glasswort as samphire and continued to pickle it. Mabey (1978) remarks that the ‘old way was to pack the samphire into jars with vinegar and store them in bread ovens which were cooling down on Friday night after the baking was finished. The jars were left until Monday morning … it seems to have been highly valued.’ Even this tradition appears to have declined, and may have died out so far as the East Anglian table is concerned. However, the revival of the fresh-fish trade supplying restaurants and commercial kitchens in the South-East, together with an appreciation of wild foods, has led to a reintroduction of samphire (mainly marsh) to fishmongers. It can be bought in many places in London.
The position of rock samphire is less secure. No one gathers it in sufficient quantity to pickle it for sale, but there are commercial kitchens which use it in their recipes in the South-West of England. Pickled samphire is still available in markets in Spain (Stobart, 1980) and in Boulogne - to name but one in France. It can also be eaten raw at the start of the season, or lightly blanched and served with melted butter. It then goes as well with lamb as with fish.
TECHNIQUE:
Marsh samphire is collected by hand from the edges of tidal creeks; it should be cut from the plant just above the base, washed, and used whilst very fresh. Sold from fish stalls, markets and wayside stalls in north Norfolk.
Rock samphire is gathered before it flowers from cliffs and rocks on the coast. After washing and blanching, it may be pickled in vinegar. Evelyn reckoned the best time to pickle it was Michaelmas (29 September); this is thought late in the year by modern cooks.
REGION OF PRODUCTION:
SOUTH ENGLAND.
Watercress
DESCRIPTION:
THE DARK GREEN LEAVES OF WATERCRESS ARE SOLD IN BUNCHES OF ABOUT 100G. FLAVOUR: PEPPERY.
HISTORY:
Watercress, Nasturtium officinale, picked from streams and meadows, was valued for its medicinal qualities. The herbalist John Gerard (1636) and others extolled it as an anti-scorbutic. The Italian Castelvetro in 1614 wrote that it was ‘the last green salad of the season which goes on being available all winter provided the streams are not frozen. It makes quite a pleasant salad, but since there is no alternative it always seems better that it really is. Because watercress grows in fast-running water it is very refreshing and is usually eaten raw. ‘There was confusion, however, between the various sorts of cress and the nasturtium flower (now called Tropaeolum majus). John Evelyn (1699) expresses it well: ‘Cresses, Nasturtium, garden cresses; to be monthly sown: but above all the Indian [our nasturtium flower], moderately hot and aromatick, quicken the torpent spirits, and purge the brain, and are of singular effect against the scorbute [scurvy] … There is the Nasturtium Hybernicum commended also [the winter cress, Barbarea verna], and the vulgar watercress, proper in the spring, all of the same nature, tho’ of different degrees, and best for raw and cold stomachs, but nourish little.’
This ‘vulgar’ cress did not receive much notice from cookery writers, it was perhaps beneath their notice or merely formed part of a general category of saladings. The perils of eating plants that grew in near-stagnant water fouled by animal droppings must also have militated against too general an adoption. In Flanders, there was a fondness for watercress soup, and in France ‘cooks insist upon sending to table a bunch of cresses with roast fowl - even when there is salad besides’ (Dallas, 1877); but neither were British customs.
The general adoption of watercress into the diet, particularly of the urban proletariat, occurred when the hygienic cultivation of watercress began in Kent in the early nineteenth century. In essence, the cress was grown in guaranteed running water. From Kent, it spread to the Thames Valley, and thence, as the expanding rail network enabled speedy transport, to the chalk streams of Hampshire and Dorset with which it is most closely connected today. The railway to these districts was even popularly dubbed ‘the Watercress Line’. It was cried in the streets of London, where workmen bought it for breakfast and became as popular for sandwiches as cucumber (Mayhew, 1851).
TECHNIQUE:
The main areas for cultivation are the valleys of the rivers Test and Itchen, in Hampshire.Cress is also grown in Dorset and Wiltshire. A very little cultivation is still carried on in Hertfordshire and Kent. Watercress requires hard water at constant temperature; the latter is important in winter. In southern England these conditions are provided by the chalk aquifers in the counties of Hampshire, Dorset and Wiltshire; this maintains a temperature of 11°C; the beds have a gravel base and a gradual even slope to ensure the correct flow. The cress is cut by hand or harvested mechanically, cooled, washed, and packed. All watercress seed used in Britain is home-produced; in summer, beds are cleaned and replanted at frequent intervals to ensure a regular supply of young leaves, whilst in winter, crops are grown under protective covering.
REGION OF PRODUCTION:
SOUTH ENGLAND, HAMPSHIRE.
Sussex Slipcote Cheese
DESCRIPTION:
SOFT, UNPASTEURIZED SHEEP’S MILK CHEESE; AS BUTTONS OF 5CM DIAMETER, 2CM DEEP (100G), OR LOGS 18CM LONG, 6CM DEEP (1KG). COLOUR: PALE, ALMOST WHITE. FLAVOUR: LIGHT BUT CREAMY. GARLIC, AND HERB AND BLACK PEPPERCORN-FLAVOURED CHEESES ALSO MADE.
HISTORY:
Slipcote, or slipcoat, cheese has a long history in Britain. Originally, it appears to have been a full-fat cheese, and was widely known. The name may derive from the cheese breaking out of its rind as it ripened (Rance, 1982). Other British cheeses had this reputation, for instance the now-extinct Colwick. Law’s Grocer’s Manual (c. 1895) described slipcote as ‘a rich and soft kind of cheese made of milk warm from the cow, and often with cream added. It closely resembles white butter.’ It was a cheese type, rather than a regional description, though a Victorian writer linked it especially with Yorkshire, and apparently it was known in Rutland until the First World War and, Rance says, ‘remembered later as something like a Camembert, sold on straw, with a volatile coat’. Sir Kenelm Digby gave 3 recipes for slipcote from his Closet (1669), recalling that ‘My Lady of Middlesex makes excellent slippcoat Cheese of good morning milk, putting Cream to it.’ It was a soft, fresh cheese, usually wrapped in docks, nettles, grass or reeds.
Rationing discouraged the manufacture of such rich cheeses, but it is now made again, this time with sheep’s rather than cow’s milk.
TECHNIQUE:
Milk from local flocks is used whenever possible, preferably that from Dorset Horns. It is not pasteurized. The milk is started and vegetarian rennet added; it is left overnight. The curd is gently broken and ladled into moulds. Salt is added, as are herbs or peppercorns if required. Draining depends on season and size of cheese, but lasts 1-5 days.
REGION OF PRODUCTION:
SOUTH ENGLAND, SUSSEX.
As a chef, it is extremely important to me to use the best-tasting, healthiest and freshest food I can find - from pork and beef to fruit and vegetables. For this reason, we at Le Manoir aux ***Quat’Saisons have always worked closely with our local producers, my favourite of which is Laverstoke Park. For me, farm founder Jody Scheckter and his team, through their uncompromising approach to organic farming, are already achieving excellence in their field. Jody’s ambitions are extremely high - compromise doesn’t exist in his approach to farming. He has surrounded himself with the best professionals in every facet of his business and he was one of the very first to understand that the quality and variety of the soil are cornerstones of successful organic farming.
The team at Laverstoke Park creates the most natural and healthy environment for their animals and crops