This Suffolk Story is mainly visual………..enormous skies, arresting landscapes, mouthwatering produce, wondrous people………let me explain.
Last month, Jeremy and I spent an inspiring few days on the Suffolk Coast. The premise of our little adventure was the incredible opportunity to host two popup dinners at the award winning Pump Street Bakery (AKA the Pink Palace of Deliciousness).
Joanna Brennan, one of the owners of the Pump Street Bakery and Pump Street Chocolate has championed us since the beginning of Building Feasts. She has collaborated on many of our Supper Clubs with her outstanding breads and chocolate and supported us as we grow with infinite encouragement and friendship. So when she posed the idea of us cooking in her kitchen using all the bounty of the local ingredients, we jumped at the chance with our hearts fluttering, honoured to be asked.
There were so many highlights. Starting with waking up every morning to the massive skies bearing the most exquisite light on the horizontal landscape, daily breakfasts at Pump Street Bakery, finalising our menu only once we saw the produce available on the day (a stark contrast to our methodical London meal planning) and meeting the hugely generous and creative local community.
We were lucky enough to have a few extra hours to meet some of Suffolk’s talented artisinal entrepreneurs including illustrator Cheryl Rawlings, who reminded us that it all starts at the table, ceramicist Sophie Cook who introduced us to her colourful world of porcelain magic and designer Susannah Cook who shared tea with us at her aspirational space, The Merchants Table.
Suffolk, we cannot wait to come back for another adventure and look forward to some beautiful collaborations in the not too distant future.
We did make this Smoked Mackerel Salad as one of our starters at our popoup, served alongside beetroot carpaccio and Pump Street focaccia. All of our fish on the menu, including arguably the best smoked mackerel we have ever eaten came from Pinney’s.
While we are not yet paid up members of the Suffolk Tourist Board, a huge thanks goes to our wonderful friends Nick and Alexia (AKA our Suffolk parents) for housing us at their converted barn. If you consider a Suffolk getaway, this is an ideal location.
An extra thank you to Good Things Brewing Co. whose craft beer was a wonderful welcome for our guests. They are opening the world’s most sustainable brewery and on top of everything else they are creating, we hope that many of our favourite bakery’s will soon be using their milled grains leftover from the brewing process to make our daily breads.
A final thank you to all the incredible local producers whose bounty made our Suffolk feasts such a delicious success.
Pump Street Bakery, Pump Street Chocolate, Maple Farm, Newbourne Farm, Pinney’s of Orford, Fen Farm Dairy, High House Fruit Farm, Moat Farm Flowers