11 minute read
Local People
Putting bread on the table
Advertisement
Earlier this year some rather tempting baking smells starting emanating from the café connected to The Leaping Salmon in Horrabridge. Local residents knew the pub was closed during lockdown, so it was quite intriguing!
In March all was revealed when Quernstone Bakery started trading from the former café, selling artisan sourdough and rye bread, along with empanadas and a delicious, eclectic range of Spanish, Scandinavian and British cakes, buns and biscuits.
FAMILY-RUN BUSINESS • OVER 60 YEARS EXPERIENCE
Find your dream park home in the picturesque countryside of Devon.
From completely bespoke builds to fully-sited, ready to move into homes, our team are here to help make your dream home a reality in Devon.
Glenholt Park Honicombe Park New Park
Established and sought after location north of Plymouth city centre.
• • • Flanked by woodlands. Pleasant walks. Close by Park & Ride offers easy travel links. Set in the Tamar Valley, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
• • • Nearby shopping facilities. Pets considered. St. Ann’s Chapel has a post office and store. Woodland surroundings with views of the rolling hills of Dartmoor.
• • • Good shopping facilities. Plenty to explore. Dartmoor is only a 10 minute drive away.
Book a contactless park viewing or a design appointment today. Call us on 01935 862079 or visit berkeleyparks.co.uk
Egoitz Fernández has been perfecting his skills as a baker for 11 years, and is delighted with this opportunity to run his own business. 2020 didn’t start well - he was made redundant in January, just as the country entered its third lockdown of the pandemic – and only 18 months after he had arrived in the UK from Spain. Fortunately, he has a good network of friends and when Fred Andrews of The Leaping Salmon heard about his predicament, he offered Egoitz the unused café premises. Egoitz grew up in the Basque Country in the north of Spain and at 18 he already had an interest in baking bread, but without any official baking courses or artisan baking apprenticeships in the area, he took work in forestry management. His grandmother had always made her own bread though, and she taught him the basics. But when it came to quantities, she told him there was no such thing – he just needed to feel when the dough was right. He joined a Spanish bread forum and after various recommendations he managed to source the sort of flour he was looking for and start baking. A couple of years later the forum alerted him to a government funded scheme encouraging under-25s to become craftsmen, which included a pop-up bakery in a series of shipping containers in San Sebastian, called ‘The Loaf’. Egoitz successfully applied for a place and spent three months working with baking mentors, and networking with the multitude of bakers who flocked to visit the venture from all over Spain and further afield.
Most bread was mass-produced locally, so after the placement, Egoitz went to work in Cantabria at a small artisan bakery, where he worked hard for the next year. However the lack of social life was tedious for a 21-year-old, so when he was approached to work in a new bakery in San Sebastian, with its backdrop of sea and mountains, along with a much younger vibe, he leapt at the chance. For the next five years, he mixed with talented chefs who came to learn how to bake bread, while aspiring to meet the requests of Michelin-starred restaurants who sought out the bakery’s breads but continually pushed for more. One of his chef friends went on to spend some time in Denmark and returned with a loaf of bread from Copenhagen’s Mirabelle Bakery, famous for its bread, croissants and organic baked goods. He told Egoitz he should spend some time at the bakery - so after managing to secure a month’s apprenticeship, he went to learn how to work with a very different bread made with rye and formed into massive loaves that required little handling. Following this exciting experience, he ended up taking work at an industrial scale bread factory in Valencia, which he disliked intensely and abandoned nine months later, questioning what he wanted from baking. Hearing Egoitz was unemployed, the same chef friend, suggested he join him in England where there was a vacancy for a baker in Chagford. Egoitz talked to the bakery owners and the terms sounded perfect – a flexible working environment, a lovely setting, and the chance to make bread by hand exactly as he wanted. He settled in North Bovey and thoroughly enjoyed the role, until the pandemic took hold, and he and his partner Esme set up Quernstone Bakery in Horrabridge.
Most flour for large-scale bread production comes from China or Canada because it is easy to work with and produces consistent results. Egoitz is determined to only use flour which is grown and milled in the UK - currently from Gilchester Organics. One batch of his dough is never exactly the same as another, which is where his skill as an artisan baker is so important. He purchased his own oven and fridge for the business, and spent the first two weeks experimenting with the flour and tweaking the fermentation until he was successful. He says that ‘bread is alive and every loaf has a character’ – even the weather can change the outcome. He is loving this new life and enjoys the interaction with customers which he hasn’t experienced before. He says it is imperative to source all ingredients very carefully but then the key is to keep it simple – rather similar to his outlook on life.
Rosemary Best You can buy direct from Quernstone Bakery on Wednesdays, 12-3pm (side entrance to The Leaping Salmon, Horrabridge); place an order at info@quernstonebakery.co.uk for delivery on Tuesdays & Thursdays; or Quernstone products are available at The Game Larder, Yelverton and Country Cheeses, Tavistock. For more details see quernstonebakery.co.uk.
What a pretty pickle!
Cheryl Russell of Kingston Preserves started cooking when she was six, and is still just as passionate about food now as she was in those first years of discovery.
After an introduction to cake baking, Cheryl’s appetite was whetted, and as an avid reader she started following recipes, gradually learning how to cook staple meals, and taking over the household cooking at an early age. With cooking still very much at the forefront of her interests when she left school, she went on to train as a chef at a catering college. She met her future husband Simon when she was 16 and they married three years later. Simon was in the navy, so Cheryl chose to fit her career around family needs, working part-time at a bank for 12 years and then later moving on to an HR role in the Civil Service for 15 years, as well as training and practicing as a counsellor, therapist and spiritual healer. Simon has always been a keen gardener and enjoyed growing fruit and vegetables. His career took the family to various locations in the South West, and in Bath, Cheryl found a use for their various fruit trees and prolific vegetable plot, by cooking jams and chutneys. Even after giving numerous jars to family and friends there was often more than they could consume themselves. So Simon constructed a small hutch outside the house, which Cheryl kept topped up with her wares, for passers-by to purchase. The couple had fallen in love with Devon when Simon was appointed to Britannia Naval College in Dartmouth, and always hoped to return; when the opportunity arose ten years ago to buy a former
PROUDLY SUPPORTING
FOR ALL YOUR FLOORING & INTERIOR NEEDS Be Inspired
Visit our showroom for quality products Carpets • Curtains & Blinds Fabrics • Wall Coverings • Paints Domestic & Commercial Installations
WE OFFER A RANGE OF PRODUCTS WHICH ARE Sustainable • Recycled • Eco-Friendly
Free Design, Consultation & Advice
For all enquiries please call 01822 854363
Photo by Toby Russell Photo by Toby Russell
daffodil farm on the Bere Peninsula, they knew it fitted the bill perfectly. A greenhouse and polytunnel were already in place, and after a considerable amount of work, a fully grown orchard now arches around the house, resplendent with apple, pear, quince, mulberry, plum and cherry trees, adjacent to a fertile vegetable plot. Naturally, with an even larger harvest of fresh produce, Cheryl carried on experimenting with jams and chutneys, and re-established the hutch outside the house for passing trade. In 2016, a series of events persuaded Cheryl to take the plunge and launch her business to the wider public: a postcard praising her strawberry jam arrived from Sierra Leone, addressed to ‘The house on the walking path… selling homemade jams and other things’; a photograph of her produce hutch appeared in Devon Life; and she carried out a successful trial sale at Ivybridge Market. Cheryl got in touch with Devon Life and the resulting article helped to launch her business, Kingston Preserves, as she established her range and attended a circuit of local markets, including the Pannier Market and Farmers’ Market in Tavistock. She was soon approached by local B&Bs for regular deliveries and also started supplying the local shop in Bere Alston. Her business was ticking over well, until suddenly the pandemic took hold and Cheryl had to pull out of market trade due to her low immunity, cutting off a large part of her turnover. However as often happens, when one door closes, another opens, and she was approached by Tamar Valley Food Hub in May 2020 to sell her produce on their online platform. The relationship developed well and Cheryl used this new shopfront to promote her goods, which were well received - at Christmas her hampers were snapped up, attracting even more regular custom for 2021. Cheryl’s business has weathered the trials of the last year and she still derives great pleasure from what she does. She cooks everything herself using home-grown produce wherever possible, or locally bought produce – Continental Fruits deliveries were a huge boon for her during lockdown. Even though she has been cooking her marmalade recipe for the last 45 years she has taken courses to consolidate her knowledge and swap ideas with other cooks. She thoroughly enjoys the challenge of devising a new recipe, and her commended lime pickle (Taste of the West Awards 2021) was created to reflect her Anglo-Indian heritage, while the recipe for her silverwinning mango chutney is a closely guarded secret! Cheryl has never wanted Kingston Preserves to become too large, and although the garage and part of her house are overflowing with jars and boxes, and there are times in the height of summer when the greenhouse yields an unrelenting quantity of tomatoes destined for chutney, all in all she is very satisfied with her work-life balance. She still loves talking about food, and if a customer wants to ‘talk jam’ then she is more than happy to engage. Her advice to anyone with a passion and a business idea, is to just ‘give it a go’.
Rosemary Best
Cheryl’s products are available at Dot-Teas in Tavistock Pannier Market, Bere Alston Village Shop & Bakery and Gunnislake Stores, plus delivery via tamarvalleyfoodhubs.org.uk or By The Park Cafe in Plymouth. For details visit kingstonpreserves.co.uk.
You are only a phone call away from changing your life
Private Hearing Aids
Private hearing aids care allows people to get the help they need immediately locally based with no waiting lists or restrictions on the type of hearing aid you are able to receive.
NHS Hearing Aids
Accredited by the NHS. Locally based, no need to go to hospital, ask your GP to be referred.
Ear Wax Removal
Instant effect, your hearing will be clearer and brighter. No mess procedure and no need to pre-oil your ears.
Book Your Appointment Now 01822 617883
