Magical Mushroom Mystery Tour

Wild mushrooms are gorgeous, but the astronomical cost of these fungal delights means that I rarely get to eat them in the quantities I would like. However, the fertile Sussex Downs are home to numerous spores and fungi and whilst varieties such as Chanterelles and Seps are undoubtedly foodie gold, eating the wrong ones can kill you dead.

Offering a doorway into the clandestine world of fungus is Chichester based head chef and veteran forager Nik Westacott. With the autumn marking the start of the wild mushroom season, Devour Sussex caught up with the mushroom man to get the inside track on how to bag yourself some wild mushrooms for nowt. Read More »

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Wheelers of St James @ The Chequers, Maresfield – Review

Location: High Street, Maresfield, TN22 2EH

Overview: “The arrival of team Pierre White in East Sussex is fantastic news, offering competent, classy English cuisine in a stylish and traditional setting. What is more, the price of the food and drink puts The Chequers right in the face of every so called gastropub in Sussex.”

I’ve lost count of the amount of weekends I’ve had ruined by pubs charging over the top prices for underwhelming, uninspired dross passed off as gastropub food. So, imagine my excitement when news filtered through that Marco Pierre White, arguably God in chef whites, was setting up a new country pub venture near Uckfield, described in the promotional material as offering, “An eating, drinking and sleeping experience unrivaled in its Englishness”. Read More »

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Brighton & Hove Food and Drink Festival 2010 is just around the corner!

Taste the World in 2010 with the Brighton & Hove Food and Drink Festival. The theme for this year is ‘Local Produce, International Flavours’ so expect a celebration of fantastic Sussex food and drink, all with a global twist.

The festival opens with a special race day at Brighton Racecourse, followed by a World Food Trail throughout the city centre on Saturday 4 – Sunday 5 September when foodie businesses – ranging from restaurants and hotels to pubs and wine merchants – will be throwing open their doors a showcasing the flavours of the world. The following weekend of Saturday 11 – Sunday 12 September sees the return of Sussex’s biggest local food market (the aptly named Big Sussex Market!!) alongside the Children’s Food Festival, Live Food Show 2010 and a Mexican Independence Day Festival – all located around New Road, Jubilee Square and Pavilion Gardens. Read More »

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DS bakes with beer and roasts with ale

I’ve always been a fan of cooking with booze. Not only does it add great depth of flavour but you also get to pretend you’re flamboyant TV chef Keith Floyd (RIP)… “one glass for the dish, one for me.”

So when the people at Young’s Brewery dropped me a line suggesting I try some of their recipes which, (surprise surprise) contain various Young’s bottled ales, I didn’t need much persuading. Armed with a clutch of ales and the requisite ingredients here’s how I got on cooking Golden Special Bird, which involves poaching a whole chicken in ale, and Chocolate Stout Brownies, which contain generous measures of Double Chocolate Stout. Read More »

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FoodAdo the latest to use web to connect foodies with artisan producers

The last six months have seen a real step change in the way in which our small artisan producers are using technology and real world innovation to reach out to consumers. This is something I fully support because, as we demonstrated in our recent Devour Sussex Mint Sauce Showdown, produce from independent producers taste so much better than the mass market equivalents.

Both BuyGB and the Virtual Farmers Market are companies offering a wide selection of artisan produce via the internet which would previously have been inaccessible to many, and these sites have been joined by the recent launch of online food community FoodAdo. Read More »

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Fancy a Marco Pierre White BBQ? DS gets the inside track on his Sussex gastropub

When we first posted details of Marco Pierre White’s new gastro pub venture in Uckfield a few weeks ago details were somewhat sparse, but Devour Sussex has been speaking with Marco’s people and here’s the latest…

Where is the new restaurant?

Wheelers of St James @ The Chequers lies a quarter of a mile from the junction of the A22 and the A272 approximately nine miles east of Haywards Heath and eight miles north of Lewes in Uckfield. Read More »

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Devour Sussex tastes Kent & Fraser’s new award-winning gluten free biscuits

For those unlucky enough to be affected by gluten intolerance eating the wrong food can have serious consequences ranging from osteoporosis to depression and with gluten found in everything from cereal to ketchup sufferers are forced to exclude many foodstuffs from their diet. Baking their way to the rescue comes the award-winning Sussex company Kent & Fraser with their great tasting, handmade 100% gluten-free savoury and sweet biscuits and baked products. The gluten intolerants Tea Party is no longer an issue, as Marie-Antoinette almost definitely never said, “Let them eat cake …or indeed anything from the Kent & Fraser range!”.

According to the St Leonards-on-Sea based Kent & Fraser, “This pure and simple range has been lovingly developed from the kitchen table, combining the best quality ingredients (selectively sourced for their flavour) and sometimes ‘quirky’ combinations to produce some of the best tasting gluten-free cakes and biscuits in town”. A bold claim which I was keen to put to the test and thanks to the samples kindly sent by David Clark at Rock PR I was able to do just that. Read More »

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Meet the Farm Shop: Bradford’s Farm Butchers Shop, nr Uckfield

Location: Bradford’s Farm Butcher’s Shop, Little Horsted, Uckfield TN22 5QP

Bradfords is working beef and arable farm, located in the beautiful Low Weald between Lewes and Uckfield. The farm is owned and run by Michael & Kathy Fordham, whose family have farmed in Little Horsted for over 100 years. In the late 90’s the Fordham’s started a programme of diversification to cope with the falling profitability of traditional farming, offering services such as group tours, farming workshops, caravan storage and a small caravan site.

The shop was opened 4 years ago in 2006. Read More »

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Meet the Farm Shop: Adsdean Farm Shop, Chichester

Location: Adsdean Farm, Funtington, Chichester. PO18 9DN

Adsdean Farm is a working farm at the foot of the Downs situated in the beautiful Kingley Vale. The shop is owned and managed by the Hoare family and there are 3 generations working in the business. They have been farming there since 1952  and the farm shop opening in 1969 and specialising in their own Beef and Pork. Read More »

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New Marco Pierre White gastro pub ‘Wheelers’ lands in Uckfield, East Sussex

According to sources at newswire BigHospitality, god like chef Marco Pierre White opened his first gastro pub venture in Uckfield, East Sussex yesterday.

The opening follows a £150,000 refit at the Chequers at Maresfield site, which has been renamed Wheelers. Whilst no menu is currently available, we can only hope that the food follows in the steps of White’s Wheelers of St James site in London.

Wheelers will no doubt be a destination venue for foodies across Sussex and I for one can’t wait to book a table.

Further details

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