An Edible Voyage

April 2021 During my weekend in Aberdeen, I made an exciting discovery.  A few miles outside of the city, close to Kinellar, is Forest Farm Dairy - an organic dairy surrounded by lush green pastures where their cows roam free.   Not only can you get their delicious non-homogenised milk straight from the source via Scotland's first milk vending machine, you can also get many other delicious products made on the farm.  In the cheese line up, there's Scottish curd cheese and some of Connage Highland Dairy's cheeses, as well as Forest Farm's own haloumi - I'm a big haloumi fan anyway so didn't need much convincing, but this was a whole other level - absolutely gorgeous cooked over a BBQ until the outside caramelises and the inside goes all gooey... Anyway, I digress.   Artisan gelato is the highlight of any trip to Forest Farm.  Made in small batches on the premises, it has zero food miles and flavours change regularly.  The honeycomb is an absolute m...

April 2021 I fell in love with Lerwick - a labyrinth of narrow cobbled lanes, where you can reach out and touch both sides simultaneously, rise steeply from the harbour, ripe for exploring; quaint shops - the dingy, musty Wine Shop is a particularly atmospheric experience; the cluster of colourful fishing boats bobbing on the silver blue of the shimmering harbour; the unexpected park hidden between buildings, perfect to pause and savour, sample edible goodies purchased from the water side shops, or even read a book from the post box library. To refuel, Peerie Cafe is a great option.  Meaning 'tiny' in Scottish, one would assume it lived up to it's name based on the small, unassuming doorway.  Inside though is a spacious and convivial seating area across two floors, and a bar filled with homemade cakes, cheesecakes and scones.  Peerie automatically wins several points from me as everything is made in house by James - the daily changing soup is great for warming up, particu...

March 2021 There are 100s, possibly 1000s, of places to buy a coffee in Newcastle, but how to find the great amongst the good? Let me point you in the direction of   Pink Lane Coffee.   With a café that oozes cool on, you guessed it, Pink Lane, this speciality coffee roasters is dedicated to sourcing and roasting the best single origin and responsibly sourced beans from growers around the world. With their rotating filter coffees, as well as all the espresso-based classics, there’s something for every mood.   And with their white, milk and dark hot chocolate options, even non-coffee drinkers could be persuaded to venture in. Find Pink Lane Coffee on Pink Lane, almost opposite the central station.

November 2020 My first visit to Newcastle upon Tyne meant the excitement of researching the bakery, coffee and general food scene.  Small batch microbakeries with exceptional hand crafted baked goods are the places of my dreams, so Northern Rye was top of my list, and I planned my journey to arrive in Newcastle at dawn on a Saturday so I could be first in line! I underestimated the popularity of this place though - it seems since opening on the river bank in Byker in June 2020, Northern Rye has gained a dedicated fan base.  Following the Ouseburn through Newcastle's creative quarter with its old warehouses sympathetically refurbished in to contemporary housing and office space, I could see the queue long before I could see Northern Rye!  The riverside spot made for a scenic location for some weekend people watching and the wait was more than worth it.  I was greeted with a handsome display of coconut and blackcurrant croissants, ginger and fennel buns, deliciously me...

November 2020 At Cocoa Mountain, hot chocolate isn't just a drink to warm up, it's almost an event in itself.  Liquid chocolate is combined into steamed milk, topped with froth and drizzled with copious amounts of melted milk and white chocolates.  It's a decadent treat, and one which I bet you can't save until you get down to the beach, despite your best intentions.  Cocoa Mountain also make their own chocolate bars, individual truffles and chocolate enrobed fruit, as well as small chocolate tarts if you fancy a snack.  You can even order a chaser of 3 handmade truffles with your hot chocolate.  Flavours range from classic Champagne to adventurous chilli and lemongrass, to fiery redbush, ginger and honey. Find Cocoa Mountain at the Balnakeil Craft Village, just outside of Durness.  Then head down to Balnakeil beach to walk off your treats along the vast white sand beach or through the dunes to Faraid Head, a rocky headland stretching 2 miles in to the Pent...

February 2021 When it comes to hot chocolate, the darker the better in my opinion, hence why my current favourite is the Mork 85% Even Darker hailing from Melbourne.  With 85% Peruvian cacao powder, combined with Venezuelan cacao liquor, it's advertised as for serious chocolate drinkers only, and I think I would have to agree! It's deliciously intense, a real pick me up for the gloomiest of days, so I was very excited when my new supply arrived on my door mat.  Inside was a recipe card for making salted caramel to whisk in to the hot chocolate - I had to try it!  Making the caramel was surprisingly easy, and I duly added it to the pan whilst heating the milk.  It added a whole new dimension - an even greater richness and a real depth of flavour that I couldn't have identified specifically as salted caramel in a blind tasting, but it really added to it - I didn't think it was possible to get any better.  Now I'm hooked, which is going to be dangerous! And the bes...

January 2021 Having living in Melbourne for several years, the coffee bar was set high and I became a bit of a coffee snob.  This definitely has it's disadvantages as it makes finding a coffee that I really enjoy tricky.  I had sort of given up on finding one in Banbury, satisfying my cravings on visits to Oxford, London or in the nearby village of Great Tew at Quince and Clover (you can read all about that in a separate post).  One day I was cycling to the swimming pool early in the morning when I passed a coffee cart.  It was still closed at that time but I stored it in my 'to be tried at some point' part of my brain (although I must admit, I didn't have particularly high expectations) and then promptly forgot about it.  A few weeks later, an article popped up on my phone about it.  Reading that Harriet had worked as a barista in London for 12 years got me excited - it seemed she could be the one to make me a great flat white! From her small cart, The Bar...

September 2020 In the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park is a beautiful long sandy beach and top surf spot.   Just up above the beach, there is a colourful little boat, serving up delicious, unusual and fresh from sea to plate fare.   Why not give weekend brunch a coastal twist with a fish butty?   Freshly caught each day, the fish could be anything from mackerel to plaice to coley.   But whatever the sea lucky dip offers up, it’s sure to be the freshest fish pan fried to order and served in a bun with the famous KelpChup (a ketchup type condiment made from locally foraged seaweed), homemade pickles and seaweed chilli sauce.   Then take a stroll down to the rocks to eat whilst being serenaded by the crashing waves, or get the wind in your hair as you walk across the cliff tops and explore the seaweed drying hut. Find Café Mor in the car park at Freshwater West beach.   They also serve bacon butties, meat and veggie black bean burgers, and crab and lobster ...

December 2020 Alongside the platform of the former Rosebush station is a red, corrugated zinc shed.  What the industrial exterior lacks in cosiness is more than made of for by the homely interior.  Walls adorned with an eclectic array of pictures and sporting memorabilia, straw floors, and soft lighting from the small windows creates an atmosphere where you’ll want to settle in with your locally brewed pint or your hot chocolate laced with the Welsh cream liqueur Merlyn from the Penderyn distillery.

January 2020 A DIY hot chocolate.    You get presented with a glass of steaming hot milk and a small dark chocolate bar which you stir into the milk until it’s completely dissolved to make a rich and chocolatey hot chocolate. Find it at any café.