When I was a child, Cornish food meant tinned crab-paste sandwiches and Wall’s
sausages lightly sprinkled with sand. The only delicacy was lardy cake —
dough and lard sprinkled with sugar. It was delicious, actually, but even a
six-year-old could tire of it. I was once given lobster in Padstow’s only
restaurant, above a pub: it came smothered in cheddar cheese, a completely
tasteless lobster thermidor.
Fast-forward a generation, and things couldn’t be more different. This tiny
corner of north Cornwall now rivals Ludlow as Britain’s most exciting gastro
region. From Port Isaac to Tregurrian is just 20 miles, all of it walkable
by the coast path, but it encompasses long beaches the same colour as the
cornfields above them, tiny coves, 100ft-high cliffs pounded by surf, gentle
meandering estuaries, seal colonies bobbing among lobster pots, and more
great restaurants than you can hope to eat at in one visit.
Which is just as well, because during the crowded summer you’d be lucky to get
a booking at any of them. Fifteen Cornwall, for example, has taken 30,000
reservations since opening in May. The canny foodie would come in autumn or
spring, when seasonal menus are at their best, beaches empty, and you can
burn off long lunches with equally long walks.
Fifteen is a fitting addition to the area, not least because of the
similarities between Jamie Oliver and the man who started it all around
here, Rick Stein. Both have been pointedly ignored by the Michelin
inspectors, but have achieved something far more important: using their
profile to champion good food as a way of life. Fifteen Cornwall sources 80%
of its ingredients locally. On the night I visited, this made for an
interesting fusion. Dishes such as Cornish cod with Italian aubergine
caponata were almost as spectacular as the sunset over Watergate Bay. Once
the nights draw in, I’d eat here at lunchtime, when the menu is broader and
the endless beach invites you to stretch your legs afterwards (or your arms
— the neighbouring Extreme Academy offers power-kiting lessons).
But what if you can’t get into Fifteen? The Beach Hut downstairs does simple
cafe dishes for a fraction of Fifteen’s prices. Further up the road, the
Bedruthan Steps Hotel at Mawgan Porth has an à la carte menu that can
certainly rival Fifteen’s food, if not its funky ambience — Falmouth Bay
scallops on a salad of warm cress with toasted pine nuts and a celeriac
sauce was particularly memorable. And if you don’t mind forgoing the sea
view, you’re only a few miles from both of Cornwall’s Michelin-starred
restaurants: Ripley’s at St Merryn, owned by Stein’s former head chef, and
St Ervan Manor near Padstow, where Nathan Outlaw has a loyal following —
many customers followed him here from the Black Pig at Rock. They may soon
have to follow him elsewhere, as St Ervan is up for sale.
In Padstow itself, Stein’s Seafood Restaurant is still the grande dame of the
Cornish culinary scene: an effortless, elegant, well-honed machine. The
world will always be divided between those who get it and those who baulk at
paying upwards of £30 for a piece of simply-cooked fish. The doubters should
look across the quayside, where French and Spanish pantechnicons queue up to
rush the fresh catch to distant markets.
These days, Stein also has a fish-and-chip shop, a bistro, a cookery school
and a deli in Padstow, but there are other relaxed options. Two of the most
popular are Pescadou, where Gareth Eddy brings a light touch to fish, and
Margot’s, a tiny bistro. More upmarket again, No 6 Padstow showcases cooking
by Paul Ainsworth, formerly sous at Petrus. After gorging you’ll be relieved
to hear Padstow is at the start of the Camel Trail, a disused railway
fringing the estuary for 17 beautiful miles. Shops hire out bikes, with
tandems for the seriously overfed.
All these restaurants are only possible because of a revolution among fiercely
proud local suppliers. Meat, cheese, cream and vegetables are better here
than almost anywhere else — there are even award-winning wines. Bob Lindo’s
Camel Valley Estate has twice beaten French equivalents at the International
Wine Challenge with his méthode champenoise, but he’s equally passionate
about developing a genuinely English-style wine. His 2005 Bacchus Dry is as
fresh as pinot grigio, but with gewürztraminer aromas. The vineyard is
accessible from the Camel Trail for Bob’s personal tours.
Cornish cheese-making changed when Alan and Jenny Gray came up with Yarg —
“Gray” backwards — a semi-hard, slightly acidic cow’s milk cheese, with a
rind of pressed nettles. Today, more than 60 cheeses are made in the county,
including Cornish Blue and Sue Proudfoot’s celebrated Keltic Gold. Likewise,
local ice cream inspires a passionate following — my favourite is Helsett
Farm, containing organic milk from pedigree Ayrshires.
Typical of the new breed of food evangelists is Matt Watson-Smyth of Padstow
Farm Foods. Earlier this year, he and girlfriend, Sarah, started a farm shop
at Trethillick. Bread is from The Chough, Padstow’s best bakery; eggs from
chickens patrolling the car park; and meat from his father’s herds on
Stepper Point, the salty grass headland behind the shop. The family also
have cottages for rent, and a farmhouse B&B with estuary views. This
craggy peninsula, stretching from Padstow to Trevone, has north Cornwall’s
best hiking too.
A tiny local lane takes you from Sarah’s farm shop to Prideaux Place, which
offers cream tea on the terrace, with Rodda’s clotted cream, another Cornish
delicacy, although it’s sad to see traditional Cornish splits replaced by
scones — a Devon invention. Still, the view over the ancient deer park to
Rock more than makes up for it.
Rock, the notorious public-school hang-out, has some decent restaurants, too.
The Blue Tomato Cafe’s burgers are excellent — although Coke at £2.50 and
Cristal at £150 inspire fear in your wallet. There’s better value up the
coast at Trebarwith, where The Mill House offers excellent gastropub fare
and double bedrooms from £40.
The culinary revival that most interested me on a recent visit, though, was
Cornish baking. It’s being led by people like Sarah and David Buscombe of
the Cornish Mill and Bakehouse at Trescowthick. Their traditional produce
includes buns containing Persian saffron, once a smuggler’s currency here.
More importantly — at least if you’re six — there’s even a lardy cake,
although it now contains fruit as well as lard. And not a crab-paste
sandwich in sight.
Anthony Capella’s latest novel is The Wedding Officer,
published by Little, Brown at £12.99
WHERE TO FIND THE FOOD
Fifteen Cornwall, £50; 01637 861000, www.fifteencornwall.co.uk
The Beach Hut, £20; 01637 860543, www.watergatebay.co.uk
Bedruthan Steps Hotel, £35; 01637 860714, www.bedruthan.com;
doubles from £150
Ripley’s, £40; 01841 520179 St Ervan Manor, £60; 01841
540255, www.stervanmanor.co.uk;
doubles from £140
The Seafood Restaurant, £65; 01841 532700, www.rickstein.com;
doubles from £120
Pescadou, £25; 01841 532 359, www.pescadou.co.uk
Margot’s, £26; 01841 533 441, www.margots.co.uk
Number 6, £32; 01841 532093, www.number6inpadstow.co.uk
Blue Tomato Cafe, Rock, £20 (no reservations)
Camel Valley Estate, 01208 77959
Padstow Farm Foods farm shop, 01841 532648, www.padstowfarmfoods.biz;
B&B (from £35pp) and cottages (from £18pp)
The Mill House, £22; 01840 770200, www.themillhouse.co.uk;
double rooms from £40
The Cornish Mill and Bakehouse, 01637 830958
Restaurant prices are approximate, per head, for three courses without wine
