Tresco & Bryher Food Festival 2014

It doesn't feel like the September of the last few years. The Swallows might have headed home but the tripper boats are still packed with camera laden visitors. The paths are well trodden and the beaches still have lines of coupled footprints. Today I stood at the end of Rushy Bay Green looking out to the Western Rocks. There's still evidence of last year's destructive storms. A line of hedging is dead from the flooding. There is still seaweed tangled in with the new growth. But there's a bright pink floral coating to ground that I haven't seen before. Not the usual Thrift but a blanket of bright rose pink. The air was foggy and it's hard to remember a day as beautiful as this. I'm glad there are still so many people around to enjoy it. 

At the weekend the crowds packed into the Tresco and Bryher Food Festival. It's the third year we've held it and it must have been our busiest to date. From Oysters and Ale to Sea Salt and Sourdough starters we had a really great representation from Scilly and I've had so many people contacting me saying how much they enjoyed it. 

Scilly Farmer's Market....

We haven't had guests in for the last ten days so Gareth's been doing some painting on Bryher. My sister had her baby (a lovely little girl) and my mum was on the mainland with her so I did all the fudge for the first Farmer's Market of the season. I'd never been before and had a brilliant time. We came home with four jars of delicious jams and chutneys made by Maggie on St Mary's. We also ate our weight in cake...We loved these cookies and cream cupcakes...

Here's our fudge stall with lots of Easter decorations...

I added a new flavoured. Salted fudge is made with Cornish sea salt and is delicious. It was our most popular flavour. I've just got to convince mum to make it again...

Padstow Christmas Festival in pictures....

Da Bara Sour dough toast with nduja and mozzarella

There's almost something unsettling about walking along a Cornish beach in October wishing you hadn't worn jeans. Normally I'm kicking myself for not packing enough layers but this weekend it was the opposite. It was one of those summer weekends when you spend so long on the beach that your hair curls with the salt and your skin starts to smell like sand. We came home last night beach worn and although we'd had barbecue earlier we were hungry.

Da Bara Sour dough toast with nduja and mozzarella.....(serves 2)

It must have been the sunshine that meant we craved something hot and fiery. I sliced four pieces from the Da Bara sour dough bread we bought the day before from the Fifteen Farmer's Market and toasted it. I then spread each slice with a teaspoon or so of nduja and popped it in a 170'c oven for about 5 minutes. (This is very hot so just use a scraping if you don't want to burn your mouth!) I chopped up a selection of different tomatoes and mixed them with basil and some of the mozzarella.

I then put handfuls of the salad on top of the toast and we washed them down with beers, our lips tingling.

* For another nduja recipe try here

Fifteen Farmers Market.....

Sunshine, food, a free weekend. The Fifteen Farmers Market couldn't have hoped for a more stunning weekend.

Paul Ainsworth was doing a demo there when we arrived. The marquee was packed out...We bought some delicious Da Bara white bread.

And some amazing mozzarella.

The most exciting part was that they were selling nduja which I'm pretty sure you can't get anywhere else in Cornwall. I am now fully stocked up and will blog what we did with it tomorrow.

Feeling blue...

When last year Cornish blue was crowned world champion it seemed as if Cornwall had found it's crowning glory for cheese.

And Cornish blue has to be one of my favourites. It's mild and creamy and great for cooking with. However at the Cornwall Food Festival I found this little star. It's called Blue Horizon and is made by Treveador Farm Dairies. It has quite a kick to it and a delicious rind.

Definitely one for the shopping bag....

Spicy chorizo....

It's one of the most exciting new arrivals at the Cornwall Food and Drink Festival, Deli Farm's new spicy chorizo. I had seen them mention it on twitter and had to go and buy some.

It's fiery and pepper but the heat doesn't hide the flavour of the pork. It doesn't disappoint.

The Food Festival Cook Off.....

My colleagues James and Debbie were kicking off the food festival with a culinary cook off. It was a bit like Ready Steady Cook. They were given a huge bag of Cornish ingredients (duck, mackerel, cider, rapeseed oil, vegetables, ale etc) and have to make a dish in 40 minutes.

Luckily they had help from chefs Paul Ripley and Paul Harwood.

James made pan seared mackerel fillets with crushed new potatoes with garlic and garlic. Served with cavelo nero and purple sprouted broccoli with rapeseed oil and chilli.

Debbie made pan fried duck breast with cavalo nero and crushed potatoes with an eton mess.

James was triumphant!

Menus - Cornwall Food Festival.....

So I mentioned last night about the Magnificent 7 and the six course menu they made as part of the Cornwall Food and Drink Festival. I managed to wrestle a menu of one of the people who went and I thought you might like a look....

Deli coppa croquetas, Cornish Duck pastilla, Spiced Cornish crab on nimkis, Chybucca roasted pear and gingerbread (Neil Haydock- The Hotel and Extreme Academy, Watergate Bay.)

Pork, pigeon and rabbit terrine, beetroot, apple, smoked bacon and hazelnut (Ben Tunnicliffe- Nansloe Manor)

Orange, salt cod, onion and black olive salad (Paul Ripley- Rick Steins Seafood Bar)

Sea bass and bacon, barbecued sardine and tomato ketchup with homemade hog's pudding and crispy egg (Nathan Outlaw- Restaurant Nathan Outlaw)

Venison loin 'n' pie, cabbage, Cornish pancetta, carrot (Paul Ainsworth- No. 6 in Padstow and Chris Eden Driftwood Hotel)

Three Year old Davidstow Reserve Cheddar selected by Nathan Outlaw served with Crellow Kea Plum and Catshead Cheese

Tonka bean pannacotta, strawberry and black pepper sorbet, crackling chocolate wood (Nigel Tabb- Tabbs)

Origin coffee or Tregothnan tea with pralines made by Nigel Tab

Magnificent Seven.....

Imagine sitting down to dinner and finding out the people cooking for you are Cornwall's elite. Paul Ainsworth, Chris Eden, Neil Haydock, Nathan Outlaw, Ben Tunnicliffe, Paul Ripley and Nigel Tabb. It's a Cornish food blogger's dream scenario but for dozens of lucky people it's a reality tonight. The Cornwall Food Festival kicks off with the Magnificent Seven...a six course course meal cooked by seven of Cornwall's most talented chefs.

So as I'm not there I thought I would do my own Magnificent Seven. Seven things I'm looking forward to about the Cornwall Food Festival....

1. Jude Kereama at Kota.

I compered on of his demonstrations a couple of years ago when he made these delicious chocolate puddings. I remember the audience tasting them and all I could think about was whether it was socially acceptable to snatch a few extra bowls before they could. Jude is doing a demonstration on Friday at 1115am.

2. Deli Farm

Deli Farm is selling its wide range of dried meats and is launching a new spicy chorizo at the festival. I love buying some and taking it home for lunch with some bread and salad.

3. Sausage Demonstrations

I used to love the Abbey at Penzance when Ben Tunnicliffe was a chef there. He's since moved on to The Scarlet and is now at Nansloe Manor (where Brad and Angelina recently stayed apparently!) I've been looking at the menu a lot online so I will have to go sometime this winter. Ben is doing a masterclass in how to make and cook sausages with the Kernow Sausage Company.

4. Cooking

I love coming home, bags heavy with great produce enthused about what to cook. This year there might be a lot of fish involved. Last year it was all about cheese.

5. Food box
The lovely people at the Cornish Food Box Company will be at the festival for the first time. I ordered my first box at Christmas and am still loving them. I'm just finishing off the last of last week's vegetables...lovely fat spring onions and a round cucumber.

6. Fish

On Saturday at 14.45pm Annie Silbert, a local fishmonger, is doing a 'Taking the Fear Out of Fish' masterclass. I have a lot of fear Annie.

7. Nathan Outlaw

Always brilliant to watch. Always makes fantastic food. A food festival must. Sunday at 1430pm.

* My lovely BBC Radio Cornwall colleagues will be there too compering. Give them a big clap.

Cornwall Food and Drink Festival 2011...

It seems as if autumn is here. There's a waft of cider in the garden as I scramble to pick up the fallen apples dodging the fizzing ones I didn't get to in time. The sun's streaming onto the mud on the creek while the wind is knocking off leaves which hit my head making me jump as I think another angry wasp is attacking me for stealing its fruit.

The Cornwall Food and Drink Festival marks this coming of autumn. A massive harvest festival of farmers, local producers and chefs. Crowds crush into the marquee on Lemon Quay in Truro tasting what's new this year and coming out laden with cheeses, hams and breads.

My colleagues James and Debbie are starting the festival off going head to head using produce on sale at the festival. James is already convinced he'll lose, so go along and clap for him.

There's more than sixty producers there, as well as masterclasses and events. If you can't get there you can always listen to what's going on on BBC Radio Cornwall when Martin Bailie presents his show there from 3pm.

The Cornwall Food and Drink Festival starts at 9am on Friday and I'll be blogging some of the best bits...

Rice way to spend a day....

There were ten of us huddled under the branches of a tree just above the cliffs at Mylor. Big fat raindrops were falling and the leaves were doing little to protect us. We'd wandered down to watch boats out on the water for Falmouth Week. A little damp we retraced our steps along the coast picking bit fat sloes for Christmas sloe gin. Back at the harbour The Cornish Curry Company had a stall making paella and crab cakes. I didn't have enough money but I did have a mouthful of the crab cakes. They were fantastic.

The Cornish Curry Company let us shelter under their tent as more rain fell. Despite the rain it was a perfect Sunday.

Coming soon...The next part of the 'how to self cater a wedding' guide.

Port Eliot Festival In Pictures....

My yummy tomato and mozzarella salad from the Fifteen Cornwall pop up restaurant. This was summer in a box.

A boy showed me how to do a Rubik's Cube in a minute. It involved a lot of equations and fractions. I nodded a lot.

Porthleven Food Festival....

Could there have been a better day for the Porthleven Food Festival? Sunshine reflecting off the water, the warm air clinging onto the smell of barbecued fish. The festival is a complete delight.

This year there was a stand of Turkish food. There were huge crowds around it. I left empty handed as I only had £3 left so missed out on their £4 salad plate which would have been great on the beach this afternoon.

Hope's Bread were also there. I bought two fluffy pesto, tomato, pepper and olive focaccias.

But its real highlight are the array of street food stalls. Big bowls of mussels, barbecued fish, Cornish sausage rolls and vats of noodles.

I enjoyed the festival a lot last year and it's only got bigger and better.