Extreme Food (Fifteen Cornwall)

Cornwall has extremes. Often so beautiful, on clement days and in sunshine, that she steals all words that might adequately describe her as a welcoming marvel, leaving the spectator speechless and in awe.

In contrast, this southwestern extremity, with craggy toe posturing towards the Atlantic, can turn overnight into a salty wet, ill-tempered, moody bitch especially on exposed coasts. Bleak and blustering, she screams at low-grown thorny trees who bend cowering under the banshee’s onslaught. Grabbing loose hair, she tosses it into bird’s nest mangles, whips up a foam of green-grey scum off the ocean and throws buckets of sea mixed with rain relentlessly upon us. There is not much to do. Either dress for it and face the weather and be exhilarated by it,  or stay indoors, batten down the hatches, and comfort eat.

Pondering both options, wet or dry, there’s few better locations, than a mid-week lunch on Watergate Bay at Fifteen Cornwall, to enjoy both. I chose comfort over thrill, but with a great ringside view to see the kite-surfers zip up and down the shoreline, sometimes taken airborne above the waves, most of my food bites were accompanied by gasps of wonder.

Personally, I find it impossible not to love the food at Fifteen Cornwall, and a three course mid-week lunch for £21 makes the off-season experience well worth while. Currently running Monday to Friday until 20th December, this makes it a local’s special treat and,  the Autumn into Winter menus feature richer, earthier food that’s full of flavour.

Not every plate of food is as pretty or refined as each other, but it doesn’t matter one jot unless you only measure taste through your eyes! The thick Tuscan soup – resembling something I might have concocted from everything I found in my cupboard in fridge in my University days – was actually a flavour marvel. Rich, warming and spicy. Perfect comfort food on the cold, windswept November day I chose it. Mullet with its fine flavour and flakey texture, I have to declare is now my favourite fish.

Where my partner chose the opposite dishes, starting light and building towards his Sticky toffee apple pudding; I worked in reverse and finished with a light creamy panna cotta with spicy plums. Delicious!

I only have one teeny-weeny gripe, that on that day the service was slow and we were itching for a beach blast that would give our  dog a good  run before the tide came in. On the upside, slow is a good if you want to stay unhurried, watch the surf action and savour every Fifteen moment warm in doors.

Try the delicious Lemongrass and Ginger or Fifteen’s home-made Cola for a non-alcoholic treat.

Mozzarella di bufala, dressed beets and almonds

Ribollita (a thick Tuscan soup)

Crispy fillet of mullet with herby potatoes, cavolo nero and aioli

Pappardelle of slow cooked balsamic pork ragu and crispy herbs

Sticky toffee apple pudding and clotted cream

Panna cotta, spiced plums and shortbread

Related articles

• Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen Cornwall – Watergate Bay (thecooktwit.wordpress.com)

Hub ‘Burger’ Box

Yesterday,  I had a burger with chips for lunch.

I doubt you are really interested to know that, but you should. You should sit up and take notice and not be too slack about it either.  For this burger was Damn Good.

You may be familiar with the Hub Bar & Kitchen on the St.Ives Harbour Front; I confess I’m not. But as a way of celebrating their 10th year, restaurateur Richard Boon decided it would be a  a 30 ft shipping container and then had it fully customised and professionally converted into a mini-restaurant. Three weeks from a dockside in Liverpool to Lemon Quay in Truro.

Richard says he’d love to be able to map the epic journeys this box has taken around the globe becoming a rectangular ‘burger box’ right outside M&S. “They have serial numbers so in theory it’s possible to do.” I would certainly be a neat full circle when it comes to discussing food miles.

There’s a choice of ‘eat in’ where you can either squeeze socially into one of three tables inside the box, or opt for more elbow room outside. Or you can ‘take out’.

The Menu , overseen by Hub Head chef Alex Towill includes hand-made burgers made from the beef from Warrens Butcher in Launceston who supply beef to Michelin starred restaurants from Chris Eden at the Driftwood in Porthscatho to Brett Graham at The Ledbury in London. No wonder it tasted so Damn Good.

Proper chips with skins on, cheeseburgers with Cornish Blue, hot dogs, pulled pork, Falafels or crispy mackerel. It’s eat-with-your-hands-food to enjoy with cold Cornish craft beers and larger or local pressed apple juice… and if that’s not enough the value of the food is amazing. My OH and I came away stuffed and happy on meals that cost very little in relation to the quality.

The Big Kahuna / two burgers, BBQ Pulled Pork, Swiss Cheese and Onion Rings with chips cost £7.95, The Mack Daddy / Crispy Mackerel, Beetroot Jam and Horseradish Mayo £5.95  and a classic burger is only £4.95.

I said, don’t be too slack if you thought it would be nice to pop by and take a look at this new pop-up eatery, for the Hub Box will only be in situ for the next 12 weeks.

‘The plan is to make Hub and Hub-Box concept the number 1 name in burgers and ribs,” says Richard and he hopes that Hub-Boxes will be popping up at major events and locations in Cornwall and across the South West.

Follow the Hub Box progress ate @hubstives or on Facebook stiveshub.

Related articles

• {Insert Bun Here} : A hunt for London’s Best Burger (onefinestay.com)

Centrepoint ‘More than a Gift’

Centrepoint relaunches ‘More than a Gift’ to support growing numbers of homeless this Christmas

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Last Christmas, the number of people experiencing homelessness in the UK jumped by 15 per cent from the previous year, and more than a third of this increase was made up of young people between the ages of 16 and 24.

This year, Centrepoint – the UK’s leading charity for homeless young people – is urging others to support those who will find themselves in this difficult and often frightening situation by purchasing a gift for a homeless young person from its new ‘More than a Gift’ site: www.centrepointgifts.org.uk

Centrepoint has now launched its ‘More than a Gift’ website for 2011 with a number of new gift options to choose from, either for or on behalf of a loved one this Christmas.

You can help Centrepoint to ensure a merry Christmas for all with ‘virtual presents’ that will mean that a real difference can be made to the young and homeless. From as little as £5, you could give a meal; a book; a bed for the night and so much more to those in need.

Mine’s a pint, please.

Image via Wikipedia

Would you, or would you not down a pint of milk?

My mother must have often wondered why we always used to be short of milk in our house in the morning.

I confess, I’d frequently wake up in the middle of the night feeling thirsty and fill a glass of lovely cold milk and down it almost in one. It was such a deliciously refreshing sensation that it was possible I’d end up downing a whole pint bottle. Do you remember when they used to come with a think plug of cream on the top? I’d poke it and scoop it out with my finger first and lick around the bottle’s rim to make sure I didn’t leave as much as a smudge behind.

But I’m unlikely to do it now. I’d feel kind of naughty…

So do you, or would you ever, think of drinking a glass of chilled milk as your first choice of drink if you were thirsty? Or are you hung up, like me, with the thought that milk is too fattening for grown up women and really only suitable for babes and infants to enjoy?