Burford, England. A Snapshot in Time
Situated in the heart of the Cotswolds, Burford has been a town for over 900 years. It is quintessentially English and staggeringly beautiful, and if you are looking for an idyllic lifestyle then Burford is the place to go. At least, according to Forbes magazine’s August 2009 issue, which has named this ancient town the sixth most idyllic place to live in Europe, even though its population today is hardly more than 1,000 people.
The Tolsey, with its clock hanging out over the High Street, is the Old Market House and forms the hub of the town. It dates from 1400. The town lock-up, the stocks and the whipping post stood at the back. On the opposite corner is what used to be an old inn built in 1422, which was called Novum Hospitium Angulare (the New Inn on the Corner). In 1734, it became a chemist and has since become the oldest pharmacy in the country.
Facing the Tolsey is a range of ancient buildings with the picturesque impact of a stage set. Burford was always an important town for travellers and visitors, and it still is. Inns and coach houses were plentiful as Burford was a wool town, and in the middle ages extremely prosperous. The Bull is Burford’s oldest inn, having been trading on its current site since 1610. Like all the buildings in the town, it is built from local limestone, and the layout is typical for a coaching inn: an archway opens up onto the main road and goes through to the stables behind with an exit onto a side street at the back. On Sheep Street, hotels such as the Bay Tree and the Lamb were created out of weavers’ cottages dating from 1720 and are utterly charming. Until recently, there were wonderful antique shops to browse in, but just a few remain today as old oak furniture is out of fashion right now, and the bulk of the shops sell the same things you can get elsewhere. But wander down the main street and linger in the tea shops, such as Huffkins, selling scones with cream and jam, and lardy cake, or get up early and visit the Tolsey Market, held every Friday from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m., and have the town almost to yourself. The Market is full of wonderful home-baked treats.
At this time of year, just about the only local fruit available on the stalls at the Market are pears and apples, which are in abundance — ready to make apple pie, apple crumble, apple cobbler, apple Brown Betty, baked stuffed apples, spiced pears, and pear tarts with frangipane, all delicious English puddings. Scones, cupcakes, shortbread and cakes of every conceivable description are baked by Mrs. Pocock from old-fashioned family recipes. Mr. Alcock brings his veg and displays it proudly: leeks, onions, carrots, beetroot, pumpkins and squash. Mrs. Fisher brings her organic eggs from nearby Bourton-on-the-Water. Jams, marmalades and chutneys are piled high from Mrs. Alcock’s and Mrs. Gilpin’s kitchen, while Mr. Margetts (who’s from an old Sherbourne family) sells his plants and flowers. Wet English walnuts from private gardens nearby are another autumn treat available. Crack them, peel the inner skin and dip into rock salt. With them, sip Palomino Fino Sherry of uncompromising dryness, served very cold.
Burford is the sort of place Americans dream about when they think of England — make one or two of these recipes and keep the dream alive.
Theo Hodges
Theo Hodges was born in Kent. After a degree in Graphic Design she joined J. Walter Thompson Advertising Agency as an Art Director working on accounts such as Rowntrees, Kraft and The Butter Council. While she was at University in Perugia, Italy she started collecting recipes from friends and family. In 1980 she set up her own design agency: Theo Hodges Design Consultants. For many years when they were young Theo, her sister and six cousins used to spend vacations at her Grandmother’s Victorian vicarage in Kent. ‘The thing about remembering childhood’ she says, is ‘there’s a whole lot of oblivion, and then out of it something floats up, quite sharp and clear. Many of the meals I can still see vividly and various recipes of mine were originally from Granny’s kitchen. ‘The kitchen garden was stuffed with raspberries, huge red dessert gooseberries, strawberries, runner beans, peas and much more with the hens in a shed at the back. But Granny only ate chicken breast and runner beans, followed by raspberries and Jersey cream - and therefore so did we. When raspberries were out of season, and in those days the season was much shorter, Granny made Victoria sponge cakes sandwiched with cream and home-made raspberry jam. On this limited but delicious diet we all thrived’. Theo’s mother was an excellent cook as well, and had been taught by the house- keeper at their house in Mougins, South of France. And once rationing was withdrawn in England in 1952 and good, fresh ingredients became available again, she amassed an enormous number of recipes which has formed the basis for Theo’s collection of family desserts.