...look for foodie pictures on the internet.
Cronuts are going to be the new cupcake. Dominique Ansel bakery in New York has created the Cronut. Half croissant, half doughnut. Customers are queuing for two hours to get their hands on one. My money is on Pump Street Bakery in Orford to be the first in Suffolk to have some on the shelf.
I just got in from a day at The Suffolk Show and have to tell you about E8, a new Suffolk street food trader. I had the shoulder of lamb in a rosemary brioche bun with homemade relishes, salad and pickled shallots. The only thing that came in on the back of a lorry was the Colmans mustard, and even us Ipswich Town supporters can just about allow that. You'll find them in Eat Street at the show tomorrow.
Here's the dilemma - bought one beautiful, large, creamy white, freshly caught Skate wing from this lovely fisherman. It cost £7 and I shared it with mum (it was that big...) last night. Then today went to a supermarket (Tesco) where Sea Bass was £2 each, so bought four. No wonder we don't have any fishermen left.
The only table for four at this popular and crowded restaurant was at 5pm or 9pm so we went for the latter. I say crowded because it wasn't just busy - it was packed. We had to wait for our table so had a drink at the bar, which by 9pm you need to get in minutes, then nice starters (onion rings and Moons Green beer sticks, a delicious and great value biltong) Another wait for mains to arrive so that eventually we asked where it was, and then huge disappointment... (I think we were really a bit over-excited, Mark) Meat with little flavour, over-cooked chicken, a rare steak that was ordered as medium, so went back to be done again. A rare rib of beef (for two to three people) that we were told 'takes a long time to cook' and 'is best served medium to melt the fat marbling the meat', which I thought was gristle, but why not tell us that when we order? And the ensuing feedback to the concerned front of house staff that we feel will contribute, is embarassing and pointless for a restaurant of this calibre. Yes we like the cow in formaldehyde artwork but the meat could have come from the case hanging above us. The only good thing was the bill, at £35 a head it was a lot less than we expected. But then we're from Suffolk - where some of the steaks are proper good.
A late arrival got us both in for a fiver (you have to pay for this one...) but most of the food people were still there. What a proliferation of pickles! Lots of the same thing (of the chili jelly/home-made tomato ketchup variety) with one or two interesting exceptions - home made drinks and hot food, and lots of suppliers from Essex. But we love Abroad, and of course Essex gave us Jamie Oliver. We tried ice-cream, crisps, chocolate, strawberry and raspberry vodkas (although they weren't keen on Inspector X's horseradish vodka suggestion...) rhubarb and ginger cordial, fresh lemonade (so easy, so nice) and a shark kebab (very close to my Caribbean heart...shark kebabs...)
From the Pump Street bakery - a Bear's Claw - something I had never heard of or tasted before, orginating from the northern USA and Canada. It's so hard to choose from their selection of amazing bread, cakes, pastries and patisserie that we bought a box full of different things and half a dozen crisp fresh doughnuts filled with rhubarb jam and lemon custard. It made me want to say 'au revoir' when I left the shop.
Oh the choice? Where to go first? With so many foodie things on one day we did an extensive expensive dash around the county - first to Orford where we knew we were going to find treats because they have the Pump Street Bakery and Pinneys and then to the Greene King Beer Festival (they may have had food but it was more about the beer...)
At Orford I spent £80 in as many yards, starting with a fab strawberry tart (well, half of one, because even Inspector X and I can only eat so much in one day...) followed by (half) a pulled pork wrap with coleslaw, the best salami we have tried in a while, an oyster, a Bloody Awkward (which regular followers of suffolkfoodie will know is an espresso with hot milk on the side - ie a SMALL coffee not a GIANT coffee, in fact I think it's called a cafe con leche Abroad, but is still to catch on here...) Where was I... a chocolate mousse and a dessert wine. What we couldn't eat we bought home - two bottles of Hill Farm oil, two Hill Farm mayo, a pheasant scotch egg, a fennel salami, honey-salted caramels, peanut brittle; doughnuts, a bears paw (more later on that one...) portuguese tarts and some other little tarts with almond and plum whose name I've forgotten, hot mint jelly, three crabs and two huge skate wings. The only thing missing at Orford was hot food and a home-made drinks.
In the next few days we will tell you what we bought in BSE and show you ALL the sumptuous pictures of the food we found.
More...
This request has come into the suffolk foodie hq, although we are a bit late in putting it up here because we missed the e mail, because we were traipsing around the tropics. But can anyone help?
"We are holding a good old fashioned fayre on Finningham village green on Sunday August 25th 2013. We are looking for a traditional pie 'man' to sell his wares. We are expecting about 300 people. There will be stalls, hog roast, candy floss, charity stalls and hopefully jugglers and magicians. Anyone out there?" If you are a pie man with wares to sell email your details and we will pass them on.
Once a month Shauna Tate invites keen bakers to join her at The Beaters Hut Bakers Club. Shauna started the club last July and each month she comes up with a theme for the baking. Last month I went along to Cheese. I ate so much and came away with enough food for the next day. No judging takes place and all you need to do is bake or make something that can be shared beweent 8 to 10 people. Next months meeting is on Monday May 27th and the theme is Picnic. All are welcome to attend although spaces are limited in order to allow everyone to get to meet each other. I think this could become the perfect dating agency?
The Wingspan Bar is open! This new bar at The Angel Hotel in Bury St Edmunds has been created in the vaults; the secret tunnels providing the perfect intimate spaces to enjoy a drink. The Angel (in Bury) isn't shy when it comes to decor, and the decadent finish - complete with aircraft engine bar, tables from airplane wings, bespoke furniture, interesting artefacts and curiosities, is stunning. Chef Jay Scrimshaw pulled out all the stops for the opening party on Thursday. Fellow foodies enjoyed a fabulous selection of canapes, including these Quail Scotch Eggs with Black Pudding crust, Bacon and Maple syrup doughnuts and Oysters from Pinneys - served with buttermilk .
The bar is open daily from 5pm - just allow time to try the new afternoon tea from 2.30pm before hand!
Steve sells his own farm-reared pork at local farmers markets and he was at the new Elmswell market last Sunday. He doesn't have a website and only uses the internet to check the tide tables when he wants to go fishing, so Google Clavering Pigs if you want to find out where to find him.