Gastronomy part I

Yes, this really will be a month of eating great things. It started with the pasty on Saturday in Looe, beef, potatoes, onions, and such, in a flaky, portable crust, much like a Chipotle burrito for beef stew. It was great until we came across a coffee shop that caught our attention and we tucked them away for later (which is the joy of pasties, so conveniently portable!).

 

(I'll admit, the first night here I had instant decaf coffee at my friend's house. Funny how many of the English foods that either tasted gross or made my stomach dodgy the first time in 2008, I now actually don't mind or even enjoy now!)

I'll never understand English coffee shops: £1.50 for a small Americano of which its contents is usually questionable (was that instant coffee or wasn't it?). I put up with it though, for it's the idea of getting coffee in England that counts. 

Whilst in Looe, Roz took me to a little cheese shop where I was introduced to Cornish Yarg. Yarg! Yarg is a wonderful light cheese that is wrapped in stinging nettle, and since we're right where it's made, it is very inexpensive. It's phenomenal! (Especially since your mouth doesn't go numb from the nettle).

We're heading over to a friend's house tonight for wine and cheese so we had to pick up some Wenslydale with cranberries. It'll be great to indulge since it is usually only available around Christmas time at specialty cheese shops back home. Sweet!

Also in that cheese shop I sampled some (hard) cider and some Cornish Lust, strawberry-cream wine akin to Bailey's Irish Cream. (They promote it as "strawberries, cream, and a little Cornish magic," but I know the Cornish magic is just wine.) I suspect it'd taste great with some dark chocolate regardless of whether an endless chain of scarves comes out of an empty bottle or not.

And then today it was cream tea (though eaten at high tea) for lunch up on the Moors among the sheep and, well, sheep. Shredded cheddar cheese sandwiches with cucumber and tomato, scones, strawberry jam, Cornish cream, tea, and cake. I had forgotten how great shredded cheddar cheese sandwiches are--so simple, yet so satisfying! Needless to say, we didn't even make it to the cake--way too much food. 

And I'm pretty sure if I were to ever write a cookbook this photo would grace the cover. I mean, what better photo to invite people to take a look inside?