Falmouth held it's 5th annual Oyster Festival to mark the start of the oyster dredging season. Because of ancient laws put in place to protect the local ecology the oyster boats (called Falmouth Working Boats) are prohibited from using engines and must use sail power and hand pulled dredges to harvest the oysters from October to March.
Mr R and I made the 5 hour journey to Falmouth in Cornwall to take part in this year's festival.
We arrived on the Thursday afternoon and after a quick cup of coffe in our B&B headed down to the town for the start of the festival. There was a fundraising event on featuring the well known Port Isaac group 'Fisherman's Friends' who sang a range of their favourite Sea Shanty Songs to a side slapping, hand clapping crowd.
Mr R had his first encounter with Skinners beers and the look on his face told me that their Betty Stogs was an instant success.
Over the course of the rest of the weekend we came and went into the festival tent, enjoying both the festival and the fantastic weather. There we were able to try loads of good food from local restaurants and caterers such as:-
Sea Bream Goan style from id Diner & Take Away, a new diner in Newquay - contact them about their bistro nights.
Fresh mackerel sandwich from a local trader using sustainable fish locally caught.
Grumpies (seen here smiling!) make a fab range of hand made pies using locally sourced ingredients to create such tasty pies like Chicken, Gammon & Leek, Pork, Apple & Cider, Blue Cheese, Mushroom and Walnut (v) and a load more equally exciting combinations.
We tasted Worthy Cheddar cheese and really loved the cheddary taste that was both strong and creamy and their creamy Cornish Blue too.
The Cornish Salt Company, Cornish Sea Salt is naturally rich in minerals and lower in sodium making it a healthier choice over processed table salts.
I treated Mr R to the special festival shirt.
Me helping Chef Benedict Quinn on the Cookery Demonstration Stage!
The finished mackerel wraps - one for each person in the seating area! Chef Ben needed my help!
Some delightful platefuls from Savour & Relish, celebrating Cornish seafood in an innovative way. Mr R said the Ox Cheek & Oyster Cr4oustillant with Horseradish and Watercress was the best thing he had tasted in ages!! I was a distinct fan of the Salt & Pepper Squid, Kaffir Line Leaf, Lemongrass, Raddish & Chilli.
And of course .... the oysters put in an appearance! Tender and sweet and so very fresh and truly the stars of the festival.
The festival was officially opened with a parade involving all the local school children.
Mr R and I had such a good time, the weather was perfect, the people we met really friendly, the local food fantastic and we decided that we would attend the Falmouth Oyster Festival again next year. Want to come with us!!
Many thanks to everyone for all the samples of food and drink over the weekend. As usual all opinions and photos are my own.
I hadn’t been to Cornwall since 1982, a very long time ago! I
was invited to review the Falmouth Oyster Festival recently. Although it is
quite a long way to go for us, Mr R and I needed a break away and decided to
make the 5 hour car journey to Falmouth in Cornwall.Before I had been to visit my sister, a 5 hour
trip was a big deal requiring lots of preparation and planning however after a
12 hour road trip to visit relatives four states away I viewed Cornwall quite
differently!
We drove west turning south at Bristol through
stop-start hard rain with me thankful that at least I brought my wellies!The other side of Bodmin Moor the sky was
blue and stayed that way all weekend – definitely a gift from the gods!
I had reserved a Bed &
Breakfast hotel which stated they were ‘2 minutes from the beach’ but I always
take things like that with a pinch of salty sea water.Our hotel, Chellowdene, was right on a road
leading to the beach and yes surprisingly, it was about a 2 minute walk!On the beach is a café called Glynvase Beach
Café serving hot drinks, all major alcoholic drinks and a fresh and vibrant
menu of food.Considering it was out of
the main tourist season it was very busy – I’d hate to be hungry when the
tourists are in town! As we were visiting out of main tourist season the beach
was really empty with people walking their children and dogs and a few even
swimming in the icy Atlantic waters! Falmouth is quite hilly with an easy walk
into the town and Events Square
where most festivals are held but could be quite steep for me as I suffer from
asthma. The alternative to walking was a taxi ride back up the hill with the
pleasant surprise that all local rides cost only £3.00! Mr R didn’t take long
to work out he could have a few more pints of Betty Stogs from Skinners the local brew!
Falmouth
is the third largest natural deep water harbour in the world, beaten by Syndey, Australia
and Rio de Janiero in Brazil.Because of this is it quite popular with
cruise ships which can disembark their passengers and wait just off the coast
until time to explore the next destination.There is plenty of space for sailboats of all sizes, from small craft to
larger luxury boats and then of course the big guys park there too.
The Argus, a Royal Navy auxillary ship was in harbour being
fitted out to go to West Africa and offer aid
to Ebola victims!
Falmouth is a foodie’s paradise
with rows upon rows of eating places, small pop ins to grand dining, award
winning fish and chips restaurants, loads of pubs and coffee houses along with
foreign cuisine like Thai, Mexican, Chinese and South African (which I will
definitely be trying next year) to name just a few. We look at the menu boards
outside of restaurants before making up our minds and the menu from The Hut
looked inviting but the doorway was a small entrance down a short flight of
stairs.We went in to find that the
whole restaurant opened out into a lovely, cosy and inviting place to eat.The waitresses were friendly and knew their
menu making suggestions and recommendations.I ordered the Crab Fish Cakes, Plaice with Scallops and Prawns and the
Meringue with fresh fruit for pudding.
Mr R ordered the Fish Cakes, Scallops with Catch of the Day (which was Plaice) and also picked the Meringue with fresh
fruit.We each had a large glass of wine
and left feeling full enough without being bloated ready for a stroll around
before getting our taxi back to the B&B.
Most of the food that we ate came
from the Oyster Festival which I will be writing about soon.
We had four days in Cornwall and felt as it
we had been away for a fortnight, relaxed and full of good food, wine &
beer and beautiful weather.In fact we
are going to go again next year and I am already planning our itinerary!!
I didn't receive any payment to write this post and as usual all oopinions and photos are my own.
