HOW TO MAKE HOLIDAYING AT HOME A BLOODY GOOD THING

Holiday breakfasts, Monday bbqs, where to enjoy all day rosé, Wilderness virginity & French cheeses ...

Woah, I didn’t realise holidaying at home could be so full-on, fun & tiring…I will definitely need another kind of holiday at some point!!

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Who usually has time for a sit down, leisurely breakfast?  

Almost no-one unless they’re on holiday.

Whilst I am not advocating you prepare the kind of grand buffet that is such a treat on holiday, there are other ways to go to town...  

As an aside, one of the best ever was the feast at Royal Hideaway Corales Beach in Tenerife, a paragon of the form. Heaped platters of local cheeses, a Canarian take on sobrasada, every sub-tropical fruit imaginable, and a bread range to make a Bake-Off winner swoon, plus a cortadores carving Iberico bellota (acorn-fed ham) set the gastronomic bar high.

Closer to home, in Cardiff, chef-proprietor Owen Morgan (often on Matt Tebbutt’s ‘Saturday Kitchen’) and his siblings Tom and Natalie have opened Parador 44 and serve the most brilliant and generous breakfast downstairs in Asador 44 which is open to non hotel staying guests for breakfast too.  Besides the Iberico bellota ham and masses of charcuterie, there’s a brilliant full Iberian breakfast and housemade ensaimadas

Back home, a bowl of pasture-fed cow’s milk tangy yoghurt from Wylde Market with a divine blood nectarine from Natooramade me feel distinctly en vacance. 

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I’d recommend bringing some extra spontaneity to your socialising to maximise on that holiday feel.  We had a great impromptu supper in the garden of friends on Monday evening: chicken satay bbq, courgette salad and new potatoes, strawberries and cream.  

Then, yesterday, I’d planned a quick meet up for brunch with new friend Sara, a fine art and wine journalist.  Daylesford Pimlico Road is great for people-watching not so good for brunch dishes with flavour (my butter beans with harissa and heritage tomato were SO bland and the coffee meugh).  Maybe I am spoiled by my local cafes Apple Blue and Milk London?

Somehow we found ourselves at The Orange, just down the road, ordering carafes of wine and grazing on the exhilirating food with the clear vibrant signature of Group Exec Chef Ben Tish: courgette fritti and proper calamares, no dodgy unidentifiable rings, with preserved lemon mayo.  Stephen, @thesconemaninlondon joined us post scone deliveries and we nicked much of his irresistible prawn and garlic pizza plus impeccable chips too.

Courgette fritti with harissa mayo and crispy sage

Taking a day properly out of town truly makes one feel that the holiday season is in the air.  I was fortunate enough to be invited to Wilderness, my first time ever, by Cheeses of France. It was a brilliant, sunny day in the vast grounds with some exceptional people watching and outrageous outfits.  The chilled vibes and wonderfully diverse mix of people was especially heartwarming particularly in the light of the abhorrent recent unrest. 

The Cheese Explorer #EuropeCheeseatHeart #HaveaFrenchLoveAffair #FrenchCheese

The day started with a live version of Andi Oliver and Miquita Oliver’s podcast ‘‘Stirring It Up’ with special ‘Saturday Kitchen’ guests Matt Tebbutt and Cocktail Carmen - talking about ‘washing’ cocktails with fat ie cheese          …I am not convinced yet) plus cheese expert Emma Young aka The Cheese Explorer (her first book is an excellent present for a cheese lover).   Andi went crazy for the creamy decadence of Brillat Savarin whilst I’m with Matt Tebbutt in always choosing the nutty savouriness of Comté.   Though at the tutored cheese tasting by Emma later, I was reminded quite how good Brillat Savarin can be as a treat. I think it would be delectable served with strawberries rather than cream.

It was good to reacquaint myself with Pont L’Évêque, the original Normandy (originally by monks) with a pleasingly barnyard, yeasty aroma yet a taste that is gentler than its aroma, a little salty tang plus hazelnuts and the creamy texture offset by the sticky rind.  I’d like to try it with champagne, suggested as a fine match.  I hadn’t tasted Fourme d’Ambert, made in Auvergne for more than 1000 years, for ages either.

Do you find you get stuck into particular cheese grooves?  I do.

This is a milder, more creamy blue than I am used to.  Recently, I’ve mostly purchased gorgonzola or Spanish Picos blue or the ultra pungent Cabrales).  I enjoyed the Fourme d’Ambert, especially enhanced by some walnuts and fresh cherries.  

Could this be a summer of chesserts?  Blending cheese and dessert, a subject I have written about several times.

I was impressed too by the discerning mix of stalls to shop, even the boob and pudena adornments that I resisted (sorry The SconeMan) … I was especially intrigued by Will Valentine selling plant inks and screen prints depicting the plants with which they are painted including elder, oak, Monterey Cypress and Kitri Studio’s most gorgeous, surely Matisse-inspired cards and prints made from seaweed and paper pulp plus, also on the repurposing theme, solar lights made from recycled plastic bottles.

Festival food has become quite a trend in itself.  We eschewed the rather pricey and sold out Chantelle Nicholson and Claude Bosi field feast tents in favour of festival food trucks.  I was thrilled to find Buddha Bowls whom my son, Theo, had first introduced me to in Whitechapel Market several years ago.  Thoughtfully made with festival energy nutrition in mind, the vegetarian Massaman with rice, pickles, kale and halloumi was fabulous.  A delicious refreshment discovery was the Disaronno (an Italian blend of herbs, spices, and apricot kernels producing an almond rich velvety liqueur) cocktail on ice with coconut water.  Perfect summer holiday at home dolce vita.

What’s been your experience of summer at home this year? 

Or what are your fondest memories of holidaying at home?  

What is your favourite salad combination this year?

Subscribe now, incredibly it is still for free, though if you can, I would love you to try out a paid subscription and help a freelance journalist better to survive the summer when all commissioning editors seem to disappear. AND enjoy the Wylde special offer and tell me your thoughts here or on my HowtobeaBetterFoodie substack chat

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