The World Is Your Oyster
When I am not rushed, I find cooking the most restful and soothing of all occupations; to beat and baste, to peel and chop and slice; to taste and test and stir wonderful fresh ingredients is ‘therapy’ enough for me. But when it comes to seafood - scallops, mussels, oysters, lobsters, crab - I start to panic. How can it be really fresh when I live in London or deep in the heart of the Cotswolds? So I leave it all to Paul Wadham, chef at Tresanton, in the seaside village of St Mawes, and when I need my ‘fix’ I head down to Cornwall...
If there is a more elegant hotel in Britain with a better sea view restaurant than Olga Polizzi’s Tresanton, then tell me about it. The modest entrance, rather plain actually, belies the style and perfect simplicity that lies beyond. I want to tell you about the local suppliers that Paul has found and about his passion for cooking.
But first I want to tell you a bit about the hotel and its surroundings. This part of Cornwall has everything you could wish for. If you want to go for walks along the coastal paths, borrow some wellies from the hotel, and stroll along to St Mawes Castle, built by Henry VIII in 1542, and on through the fields beside the sea to the 14th century church of St Just-in-Roseland and look around the churchyard John Betjeman called ‘the most beautiful churchyard on earth’. If looking at gardens appeals, you will be spoilt for choice; The Lost Gardens of Heligan, Trelissick, Caehays Castle and nearby Trebah to name but a few. And not very far away is the amazing Eden Project.
If sailing is your thing the hotel has the magnificent ‘Pinuccia,’ a classic yacht, built in 1939 to represent Italy in the Coppa d’Italia - 48’ long with slender lines and a tall wooden mast. The skipper will take guests sailing around Falmouth Bay and up the estuaries of the Helford and Fal Rivers for a perfect day out.
But what about the food ? Scallops are delivered to the doorstep in sacks within two hours of harvesting; the quality of the product is therefore unsurpassed. Cornish Native Oysters (or Fal Oysters) grow wild in the Fal Estuary and are famed for their distinctive fresh, delicious flavour. Paul Wadham has deliveries daily during the season. The Port of Truro Oyster &Mussel Fishery is the last traditional oyster fishery in Europe, and Christopher Ranger, at 34, is one of the youngest fisherman to continue gathering oysters by hand hauling small dredges into his 1960s sailboat ‘Alf Smythers’, using methods that have not changed in 500 years.
Oysters are best eaten raw with a dash of lemon. Paul aslo creates wonderful things not just with seafood. He loves to cook ducks and duck eggs that are often on the Menu at Tresanton - these he gets from another committed local supplier, the Cornish Duck Company where Roger and Tanya are passionate about producing the very best flavour for their beloved ‘Terras Ducks’. His desserts are pretty fantastic too - I recommend you try his prune and almonds macerated in Calvados with frangipane or his apricot and pistachio tart with white chocolate ice cream and listen, if you will, to the chorus of ‘mmms’, ‘ahs’ and ‘yums’ that rise and settle like small Cornish clouds over the heads of diners in the pretty restaurant....and you may never, ever, want to leave. The world may be your oyster but you need look no further than Tresanton....
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.