Welsh Food
Went to Wales for the August bank holiday weekend and spent time in the west coast along Cardigan Bay and Pembrokeshire, was really pretty with stunning coastlines. Case in point, the picturesque town of Tenby below where we spent a couple of hours on our way driving back to Cardiff. The weather was great too, which was really lucky after the perpetual London drizzle. Wales is like a strange blend of England countryside with a Scandinavian-like second language. Lots of small towns, very quaint and peaceful. I saw about five Asian people the whole time I was here - it felt very old English.
Tenby, Wales
The best thing to me about this part of the world are their breakfast fry-ups. Various pork products, eggs, and starch. What's not to like? In Ireland and Scotland you get white pudding as part of the mix, and as I found out in Wales you get laverbread, which looks like black/white pudding but is made from laver, a type of seaweed, but includes the usual oat mix to form it into little discs. Check it out sitting on top of the tomato below. Every place has their local sausages and bacon though, which is always, so, so, good. I'm definitely a fan of the chewy, meaty, flavourful bacon here than the crispy American versions.
One thing we found was all oysters in West Wales seem to come from Ireland. It is just across the sea, not far at all. They were very tasty - clear, briny, good-sized and creamy. I love a very briny oyster, and find some in England a bit muddy tasting. One day I'll make it to Brittany and have the oysters there - have a taste for French oysters, as I once discovered in Paris. It broke me for life, I'll always compare every oyster I have to that.
With good seafood along the coast we had high expectations. While we didn't find a little seafood shack where we could sample platters, I had a memorable crab spaghetti (in the crab shell!) and the juiciest lobster I've had a long while, with a tarragon hollandaise. The crab spaghetti was completely unseasoned (what a sin), but there's nothing a few shakes of salt over piping hot garlicky, limey, chilli, crab roe and meat spaghetti couldn't cure. With the lobster I appreciated the both claws being shelled for me already, with the whole claw beckoning me. I keep thinking about the Soh family's annual jaunt to Cape Cod for Maine lobsters and how I need to get myself some of that!
Lastly, lamb. Everyone in Wales you saw sheep. Happy, fluffy, white, grazing sheep. We came to sheep country in lamb season. What bliss. This was the best rack I've ever tasted. They were not afraid to serve it rare, oh yeah. And the grilled baby gem lettuce and bacon combo beneath it was a winner.
Welsh cheese was also a big hit, with local suppliers like Kid Me Not - how fun.
Tenby, Wales
The best thing to me about this part of the world are their breakfast fry-ups. Various pork products, eggs, and starch. What's not to like? In Ireland and Scotland you get white pudding as part of the mix, and as I found out in Wales you get laverbread, which looks like black/white pudding but is made from laver, a type of seaweed, but includes the usual oat mix to form it into little discs. Check it out sitting on top of the tomato below. Every place has their local sausages and bacon though, which is always, so, so, good. I'm definitely a fan of the chewy, meaty, flavourful bacon here than the crispy American versions.
One thing we found was all oysters in West Wales seem to come from Ireland. It is just across the sea, not far at all. They were very tasty - clear, briny, good-sized and creamy. I love a very briny oyster, and find some in England a bit muddy tasting. One day I'll make it to Brittany and have the oysters there - have a taste for French oysters, as I once discovered in Paris. It broke me for life, I'll always compare every oyster I have to that.
With good seafood along the coast we had high expectations. While we didn't find a little seafood shack where we could sample platters, I had a memorable crab spaghetti (in the crab shell!) and the juiciest lobster I've had a long while, with a tarragon hollandaise. The crab spaghetti was completely unseasoned (what a sin), but there's nothing a few shakes of salt over piping hot garlicky, limey, chilli, crab roe and meat spaghetti couldn't cure. With the lobster I appreciated the both claws being shelled for me already, with the whole claw beckoning me. I keep thinking about the Soh family's annual jaunt to Cape Cod for Maine lobsters and how I need to get myself some of that!
Lastly, lamb. Everyone in Wales you saw sheep. Happy, fluffy, white, grazing sheep. We came to sheep country in lamb season. What bliss. This was the best rack I've ever tasted. They were not afraid to serve it rare, oh yeah. And the grilled baby gem lettuce and bacon combo beneath it was a winner.
Welsh cheese was also a big hit, with local suppliers like Kid Me Not - how fun.