The British Larder Inspirational recipe diary

Our Suffolk life so far….

Moving to Suffolk was not a difficult decision at all. Ross and I knew that this was the county for us; a bit of the unknown but simultaneously it’s an exciting experience, and we know that there is plenty of good food and an abundance of producers around to make the British Larder Suffolk venture a success. The building and business has been challenging to say the least, and we didn’t know exactly how the local residents and local businesses would accept us into their community. Well the answer is demonstrable by the picture below! This wonderful gift of five plump teals, damsons and woodland mushrooms where brought to us by David Grimwood.

David is the owner of the The Froize Inn, Chillesford, about 6 miles from us. David is a regular visitor and became a good friend who refers to us as his ‘local staff

Autumn is in full swing and the hedgerows around the British Larder here in Suffolk are bursting with plenty of fantastic berries and other wild foods. Our ‘glut required’ system in the pub is also going down a storm with our regular customers.

We have some amazing people popping by with their wares and even the staff are working hard at it. We have Zac’s family, Kaz and Wane who regularly contribute their duck eggs, wild plums and puff ball mushrooms. Steve’s mum also picked and supplied rosehips for us.

Richard and Jan are known as the “funky squash people”; they regularly drop by with the most amazing squashes, and when we needed fig leaves for the amazing fig leaf ice cream that Brett made for Monday evening’s food festival celebration dinner; they were eager to supply us with wonderful fig leaves.

There is Jeremy who brought us a large load

Autumn has arrived and we have already had our fair share of rain showers and cold nights. The central heating has been turned on in the pub and I’m not so keen on the idea of when the frosts starts to settle in, reason being that I can imagine I’m going to land on my backside when I dash across the yard down the stairs on my way to the barn and walk-in fridge!

The colours of Autumn are luscious and bold and beautiful. Deep dark reds, greens and purples are as spectacular and reflective of Autumn as the colours in the delicious honey, plum and blackberry jelly with plum sorbet.

We buy most of our fruit from High-House Farm which is situated 6 miles from us. Every Monday and Thursday Piers gives me a call telling me about the fruits that are ready to be harvested and then the following day Jaco delivers

It’s THE foodie event of the year and we are so incredibly excited and fortunate to be part of it this year! The Aldeburgh Food & Drink Festival has featured high on our agenda for the past three years and this year is no exception. When the opportunity came along for us to participate we did not hesitate for one moment. We started to think about what we could do to get involved during this very important event. The conclusion was to call a few friends – Brett Graham, Steven Williams and Maria Elia, and we came up with a wonderful program packed with lots of exciting foodie events.

On Saturday 25^th September, at 11am in the morning, I will be doing a cookery demonstration at the festival.  At The British Larder, Suffolk we will also be offering a special menu as part of the fringe event during the festival; three course