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Cornwall: Looe and Liskeard

July 21st, 2009    •  by Bethia    •   2 Comments »

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We spent a couple of beautiful days in the area of Looe and Liskeard in Cornwall. It is easy to see why so many people visit Cornwall every year, especially on a sunny day walking on the coastal path with the scent of honeysuckle and elderflower.

The pride that the Cornish take in their food is both apparent and understandable.

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Cornwall is famous for its seafood, as anyone who has ever watched Rick Stein will know. We went to Pengelly’s a very well known and popular fishmongers, where the fish comes from small day boats. We were lucky enough to find samphire, an edible sea plant that has a very short season. It is salty, green and crunchy and can be eaten raw or cooked. We ate some with a picnic lunch of local smoked mackerel and the rest in a salad.

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Cornwall is most renowned for its pasties. Cornish pasties now come in a huge array of flavors and are available all over the country. My favorite is cheese and onion, but we sampled a traditional pasty, from the pasty shop, with crispy pastry and a steaming steak and potato filling.

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Another Cornish delicacy is clotted cream which is a traditional part of the English cream tea, served with scones and jam. It is a very thick cream with a buttery crust. It is also used in fudge and ice cream and Cornwall has several award winning ice cream makers. Lots of the flavors sounded very English: gooseberry fool; raspberry pavlova, apple and blackberry crumble, Cornish golden crunch and rhubarb and clotted cream.

We stayed at a charming Bed and Breakfast called the Trussel Barn in St Keyne. Beautifully restored, gorgeous views and extremely hospitable owners.

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The Cornish pride was again apparent at breakfast with a delicious range of local products featured.

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We visited Cornish Orchards on our way back from Looe and sampled several of their different apple juices and ciders, made from a variety of different apples including Old Cornish.

One other place in Cornwall I should mention is Sunshine Deli in Liskeard who in addition to the deli have a catering business.  Sadly I don’t have a photo, but they produced a stunning spread with pasties, breads, cheeses, sandwiches, fruit and cakes. A separate post about a wonderful dinner at Langman’s Restaurant will follow.


2 Comments to “Cornwall: Looe and Liskeard”

  1. Thanks so much for this!! All 4 of my paternal great-great-grandparents immigrated to MI from Cornwall. If I remember correctly, mining companies in the US recruited from Cornwall and that’s how my great grandfathers ended up here. After a period of time they were able to bring over their wives or girlfriends and they could start their families in the states. I really want to go visit and see my roots and meet my overseas family some time. Thanks for a quick glimpse, I’m even more motivated now 🙂

  2. Susan W.
    July 24, 2009

    I just read that the only company in the UK that produces salt directly from the sea is The Cornish Sea Salt Co. We bought some at Pengelly’s.
    http://www.cornishseasalt.co.uk

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