew that our approach to fine rum was right. The same unscrupulous attention to detail and quality was the catalyst behind the two newest additions to the Hattiers range, but more on them later…

What makes your products different?

In early November 2020, Hattiers Rum

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officially became B Corp certified, joining over 3,500 companies, in 150 industries across 73 countries. They were independently verified by the B Lab as ‘using business as a force for good, adhering to the highest standards of social and environmental performance, public transparency and accountability. Hattiers Rum is delighted to be the first British B Corp Rum and only the second in the world.

Hattiers Rum has also been plastic-free from day one. During the blending process, Hattiers Rum use local soft Dartmoor water resulting in their unique multi-award-winning rums. Naturally filtered by layer upon layer of ancient granite, the soft Dartmoor water balances the alcoholic strength of their base rum. We are proud not to use colourants in our rums to make them appear darker and do not add sugar to any of our blends.

Have you developed anything new lately?

Lockdown last year gave us the perfect opportunity to finalise two new blends that had been in development for some time and in October 2020, two new rums joined the Hattiers Range — ‘Eminence’, a blended aged

white rum and ‘Resolute’, a blended aged navy strength rum. Since launch, both rums have been hugely popular and have turned heads in the rum industry, with Hattiers Rum once again gaining globally respected awards and recognition for producing blends that comfortably sit beside some of the finest single estate rums from around the world.

Have you won any awards recently?

We were recently awarded Gold at the 2021 International Wine & Spirit Competition (IWSC) for ‘Eminence’ our blended aged white rum (42% ABV) and scored an impressive 95 out of a possible 100 at the prestigious competition.

LOVE LOCAL

Loving Lyme Image: Matt Austin

We chat to Lyme Regis chef Harriet Mansell

Congratulations on the opening of your latest venture, Lilac! Can you tell us a bit about what we can expect when we visit?

Thank you! Lilac is a wine bar and neighbourhood eatery serving small plates.

It’s somewhere you can pop in for a glass of wine and some nibbles, or a long lunch of shared plates. It’s the place we want to go on our days off!

pop-up kitchen, I realised there was a distinct gap in the market for the style of food I wanted to do and I decided that perhaps Lyme Regis might be the place.

Do you have any favourite local ingredients and suppliers you like to use?

Langham Sparkling on tap, their col fondo… is a must try! And the coffee, it’s incredible.

Chideock Champignons — they do insane shitake, and king oyster mushrooms, and are absolutely mad foragers.

At this time of year, it's chanterelles and in the autumn all the others. There’s also Phil the mushroom farmer in Charmouth. You can’t beat mushrooms, can you? I’ve also been using lots of Rose petals recently. We’ve been putting them in ice creams and that’s pretty cool.

You opened Robin Wylde in October — how was opening during the pandemic?

When did you know you wanted to become a chef?

It was a laugh a minute! And continues to be… but what can I say… we’re thrill seekers…

Robin Wylde is a fine dining restaurant, catering for 20 covers, with one sitting a day… you eat dinner, you’re there for a few hours, with a tasting menu and optional drinks flight.

Lilac is a big open cellar, a bar, neighbourhood eatery, a laidback day to night approach.

I wanted a restaurant from when I was 12 — that was always a lifelong ambition. But then school and family told me to go and get a proper job that would earn me money so I could save up to then purchase a restaurant later in life. But it doesn’t work like that, and you realise pretty early on that if you want to have a restaurant, and you have a passion for food and cooking, that you kind of need to be a chef.

Why Lyme Regis?

Who is your biggest culinary inspiration?

Initially I needed a venue to trial a restaurant concept… and that was the pop-up kitchen on Broad Street. After four days a week at the

There’s so many! But definitely Dominique Crenn. She’s mega, absolutely mega. She’s the first female chef to get three Michelin stars

Lilac has the same overarching ethos as our sister restaurant, Robin Wylde, with a focus on vegetables, seasonality, locality, reduction of waste and sustainability Anything we really MUST try?!

How do the two venues differ?

in America. She’s battled cancer, and come out the other side, and she’s still running her own restaurants. She’s actually got a formal restaurant and a more casual neighbourhood eatery in San Francisco and if you watch her on Netflix, she looks as if she’s absolutely in her element.

Have you got any kitchen hacks you can share to help us with our cooking at home?

If you want to preserve the shelf life of your berries — strawberries etc. just dilute a bit of vinegar into a big bowl of cold water and wash your berries in that then lay them all out on a paper towel or something after. The vinegar kills the yeast off the skin of the fruit and they’ll keep for weeks unspoilt in your fridge. I learnt that as a yacht chef crossing the Atlantic!

What’s next for you?!

Boutique accommodation… Boutique, bouji accommodation… it makes sense! But perhaps not straightaway. But everyone knows if you want to run a business like this all year round you need accommodation. www.lilacwine.co.uk / www.robinwylde.com

FOODLOVERMAGAZINE.COM | 61

COOKING COMPANION

Cookbook Corner 10-MINUTE SOURDOUGH: BREADMAKING FOR REAL LIFE Vanessa Kimbell £18.99, Kyle Books In her new book, the queen of sourdough, Vanessa Kimbell, offers a fool proof guide to slow bread for busy lives.

Sourdough is one of the tastiest and most nutritious breads you can make, but it has a reputation for being both tricky and timeconsuming. 10-Minute Sourdough is packed full of fuss-free no-knead recipes which require no more than 10 minutes' active work in total (not including fermentation time or time in the oven), meaning anyone can turn their hand to sourdough baking, no matter how little time they have. The book contains five easy master sourdough recipes for a tin loaf, a cake, a ciabatta, a pizza, and a boule, alongside key information on how to create and maintain a starter, ingredients and equipment and helpful Q&As and troubleshooting advice. Taking you through the seasons, the bakes range from a Beer Boule, Orange Curd Cake, and a Garlic & Rosemary Sourdough Bundt Focaccia, perfect for any summer entertaining, through to wonderful ideas for autumn, including Apple Spelt Sourdough Bake with Cinnamon Butter, Traditional Ginger Cake and even a Spiders’ Legs Halloween Bread.

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WAGAMAMA YOUR WAY

TOFU TASTY

£20, Octopus wagamama your way: fresh, flexible recipes for body + mind follows the hugely successful 2019 title, feed your soul, which really struck a chord in lockdown when the brand’s Wok from Home YouTube films went viral and more than 10 million people tuned in to recreate the iconic katsu curry at home.

The new book brings the wagamama story up to date, with all-new healthy recipes that reflect their ethos of flexitarian meals, plant-based ingredients and Asian flavours, emphasising wagamama's drive for positive eating and positive living, inclusivity and wellbeing. Each of the 70 recipes will include hints for alternative ingredients so you can create plant-based versions of any meat dishes. From vegan katsu curry and vegetarian firecracker to mandarin and sesame salad, prawn tempura ramen, and sticky mushroom and squash stir fry, expect to find new variations on wagamama favourites, as well as nourishing quick eats and soulful comfort food.

Bonnie Chung £14.99, Pavilion Books Reliable, versatile and essential, Bonnie Chung’s kitchen is never without tofu.

It’s her go-to pantry saviour for so many last-minute dinners and she eats it almost every day in one of its many forms. Tofu has experienced a true renaissance in this new era of plant-based eating, as we search for more sustainable sources of protein. This is a really exciting time for tofu, and Bonnie shares recipes for cooking it with confidence, as well as suggestions for making different types of tofu from scratch. In Tofu Tasty, Bonnie hopes to expand your tofu horizons, sharing with you the many different types and the multitude of ways in which you can cook it. You’ll find all of her favourite dishes, which will hopefully make their way, quickly and firmly, into your cooking repertoire.

The book is organised into seven chapters to distinguish between the different types and textures of tofu. All of the recipes are vegetarian to start with and some include twists that may include meat, fish and other swaps, as you prefer. With more than 60 vibrant recipes included from across Asia — picking the best from Japan, China and Korea — and other dishes of Bonnie’s own invention, if you have any preconceptions about what tofu is like, forget them...

COOKING COMPANION

PAIR WITH...

a freshly squeezed fruit juice, ice-cold infused water or herbal/fruit tea would complement this board beautifully.

INSPIRED GRAZING Laura Billington £22, Meze Publishing At its heart, this book aims to fuel a passion for grazing, whether you’re a kitchen connoisseur or a cheeseboard newbie.

Inspired Grazing will give you all the hints and tricks you’ll need to pair flavours, build your own beautiful boards, and bring that personal touch to all your creations. Inspired Grazing compiles creations that are bound to impress no matter what the celebration.

Laura’s recipes take you on a tour of the seasons, through chapters representing Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, so this book will have you prepared for even the simplest of events, as well as show-stopping gatherings. Whether you’re planning a party platter for Oktoberfest or trying out the playful Cheesesteak Sliders with your friends, there is something for everyone to enjoy.

There’s even a few boards for little grazers, perfect for the kids to snack on when you’re spending quality time with the family. With stunning photography, this book is packed with boards so beautifully crafted, they almost look too good to eat! From the vivid Rainbow Board (see opposite for the recipe) that would make an incredible summer garden party centrepiece, to the Winter Celebration Board which adds an extra special touch to the holidays, every board is visually exciting as well as delicious.

THE RAINBOW BOARD This board pays homage to music, art, poetry, creativity, love, light and positivity. The rainbow has been a symbol of hope for centuries.

“Rainbows introduce us to reflections of different beautiful possibilities, so we never forget that pain and grief are not the final options in life.” ~ Aberjhani 160g raspberries 150g black grapes 200g red grapes 180g green grapes 75g physalis 80g strawberries 45g blackcurrants 45g blackberries 115g cherries 40g redcurrants

45g blueberries FOR THE FRUIT DIP 330ml double cream 250ml mascarpone cheese 2 tbsp icing sugar 4 cherries, stoned 4 blackberries 4 raspberries 4 strawberries 4 blueberries

quarters and place them on your board inside the semicircle of raspberries. Place the blackcurrants on your board inside the semicircle of black grapes, then fill the rest of that row with the blackberries.

4 Add a row of cherries next to the strawberries and fill any gaps with the redcurrants. Place 1 Place the raspberries in two the blueberries next to the rows around the edge of half the board. You could use them blackberries and you should be in different ways to add interest, left with a small gap between the such as alternating the direction two sides. they face.

5 Fill this space with the 2 Halve the black grapes and remaining red grapes, then arrange them on the opposite the green grapes and physalis, side of the board, so they almost overlapping the colours to create meet the raspberries at the interest and contrast. edges. Fill in any gaps between the raspberries and black grapes 6 To make the fruit dip, combine all the ingredients in a food with some of the other grapes and physalis, so that you have a processor or blender. Decant the full outer circle of fruit. dip into a ramekin or small bowl and serve alongside your board.

3 Slice the strawberries into

FOODLOVERMAGAZINE.COM | 63

LITTLE COOKS

An

apple celebration FABULOUS FLOUR

Background photo created by pereslavtse com

You might have heard the saying: “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” It might not be completely true, but apples are definitely good for you, and if you eat them regularly they can help to keep you healthy. Apples are very nutritious and a great source of fibre and Vitamin C. They can be eaten raw, made into juice or cider and can even be used in cakes and bread.

On Sunday 10 October, you can join food teacher Simon Gray in his cookery workshops at Wells Food Festival in Somerset and make some delicious Apple Scone Bread Twist (recipe opposite). This tasty treat uses just a handful of ingredients.

64 | THE WEST COUNTRY FOODLOVER

Flour is normally made from grinding up wheat into a powder in a flour mill. There are different types of flour you can use and it is the building block and structure for lots of dishes including bread, pasta, cakes and scones. We use plain flour in the recipe. Flour provides our diet with fibre.

EGGCELENT EGGS Eggs can be boiled, fried, poached, scrambled, pickled or made into an omelette. They are often used in cooking with other ingredients and are the edible glue that sticks everything together to make a tasty treat. Eggs are packed full of protein which help make you big and strong!

MARVELLOUS MILK Dairy cows produce lots of milk. It is used to bind ingredients in cakes and desserts and it also adds flavour to the finished dish. Milk contains loads of calcium which make our bones and teeth nice and strong. The protein in milk helps us to grow and repair injuries.

BRILLIANT BUTTER Butter is made from cow’s milk. It is usually made from the cream which is separated from the milk and then churned to get it to thicken. Butter adds colour, texture and a creamy taste in cakes and pastries.

LITTLE COOKS

APPLE SCONE BREAD TWIST MAKES 1

200g strong plain flour 40g butter 1tsp baking powder

1 Preheat oven to 200°C /Gas Mark 6 and lightly grease a baking tray.

8 Lightly flour worksurface and roll out the dough to a rectangle.

2 Sieve flour, add 1 tsp baking powder and 1 tsp mixed spices.

9 Spread with 100g apple purée (recipe below) and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of sultanas.

3 Cut butter into the flour using a rounded knife.

10 Roll the dough up like a swiss roll.

4 Rub butter into flour using fingertips.

11 Slice down the middle and twist it.

1 egg

5 Add 1 egg.

75ml milk

6 Gently add 75ml (5 tbsp) milk.

100g apple purée (see recipe below)

7 Work into a soft dough (don’t overwork or the dough will become tough).

12 Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown and it sounds hollow when tapped underneath.

1tsp mixed spice

2 tbsp sultanas

Recipe by Simon Gray, Fun Kitchen

APPLE PURÉE 4 medium sized apples, preferably two different varieties (Granny Smith & Golden Delicious)

1 Wash the apples then peel, core and slice them.

2 Place the apple slices in a large pan and then put in enough water to cover them.

3 Bring apples to the boil, then gently simmer for 15-20 minutes or until soft.

4 Drain the apples, then mash the apples into a thick puree with a fork.

5 Place in the fridge to cool before using.

COME ALONG

and join in Simon’s free cookery workshops at this year’s Wells Food Festival on Sunday 10 October.

Find out more at www.wellsfoodfestival.co.uk

FOODLOVERMAGAZINE.COM | 65

COOKING COMPANION

WIN FOODIE PRIZES WIN AN OVERNIGHT STAY AT BRISTOL’S NEWEST HOTEL! You can win an overnight stay for two at Leonardo Hotel Bristol Glassfields, with dinner and breakfast included.

Explore the sights and sounds of Bristol before retiring for dinner at Leo’s Bar and Restaurant, where you can enjoy a cocktail — or two — before dinner. After dinner, it’s time for a great night’s sleep — and that’s no understatement.

Designed for ultimate comfort, each room features the exclusively designed DREAM bed — which is exclusive to Leonardo Hotels — the ultimate mattress, feather and down bedding. Wake up in the best way possible, and relax under the rainfall shower. You’ll be left refreshed and replenished for another day exploring Bristol.

But that’s not before you’ve enjoyed breakfast in Leo’s.

WIN A BUNDLE OF WASABI GOODIES! If the Tokyo Olympics has inspired you to try Japanese flavours, we can help!

With farms in Dorset, The Wasabi Company is the only grower of English wasabi in the UK. Using disused Victorian watercress beds to mimic the Japanese mountainside where they grow, the team has spent a decade understanding the temperamental plants.

They take over two years to mature and only then can the precious rhizome finally be harvested, ready to grate for that fresh, sinus burning, eye-watering wasabi.

But as well as growing wasabi, The Wasabi Company also has an own-label range including English wasabi mayonnaise,

English wasabi mustard, Yuzu mayonnaise and Yuzu mustard — even a unique wasabi vodka. Made from natural ingredients, these products are fresh tasting with perfectly balanced flavours and packed with citrus and umami, the very essence of Japanese cuisine and add a special something to any meal. The full range can be seen at thewasabicompany.co.uk We’re giving one lucky reader the chance to win a set of Wasabi Company goodies:

FRESH 50G WASABI RHIZOME AND GRATER WASABI MAYO AND WASABI MUSTARD GIFT PACK YUZU MAYO AND YUZU MUSTARD GIFT PACK WASABI VODKA

TO BE IN WITH A CHANCE OF WINNING THESE FANTASTIC PRIZES, visit www.foodlovermagazine.com/competitions and enter your details by 30 September 2021. GOOD LUCK!

66 | THE WEST COUNTRY FOODLOVER

FOOD | ARTS | CRAFTS

THE CIDER PRESS CENTRE Shinners Bridge, Totnes, Devon TQ9 6TQ

A vibrant and eclectic range of boutique shops on a picturesque corner of the Dartington estate outside Totnes.

Browse a wide range of arts and crafts alongside our curated selection of locally-sourced food and drink.

Make your own bespoke bottle of gin to taste at The Devon Gin School!

Explore the 1200-acre Dartington Estate with its beautiful Grade II* listed gardens plus sustainably-produced meals at Green Table Cafe and White Hart.

Open 7 days a week, 10.00am-5.00pm

dartington.org/cider-press