Category: Drink

Categories
Blog Drink Mains

Atlantic Coast Express

The next adventure on our foodie travels around Cornwall is a trip to Padstow, by bike along the Camel Trail.

Padstow, shown in my photo above, is a compact, picturesque and very popular little fishing port on the north coast of Cornwall.

The Camel Trail follows a disused railway line along the bank of the River Camel estuary all the way from Wadebridge.

This coffee stop along the route is housed in a refurbished railway carriage. It takes its name from the train service that used to travel this line back in the day: the Atlantic Coast Express. You place your order, then collect it when the toot-toot of the old steam whistle sounds.

There’s a relaxed vibe, with people chatting, checking the map, or just enjoying the views across the estuary.

It’s a good place for a spot of bird watching.

The cakes at Atlantic Coast Express are all locally sourced and look great. We shared a peanut butter chocolate brownie, giving us the energy boost we needed to complete the 5 mile ride into Padstow.

Padstow has been rather thrust into the foodie scene since celebrity chef, Rick Stein, set up his seafood restaurant here. It’s proven such a success that he’s followed it up with a cafe, deli and cookery school. Other restaurants and outlets have followed,  meaning the town now boasts a varied and quality food offering, whether sit-in or takeaway, to suit every taste and budget.

We bought these fillets of Cornish hake from the wet fish counter in his deli.

Arriving that evening at our next motorhome stopover, I cooked them in a foil parcel on the Cadac (my gas bbq). Ten minutes was all that was required, then a squeeze of fresh lemon and a few twists of black pepper. We served them up with Cornish new potatoes and broccoli.

A bottle of Cornish IPA was a perfect accompaniment to the meal, also biked back to the van in my pannier, from the Padstow craft brewery.

We had live music at our campsite last night, and this timeless classic is one of the tracks the band performed. It could be a motivational song when it comes to cycling, considering all the hills here in Cornwall! This is Jackie Wilson with (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher.

Categories
Blog Drink

Chateau de Monbazillac

Vive la France!

This week I am off on my travels again. We are holidaying with our very good friends in the Dordogne Valley in south-west France. Expect to be hearing over the next few posts, therefore, about some of the lovely food and drink that this region has to offer.

The base for our stay is a delightful, restored stone farmhouse in the countryside, just west of Bergerac. Built in the 19th century, it retains all its character and, I am pleased to say, now has some 21st century luxuries (like wifi, ensuites and a dishwasher) incorporated.

Discovering that we are situated along the Route des Vins, we set out to find our bearings on a tour that takes in one vineyard after another. The climate and soil conditions here are near-perfect for growing grape vines, making the Dordogne Valley one of France’s prolific wine-producing regions.

To learn a little more, we stop at one of the major vineyards along the route for a tour and some wine tasting. Chateau de Monbazillac is a microcosm of modern French history – a splendid, ornate chateau and estate that flourished in the 16th Century, before being brought down to earth by the revolting local peasants in the revolution of 1789. After some period of flux, it eventually found its feet again, being taken over by a wine producers’ co-operative that now markets its wine collectively under the Monbazillac name.

The Chateau is beautifully restored and maintained, with exhibitions on modern wine production, and glorious views out across the Dordogne Valley towards the town of Bergerac, taking in row after row of vines.

The choice of wines for our tasting took in a Bergerac blanc, a rosé, a fresh and fruity red and a deep red with the scent of oak barrels and a hint of saline on the throat. After some deliberation, our group opted to buy a bottle each of the two reds.

I can assure you these are being fully savoured on our terrace in the evening with a few platters of cheese, ham, pate and locally baked bread (I will go into further details in coming posts about that cheeseboard 🙂 )

After a relatively wet spring here, the weather is warming up, and we are looking forward to a relaxing few days of good food and wine with sunshine. Check back this weekend for a further report.

In the meantime, I shall leave you with a track that has a distinct French connection via the bassist, Jean Jacques Burnel. Here are The Stranglers with La Folie.

À bientôt!

Categories
Blog Drink

Labour of Love

My motorhome tour of Scotland has now taken me, literally, the length and breadth of the nation to seek out some of the best Scots craft beers – a route taking in the famous John O’Groats.

John O’Groats is situated at the northerly end point of the longest journey that can be completed on the British mainland – a full 874 miles from Land’s End in Cornwall, south-west England. In fact, as we were leaving it in the motorhome, there was a hitch-hiker standing by the side of the road, holding a piece of cardboard on which he had scrawled, somewhat optimistically, in marker pen, ‘Land’s End’. That made me laugh!

Craft beer has really come on around the Scottish regions since I was last here. There is now an extensive range of locally produced ales, and most areas I’ve visited have their own home brewed specialities.

This being a food and drink-inspired blog, I’ve considered it my duty to sample a fair few of these on our travels, so that I can offer my readers an honest appraisal. A labour of love, I guess. I know, it’s a tough job, but someone has to do it. Don’t mention it – you’re welcome.

So we’ll start in John O’Groats itself, where the iconic signpost shown in my photograph is only about 100 yards from the John O’Groats Brewery Visitor Experience. It hosts an exhibition celebrating the range of beers that are brewed on site. This is a selection I took away to enjoy with my evening bbqs.

Here’s another beer I bought and enjoyed of an evening as the sun was setting in the Cairngorms National Park. Wildcat is brewed in Aviemore (the winter ski resort) and has a deep colour, good body and malty taste.

St. Andrews in Fife may be better known as the ancient birthplace of golf, but these days it is also home to the St. Andrews Brewing Co. I first discovered their tap room in nearby Dundee, just across the Tay estuary, and later picked up this tasty IPA while visiting St. Andrews itself.

My overall favourite on this trip, however (cue drum roll….) is the Joker IPA, brewed in Alloa by the Williams Brothers Brewing Co. I found it to be golden, well balanced, hoppy and full of flavour. Guaranteed to satisfy, and I was a repeat customer on more than one occasion.

I described making my critical assessment of some of Scotland’s best craft beers as a labour of love. What better track to add to the ADK Playlist than this one from Pat and Greg Kane from Lanarkshire, better known as Hue and Cry: Labour of Love. Cheers, lads!