Crumbs Devon – Issue 25

CRUMBS DEVON

GIN FAIRY TALE S

NO.25 Winter 2018

MAGICALL MIXERS+ LOCAL HEROEs

A little slice of foodie heaven Does Paddington eat clementine marmalade?

# 25

No, cos he’s already stuffed

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DIARY OF

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FRESH FRUIT

Choosing an ingredient for our winter cover wasn’t easy. Sure, all the seasonal root veg around this time of year are delish but, let’s be honest, not particularly sexy. So, we decided to embrace that beloved festive fruit, the clementine. Giving us a blast of vibrant colour in these gloomy winter months, they’re also sweet, juicy and pretty flipping versatile. Read all about them on page 8.

One thing you might notice about this issue is the absence of festive treats and, without wanting to come off all Ebenezer Scrooge about it, avoiding too many utterances of the C-word was intentional. As a quarterly magazine we reckon its best not to focus on any particular seasonal event, partly because of our three-month shelf life but also because, deep down, I believe that good food and drink should be enjoyed year-round and are – much like puppies – not just for Christmas.

Inside this issue, we celebrate some of Devon’s bright young culinary talent, starting with an interview with Samuel Brook from Pretty Little Pastries. Having cut his teeth working at Gidleigh Park, Samuel is now following his passion for patisserie, and invited us to his home to try a few recipes (see page 37). Another young chef making an impression is Merlin Labron-Johnson. Brought up in Devon, he shot to the top at the tender age of 24, winning a Michelin star at London’s Portland. He chats all things food on page 53. Also making waves on the local food scene is Lucknam Park alumni and MasterChef: The Professionals finalist Elly Wentworth. We visit her at her new kitchen at The Angel in Dartmouth on page 62.

What’s fab about these three chefs isn’t just their raw ambition, but also their determination to do things their own way. Elly, by employing three talented female chefs in her kitchen, is championing the next generation of women chefs; Merlin is working with refugees and cooking for the homeless rather than chasing more accolades; and Samuel has given up the security of an established kitchen to launch his own business. They’re blazing their own trails and, for that, I salute them.

Until next time, then, and I hope you enjoy the issue!

Melissa Stewart, Editor melissa.stewart@mediaclash.co.uk

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Table of Contents NO.25 WINTER 2018

D EVON

crumbsmag.com

EDITOR

MELISSA STEWART melissa.stewart@mediaclash.co.uk DEVELOPMENT EDITOR

MATT BIELBY matt.bielby@mediaclash.co.uk ART DIRECTOR

TREVOR GILHAM ONLINE EDITOR

DAN IZZARD dan.izzard@mediaclash.co.uk CONTRIBUTOR

MEGAN WALDRON ADVERTISING MANAGER

KYLE PHILLIPS kyle.phillips@mediaclash.co.uk DEPUTY ADVERTISING MANAGER

ALISTAIR TAYLOR alistair.taylor@mediaclash.co.uk

STARTERS

ADVERTISING EXECUTIVE

NATALIE BRERETON natalie.brereton@mediaclash.co.uk PRODUCTION MANAGER

SARAH KINGSTON DEPUTY PRODUCTION MANAGER

KIRSTIE HOWE PRODUCTION DESIGNER

MATT GYNN matt.gynn@mediaclash.co.uk CHIEF EXECUTIVES

JANE INGHAM, GREG INGHAM large version

08 HERO INGREDIENT Sweet and juicy clementines 12 OPENINGS ETC The latest foodie findings 17 TRIO Wedding cakes with the vow factor 19 ASK THE EXPERT Wine time with Lympstone Manor

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AMAZING REGIONAL RECIPES

26 Wing of skate au poivre,

by Ian MacDonald 29 Silverside with Guinness and bacon,

by Peter Greig 31 Parsnip, cauliflower and chickpea korma,

by Kirsty Hale 32 Cranberry and marzipan mince pies,

by Alan Adlem

KITCHEN ARMOURY 37 COOKS WITH A patisserie party with Samuel Brook of Pretty Little Pastries

MAINS 44 THE EXE FACTOR A foodie tour of Exeter 49 GIN-SPIRATION We rate some of Devon’s top tipples 53 GRILLED: MERLIN LABRON-JOHNSON 57 OUT TO LUNCH Devon Sunday lunch inspo

AFTERS NEW & NOTABLE RESTAURANTS, CAFÉS, BARS

62 The Angel 64 Bovey Castle 66 LITTLE BLACK BOOK With Jonathan Reynolds from the South West Wine School

s A ST RTER

INNOVATIONS, REVELATIONS AND TASTY AMUSE-BOUCHES

CLass ACts

IMPROVE YOUR CULINARY SKILLS THIS NEW YEAR WITH OUR PICK OF COOKERY COURSES… MOROCCAN TO-GO

Ashburton Cookery School If you fancy expanding your culinary repertoire and, at the same time, creating a take-home meal for two, then this is the course for you. In this three-hour class you’ll learn how to make dishes like lamb kefta, batbout (Moroccan flatbread) and fish tagine. The course runs on 5 January, 2 February and 2 March, priced £75. ashburtoncookeryschool.co.uk

THAI BEACH AND STREET FOOD COURSE Chris Sherville Cookery School Try your hand at Asian cuisine with this day-long course at chef Chris Sherville’s cookery school in Dartington. Goodies you’ll learn to create include weeping tiger steak, spiced pork and

shrimp dip with rice crackers, and tod man pla (Thai fish cakes).

The course is on 8 February, priced £125. chrissherville.com

NATURAL COOKING TECHNIQUES

The Old Dairy Kitchen Make the most of Mother Nature’s larder at this one-day course on Trill Farm near Axminster. Learn how to cook using salt, wax, leaves and seaweed, over beds of hay and chestnuts, to bring a new dimension to your cookery.

Recipes include beets cooked in clay and lamb roasted with hay.

The course is on 23 February, priced £115. olddairykitchen.co.uk

WOODFIRED COOKING Manna from Devon This day-long course guides you through the basics of using a

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woodfired oven, plus gives you plenty of ideas about what to cook in it, including fish, roasting meats, flatbreads and pastries. There’s also a second day-long course for those after learning more advanced wood-fired oven skills.

Courses run on 9, 10, 23 and 24 February. They’re priced £175 per day, but if you book both courses it’s £325 (book by phone to get the discount). 01803 752943; mannafromdevon.com

GAME COOKERY

Exeter Cookery School Game has been enjoyed in the UK for centuries but, because it doesn’t often feature on supermarket shelves, people lack confidence when it comes to cooking it. On this one-day course you’ll learn how to cook with different types of

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wild game, including pheasant, venison and rabbit. The course runs on 19 January and 15 February, priced £155. exetercookeryschool.co.uk

VEGAN COOKERY

River Cottage Nutrition expert Naomi Devlin hosts this one-day course showing you how to expand your vegan repertoire and cook some delicious plant-based dishes. Learn how to make nut cheese, egg-free cakes, creamy tofu and much more. The course runs on 12 January, priced £175. rivercottage.net READER OFFER

To enjoy £30 off this course, go to rivercottage.net/vegan-cookery and enter VEGANCRUMBS to book. Offer is valid on dates until 30 April 2019.* *Cannot be used in conjunction with another promotion.

CLementines ORANGES ARE NOT, AS A WISE LADY ONCE SAID, THE ONLY FRUIT: THERE ARE OTHERS THAT ARE SMALLER, JUICIER AND EASIER TO PEEL

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lap-bang in the middle of a season of heavy, hearty crops in dark greens, dirty whites and assorted mousey browns – all those swedes and parsnips, sprouts and kale – comes a citrus splash of sunshine. We eat oranges and their various spin-offs all year around, of course, but the traditional season for most of them is around Christmas and January, where they add a welcome zing to the greengrocer’s shelves.

We’re not talking bog-standard oranges this time around, however, but rather everyone’s favourite alternative, the clementine – smaller, juicier, delicious. This thing’s actually a hybrid, apparently discovered in the early years of the 20th century by one Father Clement Rodier – who the fruit’s named for – in the garden of his orphanage in Algeria. It’s said to be a cross between a tangerine and an orange and, like the tangerine, it’s little and easy to peel, and with less acid than your average orange.

Crucially for the clementine’s appeal – not least as a kids’ snack – they’re generally grown seedless too.

But despite such recent history, there remains some dispute over the clementine’s origins. After all, haven’t the Chinese been growing a version of the mandarin (the original ‘little orange’) that’s pretty much identical to the clementine for hundreds of years? (Yes, they have; it’s called the Canton mandarin, and many believe modern clementines come from this, and not from Father Rodier’s accidental discovery at all.) Although grown all over southern Europe, north Africa and the Middle East, and available in the UK for many years, clementines have taken their time making inroads into a number of other markets – crucially America, where they were virtually unknown until a couple of decades ago.

Confused about which is which? You should be: nearly everyone is.

After all, residual resentment over Pearl Harbour sees what we call the satsuma sold as simple ‘mandarins’ in America, while in Australia it’s tangerines that are mandarins. (If you’re being technical, they’re all mandarins of one type or another.) Across the globe, rarer variations like tangors and tangelos, mineolas and nules are near-as-dammit the same as a clementine too.

Why are we talking about clementines in this issue? After all, tangerines have been around for much longer than the clementine – since at least the 1800s, with the name coming from Tangier, the Moroccan seaport, through which these things made their way to Europe. And then there’s the satsuma, a variation named for an old Japanese province that used to be as far left as you can go on a map of Japan. These, too, have been around for at least a couple of hundred years, and have the advantage of growing in far colder climates than other citrus fruits. Whichever way you cut it, the clementine is a real Johnny-come-lately.

The thing is, though, the clementine may have turned up to the party late, but it’s more than made up for lost time. In fact, it now outsells the lot of them, and for a number of reasons. As seen on a modern British shelf, tangerines are small, yes, but slightly less sweet than the others – and are tough to peel. Satsumas are seedless, perhaps the sweetest, and are surely the easiest to get naked with their loose, baggy skin – but they’re also the most easily damaged in transit, which is why you often get them canned. Clementines, however, get everything right. They’re sweet and tangy, usually seedless, easy to peel – but sturdy enough to survive a bit of rough and tumble too. Perfect!

Whatever your mandarin variation, clementine or not, there’s plenty you can do with them. They’re all great in salads (fruit or garden) and make good jams and marmalades. In terms of cooking, they work surprisingly well with much seafood – scallops, maybe, or flatfish – and pair brilliantly with duck, chicken and pork.

And then there are the puds, from mince pies to St Clement’s cake – basically, clementines and almonds. And you know how slutty old chocolate goes with anything? Well, clementines and chocolate is as good a combination as you’ll find anywhere on the sweet trolley.

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MITCH TONKS EXPLAINS HOW TO PUT A NEW SPIN ON THIS FESTIVE FRUIT RAW SEA BASS WITH CITRUS AND GINGER The clementine is such a joyous reminder of the festive season, Mitch writes, and adds a brightness and scent to the kitchen which is hard to resist. I love seeing them on the Venetian market stalls, perfectly stacked or lined up, many with leaves still attached and every now and then one wrapped in a paper twist.

They should feel nice and heavy for their size if they are full of juice. The fruit is sweet and fresh with nice acidity and works well with cured and raw seafood dishes, and it’s just that different balance in acidity which is so appealing – different to an orange, which can be sweet, and a lemon, which can be harsh. Use the juice in dressings with a little added lemon juice, or add segments to a salad with shaved fennel and black olives.

SERVES 2 150g raw sea bass fillet, pin-boned and skinned 60ml clementine or orange juice 20ml lime juice 20ml light soy sauce ½ tsp very finely grated ginger (use a Microplane) a tiny splash of vinegar (we use a sweet agrodolce-type vinegar made from Cava grapes) ½ tsp celery, very finely chopped ½ tsp shallots, very finely chopped 1 clementine, broken into segments 1 mild chilli, finely sliced a dash of olive oil salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 Cut the sea bass into thin slices and arrange on a cold plate.

2 Mix the citrus juices, soy sauce, ginger and vinegar together.

Season with salt and pepper then spoon over the fish.

3 Finish with a sprinkling of celery, shallots and chilli and a few clementine segments and just a dash of olive oil for seasoning.

From The Seahorse, the Restaurant and its Recipes by Mitch Tonks. Published by Bloomsbury; seahorserestaurant.co.uk

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Friendly coffee bar & Bistro serving delicious fresh coffee, legendary breakfast, afternoon tea and lunch dishes in the heart of Salcombe.

Salcombe Coffee Company open everyday 9.00am to 4.30pm.

Bistro 73 open 6pm till late, Tuesday - Saturday inclusive.

Tel: 01548 842319 | Email: info@salcombecoffee.co.uk Visit: 73 Fore St, Salcombe TQ8 8BU

Openings etc

MaKe me wINe

There’s no denying that the UK wine scene is on the up, particularly here in Devon where our vineyards, and the luscious wines produced from them, seem to go from strength to strength. Fitting, then, that Devon was the place to launch the new South West Wine School. Set up by PR gurus and wine lovers Hayley and Jonathan Reynolds, the school brings together some of the biggest wine names in the region to host a range of events, from speed wine tastings for beginners to Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET) courses for those who’d like to gain a deeper understanding of wine production.

“Just as the South West’s hospitality scene has taken off in recent years, so have people become more interested in every aspect of wine,” says Susy Atkins, wine columnist for The Telegraph and one of the experts involved. “This is a subject that’s constantly evolving, and I look forward to sharing my knowledge in a fun and relaxed environment – and, best of all, right here in the South West.” southwestwineschool.co.uk

GOING TO GROUND

Exeter’s only gone and got an uber-hip new café in McCoys Arcade. Sacred Grounds has been opened by the same folks behind the sustainable lifestyle store No Guts, No Glory. The ethos behind it is to create a community space where everyone is welcome, whether it’s for a quick coffee or a leisurely brunch. The menu is completely plant based, with highlights including savoury waffles with cider and mustard béchamel, garlic chestnut mushrooms, watercress and toasted walnuts, and bircher muesli served with fresh fruit and homemade nut butter. We’ll be swinging by next time we’re in the city. sacredgrounds.co

new faRm ShOP FOR TAVISTOCK

Devon giants of the online organic food box trade, Eversfield Organic have opened their first bricks and mortar business in Tavistock. Inside the new store, customers will be able to stock up on all things organic, including meat from the butcher’s counter; Baker Tom’s breads, including sourdough and spelt loaves; Owens coffee from Ivybridge; plus fresh fish, fruit, veg and more.

“The shop is a natural development of the Eversfield Organic vision,” says owner Mark Bury. “When we arrived at Ellacott [the family farm in Bratton Clovelly] we spent two back-breaking years bringing the land, which had been intensively farmed, back to fertility. For me and my family, organic means the best for our own health, the animals we keep and the health of our soil and wildlife.” eversfieldorganic.co.uk

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S T A R T E R S

@lambinnstagram Braised pig cheek, pearl barley, horseradish, bon bon, jus

HIP SHOPS

The GinGer Cat DeLi WHAT: Deli and bakery WHEN: Mon-Weds 7.30am-4pm, Thurs-Fri 7.30am-17.30pm, Sat 7.30am-2pm WHERE: Seaton House, Main Road, Exminster EX6 8DB

@goodgametheglobe Grub ’n a mug, fish and chips

@petermundyatthegingerpeanut Death by Chocolate!

Your pic could be here!

Just use #CrumbsSnaps on your foodie Insta posts and we might print one of yours next issue...

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fter years of working in pensions, husband and wife team Ben and Sally Sullivan decided to swap office life for the shop floor with the launch of The Ginger Cat Deli. Located in the village of Exminster, between Exeter and Dawlish, it has quickly become the go-to place to pick up a hearty lunch or mid-afternoon treat. The Sullivans love to bake, and much of what they sell is handmade at the back of the shop.

“Our signature dish must be our Scotch eggs,” says Ben. “We use free-range eggs from Exe Valley Farm in Tiverton and our sausage meat comes from Powderham Farm Shop. Our USP is the very chunky breadcrumbs that coat the Scotch egg, giving them an otherworldly look!”

Another bestseller is their range of homemade pies, with steak and ale, made using Longhorn beef from a nearby farm and Doom Bar ale, particularly popular with the passing lunchtime trade.

“The newest addition is our cauliflower cheese pie using Hawkridge Vintage Cheddar, topped with a garlic and herb crumb,” says Ben. “It’s delicious, and has become a customer favourite.”

If pies aren’t your bag, then the deli does

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a range of tasty sandwiches, made with bread from Ryders Bakery in Kenn, plus salad boxes. They also sell pizzas that you can order in advance and then bake at home. Not only is this an ace idea for an easy supper, but we love their suitably catthemed toppings, like Clawsome (turkey, cranberry and brie) and Cub Tropicana (ham and pineapple).

Sweet tooths will be satisfied with the deli’s range of homebakes and cakes. “A must-try is our chocolate-orange brownie,” says Ben. “It’s made using all of the great chocolatey ingredients from our usual recipe, with the addition of orange juice, orange extract, orange chocolate chunks and finished with a Terry's Chocolate Orange segment on top.”

It’s the variety of goodies on offer and the friendly, local service that has seen customers return time and again to The Ginger Cat Deli.

“Most of our day to day trade comes from the village. They have been fantastic and supported us from the start. We also get a lot of hungry builders and lunchtime trade from Marsh Barton Trading Estate, just a mile down the road,” explains Ben. “We are now seeing a lot of people coming from further afield too, who have caught on through word-of-mouth. We also do outside catering, both private and business, which is another great way of advertising our food.” thegingercatdeli.co.uk

S T A R T E R S

Which other local restaurants do you like to eat in? Recently, I had the opportunity to dine at Paul Ainsworth’s No 6 in Padstow and Michael Caines’ Lympstone Manor.

NEW KID ON THE BLOCK

Do you grow anything yourself?

Not yet, things are very much in development. Our Victorian walled garden is still in its infancy, but this year we have harvested pumpkins, butternut squash, courgettes, blackberries and various herbs and flowers from it. We hope to do more next year.

MEET CRAIG DAVIES, NEW HEAD CHEF AT PASCHOE HOUSE

Favourite supplier? Flying Fish in Cornwall – their quality is second to none.

Fondest foodie memory from childhood?

Making rag pudding (a savoury dish popular in Lancashire) with my grandma.

Going abroad on holiday with my parents and eating paella for the first time also sticks in my mind. As a kid, you wouldn’t know what would land on the plate in front of you, so everything felt new.

Who or what first inspired you to cook professionally? Watching Gordon Ramsay on TV was a big inspiration. Then, actually moving into working in high-level kitchens for the first time for John Campbell; he was a visionary. The flavour combinations, and different ingredients I’d never seen before, excited me.

Who has been your biggest influence?

I have been fortunate to work with some very talented chefs, including John

Campbell, Simon Radley, Martin Burge and Nigel Howarth, each of whom have their own unique styles. I hope I’ve developed my own style, drawing inspiration from each of them.

Proudest career achievement? Probably cooking for royalty. It was at a polo event in Chester, and I cooked for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

How would you describe your style of cooking? I love to draw influences from French and Asian cuisine, with texture and presentation all playing an important part.

How have you approached the menu at Paschoe House? By keeping it simple, with strong flavour combinations. I’ve been finding quality ingredients locally and from my regular suppliers.

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Which piece of kitchen equipment couldn’t you live without? My Thermomix.

It’s so powerful that no matter what you put in it, it will produce a silky-smooth purée. It combines 10 appliances in one unit, and weighs and blends, cooks and steams – it saves me lots of time in creating my sensory menu!

What and where was the best meal you’ve eaten? it was at The Square in Mayfair, back when Philip Howard was in the kitchen.

Favourite cookery books? Modernist Cuisine, Ikarus and El Celler de Can Roca.

Foodie hero? Gordon Ramsay. paschoehouse.co.uk

( advertising feature )

Trencherman’s Pub of the Year 2016

The Swan is the oldest pub in the charming historic town of Bampton, near Exmoor National Park, an area well known for its hunting, fishing, shooting and popular with ramblers and cyclists.

We have a passion for food and with this we like to embrace the use of local produce, keeping menus simple, yet bursting with flavours and imagination.

We take pride in our well kept, locally sourced ales and fine wines, to whet the appetites and suit all tastes.

Eat, Drink & Sleep At the Swan, Bampton

T. 01398 332248 E. info@theswan.co www.theswan.co Bampton | Tiverton | Devon | EX16 9NG

SEASONAL SLURPS

So, think cider’s just for summer, eh? Here’s where we introduce you to your new fave winter tipple...

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he harvest is in full swing now. People always want to know the names of our cider apples and we can see why – there are so many different varieties.

Dabinett, D abinett, Tom Putt, Brown’s Apple, Tremlett’s Bitter, Hangy Down, Slack Ma Girdle, Fair Maid of Devon, Ellis Bitter – you name them, we pick them! We can’t see the ground for moment, both in the these apples at the moment orchards and the yard. Which is great news – this suggests it’s going to be a really good harvest this year, with nice juicy apples, and lots of them. Not only are we picking them ourselves, but we’re getting them in thick and fast from surrounding old orchards too, meaning lots of cider is promised for this coming year.

But you needn’t wait until summer to slurp on a good apple-based brew – this is a drink to be enjoyed all year round. During these chillier months, try our Mulled and Spicy Ashridge Artisan Cider. This warming, spicy, mulled cider will hit the spot on a cold winter’s night. To make it, we’ve added festive spices (cloves, cinnamon, star anise and ginger) to our Devon Gold Cider, with the result being a fruity, comforting and very drinkable tipple.

Heat gently and serve straight away by a log fire with the back door closed and your feet up.

ashridgecider.co.uk; @AshridgeCider; 01364 654749

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Trio

BROUGHT TO TIERS YUP, WE KNOW, IT’S REALLY NOT WEDDING SEASON. BUT IF YOU’RE TYING THE KNOT IN 2019, ORDERING YOUR CAKE NOW WILL MEAN SKIPPING THE STRESS COME SPRING. HERE ARE THREE DEVON CAKEMAKERS WE DIG

1. A TOUCH OF FROST

If you’re going traditional and have a sweet tooth then RosiePosie Cakes in Exeter are worth a look.

Owner Kate O’Malley will work with you to create a bespoke creation to your exact requirements, suiting your colour scheme and your flowers. Whether you want two tiers or five, a round cake or square, lemon icing or vanilla, sugar flowers or love hearts, Kate will consult with you every step of the way.

She also does gorgeous cupcakes if you’re looking for pretty wedding favours, and these can be created to match the main cake.

Reassuringly, Kate also delivers and sets up the cake at your wedding venue, so you don’t have the stress of transporting it yourself if you don’t want to. To avoid disappointment, she recommends that you order your cake six to nine months before your big day.

All cakes are priced to order, and a deposit of £150 is required to secure your booking. rosieposiecakes.co.uk

2. TOWERING ABOVE

If you’re looking for something a little unique, a macaron tower could be the answer. Frandie Macaron in Broadhembury hand-make macarons using using free-range Devon eggs.

They’re available in six yummy flavours: lemon meringue, salted caramel, bourbon vanilla, double pistachio, double chocolate and strawberries and cream.

Or, if you’d prefer to create your own to match your colour scheme, there’s also a bespoke service. All macarons are created gluten free and can be made dairy free on request. You can order anything from a five-tier tower, holding 60 macarons, up to a full 10-tier tower holding 190. And if that’s not sweet enough for you, Frandie Macaron also do wedding favours, from £2.50 each.

Ahead of your big day, and a bit like buying an IKEA flat-pack furniture kit, Frandie Macaron will send you the macarons, an easy to assemble macaron tower and full assembly instructions. Easy peasy! frandiemacaron.co.uk

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3. SAVOUR THE DAY

Cheese cakes – wheels of cheese stacked on top of each other – are having a wedding moment. Brides and grooms are foregoing the traditional ‘sweet’ wedding cake for more savoury cake options, which handily double up as a cheese course after the main wedding breakfast.

The West Country Cheese Company, based in North Devon, are masters of the cheese cake, plus they also add pork pies into the mix – ideal for a West Country wedding. Cheeses are sourced from across the UK, including Sharpham’s and Quicke’s in Devon, or you can choose French artisan cheeses.

“Although we have a huge range available online, about 50% of our customers request some adjustments and their own bespoke design,” says company owner Debbie. “We offer taster boxes, so we can send a bespoke taster cheese box to our customers prior to them placing their order.”

Wedding cheese cakes cost around £150-£175 for 80-100+ people. westcountrycheese.co.uk

Ask the Expert

GRaPe eXpeCTaTIONS

Hello, Steve. Good to meet you. Let’s jump right in, shall we? Tell us, what’s going to be hot in the wine world in 2019? Over the next year we’ll definitely see a big increase in the consumption of English wine, after what has been one of the best growing seasons in living memory in 2018. Also, the recognition and quality of English sparkling wine production grows year-on-year, with some world-class examples available right here on our doorstep.

Portugal – which has always, quite rightly, enjoyed an enviable reputation for its fortified wines – seems to be gaining popularity for its still red and white table wines, too. These offer some fabulous choices, which also represent excellent value for money. There is a general trend towards trading up at point of purchase in both the retail and restaurant sectors too, with customers increasingly willing to pay more for quality, which emphasises the importance of employing communicative and knowledgeable staff.

WE ASK STEVE EDWARDS, WINE EXPERT AND OPERATIONS DIRECTOR AT LYMPSTONE MANOR, TO HELP US WITH OUR POUR DECISIONS…

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S T A R T E R S

That all sounds exciting, especially the stuff about the UK's growing wine industry. Are there any vineyards or wines that stand out for you? British wine has a very bright future, and has already shown that bottles produced here can compete at a very high level in terms of quality, particularly the sparkling wines. There are stunning examples from Nyetimber, which probably leads the field, along with Gusbourne.

There’s also some great quality coming from Ridge View, Camel Valley, Chapel Down, Hambledon, Hattingley and Lyme Bay. In fact, there are a whole raft of exceptional wines and, if we have more great growing seasons like this year, we should see prices drop to a point where they become more accessible to a wider audience here in the UK. There seems to be a growing trend for natural and biodynamic wines. What does this mean, and are there real benefits?

The reduction of pesticides, herbicides, fertilisers and additives used in the production of wine from the vineyard to the bottle can only be a good thing. However, there is some confusion about the differences between conventional, organic, and biodynamic wines, not to mention the new trend for natural wines.

Conventional practices may use everything available to winemakers in order to maximise yields in the vineyard and in the winery during the winemaking process. Organic production does not allow the use of any chemicals in the vineyard, but it stops there, with no other guidelines. Biodynamic takes organics to the next level and, as well as no chemicals, the production takes a more holistic and intensive approach. With grape-growing, for example, natural fertilisers are produced on-site. Stems, skins and pips are composted and returned to the vineyard, so that everything that is taken out is then returned to assist with soil management.

Biodynamics have been embraced by a growing number of vineyards in recent years, and are very beneficial to the environment.

Natural wines are just what they say, with minimal intervention in the vineyard and no additives to the wine. However, this can lead to some volatility with wine production, as well as some bottle variation. Natural wines can, but don’t always, exhibit discolouration, oxidation and yeasty flavours, which are meant to be there – some find this appealing, and some do not.

Good to know! What about region? Which countries should we be watching?

Wine regions to look out for are the Alentejo and Dão in Portugal for both the reds, which are concentrated and full of fruit, and the whites, which can be wonderfully aromatic, fresh and balanced. In France, look away from the more classic regions and go to the south

TOP TIPPLES

Say we were stocking up for a big party or seasonal celebration, Steve. What wines should we be going for?

Here are my recommendations for the wine rack...

Champagne: Charles Heidsieck NV, France Sparkling: Nyetimber Classic Cuvée, Sussex, England Lighter, crisp, fruity style white: Lagar de Cervera Albariño, Rias Baixas, Spain Richer, aromatic style white: Mattias Riccitelli Pinot Gris, Mendoza, Argentina Lighter style red: Emperor's Prize Pinot Noir, Yarra Valley, Australia Spicy, full bodied red: Tenuta Rapitalà Nero d’Avola, Sicily, Italy Dessert wine: Royal Tokaji Late Harvest, Hungary Blended Pedro Ximénez and Old Oloroso Sherry: Lustau East India Solera Sherry, Spain Fine aged Port: Graham’s 20-year-old Tawny, Portugal

west for the myriad of appellations within the Languedoc, whether it’s a crisp, sparkling Blanquette de Limoux, one of the incredible, luscious, amber-coloured sweet wines from Rivesaltes, or one of the rich, intensely flavoured reds from Minervois – all of which can be exceptional value for money. In New Zealand, venture away from Marlborough and seek out the wines from Central Otago, particularly the very challenging Pinot Noir, where some world-class examples can be found, and also to Hawke’s Bay on the North Island, where you can find rich but elegant reds produced from Syrah and Cabernet.

Are people becoming braver with their wine choices? If so, what are they opting for? Customers on the high street and in restaurants have become braver, mainly due to the extensive choice available today. Also, there’s so much more information about wine available, verbally and online and in magazines, than there’s ever been.

At Lympstone Manor, we’re very lucky to have six state of the art Wine Emotion machines, which allow us to sell wines by the glass and keep them in top condition for an extended period of time. For white wine we still see lots of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Grigio sold, but also other interesting

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single varietals, like Viognier, Grüner Veltliner, Riesling, Chenin Blanc and Albariño, as well as a wider selection of blended whites that are receiving equal attention. The usual red wine suspects, like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Shiraz and Pinot Noir are now joined

by Barbera, Tempranillo, Sangiovese, Zinfandel and a raft of other exciting varietals and blends.

Not going to lie, choosing wine can be an intimidating business for the nonoenophiles among us. What three tips would you give someone new to browsing the wine shelves? Firstly, always trade up if you can afford to. We have become a nation of deal junkies. The price of a pint of beer in a bar can reach £5 or more these days, so why not spend more on a whole bottle of wine?

Secondly, spend a little more time selecting your wine, and not just always going for the particular wine style or brand that you are familiar with; try something different. Lastly, if you’re choosing wine for a special occasion or celebration, try to consider the food element when making your selection. A good food and wine pairing can enhance your meal experience considerably, whether you are at home or eating in a restaurant. lympstonemanor.co.uk

S T A R T E R S

In the Larder 2

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winteR waRMeRs winte

CHECK OUT THE DELICIOUS NEW DEVON-MADE PRODUCE TICKLING OUR TASTE BUDS THIS MONTH… 1. CRUSH IT Luscombe Rhubarb Crush, 27cl/£1.95 Luscombe are on a roll this year, with a seemingly never-ending range of new soft drinks. The latest is this deliciously refreshing sparkling rhubarb crush, made with Devon spring water. It’s both sweet and sour, with a hint of Madagascan vanilla balancing out the tart tanginess of the rhubarb. If pairing with food, perhaps try drinking it alongside oily fish, like mackerel, or honey-glazed pork chops, but we prefer it on its own, served over ice with a sprig of fresh mint. Available from independent farm shops and delis across Devon. luscombe.co.uk 2. CHEDDAR GORGE Quicke’s Cheddar Tasting Box, 5x 200g wedges/£25 We reckon few things say ‘cosy’ more than curling up on the sofa with a cheeseboard, a box of crackers and your tipple of choice. If you’re partial to a slice of Cheddar, but can’t bear those bland supermarket varieties, then best order one of these yummy tasting boxes from Quicke’s.

Curd nerds will rejoice in the diversity of flavour and complexities within each creamy wedge.

The box includes 200g each of buttery, mature, extra mature, vintage and oak-smoked Cheddar.

The oak-smoked is cold smoked using oak chips from trees actually grown on the Quicke’s estate, giving you a true taste of Devon. Enjoy with a cider or sloe gin. Available online from Quicke’s. quickes.co.uk 3. PIE EYED Pipers Farm Steak and Otter Ale Pie, £3.95 each Who doesn’t love a pie in the middle of winter?

Especially served up with creamy mash and smothered with gravy. Devon’s Pipers Farm has recently launched its own range of rustic handmade pies. Fillings include venison and port, chicken and ham, and for veggies there’s a delicious pumpkin, goats’ cheese and spinach pie. We like the old classic steak and ale combo, made with the farm’s famed, slow-grown Ruby Red beef, root veg and ale from Otter Brewery.

A perfect mid-week meal. Available from Pipers Farm online shop. pipersfarm.com 4. JAM-BOREE Waterhouse Fayre Whortleberry Jam, 240g/£3.75 If you’re stumped as to what a whortleberry is, then ponder no more. It’s the West Country name for wild blueberries, commonly found growing on Dartmoor and Exmoor. In the Midlands, they

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go by the name of bilberries. Yup, they do sound like they come from Middle Earth and the hand of Tolkein, but they have, in fact, been around in the UK for donkeys, both for food and as a source of blue dye for fabric. This jam from Tiverton-based Waterhouse Fayre has a richer, deeper flavour than regular blueberry jam, and tastes great spread on a toasted teacake. It won the Taste of the West gold award in 2016. Available at Mole Valley Farmers and other independent farm shops. waterhousefayre.co.uk 5. TIME FOR TEA Tea’s Me Posh Tottea, 100g/£3.75 This Devon-based organic tea company is a brand after our own hearts, as the guys here are partial to a pun or two in their product names, and they make a darn good brew, too. Helen Lynch, who owns and runs the business, hand blends her range of teas using organic leaves sourced from Sri Lanka, India and China. The company uses no artificial flavours or sweeteners, allowing the natural ingredients to speak for themselves.

We’re partial to Posh Tottea, a black tea infused with citrus oil and with a twist of orange. Each bag zings with a fruity aroma and provides the perfect afternoon pick-me-up. Available to buy online. teasme.co.uk

S T A R T E R S

THERE’S GIFTING INSPO A-PLENTY AMONG THIS MONTH’S BATCH OF BOOKS VEGAN CHRISTMAS Gaz Oakley (Quadrille, £15) It was only in January that chef Gaz Oakley – known in the social media sphere as Avant Garde Vegan – launched his debut book, Vegan 100. Now he’s back with a totally plantbased festive offering, which has more than enough recipes to see you through not only C-Day itself but the entire festive season – think everything from party food to recipes for leftovers, and even edible gifts. For the big day itself, expect brekkies like caramelised bananas and sweet potato waffles with mushrooms; impressive centerpieces for the main event (such as a Wellington and stuffed squash); trimmings (including gravy and roast potatoes, of course); and both classic and novel desserts (think Christmas pud, but also fried doughnut profiteroles). There are lots of meat- and dairy- inspired recipes here – ‘turkey’, ‘bacon’ and ‘cheese’, for instance – which can seem rather labour-intensive and call for less familiar ingredients, such as nutritional yeast and tapioca starch. But thanks to Gaz’s down-to-earth, enthusiastic attitude, you might find yourself fired up about the undertaking. J ESSICA CA RTER THE BEER KITCHEN Melissa Cole (Hardie Grant, £20) In her third book, award-winning beer expert Melissa Cole focuses on the relationship between hop-infused lubricants and food.

The varied and hearty dishes not only feature all kinds of brews within them (and yes, the variety of beer you use in each is important), but also come with suggestions for drink matches. The collection of over 70 recipes is doused in a good glug of advice, information and science (all of which is offered in plain English and with a sense of humour). It covers everything from taste and flavour to beer styles, brewing and kitchen cupboard staples. Effort levels ramp up through the book, taking us from the straightforward likes of spag bol pimped with German hefeweizen, flanders oud bruin-spiked Sichuan aubergine, and stout and chocolate pots, to showstoppers such as beer-brined porchetta and lambic marshmallows with stout fondue. This is a fascinating and light-hearted investigation into beer and cookery – and the wonderful things that can be achieved by combining the two. J ESSICA CA RTER TASTY ULTIMATE Buzzfeed (Ebury Press, £20) You may find this book slightly off-putting at first: the design’s not pretty, everyone

writing it seems to have had too much sugar this morning – “Goodness gracious, great balls of (baked) falafel” is a typical line – and nobody’s bothered to Anglicise it, so we keep getting references to Colby Jack cheese (like gouda, it turns out) and ‘canned biscuit dough’, for which it seems you’ll have to find local alternatives. But! Look more closely and this is a actually a pretty useful collection of student-friendly recipes, from Buzzfeed’s youth-orientated social food network, and “the biggest franchise on Facebook”. There’s

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over 150 of the things, ranging from baked avocado eggs and ‘the best crispy chicken Parmesan’ to sausage, apple and Cheddar monkey bread, and truffle mac ’n’ cheese.

With an emphasis on eliminating washing up (check out the full English breakfast cups, which cram the whole thing into a single muffin tin) and getting maximum bang for your buck (in terms of effort, cost and flavour), you can easily see this turning a reluctant chef into an experimental one, in which case job done, really. M AT T BI E LBY

TOGETHER The Hubb Community Kitchen (Ebury Press, £9.99) This good-value collection of largely North African and Middle Eastern recipes was inspired by the surprise visit of HRH The Duchess of Sussex (you know, Meghan Markle, as was) to The Hubb Community Kitchen, based in a West London Muslim community centre. ‘Hubb’ means ‘love’ in Arabic, and many of the women who gather and cook in the kitchens at the Al-Manaar Centre were displaced in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower disaster; here they can chat, laugh, and cook for their families. But when the Duchess asked why the kitchen was only open two days a week and was told it was for lack of funding, her suggestion that a cookbook might help lit a few lightbulbs, and here we are. The really appealing thing about Together is how tasty, colourful and achievable most of these recipes are, from the stunning Iraqi green rice to the Persian beef and aubergine casserole, the Algerian shakshouka to the Lebanese vegetable lasagne. These are really personal recipes, often combining cultural backgrounds to winning effect. MATT B IEL BY BLACK SEA Caroline Eden (Quadrille, £25) Now here’s a very impressive, atmospheric book. First there’s the very look of the thing – the blue-black edges to the paper – then there’s the unusual travelogue structure.

Journalist Caroline Eden takes a road trip around the Black Sea ports, starting in the Ukraine pleasure resort of Odessa and hopping through Romania, Bulgaria and so on, with major stops at Istanbul and tough Trabzon. Caroline’s first book, Samarkand, told of a similar trip to Soviet Uzbekistan and was named the Guild of Food Writer’s Best Food and Travel Book 2017. This is similarly packed with stories (both historical oddities and her own adventures) and intriguing images, as well as recipes that illuminate people and places – and sound bloody delicious. One moment you’ll be learning the history of the Odessa Steps, and the next how to make a colourful and mega-meaty Bigos stew, originally cooked in forests where Polish hunters would drop whatever game they’d caught into a pot with peppers, pickled fruit and sauerkraut. You’ll definitely cook stuff from Black Sea but, more than that, you’ll be sucked into another world.

M AT T BI EL BY

SEXY SPROUTS

From: Vegan Christmas by Gaz Oakley (Quadrille, £15); photography by Simon Smith

EVEN IF YOU’RE NOT usually a sprout lover, I promise you will love these. Topping them with my coconut ‘bacon’ bits just takes them to the next level.

SERVES 4 500g Brussels sprouts, trimmed 2 tbsp rapeseed oil 200g vacuum-packed chestnuts, chopped in half 1 tsp fennel seeds handful dried cranberries 1 lemon, zest only For the coconut ‘bacon’ bits: 100g coconut flakes 2 tbsp maple syrup 1 tbsp sweet smoked paprika 2 tbsp soy sauce 1 tbsp coconut oil 1 Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4 and line a baking tray with nonstick baking paper.

2 First up, make the coconut ‘bacon’ bits. Put all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir well to coat the coconut flakes. Spread them out evenly over

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the lined baking tray and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until golden and crisp. Stir the coconut on the tray a couple of times during cooking to avoid it burning (which it can easily do).

3 For the sprouts, bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Gradually add the sprouts, making sure the water keeps at a rolling boil, and cook until tender and a vibrant green colour, usually around 3-4 minutes.

4 Once the sprouts are cooked, drain and place them onto a tray lined with kitchen paper to soak up excess water, if cooking straight away. Alternatively, you can chill the sprouts in the fridge at this stage until you’re ready to flavour them up just before serving.

5 Before serving, heat the rapeseed oil in a large work over a high heat.

Add the sprouts and sauté them for 2 minutes, then add the rest of the ingredients and continue to cook over a high heat, stirring often, for 3 more minutes. A little colour on the sprouts adds great flavour.

6 Once your sprouts are nicely coloured, throw in a handful of coconut ‘bacon’, saving the rest to sprinkle on top once you’ve dished up.

CHEF!

WHAT TO MAKE AND HOW TO MAKE IT – DIRECT FROM THE KITCHENS OF OUR FAVOURITE FOODIES HIGHLIGHTS

SEXY FISH

A SKATE DISH TO IMPRESS YOUR PALS PAGE 26

IN A STEW

A CLASSIC WINTER ONE-POT PAGE 29

CURRY NIGHT A SIMPLE VEGGIE SUPPER PAGE 31

PLUS!

Parsnips were used as a sweetener before cane sugar was introduced to Europe, but also work in curries (p31)

32 N

MARZIPA MINCE PIES

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wINGIN’ IT IAN MACDONALD FROM SOAR MILL COVE HOTEL SHOWS US HOW TO SCORE WITH SKATE

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C H E F !

If you haven’t visited Soar Mill Cove Hotel near Salcombe in South Devon, then you are missing out. It's situated in beautiful National Trust countryside and is only a short 10-minute stroll from the sea. Oh, and the food is pretty good, too.

“The menu is designed to make the most of our local and seasonal produce,” explains head chef Ian MacDonald. “We are well aware of how fortunate we are to have such a wealth of fresh, sustainable and hand-grown ingredients in South Devon, and this natural larder provides us with the tools to create pleasurable dishes packed with subtleties of flavour.

“I like this dish because it’s simple and impressive – the perfect dinner party dish! The skate works really well with the bold flavour of the peppercorn sauce.”

WINE MATCh!

Paul Cluver Chardonnay, £15.04 Christopher Piper Wines This dish tastes brilliant with the Gold Medal winning South African Chardonnay from Paul Cluver, rated “outstanding” by no fewer than three Masters of Wine.

Rich, luscious and elegant.

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WING OF SKATE AU POIVRE SERVES 4 4 x skate wings (small) 20 x small new potatoes, halved 1 x onion, sliced 2 x bunches of rainbow chard 3 tsp mixed peppercorns 250ml Madeira 250ml veal stock (or beef stock) 500ml double cream knob of butter salt and pepper to taste 1 Remove the skate flesh from the bone.

2 Roll both fillets of each piece of fish into a cylinder and wrap in cling film, tying the ends.

3 Poach the fish in the cling film for 5 minutes in simmering water and then set aside.

4 Parboil the potatoes in hot water for 3 minutes and then sauté them in a little butter with the sliced onion, and season with cracked black pepper.

5 Wash the rainbow chard and finely slice, then sweat in butter and season to taste.

6 Place the 3 teaspoons of mixed peppercorns in a pan with the Madeira and reduce by half.

7 Add the veal (or beef) stock and reduce by half again.

8 Add the double cream and reduce by a third.

9 Add the butter to a hot pan and allow to foam, then quickly brown the poached skate fillets until golden.

10 Assemble across four plates, with the potatoes on the bottom, topped with the chard, then the skate, drizzled with the creamy peppercorn sauce. soarmillcove.co.uk

Fresh, Local and Seasonal Food. An every occasion restaurant

36 Admiralty Street, Plymouth, Devon PL1 3RU 01752 253247 • info@thefigtreeat36.co.uk www.thefigtreeat36.co.uk

C H E F !

This hassle-free silverside recipe delivers maximum comfort and flavour, celebrating Pipers Farm’s Red Ruby beef. Native to Exmoor, the cattle are slow-grown and 100% grass-fed for their entire lives, until they naturally reach maturity at around 31-36 months old. There's not a nasty additive in sight!

“Farming in harmony with nature helps to achieve a consistent taste, texture and excellent marbling, while the depth of flavour to silverside makes it a top choice for winter dishes. Perfect fodder for those long cosy nights with the fire flickering and crackling in the background,” says Pipers Farm founder Peter Greig.

“For a slightly less bitter flavour from the stout, simply add half the suggested amount and substitute the other half with beef stock.

Alternatively, a dollop of red onion marmalade added at the end of cooking really balances the whole dish.”

SILVERSIDE WITH GUINNESS AND BACON SERVES 6

MEAT FEAST NOTHING SAYS, “DO YOUR WORST, WINTER,” BETTER THAN A HEARTY ONE-POT. INDULGE IN THIS WINTER WARMER FROM PIPERS FARM

WINE MATCh!

Botham Merrill Willis Cabernet Sauvignon, £18.76 Christopher Piper Wines This rich, meaty one-pot makes for an excellent combination with cricket legend and wine buff Ian Botham's Australian Botham Merrill Willis Shiraz. This is a silky, rich and bold red, well worth a try.

1.5kg Pipers Farm grass-fed beef silverside 250g Pipers Farm Saddleback bacon lardons 25g butter 2 x carrots 2 x garlic cloves 2 x onions 1 x bottle or can of Guinness 1 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce 1 tsp of wholegrain mustard a few sprigs of thyme and rosemary 2 tbsp of flour 1 Preheat the oven to 140C/275F/gas mark 1.

2 Place a good-sized casserole dish on the hob and heat. Season the beef, then sear in the casserole dish until it is well browned. Remove and set aside.

3 Add the bacon to the casserole dish and render a little. Then add the butter, roughly chopped carrots, crushed garlic and onions, and allow to brown a little.

4 Place the beef back in the dish and pour in the Guinness, Worcestershire sauce, herbs and wholegrain mustard and bring to the boil.

5 Cover the pot and cook in the oven for 2 hours. Once the beef is cooked, remove it from the pot and set aside.

6 Whisk the flour into the juices in the casserole dish (or make a roux) and bring the sauce to the boil until it has thickened.

7 Check the seasoning and then serve slices covered in the rich gravy, with mashed potatoes. pipersfarm.com

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Your Local Independent Community Cafe Serving Fresh Local Produce We are an independent, locally owned business serving freshly prepared, delicious breakfasts and lunches.

Our produce is all locally sourced and we offer specialty teas and great coffee.

We are fully licensed and have a fabulous walled garden, with blankets for the cooler weather!

We are now a ‘7 Daisy Week’ open Monday to Friday 9am - 3pm, Saturday 9am - 1pm and Sunday 10am - 1pm

98 Fore Street, Heavitree, Exeter, EX1 2RS Tel: 07769 695113 please follow us on Facebook and Twitter for news and updates

FABULOUS CHEESE CAKES FOR WEDDINGS AND CELEBRATIONS

You may have seen wedding cakes made of cheese and you may have seen them made of pork pies... but have you seen them together? The Ploughmans’ Cheese & Pie Cake is made up of three gourmet cheeses interspersed with pies handmade from the finest ingredients using traditional methods.

A very personalised and friendly service, bespoke options available at no extra charge. Unlimited options available for any event and any party size.

01271 379944 or

enquiry@westcountrycheese.co.uk

C H E F !

Curries are some of the simplest yet most satisfying dishes to conjure up in the kitchen.

Throw a load of hearty veg into the pot and you’ve got yourself a healthy meal that keeps your appetite satiated for at least a few hours.

We reckon this vegan number from Riverford is just the business.

“Curries are a really good way to use up vegetables,” says Kirsty Hale, head of recipes at Riverford Organic. “This mild, warming spicy curry transforms parsnips into a creamy, comforting cold-weather dinner in less than half an hour. The Indian flavours of ginger, coconut and fresh coriander work beautifully with parsnips. Eat with boiled rice or warm naan bread, and pickle or chutney.”

PARSNIP, CAULIFLOWER AND CHICKPEA KORMA SERVES 2-3

VEGAN

KOR-BLIMEY!

GIVE SEASONAL ROOT VEG A SPICY HIT WITH THIS VEGAN CURRY RECIPE FROM RIVERFORD

WINE MATCh!

Grüner Veltliner Sonnhof, £14.48 Christopher Piper Wines Grüner Veltliner Sonnhof is a juicy, refreshing organic Austrian white wine and a great match for spicy food. It's charming: fresh, juicy and delicate on the nose and lively and vibrant on the palate, with a touch of white pepper.

2 tbsp groundnut oil 1 onion, finely chopped 2 garlic cloves, very finely chopped 2.5cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated 2 tsp medium-hot curry powder 2 tsp ground cumin 2 parsnips (about 300g), peeled and cut into 1cm chunks 400ml can coconut milk 400ml can chickpeas, drained 50g ground almonds 1 cauliflower (about 850g), cut into large florets juice of 1 lime 1 bunch fresh coriander, roughly chopped salt and black pepper 1 Heat the oil in large heavy-bottomed pan then add the onion and fry, stirring occasionally over a medium-low heat for about 10 minutes, until soft and translucent.

2 Add the garlic and ginger and cook for a minute, then add the curry powder, cumin and a good pinch of salt.

3 Gently stir in the parsnips and cook for a further minute.

4 Add the coconut milk, chickpeas and ground almonds, cover with a lid and cook at a gentle boil for 10 minutes.

5 Check the seasoning, adding more salt and pepper if needed. Add the cauliflower, then cover again and cook for a further 5 minutes or so, until the cauliflower is just tender.

6 Sprinkle the lime juice over the curry and stir in the coriander. riverford.co.uk

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TIP: Any leftover mincemeat will last up to six months in the fridge.

CRANBERRY AND MARZIPAN MINCE PIES MAKES 15 PIES

POSh PIeS

ALAN ADLEM FROM POSH NOSH PUTS A FRESH TWIST ON A TRUE FESTIVE FAVOURITE We promised we weren’t going to go too Christmas crazy this issue, but when this oh-so-tasty mince pie recipe landed in our inbox from Posh Nosh in Topsham, we just couldn’t resist sticking it in these here pages. So, what if mince pies are traditionally associated with the festive season alone? When they taste this good, they should be eaten all-year round. There, we’ve said it.

For the mincemeat 125g raisins 190g currants 50ml brandy zest and juice of half an orange 150g shredded suet 125g dark brown sugar 45g chopped mixed peel 100g cranberries 1 pinch of nutmeg 1 Bramley apple, grated For the pastry 500g plain flour, plus extra for dusting 100g icing sugar zest of 1 lemon 250g butter, cut into 1cm cubes (keep chilled) 2 eggs, beaten 1 tbsp milk For the marzipan 90g icing sugar 90g golden caster sugar 1 large egg (beaten) 1 tsp brandy 175g ground almonds To prepare 1 egg (beaten) for eggwash deep-fill muffin tray 10cm round pastry cutter

WINE MATCh!

Domaine Roche-Audran Le Caillou, £20.48 Christopher Piper Wines These pies will be perfectly paired with this deliciously rich sweet red, full of crystalised cherry flavours and aromas. It’s also biodynamic and organic.

1 Begin by soaking the raisins, currants, brandy, orange zest and orange juice for 2 hours.

2 Preheat the oven to 175C/350F/ gas mark 4.

3 While the fruit is soaking, prepare the pastry and the marzipan – see the methods for these opposite.

4 Once the fruit has soaked, mix in the suet, brown sugar, mixed peel, nutmeg, and apple.

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5 Fold in cranberries and prepared marzipan cubes.

6 Roll out the pastry to approximately ½cm in thickness – you should get 15 discs cut using your cutter and then use either a festive cutter for your lids or make strips to create a lattice.

7 Grease the muffin tin and pop the pastry in.

8 Fill with mincemeat, leaving just ½cm for your lid.

9 Once your lid is placed, use a beaten egg to wash over the tops, then cook on the middle shelf of your pre-heated oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown in colour.

Pastry 1 While the fruit is soaking make a start on the pastry. First, sift the flour and icing sugar together into a large mixing bowl, then mix in the lemon zest.

2 Rub in the cubes of butter, with cool hands, using only your fingertips until a breadcrumb consistency is reached.

3 Mix in the eggs and milk until it comes together to form a ball.

4 Wrap in cling film and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Marzipan 1 Sift the icing sugar and caster sugar together into a glass bowl and mix in the egg.

2 Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water and whisk for 10 mins, or until mixture is thick and fluffy.

3 Remove from the pan and sit the base in cold water to help chill it down.

4 Whisk in the brandy and keep whisking until the mixture is cool.

Once cooled, stir in the almonds and knead into a paste.

5 Wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

6 Once it has cooled, roll out to about 1cm thickness and cut it into cubes. posh-nosh.co.uk

C H E F !

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award winning restaurant • award winning marina

Great

Food, Compa ny & Location!

Jolly Jacks, the perfect venue for your Christmas festivities.

Amazing food, great Christmas menu, warm and cosy ambiance, friendly, welcoming and fun; Jolly Jacks has it all!

CHRISTMAS & NEW YEAR'S EVE BOOKINGS NOW BEING TAKEN • FREE secure parking • Dog & child friendly

Tel: 01752 500 008 • www.jollyjacks.co.uk Mayflower Marina • Richmond Walk • Plymouth • PL1 4LS

ARMOURY CHOOSE YOUR WEAPONS

JUICY GOOSeY

The OXO Good Grips Flavour Injector costs £15 from Lakeland in Exeter; oxouk.com

FROM COOL NEW YORK KITCHEN UTENSIL BRAND OXO – NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH THE STOCK CUBE PEOPLE – COMES THE GOOD GRIPS FLAVOUR INJECTOR. AND WHO, ASKS MATT BIELBY, DOESN’T LOVE A PLUMP, JUICY BIRD?

What is this, a David Cronenberg film?

That thing looks proper medical – and in an over-sized, frankly quite scary-looking way, too.

No, no! Dismiss from your thoughts rampant venereal diseases, exploding heads and creepy gynaecologist twins, and think instead fireside tipples, Tiny Tim and all things Christmassy. For this little Flavour Injector – okay, it’s a whopping great syringe – is going to help you rustle up your moistest Christmas bird ever. How? It helps baste your turkey’s notoriously dry flesh (hey, these things have always had a very tricky breastto-leg ratio) from the inside out, and works just as well on a goose, too.

You what?

It’s quite simple. You just load it up with your marinade, melted herb butter or what-haveyou, grab your bird by the fattest bit, then wham: you squirt it full of flavour. All those delicious tastes are sealed inside – and it makes Crimbo morning that tiny bit easier, because you don’t need to keep going back to the oven to coat the T-bird in its juices.

Sounds great, but will I really get much use out of this thing? After all, how often do I cook a turkey? (I’ll tell you: once a year.)

Like I said, it doesn’t just work with turkeys, silly. Yes, think also goose – you know, if you’re posh – or your standard weekend

chicken, or any other chunk of meat, if you’re feeling inventive. You get two different size twist-off stainless steel needles with this thing, the small one for free-flowing butter, and the fat one for any fancy marinades packed with chunky herbs and spices. (They both store easily inside the tube when you’re done too, so you’re not going to lose them – or accidentally spike yourself while rummaging in the kitchen drawer.)

I’m thinking it might also work when I’m trying to copy Bake Off… Go for it; there’s no reason why it couldn’t pump jam right into the centre of your doughnut, too.

THIS MONTH • PRETTY LITTLE PASTRIES • GIN THINGS

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The Church House Inn is a family-run pub situated halfway between Exeter and Plymouth.

• Sunny beer garden • Family friendly • Dog friendly • Local produce • Separate dining room which can hold functions for up to 40 people

Rattery, South Brent, Devon TQ10 9LD Tel: 01364 642220 • www.thechurchhouseinn.co.uk

Crumbs Cooks With

SamUeL BROOk HAVING MADE HIS NAME IN SOME OF DEVON’S TOP KITCHENS, CHEF SAMUEL BROOK IS NOW GOING IT ALONE, INDULGING HIS PASSION FOR ALL THINGS PATISSERIE… WORDS BY MELISSA STEWART PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHNNIE WALKER

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few months back I went to a Devon Food Movement event at Ashridge Court, where eight of Devon’s top chefs had come together to create a sumptuous feast for over 100 discerning diners. Every course was the business, but it was the dessert that stuck in my mind. A fluffy cloud of meringue, a thick, glossy dollop of dulce de leche, a refreshing creamy ice cream – all made with ingredients from nearby Taw River Dairy. As someone who often skips dessert for cheese, I was wowed; every element delivered.

The chef behind it was 27-year-old Samuel Brook. Having started out with Michael Caines at Abode and Kentisbury Grange, he did a stint at the Salutation Inn before going on to become head chef at Paschoe House.

While a talented all-rounder in the kitchen, it’s his skill with pastry, and a desire to work for himself, that prompted him to quit the day job six months ago to focus on his own business, Pretty Little Pastries. I met him at his family home – a tumbling farmhouse near Crediton, where he has his own professional kitchen housed in an annexe – to find out more about his new venture, and to learn a few tricks of the trade.

The first thing that struck when I ventured up the drive was the overwhelmingly sickly-sweet smell of sugar permeating the air. (A hazard of the job, but one that you get used to, Samuel assures me.) In my head, I pictured a farmhouse kitchen full of frothy cupcakes and chintzy cake stands, but the reality is more of a scientific laboratory.

There were ingredients stacked methodically in boxes, carefully typed recipes filed in ring binders, and lots of fancy culinary contraptions – including a rather clinical-looking chocolate tempering machine.

Newly self-employed, Samuel is still ironing out his vision for what he wants Pretty Little Pastries to become, but for now he’s content to create patisserie for weddings, private functions and food fairs. He also offers a full-menu catering service for weddings and private functions.

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Today, we’re going to rustle up some millionaire’s shortbread, apple and hazelnut crumble macarons and, rather intriguingly, milk bread doughnuts filled with mutton. I’m supposed to be helping but, in all honesty, aside from holding a sieve and stirring a couple of ingredients, Samuel does all the work. It’s like watching a well-oiled machine in action. Unlike a baker, being a pastry chef requires a scientific-level of understanding about ingredients and how to manipulate them, plus complete organisation and precision. Samuel has got all this down to a tee – plus a seemingly encyclopaedic memory, as he doesn’t consult a recipe book once.

“I can weigh from memory,” he says. “It’s all about practice; doing it time and time again. If I’d committed my mind the way I do now when I was at school, I might have got a bit further!”

Whisking egg whites for the macarons, he shares a handy tip: “Use three-day-old egg whites. They’re better because they dehydrate slightly, so there’s less moisture in the meringue base. If there’s too much moisture when they bake, they wrinkle a little, and are more likely to go a bit soft if they’re stored in the fridge or when you defrost them.”

Meringues in the oven, he gets to work on the caramel for his very upmarket take on millionaire’s shortbread. “This was one of the first things I learned to cook as a child with my grandma,” he says. “I’ve put my own spin on it now, so it’s more of a dessert rather than a classic homebake.”

There’s a dark chocolate financier base, shortbread, then a dark chocolate ganache, vanilla and condensed milk caramel, and then a salted caramel crémeux topped with tempered chocolate.

“It’s the introduction of the other textures and flavours which makes it a level above,” says Samuel. “The addition of the sponge and the

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cremeux give it more balance across the palate, and the ganache adds a slight bitter note to balance some of the sweetness.”

Once the caramel has set in the fridge, I watch mesmerised as he tempers the chocolate on his marble-topped kitchen island, methodically checking and re-checking the temperature until it’s perfect.

He draws his inspiration, he says, from the masters of the pastry chef world: Guillaume Mabilleau, Cédric Grolet and, closer to home, Lympstone Manor’s Sylvain Peltier. Where once there was a snobbery attached to patisserie – particularly in France, where recipes were passed down through generations and kept as closely guarded secrets – today’s pastry chefs are much more open, happily sharing their ideas and innovation on YouTube.

“I’m passionate about pastry as it’s very scientific, and that’s how my brain works,” he says. “But I also enjoy the freedom of coming up with new flavour combinations and using different ingredients. Lately, I’ve been experimenting with creating patisserie with a low sugar content, but which still retains a good flavour.”

This creative edge comes to the fore in our final recipe of the day – a springy milk bread doughnut filled with marinated mutton. The idea for this came about when he was asked to create a canapé for an event, and decided to take his creative cues from Asia. Milk bread, he tells me, is a versatile dough, which can be fried or steamed to create Chinese-style bao buns.

“I marinated the mutton for eight hours in coriander, five spice, salt, pepper, thyme and rosemary, then confit overnight,” he explains. “I then sautéed red onions, thyme and bay leaf and added dark Muscavodo sugar and balsamic vinegar. I caramelised it and reduced it and then made a purée out of it, which I then put through the lamb, making it sweet, rich and lovely and moist. Then I rolled the lamb into little balls and froze them inside caramelised cauliflower purée.”

Voila! Having prepped them the day before, he whips them from the freezer. We encase each ball in dough and let them go gold in the fryer.

As we plate up our day’s creations, it’s clear how obsessively attentive to detail Samuel is. Each patisserie is created like a work of art; the devil in the detail. The challenge, I reckon, is teaching us Brits about the delights of patisserie over more traditional homebakes and puddings.

Unlike the French, we aren’t used to this level of sophistication and rarely shop exclusively for dessert.

“It’s definitely about educating people about the difference between something like this and a shop-bought, mass-produced pastry,” says Samuel. “But people who enjoy their food do appreciate proper patisserie. My mum often comes home with dessert from Darts Farm’s deli counter – so there is a demand for it in certain places.”

The dream, he says, is to one day open a shop of his own, but finding the right premises and the right customer base is going to take time. As I tuck into some of the delicious delicacies we’ve created, I glance over at the fridge. Stuck to the door is a picture of a French-style patisserie shop with Pretty Little Pastries written on it. It’s an affirmation, something to aspire to. “I’m putting it out there, that’s the dream,” he says. Something tells me that dream isn’t too far from becoming a reality.

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W I T H

MILLIONAIRE’S SHORTBREAD MAKES U P TO 24 S QUAR ES

One of the first things Samuel learned to cook was this recipe with his grandma. Slightly less intricate than his grown-up Pretty Little Pastries version, it’s still a definite crowd pleaser…

For the shortbread 75g caster sugar 175 butter 250g flour For the caramel 100g butter 100g muscovado sugar 400g condensed milk For the chocolate topping 125g milk chocolate 75g dark chocolate 1 Preheat the oven to 160C/325F/gas mark 3.

2 Beat together the sugar and butter.

3 Add the flour and mix until it becomes a dough.

4 Spread the dough in a greased tin and bake for 20 minutes, or until firm to touch and golden brown. Leave to cool in the tin.

5 For the caramel, melt the butter and dissolve the sugar. Then add the condensed milk and cook out until thick.

6 Sprinkle a little sugar onto the cooled shortbread and then pour over the caramel.

7 For the topping, melt the chocolate and mix well.

8 Once the caramel is cool, pour and spread the chocolate on the top. Leave to set and then cut into squares. prettylittlepastries.co.uk

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A R M O U R Y

The Want List LET THE FUN BE-GIN! IF YOU OR A LOVED ONE IS PARTIAL TO A TOT OF MOTHER’S RUIN, YOU NEED ONE OF THESE NOVELTIES IN YOUR LIFE…

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1. Teapot £30 This twist on a traditional teapot from Root7 is a great way to mix and serve a G&T for two. Designed by master mixologists, it can be used for both hot and cold drinks. Available from John Lewis in Exeter; johnlewis.com 2. Gin serving set £295 If you’re going to be a real gin connoisseur, then this set is for you. A great party piece for both indoors or al fresco gatherings, the portable, folding ash wood stand comes complete with a great selection of bar accessories. Available from Salcombe Trading Company; salcombetrading.co.uk 3. Coaster £2.50 Grin and bear it, or gin and bear it? We love a play on words, and this coaster would make a great gift for any gin enthusiast. Designed by Ustudio and available from Rise & Shine Living in South Molton; riseandshineliving.co.uk 4. G&T glass £22.50 A great gin needs a great glass to drink it from. We love this elegant Spanish-style Copa gin glass, embellished with crystals from Swarovski. It comes complete with a gift box, making it the perfect gift. Available from Dartington Crystal; dartington.co.uk 5. Gin cocktail book £10 Looking for an original cocktail party?

Look no further. Gone with the Gin by Tim Federle provides 50 delicious cocktails, coupled with a selection of movie-themed party ideas. This book is a great addition to any film or gin lover’s book shelf. Available from Darts Farm; dartsfarm.co.uk

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B A K E RY • D E L I • C AT E R I N G E X M I N S T E R , D E VO N

W W W. T H E G I N G E R C AT D E L I . C O . U K T H E _ G I N G E R _ C AT _ D E L I

T H EG I N G E RC AT D E L I

MA INs

TOP CULINARY CAUSES, INSIDER KNOWLEDGE AND FOOD PIONEERs HIGHLIGHTS

CITY LIGHTS

WINING AND DINING IN EXETER PAGE 44

GIN GUIDE

OUR PICK OF DEVON GINS AND HOW TO DRINK 'EM PAGE 49

GRILLED

MERLIN LABRON-JOHNSON TALKS FARM-TO-FORK DINING PAGE 53

Rendezvous Wine Bar in Exeter may be known for its vino, but the food is on point too

INCLUDING!

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MAT T AU S T I N

SUPERB SUNDAY LUNCHES

The exe FaCTOR

M AT T AUS T I N TON Y CO B L E Y

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EXETER MAY APPEAR TO BE A CITY WHERE RESTAURANT CHAINS REIGN SUPREME, BUT PEEK A LITTLE CLOSER AND THERE’S A THRIVING INDEPENDENT SCENE TOO, AS MELISSA STEWART DISCOVERS

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s a North Devon dweller, the main reason I head into the metropolis that is Exeter is generally to hit the shops.

Unfortunately, like many city centres, when it comes to having a decent meal – or even a quick snack – you’re faced with a load of mediocre high street restaurant chains doling out bland burgers, soggy chips and flat Pepsi. Dig beneath the surface, though, and you’ll find some truly great hidden gems.

For the purposes of this guide, we’ve stuck fairly close to Exeter city centre, just because there’s so much going on. There are some amazing places further afield – in nearby Topsham, for example – but we reckon they deserve their own guide to do them proper justice. Here we’ve listed some of Crumbs’ fave Exeter establishments, but for more inspo we urge you to check out the recently-launched Exeter Food and Drink Trail (visitexeter.com), a self-guided food trail across the city.

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CAFÉ CULTURE

LUNCH BREAK

If we’re in the city centre we often find ourselves falling into Pho because we’re obsessed with their prawn summer rolls with peanut sauce. Yup, there may be 27 of them scattered across the country, but Pho has nailed those authentic fresh Asian flavours and feels decidedly anti-chain. We also adore Red Panda on Gandy Street, which does mean south east Asian street food, like pork belly bao buns with slaw, plus a heap of delish vegan options. Meat eaters, meanwhile, can get their lunchtime fix at Magdalen Road’s Meat 59. Using locally-sourced ingredients and with great service, they do a bangin’ burger. Go for the Smoking Cow, a 6oz patty, smoked cheese, crispy onions, smokey mayo, gem lettuce and bourbon glaze.

We also like a trip to South St Standard.

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Stumble off the train at Exeter Central and your first stop has to be the legendary Exploding Bakery. Known across Devon for its delicious homemade cakes, which they wholesale across the county and beyond, they also make a mean coffee using beans from local roasters Crankhouse, amongst others. If it’s too early for sweet stuff, the toastie is a belter. Made with sourdough bread, Quicke’s buttery Cheddar and house kimchi, it’s a firework of flavours –salty, sweet and sour, and spicy too. On the High Street, steer clear of Costa and head to Artigiano – an espresso bar by day and wine bar by night. It’s got a funky, urban vibe, and is a great place to nip into for a juice, smoothie or espresso martini after a busy day’s shopping.

To immerse yourself in the heart of the city, head to Tea on the Green, a café overlooking Exeter’s historic Cathedral Green. They do a cracking breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea, but we like to head there mid-morning for poached eggs and a spot of people watching. Outside the city centre, head to The Daisy Café in Heavitree. Winner of Exeter Living magazine’s best café award, they do a stonking full English, best enjoyed in the hidden walled garden out back. Also, check out Magdalen Road’s Uprising, which does a great range of vegan and gluten-free cakes and great coffee. We love their toasted banana bread with espresso yoghurt, and date and ginger syrup. Finally, we’re a little in love with the recentlyopened Sacred Grounds in McCoys Arcade. As well as being very cool place to chill, everything on the menu is plant based. Enjoy a cappuccino, with oatmilk and Roastworks beans, and a plate of waffles.

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featuring Lyme Bay Lugger Rum, Aluna Coconut Rum and Otter Valley ice cream. If wine is your bag, then you must pay a visit to Rendezvous. Nestled in the basement of a listed building in Southernhay, it has a cosy, romantic ambience – perfect for a date. There’s an extensive wine list with wines from around the world, many available by the glass, and suggestions to tempt every palate.

DINNER TIME

M ATT AU STIN

Whether it’s an informal feed or something a bit posher, Exeter can satisfy most tastes and budgets.

Top of our list is a city institution, Harry’s Restaurant.

Recently refurbished, it’s a proper old-school restaurant run by the same family for over 20 years and great for a romantic date night or a family celebration. If you’re on the former, you can’t go wrong with the top-notch chateaubriand for two. Also grilling a mean steak is Circa1924 and, while you’re there, try the Porlock Bay oysters for a pure taste of decadence. Head there on a Friday, as they usually have some live jazz and blues music. If staying over, we can’t resist a wine and dine offer at Hotel du Vin, where the restaurant serves up all the French classics. Or, we head to the boutique Southernhay House, where you can enjoy pub faves like fish pie and steak and chips by the fire in the Club Room. If you’re a veggie or a vegan then you must head to Herbies, a gem of a place that’s been an Exeter staple for almost 30 years. Go with pals and feast on the Herbies Larder Platter, piled high with falafel, roast veggies, feta and vine leaves. Vegans will also enjoy The Flat, an Italian that does a mean vegan cheese and gluten-free pizza. If tapas is your thang, Calvo Loco on Magdalen Road offers an authentic taste of Andalusia.

Go wild for their cured meats and cheeses. We’re also hearing encouraging things about Forn. Under new management, they serve up Mediterranean small plates and have a super lively atmosphere.

This urban hangout near Exeter Cathedral has an edgy industrial interior, great beer and the Mac P.I.G – mac and cheese in a bun, topped with pulled pork and a fried egg – is the business.

A DRINK OR TWO

Being a student city, Exeter is awash with great places to have a pint or a cocktail. For a traditional pub with an excellent atmosphere, we like The Old Firehouse, which hosts regular live music and does a mean pint of cider, and The Hourglass, which does great local beers from brewers like Exeter Brewery and Exe Valley. Post-shopping, we can’t resist nipping into the opulently-decorated Lloyd’s Lounge in the city centre. Unwind with a cocktail, like the Sicilian Brunchini – Salcombe Gin, Triple Sec, lemon juice and blood orange marmalade. Speaking of gin, if it’s your fave tipple you need to head to Crocketts – a classy gin emporium with over 100 types to choose from. For cocktails, we dig The Oddfellows – a quirky gastropub that does great food and has a speakeasystyle cocktail lounge upstairs serving up modern twists on classic cocktails. Then, head to Doctor Ink’s Curiosities, a Victorian-inspired cocktail bar where their latest cocktail menu, Pride & Produce, is inspired by great poems. Try The Sphinx, a creamy concoction

Quick! Now add this lot to your contact book… explodingbakery.com artigiano.uk.com teaonthegreen.com facebook.com/TheDaisyCafeHeavitree uprising.space sacredgrounds.co phocafe.co.uk facebook.com/pages/Red-Panda-Exeter meat59.com southststandard.co.uk oldfirehouseexeter.co.uk hourglassexeter.co.uk

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lloydslounge.co.uk crockettsbar.co.uk theoddfellowsbar.co.uk doctorinks.com harrysrestaurants.co.uk circa1924.co.uk hotelduvin.com southernhayhouse.com facebook.com/HerbiesVegetarian theflatexeter.co.uk calvoloco.co.uk fornexeter.co.uk

SUNDAY ROAST

James and Charlie are delighted to launch their new menu, featuring a mix of pub classics and fantastic new specials. Come and give it a try!

SUNDAY ROAST SERVED 12–3PM | ALL YEAR ROUND COCKTAIL CLUB 2 FOR £10 ALL DAY SUNDAY & 5-7PM WEEKDAYS 30 HIGH STREET | TOTNES | TQ9 5RY | 01803 864682

Clyst Hydon, Cullompton, Devon, EX15 2NT Tel: 01884 277288 | www.fivebells.uk.com

WWW.RUMOURTOTNES.COM | INFO@RUMOURTOTNES @RUMOURTOTNES

Just 10 mins from the M5 at Junction 28 (Cullompton) & 20 mins from Exeter.

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WO R DS BY J E S S I C A C A R T E R A N D M E L I S S A S T E WA R T

ritain does lots of things well. Inventing sports that everyone else can do better than us.

Moaning about the weather. Apologising to inanimate objects. And making gin. We make some belting gin.

The rest of the world, it seems, agrees that we knock out pretty great versions of the juniperheavy spirit too – and we have the stats to prove it. The Wine and Spirit Trade Association recently revealed that our gin exports totalled £279 million in the first half of this year alone (up 19%), meaning it’s doubled over the last decade. Domestic sales of UK gin rose 28% in volume last financial year an’ all, meaning that we clearly love our native Mother’s Ruin as much as the next country. (But that’s hardly news to us, right?)

You could call it The Gin Craze Part II – only with less detriment to our collective morality and a far lighter burden on society than was reported during the first round back in the early 18th century. And, we don’t mean to be smug or anything, but we’re drinking way better gin than they glugged back then.

THE ULTIMATE SERVE

Sling some gin in a glass with a bit of tonic and sure, you’ve got yourself a G&T. But – we’ll stick our necks out here – it’s not going to be the best G&T you’ve ever had. If you’ve gone to all that trouble to find a great local gin, and pair it with a tonic that’s a better match than Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, then treat them with some gosh darn respect, won’t you? To that end, we spoke to drinks expert and author of Aperitif, Kate Hawkings, to find out how she likes hers served. Here’s what the pro had to say on the matter...

“I’m a traditionalist. The G&T for me is a classic cocktail (and classics are classics for good reason), so I prefer a tall, slim glass or a nice tumbler over the more modish goldfish bowls, made popular by the Spanish. Those may work for G&Ts in Spain because their measures are much more generous than ours; over here, even a 50ml double shot of gin will almost always be drowned out by too much ice and tonic. Also, the ice melts more quickly in bowls than straight-sided glasses.

“There are few things sadder than a G&T with not enough ice. The ice should make the drink come alive, keeping it cool till the very last drop without melting too much and diluting the whole thing. Large, hard cubes are what you want – the larger and more solid the ice cube, the slower it will melt – so don’t bother with those ice trays found in the top of the freezer. I tend to buy large cubes in bags from the supermarket – it’s a bit extravagant, but really does make all the difference.

“If you’re going to do something, you might as well do it properly and not mess around with small measures. For me, the perfect gin and tonic is around 50ml gin (Beefeater is my desert island gin, though I also like Berry Bros & Rudd No. 3) with a 150ml can of Schweppes tonic water, garnished with a slice of lemon. I’d far rather have one of those than two drinks made with 25ml gin.

“Garnishes should enhance the flavour of the gin, not drown it out. Lemon or lime is always good, or sometimes a strip of cucumber. Herbaceous gins can be nice with a small sprig of rosemary or thyme.”

GI N PEaKS

THE SKINNY JEANS OF THE DRINKS WORLD, GIN HAS BEEN IN FASHION FOR AS LONG AS WE CAN REMEMBER AND IT’S GOING NOWHERE ANYTIME SOON. HERE, WE SHOWCASE SOME OF DEVON’S FINEST…

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JUST THE TONIC

FERGUS FRANKS, TONIC EXPERT AT FEVER TREE, GIVES US THE INTEL ON GIN’S BEST FRIEND… In the spirit (ahem) of starting at the very beginning, what actually is tonic water? A carbonated drink infused with quinine, along with other botanicals and sugar.

And quinine is...? A compound found in the bark of the cinchona tree. It’s the key ingredient, and adds the essential bitterness in tonic water. And it has anti-malarial properties.

So it was originally a medicine? Yes, a Jesuit monk called Agostino discovered that native Indians who chewed cinchona bark when they had a fever would see it subside. So he wondered whether it could do the same with malaria, and it worked! The medicine was sent all over Europe, including London, to help attack an epidemic.

One particular use was as a daily ration of quinine for British soldiers stationed in India, who added a spoonful of sugar to ‛help the medicine go down’, along with some local spices and citrus. This was the first ever ‘Indian’ tonic water.

What are the signs are of a good-quality tonic water, then?

It should have the best naturally sourced ingredients, and the highest quality of quinine possible. Its botanicals should be well balanced to complement a specific flavour category of spirit but, importantly, its flavour should be subtle, so as not to overpower the flavour of the gin. The carbonation is extremely important too, and should be soft and refined with small bubbles, much like Champagne. This delivers the best mouthfeel and helps enhance the complex flavour of the spirit it’s paired with.

And you can get different flavoured tonics too, right? Yes – they’ve become really popular in recent years, particularly as the gin category has grown and diversified so much. So now there’ll always be a flavour profile of gin and tonic to suit any preference and taste, whether it’s a floral gin paired with an elderflower tonic, or a juniper-heavy gin with our aromatic tonic.

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Some of our tried Dartmoor Distillery Black Dog Gin, £40/70cl

● Black Dog Gin is all about making the best of Dartmoor’s native ingredients. That said, juniper berries take centre stage in terms of flavour, and get great quality support from dried orange and lemon peel. Open the bottle and fill your nose with the spirit’s scent, and you’re likely to pick out that orange flavour first. Such fruity, juicy character could easily kid us into thinking that the ABV here is far lower than its actual 46%.

The makers suggest trying this number with Fever Tree’s Mediterranean tonic water, the herby notes doing great things for the orangey edge, or the Elderflower number, for a classic match of this floral ingredient with citrus.

Available from Jaded Palates and John’s of Instow

Dartington Estate Elmhirst Gin, £35/70cl

● Made in small batches, using a custom-made Italian copper still, this dry gin takes its name from Dorothy and Leonard Elmhirst, who bought the Dartington Estate in the 1920s and turned it into a pioneering centre of creativity and education. It’s produced in a micro-distillery in the Food Shop at The Shops at Dartington, in partnership with the Devon Distillery. Customers can watch the whole gin creation process from start to finish and learn how to make their own craft gin, too.

The flavour of the signature Elmhirst Gin takes inspiration from the rolling hills of the Dartington Estate, with hints of violet and fresh rosemary complementing the unmistakeable hit of juniper. Tastes great poured over ice with Luscombe Devon Tonic.

Available from The Shops at Dartington

Wicked Wolf Exmoor Gin £35/70cl

● There are 11 botanicals at work in this North Devon-made spirit, created by husband and wife team, Pat Patel and Julie Heap.

You’ll likely notice citrusy notes first off, along with some warming suggestions of pepper. The juniper makes sure it has its voice heard too, though, keeping a firm presence in the flavour profile of

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and tested Devon favourites…

Exeter Gin, £36.50/70cl

this grown-up, classic-style gin, made in a copper alembic still in 35-litre batches.

Hibiscus and kaffir lime leaves also get in on the action here; each botanical, in fact, is infused separately, with the 11 resulting spirits being blended to give a carefully balanced and consistent result.

Serve this sip over a sprig of thyme to bring out all the flavours, along with a wedge of lime and plenty of ice.

Available from Darts Farm and Mole Valley Farmers

● Exeter Gin is a craft gin made in small batches in a traditional copper still by husband and wife team Karen and Mick Skerrat.

Inspired by Exeter’s Roman heritage, the gin is infused with botanicals favoured by the Romans, including basil, cinnamon, cardamom, tarragon and marigold. It’s warm and spicy to taste, with a lingering note of ginger to finish.

Available from Wildmoor Deli and Fine Foods of Braunton

Plymouth Gin Original, £23/70cl

Salcombe Distilling Co Salcombe Gin Start Point, £40/70cl

● This gin gets its name from the Start Point lighthouse, which was used by the 19th-century Salcombe Fruit Schooners that carried fruits and spices to shore. Those exotic botanicals also inspire the flavour of this classy gin; London dry in style, it’s zingy with citrus (fresh peels of grapefruit, lemon and lime are used), while also hinting of earthiness and warmth, courtesy of angelica root, cinnamon and coriander seed. See if you can notice the gentle floral character, too – we’ve chamomile to thank for that.

Available from The Cheese Larder in South Molton and Darts Farm

Distinctly Different Spirits Co Apple & Elderflower Gin, £44.99/70cl

Papillon Dartmoor Distillery Papillon Gin, £36/70cl

● If you like your gin on the fruity side, then this little number will be right up your street. It’s produced in South Devon using apples from the Hunt’s Cider orchard in Stoke Gabriel and elderflower sourced from Greenway House on the Dart.

The taste immediately evokes memories of English summers gone by, and has a smooth, floral finish. Rather than overpower, the apple complements the juniper notes and the elderflower leaves a lingering aftertaste. Tastes great served straight up over ice or with Fever Tree elderflower tonic and a slice of green apple.

Available from distinctlygin.com

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● The granddaddy of Devon gins, Plymouth Gin has been around since 1793 when it was first produced as the standard issue gin of the Royal Navy stationed at Plymouth port. Although now owned by drinks giants Pernod Ricard, it’s still produced in the same Plymouth distillery using a blend of seven botanicals and Dartmouth spring water.

A favourite of Winston Churchill’s, it’s earthier than other gins and on the nose it’s a bit fruity thanks to the fusion of sweet orange, lemon peel, cardamom, coriander, angelica, orris root and, of course, juniper. The taste is smooth and slightly spicy. Tastes great in a classic martini.

Available from the Plymouth Distillery and many supermarkets

● A new kid on the Devon craft gin scene, Papillon Gin is produced in a tiny distillery in the heart of Dartmoor National Park. It takes its name the pearl-bordered fritillary – an endangered Dartmoor butterfly species that feed on wild violets – with 1% of every bottle sold donated to Butterfly Conservation.

The gin aims to capture the spirit of Dartmoor and marries Devon violets, gorse, hawthorn, rowan berries and chamomile with traditional gin botanicals to create a floral gin with herbal undertones. It’s got a delicate flavour, so serve it straight-up or with a gentle tonic, so as not to overpower it.

Available from Jaded Palates, Darts Farm and Wildmoor Deli

CRUMBSMAG.COM

From the depths of the rolling Devon countryside, award winning Frandie Macaron produce premium quality, hand crafted macarons which taste simply divine.

Our macarons are larger than those from many other leading producers and are made using free range eggs, Fairtrade sugars and natural flavourings. You can order macarons online, buy direct from us at our production unit or at any of the shows we attend throughout the year.

Unit 1 Colliton Barton, Broadhembury, Devon EX14 3LJ

www.frandiemacaron.co.uk

MERLIN LABRON-JOHNSON BROUGHT UP IN DEVON, MERLIN LABRON-JOHNSON GAINED HIS FIRST MICHELIN STAR AT JUST 24. HE TALKS TO CRUMBS ABOUT HIS RAPID ASCENT TO THE TOP AND WHY HE’S NOW FOCUSING ON THE BIGGER PICTURE

WO R DS: M E L I S S A S T E WA R T

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PH OTOG RA P H BY K E I KO O I KAWA

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n his relatively short career, Merlin LabronJohnson has achieved more than many of us can dream of. Aged just 27, he’s worked with celebrated Devon chefs Simon Hulstone and Michael Caines, made waves at Kobe Desramaults’ ground-breaking In de Wulf in Belgium, and achieved his own Michelin star as executive chef at London’s Portland, before opening its sister restaurant, Clipstone. Today, he’s heading up the restaurant at London’s newest members’ club The Conduit, while at the same time devoting his own time to cooking at a centre for the homeless and contributing to the Chef’s Manifesto in support of the UN’s sustainable development goals. Not bad at all for a boy from Buckfastleigh, eh?

When we chat, he’s fresh back from a trip to Greece, where he’s been lending his cooking skills to the charity Help Refugees. Like many millennials, Merlin rejects the ‘job for life’ mentality, preferring Merlin Labron-Johnson won to mix things up. What runs through his work, his first Michelin star as head however, is a social conscience. Yes, he admits, chef at London’s Portland the professional recognition is rewarding, but he’s just as concerned with educating people about sustainable food production and driving change.

“I achieved a lot at a young age and I had to ask myself, do I want to chase more stars and accolades, “My time at In de Wulf was probably the most influential part of or do I perhaps want to do something that’s a bit more meaningful?” my career to date, as it was a completely different cooking style,” he he says. “I like to look at ways you can use food as a tool to do good. says. “Everything we used was local, within about an hour’s radius That’s something I’ve been exploring a lot recently.” of the restaurant, and it was all about the terroir of Belgium and Merlin grew up in Buckfastleigh, where he says his parents were northern France. We didn’t use lemons, for example, because they interested in food, if not particularly foodie. “We ate well at home weren’t grown in our region. We used a lot of vegetables, very little using organic veg boxes from Riverford, and I grew an appreciation meat and seafood. We used wild herbs, which we foraged for every of cooking simply with fresh ingredients,” says Merlin. “But I didn’t day. There was lots of pickling and curing. Although it was a modern get my first experience in the kitchen until I went to secondary restaurant, a lot of the things we were doing were centuries old – school, where occasionally I’d help the cook to prepare lunches and pickling, curing, preserving, aging, drying.” wash up in exchange for a school meals. I was about 15 at the time, It wasn’t long before word reached London about the talented and didn’t have any plans for my future.” young English sous chef making a name for himself. Merlin was His first job was at Ashburton Cookery School, which he says was approached by restauranteurs Will Lander and Daniel Morgenthau a, “really inspiring environment and where I became obsessed with about running the kitchen at their new restaurant, Portland. food.” He followed that with a summer at The Elephant in Torquay “They got in touch out of the blue, and I was ready to come home. It with Simon Hulstone. “It was my first real job in a regimented wasn’t really a hugely ambitious project. For me, it was about coming kitchen. I was only 16 and it was a bit of a shock.” Feeling slightly back to England and having a job in London, and seeing what it was disillusioned, he left and went to Exeter College to do an access like. I didn’t realise that the restaurant would be as successful as it was.” course in hospitality management. However, the lure of the kitchen Portland opened in 2015 and was an immediate triumph.“This was still there, and he ended up working for Michael Caines at the is all the best of modern eating, with the nonsense, pretension and Royal Clarence in Exeter. snobbery left out,” raved the late Sunday Times critic AA Gill. The “Michael was an absolute hero for me at the time,” says Merlin.

Michelin judges agreed, awarding the restaurant its first star within “His repertoire of recipes really formed the foundations of my nine months of opening. cooking. The food I do today still has a strong classical French base, “We had a great group of chefs working in the kitchen, we were where everything is meticulously prepared.” all doing our best. The day we found out we’d won the award was Young and energetic, Merlin was hungry for change, so he went to definitely a shock. We weren’t even aware that the Michelin judge Switzerland to do a ski season but ended up staying abroad for two had been to the restaurant,” reflects Merlin. and a half years. Learning to speak French, he found himself working Portland’s success was followed with the opening of Clipstone in the two Michelin-starred Albert 1er in Chamonix, before going to in 2016, with Merlin as executive chef. This sister restaurant offered In de Wulf. a more casual dining experience, a lower price point, and was again a triumph.

Merlin’s approach to food is all about maximising flavour and minimising waste. Committed to sustainability, he favours cooking with vegetables over meat, but hasn’t yet adopted a completely meat-free approach.

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PHOTO G R A PH BY E TIE NNE GIL FIL L A N

“It would be great if we could find more ways for chefs and restaurants to buy directly from farmers, instead of having to go through wholesalers. It means that the farmers are being paid directly and fairly, and it cuts out the middle man, and all the logistics and transport and excess packaging associated with using a wholesaler.

“My style of cooking is hugely inspired by the farm-to-table movement. We talk about it a lot in the UK, but I mean in the real sense of the term, where the whole menu is made using produce from a single farm, and that dictates what you cook. You have to work off the cuff sometimes, because things just turn up or you run out of a particular ingredient, but that keeps things interesting. Vegetables excite me the most, I cook them quite simply, but with a little bit of imagination and a lot of love.”

Merlin’s farm-to-fork approach is front and centre at his latest venture, running the restaurant at The Conduit, a new members’ club in London. The idea behind the club is to create a place for sociallyminded entrepreneurs to meet up, connect and drive positive change.

“The restaurant embodies all my ideas and philosophies around food and sourcing, and it’s something I’m really proud of,” he says.

He sources much of his produce for the restaurant directly from The Husbandry School near Ashburton, the founders of which are old family friends.

“We get a weekly delivery from them, so I get as much as I can and we build our menu around what they send us. I’ve worked in a

few different countries and with a lot of producers, but I’ve never met such an inspiring bunch of people and amazing produce. They don’t grow a lot, so I’m very lucky that I get to use the majority of what they do grow.”

His new restaurant may mean cooking for the world’s high fliers, but Merlin is keeping his feet firmly on the ground. He juggles his time at the restaurant with a number of side projects, including helping the UN to create a Chef’s Manifesto – a set of actions that drive progress against the food issues that matter most, and which are part of the UN’s sustainable development goals.

“It’s about working together to try and address problems in our immediate communities, and also in the wider world. It’s early days, but it’s hugely important,” he says.

As previously noted, he uses his free time to volunteer with Help Refugees, both cooking and teaching those seeking asylum how to cook themselves, so that they have employable skills. He also volunteers regularly with Refettorio Felix, cooking for the homeless using produce rejected by supermarkets and wholesalers.

While many chefs devote themselves to good causes outside of their kitchens, what strikes us about Merlin is that these causes seem just as important to him as the day job. “I’ve opened three restaurants in three years, so it’s been hard to find the time, but now I can take a bit of a step back from the day-to-day restaurant and focus on giving something back.”

On a rare day off, Merlin returns to Devon to see his family. He says the county’s landscape and coastline will forever inspire his passion for cooking, but that he’s not quite ready to open a restaurant here yet. “I’m looking to launch my own place next year. My dream is to have a restaurant outside of London but, to be honest, it probably won’t be in Devon, just because it’s a little too far away from London.”

When he is home he likes to head to Rumour in Totnes – “I used to work there, and never get bored of it” – as well as visit friends at The Old Library in Ashburton. Next on his list is a visit to The Leaping Salmon on the edge of Dartmoor. “My brother is cooking there, and I’d really love to go,” he says.

Super-busy he may be, but he’s also blazing something of a trail, rejecting the traditional chef model of working morning, noon and night and ending up with burnout.

“At my new restaurant we don’t let our chefs do a double shift, which is the norm in the restaurant industry, unfortunately. Part of the problem is that restaurants are built on a bad model, where people are being overworked and sometimes exploited. If that was to really change, people would have to be prepared to pay more for their food, which would allow restaurants to have bigger teams that could cope with the demands of the trade.”

In a struggling industry, Merlin Labron-Johnson is a breath of fresh air. He’s aware of the challenges facing the restaurant trade but he’s facing them head on and, in doing so, inspiring a new generation of British chefs. theconduit.com

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We are an independent, friendly coffee and cake rooms passionate about quality local and fresh ingredients.

Full menu available with breakfasts, snacks and lunches Vegan menu, cakes and scones • Gluten free menu, cakes and scones • Cream teas and high teas Custom-made celebration, birthday and novelty cakes Regular vegan and gluten free workshops Dog friendly • Child friendly 2 Bank Street, Teignmouth, TQ14 8AL www.perryliciouscoffeeandcakerooms.co.uk

A village pub celebrating food and drink

Tel: 01409 231888 info@blackriverinn.co.uk www.blackriverinn.co.uk Broad Street, Black Torrington, Devon, EX21 5PT

Go traditional with a proper Sunday lunch at the Five Bells Inn or The Salutation Inn (bottom)

a TOaST TO ThE ROaST

THERE ARE HEAPS OF PUBS ACROSS DEVON THAT KNOCK OUT FIRST-RATE SUNDAY LUNCHES WEEK AFTER WEEK. TO TRY AND LIST THEM ALL WOULD BE MADNESS, NOT TO MENTION FILL A WHOLE MAG, SO WE’VE PICKED JUST A FEW THAT WE FEEL ARE DOING THINGS EXCEPTIONALLY WELL AND, IN MANY CASES, A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENTLY… THE ONE FOR SPECIAL OCCASIONS

THE SALUTATION INN (Topsham) To stand outside The Salutation Inn you’d think it was just another old-school hotel. Step inside, however, and it’s a different story. The building has an unexpected grandeur and a contemporary feel. Nowhere more so than in GlassHouse, which floods with natural light and is ideal for a leisurely meal.

It’s known for its exceptional food too, and the Sunday lunch does not disappoint. This is the type of place you’d take your parents for a special birthday or your other half for an anniversary – it’s proper fine dining, albeit in a relaxed, airy setting.

Heading up the kitchen is Tom WilliamsHawkes, who comes with proper pedigree having worked for Michael Caines, Gordon Ramsey and Marcus Waring in his time. The menu changes weekly, but sample Sunday lunch dishes include: goats’ cheese mousse,

pickled beetroot and candied walnuts, or confit Somerset trout, lentils and mushroom to start; followed by sea bream, fennel, samphire and lobster bisque, or the more traditional Greendale Farm beef top rump with all the trimmings for main. And if you didn’t think that was posh enough, you have the option of adding foie gras to your main course for an extra £6.50. See, told you it was special. l Starters average at £8, with mains at £17 (minus the fois gras!); salutationtopsham.co.uk

THE ONE FOR VEG LOVERS

RIVERFORD FIELD KITCHEN (Buckfastleigh) With more and more people going meat-free, we reckon it’s about time more pubs and restaurants upped their veggie and vegan Sunday lunch game. Time and again, we see the same old leek and cheese gratin or nut roast almost apologetically tagged onto the end of the menu. Sad, really, given how

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Sunday service (clockwise from left): Riverford Field Kitchen, The Seahorse, and The Swan

many amazing creations can be made from the humblest of veg. All hail the Riverford Field Kitchen crew then, who very much put veg front and centre of their Sunday lunches.

Everything is grown on-site at Riverford, so the menu is always seasonal. Winter Sunday lunch dishes might include roasted sprouts with pickled chillies and a soy, seaweed and garlic dressing, or roasted squash and chargrilled radicchio.

“We’ve had a bit of a romance with radicchio,” says Ali Anstee, marketing manager at Riverford’s restaurants. “Its strong, bitter flavour isn’t for everyone, but once you’ve acquired the taste, it’s perfect for when evenings are chilly and thoughts turn to cooking warming, nourishing dishes. It’s packed with nutrients, too.”

One thing that’s always a staple at Sunday lunchtimes is roast potatoes, and there is usually one meat or fish dish to keep omnivores happy, plus a handful of dreamy homemade desserts of which you can try a little of whatever takes your fancy.

Note: they don’t always offer a vegan option on the set menu as standard, but if you let them know you’re vegan when you book, they’ll happily rustle you up something separately for main and pudding. l Set lunch menu is £23.50 per person, excluding tea and coffee; fieldkitchen.riverford.co.uk

THE THATCHED ONE

THE FIVE BELLS INN (Clyst Hydon) Devon’s got a lot of gorgeous old pubs with thatched roofs. We’ve frequented a fair few in our time, but our current fave for Sunday lunch is The Five Bells Inn in the teeny, tiny village of Clyst Hydon, near Exeter. In the summer we love to dine alfresco in their beautiful garden, but in winter you’ll find us cosily housed indoors, usually with a glass of red in hand.

Befitting a traditional country pub, the team here serve up a classic Sunday roast, using locally-sourced meat from Darts Farm or MC Kelly in Crediton. They also always do a veggie option and a vegan option, plus at least two fish dishes. Proper attention is paid to the trimmings, too.

“There’s attention to detail in every element of the plate, not just the protein,” explains co-owner James Garnham. “We use duck fat for the roasties, four types of cheese in the cauliflower cheese, and balsamic in the braised cabbage – all the ingredients combine to give a great meal.” l Two courses for £22, or three for £27.50; fivebells.uk.com

THE MEDITERRANEAN ONE

THE SEAHORSE (Dartmouth) If you’re looking for something a bit different and want to pretend you’re holidaying in the Med rather than in wintery Devon, then The Seahorse best be on your radar. Mitch Tonks and Mat Prowse’s award-winning Italian-inspired seafood restaurant has prime position on Dartmouth’s harbour, and, refreshingly, there’s not a soggy Yorkshire or overcooked roastie in sight.

The menu is very much focused on Devon’s bountiful catch, with dishes like Atlantic octopus with verdina beans and sobrasada, and hake with braised cavolo nero and tomatoes.

Meat eaters, meanwhile, can enjoy beef rib roasted over charcoal. The emphasis in here is as much on atmosphere as it is on the food, and diners are encouraged to take their time and make an afternoon of it – much like our friends in Italy do.

“We like to think of our Sunday lunch as a long, lazy experience – enjoying food, taking time, chatting. Very Mediterranean style,” says Laura Cowan, head of comms here. l Set menu lunch is £35 per head; seahorserestaurant.co.uk

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All the trimmings (clockwise from left): ODE&Co, The Jack in the Green Inn, and The Leaping Salmon

THE VILLAGERSʼ CHOICE

THE SWAN (Bampton) Ever since landlords Donna and Paul Berry took over this quaint village pub in the quiet village of Bampton back in 2011, it’s built up quite the foodie following. But, even though it attracts visitors from far and wide to try its award-winning fodder, it is at heart a proper village pub. Head there on a Sunday and you’re just as likely to see a group of locals propping up the bar with a pint and a newspaper as there are families tucking into a hearty lunch.

As you’d expect, they knock out a proper good Sunday roast, with most of the meat and veg sourced within 10 miles of the pub.

Homemade Yorkies, crisp on the outside and fluffy in the middle, are topped with extra gravy. Plus, my favourite bit is the jug of extra cheese sauce you get to slather over your veggies. Amazeballs.

If a roast isn’t for you, they also knock out some lovely fish and seafood dishes, like Newlyn plaice served with crushed new greens, crab bisque and mussels. Plus, they have veggie and vegan options on the specials board. Gluten-free roasts are also available on request. l Roasts average at £12; theswan.co

THE WOOD-FIRED ONE

ODE&CO (Shaldon) Situated within the grounds of Coast View Holiday Park in Shaldon, with stunning views out onto Lyme Bay, ODE&Co perhaps isn’t the most obvious place to rock up for Sunday lunch, but boy is it worth a visit. It’s owned by Tim and Clare Bouget, founders of ODE true food – a pioneering sustainable dining concept. They also own café-ODE down the road and ODE dining, which until this year was a restaurant but is now the banner under which they run regular pop-up events. ODE&Co operates mainly as a pizza

L U N C H E S

restaurant catering for tourists during the busy summer months, but the food is so good that the locals are hooked. Open for limited hours during autumn/winter, they do Sunday lunches between 12pm and 3pm.

Their Firewall Roasts are legendary affairs.

The meat is cooked in a wood-fired oven using the traditional technique of bricking up half the oven to block the naked flame from burning the meat, allowing the smoke to infuse it, giving it a wonderful oak-smoked aroma and taste. It’s served up on platters, sharing-style.

“We use Riverford organic veg and meat from Pipers Farm and Higher Hacknell Organic Farm,” explains Tim. “We also cater for vegetarians with an amazing nut roast and veggie gravy. We serve our roasts with a variety of veg, like red cabbage, roasted squash and cauliflower with smoked cheese.” l Meat roasts are £14.95 and nut roasts £12.95; odetruefood.com

THE OLD FAVOURITE

THE JACK IN THE GREEN INN (Rockbeare) This gem of a place just outside Exeter has recently celebrated its 26th birthday and consistently delivers on food and service. It says a lot that head chef Matt Mason has been there for 22 of those years, ensuring the food is always first-rate and making the most of Devon’s seasonal larder.

“Creedy Carver’s superb duck breasts have been a menu staple since we opened,” says Matt. “Also boned and rolled local pork belly, delivered to us by Steve at Country Farm Butchers in Ottery. We’ve been cooking local, seasonal produce since day one.”

As befits Matt’s creative culinary style, the Sunday lunch menu is traditional with a twist, built on dishes like Pipers Farm chicken breast with savoury bread and butter pudding. If you’re going for a starter, we recommend the black pudding Scotch egg with English mustard – it doesn’t get more British, and is bloomin’ delish. There are also decent veggie options too, like the recent butternut squash tart thin with Quicke’s hard goats’ cheese, sage crisps and toasted nuts and seeds. l Two courses for £23.50, or three for £28.50; jackinthegreen.uk.com

THE NEWBIE

THE LEAPING SALMON (Horrabridge) When we interviewed Oli and Tom from Exploding Bakery earlier this year about up and coming places to dine out in Devon, they earmarked The Leaping Salmon as one to watch. How right they were. This recentlyreopened pub in Horrabridge, near Tavistock, doubles up as a café and a pub, with a separate dining room upstairs and three guest bedrooms. It’s run by two 20-something school mates, Fred Andrews and Max

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Phillips, and the simple but tasty menu is drawing customers from across the county.

“The Sunday menu is different to our weekly offering, and we try to make it a bit more exciting than a run of the mill roast,” explains Fred. “That said, we’re a rural pub in Devon, so always cook two roast-style dishes, but there are fish and veggie options too.”

Sample mains include roast pork belly, apple sauce and trimmings; grilled mackerel, potato cakes, salad and horseradish; and braised fennel and potatoes with black olives, chard and goats curd. l Two courses cost £19, or three for £22; theleapingsalmon.co.uk

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info@thejubileeinn.co.uk www.thejubileeinn.co.uk Voted No. 6 in The Sunday Times Britain’s 50 Best Value Hotels (2017), the Elliott Family welcome you to our beautifully refurbished private home, to stay and dine with us in country comfort near glorious Exmoor. Providing a more bespoke food experience we locally source produce to create seasonal dishes and secret menus for families or fine diners by pre-order at good, honest prices.

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Telephone bookings are essential as we do not offer food service every day, unless pre-ordered. All bookings for Christmas and groups to be made 7 days in advance.

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AFTERS NEW RESTAURANTS DEVOURED, NEW CAFÉS FREQUENTED, NEW BARS CRAWLED, AND WHAT WE THOUGHT OF THEM

HIGHLIGHTS

FLYING HIGH WITH A VISIT TO THE ANGEL

The Angel in Dartmouth was owned for a time by John BurtonRace and his wife; known as The New Angel, it won a Michelin star

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QUEEN FOR A DAY A TASTE OF THE HIGH LIFE AT BOVEY CASTLE PAGE 64

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(FINE DINING)

THE ANGEL THIS ICONIC LOCATION ON DARTMOUTH SEAFRONT HAS BEEN GIVEN NEW WINGS THANKS TO THE INTRODUCTION OF A FRESH HEAD CHEF, AS MELISSA STEWART DISCOVERS

F

ollowing in the footsteps of a pioneer of the UK restaurant scene is never going to be an easy task, but it’s one that young Devon-born chef (and MasterChef: The Professionals runnerup) Elly Wentworth is embracing with gusto at The Angel in Dartmouth. Formerly known as The Carved Angel, the restaurant made its name back in 1974 with Joyce Molyneux at the helm. Soon regarded as one of the best restaurants in the country, Joyce was amongst the first women to win a Michelin star. It’s an accolade that Elly clearly has in her sights too, having spent the last three years working with Hywel Jones at Lucknam Park.

We visit The Angel just ahead of October’s Dartmouth Food Festival, where Elly is set to host her first solo chef demo, as well as cook lunch for the festival’s patron – yup, Joyce Molyneux. Situated on Dartmouth’s stunning seafront, The Angel has an impressive black and white Tudor frontage, and inside there’s a classic vibe with wooden tables, brown leather banquettes, mirrored walls and some classic American Songbook tunes emanating from the stereo. The only thing lacking is a bit of intimacy and cosiness, owing to the bright overhead lighting.

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The evening menu offers five mains, five starters and five desserts. Starters average at £9, mains between £20-£25, and desserts £8. As you’d expect, the focus is on championing Devon produce, using native breeds like Ruby Red beef and Greyface Dartmoor lamb, as well as fish fresh from the coast. Elly’s aim is to launch a tasting menu in the coming months for those who are after the full fine dining experience.

I start with quail two ways, with caramelised shallot and grape purée, goat’s cheese and golden sultana. The tender quail meat has a rich depth of flavour and is perfectly balanced with the sweet, fruity purée. A meaty croquette rounds off the dish, and makes for a filling starter. Across the table, an elegantly displayed dish of Loch Duart salmon with squid ink mussels, fennel, smoked taramasalata and citrus is effortlessly devoured, the citrus proving a worthy counterpoint to the intense flavour of the salmon.

For main, I’m recommended the turbot served with a lobster and lemon verbena veloute and sea vegetables.

I’m partial to a meaty piece of fish, and this fillet doesn’t disappoint.

Although mild in flavour, it’s brought to life by the velvety sauce and salty sea purslane. The showstopper, however, is a handmade parcel of lobster tortellini topped with Exmoor Caviar. Divine. My dining pal opts for the Dartmoor lamb with smoked apricot jam. As someone more at home with steak and chips, he’s bowled over by the perfectly tender cuts of lamb served with mash potato, spring onion, kale, lamb jus and that classic pairing of apricot to give it a sweet edge.

Two courses down and we’re seriously impressed but, for me, it’s the dessert that takes this experience to the next level. I opt for a plum soufflé that’s unlike anything I’ve had before. It’s sharp yet also sweet and fluffy like a cloud, and comes with a dollop of Greek yoghurt to freshen it up. It’s not too heavy on the stomach, but tastes warming and autumnal.

My partner goes for the exotically named yuzu cream. Yuzu is a Japanese citrus fruit and comes with a burnt coconut meringue, mandarin and coconut vanilla sorbet. It’s a plate of contrasting tastes and textures, and a pleasing palate cleanser after the rich lamb main.

A special mention goes out to the young front-of-house team who were smiley, chatty and kept on their toes with plenty of unbooked guests popping in. Kudos, too, to Elly’s young kitchen brigade, who really are stepping up to the plate (dodgy pun intended). Yes, there are a few little niggles – the lighting being the main one – but it would be unfair to be overly critical. I’m sure as more customers visit, the restaurant, like the menu, will evolve. What’s nice is to have a top chef once again in this iconic Devon location, and a female one at that.

We’re sure she’ll do Joyce proud. theangeldartmouth.co.uk

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[GRAND HOTELS]

BOVEY CASTLE A FAIRY TALE VENUE IN THE HEART OF DARTMOOR, BUT WOULD THE MENU BE JUST AS MAGICAL? LAUREN HEATH FINDS OUT

S

ituated in the north of Dartmoor, Bovey Castle is one impressive building – on the outside, at least.

But would a large, 60-bedroom castle be cosy, comfortable and warm, I wondered, or would it be old, cold and slightly ragged around the edges? After all, these beautiful estates need feeding with funds constantly and, with so many corners and crevices, need near constant attention.

I need not have worried. The inside was far from cold: think ornate coving, grand windows framed with drapes, dark wood panelling accented by ambient lighting, and cosy log fires with embracing sofas to curl up in.

Booked in for an overnight stay and dinner, a little afternoon R&R in the hotel’s leisure facilities meant our tummies were ready for the Great Western Restaurant. Named as a nod to one of

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Bovey Castle’s previous custodians, the Great Western Railway, the restaurant is a 3 AA rosette award winner and describes its offering as “exclusive dining”. Exclusive it may be, but it’s also extremely accessible. The classy art deco space has a special but comfortable feel, open to all, residents or non-residents. There are shapes a plenty, with archways, columns, bevelled mirrors, chandeliers and oval chairs. It retains its period charm but is modern at the same time, with a good dose of attentive yet discreet service.

Although a two or three-course a la carte was on offer, by the time we had been delighted with canapes, amuse bouche, breads with seaweed butter, and a pre-dessert palate cleanser (yes, you read that right, a dessert before dessert!), we were on our way to being thoroughly satiated.

Brixham crab and poached Cornish lobster with green apple, avocado, vanilla, buttermilk crunch was ordered to start. The tender shellfish was married with refreshing accompaniments, while the creamy vanilla and purple potato crisps played games with our taste buds thanks to their sweet and smooth then salty and crunchy characteristics.

Recommended by the waitress due to its seasonality, roast loin of Bovey Estate venison, caramelised shallot, chutney sauce and red leaves was my main, with roast fillets of John Dory, roasted ruby artichokes, truffle, white bean broth and hazelnut pesto for the other side of the table. My meat from the estate was tender, with a rich glossy sauce and oozed colours of autumn. I stole a bit of my son’s kale, which I rather enjoyed as an unplanned addition to my plate for both colour and the iron it provided to counteract the overall richness and sweetness of the venison. The fish was delicate, with expertly cooked sides and a generous dose of truffle emitting from the smooth broth.

As the cheese trolley rolled in, and hubby felt like a kid in a sweet shop, I was delighted with a beautifully-plated dessert of black fig baked alaska. Finely sliced black figs were the base to a wonderfullypiped squidgy meringue, which was dressed with delicate hints of lavender and sweet honey.

After an excellent night’s sleep, we timed the delicious breakfast offering to a tee, so we could enjoy the complimentary morning activities of collecting freshly-laid eggs from the hens, meeting and cuddling the resident ferrets, and watching a falconry display.

So, it seems I needn’t have worried at all – Bovey Castle has it sussed. This fortified historical building is clearly well looked after, offering a luxurious retreat, and its staff live and breathe hospitality; in fact, you’ll feel so welcomed into their country house hotel bosom, you won’t want to leave. boveycastle.com

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BEST BREKKIE? Valley View Café in Loddiswell. A serious quality, locally sourced, home-cooked breakfast combined with a stunning view across the Avon Valley.

BEST BREW? Salcombe Brewery’s Pale Ale; dry hopped, refreshing and full bodied. Perfect after a day on the water.

TOP GROCERS? Darts Farm is an Aladdin’s cave where you can purchase the best of West Country food and drink in one place.

BEST WINE MERCHANT? Charles Steevenson Wines, a business in tune with their customers’ needs. The South West Wine School are working closely with his son, Liam Steevenson, owner of Vineyard Productions.

SUNDAY LUNCH? The Journeys End Inn, Ringmore. Perfect after an appetite-building walk to secluded Ayrmer Cove.

L I T T L E

B L A C K

POSH NOSH? Lympstone Manor – a Georgian mansion in a majestic setting, with incredible food and, from a wine perspective, the intrigue of Michael Caines’ ambitions to make fine sparkling wine from the 17,500 vines planted there this year.

B O O K

JONAThAN REYNOLDS

AL FRESCO FEASTING? The Schoolhouse. A swim at Mothecombe beach followed by a delicious seafood under a rustic tented awning warmed by fire pits.

HIDDEN GEM? Wild Artichokes in Kingsbridge. Jane Baxter’s cooking, particularly with vegetables, is wondrous.

CO-FOUNDER OF THE SOUTH WEST WINE SCHOOL, JONATHAN REYNOLDS, REVEALS HIS FAVOURITE FOODIE HOTSPOTS…

ONE TO WATCH? Twenty Seven by Jamie Rogers in Kingsbridge. Top notch food in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere from a MasterChef semi-finalist. My tip for some awards in the future.

WITH FRIENDS? Beachhouse, South Milton. Whether a winter gale is rattling the windows or it’s a glorious summer day, this is a great place to gather and eat seafood and grilled fish with friends.

WITH THE FAMILY? The Crab Shell. We enjoy amazing pizzas after paddle boarding from the quay outside. Relaxed, stylish, buzzy and hospitable.

Quick! Now add this little lot to your contacts book...

Valley View Café, Loddiswell TQ7 4DA; aunevalleymeat.co.uk/valley-view-cafe/ Salcombe Brewery, Kingsbridge TQ7 4BL; salcombebrewery.com Darts Farm, Clyst St George EX3 0QH; dartsfarm.co.uk Charles Steevenson Wines, Tavistock PL19 9QN; steevensonwines.co.uk The Journeys End Inn, Ringmore TQ7 4HL; thejourneysendinn.co.uk Lympstone Manor, Exmouth EX8 3NZ; lympstonemanor.co.uk The Schoolhouse, Mothecombe PL8 1LB; schoolhouse-devon.com Wild Artichokes, Kingsbridge TQ7 1EF; wildartichokes.co.uk Twenty Seven, Kingsbridge TQ7 1ED; jamierogerschef.com Beachhouse, South Milton TQ7 3JY; beachhousedevon.com The Crab Shell, Kingsbridge TQ7 1JZ; thecrabshellinn.com The Venus Café, Dartmouth TQ6 0QR; lovingthebeach.co.uk The Seahorse Restaurant, Dartmouth TQ6 9BH; seahorserestaurant.co.uk Salcombe Dairy, Salcombe TQ8 8DP; salcombedairy.co.uk Otter Valley Dairy, Monkton EX14 9QN; ottervalleydairy.co.uk

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CHILD FRIENDLY? The Venus Café in Blackpool Sands is consistently great. Good quality food after exhausting the children on possibly one of the most beautiful beaches anywhere.

BEST ATMOSPHERE? The Seahorse Restaurant, Dartmouth.

When this place is buzzing the atmosphere is unmissable, especially when the hugely knowledgeable and entertaining livewire sommelier, Tim McLaughlin Green, is in residence.

SOMETHING SWEET? Salcombe Dairy’s ‘The Bar’ chocolate.

I have a weakness for chocolate and Salcombe Dairy’s bean-tobar Peruvian offerings more than hit the spot, particularly their white chocolate vanilla.

TOP STREET FOOD? Otter Valley Dairy, Monkton. If you’re Devon inbound or outbound on the A30, their ice cream should not be missed. Or, seek them out at pop-up shows and markets. southwestwineschool.co.uk

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