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Did you know that pasta has been commercially made in Norfolk for over a hundred years? Its pedigree firmly established in the county since 1878. New Norfolk brand Waveney Mill has developed and crafted a beautiful, yet simple range of pasta shapes using bronze dies, creating a product with stunning texture and great flavour. Waveney Mill has stood on the banks of the River Yare in the Waveney Valley for over 140 years, an area rich in wheat cultivation since the Saxon times. Durum wheat, rarely seen milled in the UK, is the essential ingredient in Waveney Mill's pasta and although at the moment sourced from France the makers are determined to source British durum wheat of the quality required. (Come on East Anglian farmers, you can do it! ) Compared to soft wheat flour, hard durum wheat has less elasticity and much more plasticity, and when cut using bronze dies means that thick and rugged pasta shapes not only can soak up rich sauces so wonderfully, but they also don’t lose their extruded shape when being cooked. Of the box that was gifted to SuffolkFoodie HQ to try our favourite was Spatziola served simply with our home made pesto sauce, the curly trumpet like shapes providing pockets to cradle the sauce.Yum!

• the Spatziola trapped the pesto in every little curl
• dollop the pesto on the cooked pasta
• home made pesto sauce (recipe link in blog post)
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Here's a few ideas for Christmas presents to give the food lovers in your life. Mr SuffolkFoodie if you are looking .... I'd like all of these please.

Christmas cheese! A trio of East Anglian cheeses. £25. Check out cheese related Christmas gifts or join the Slate Cheese Club. Slate is a Suffolk based, specialist cheese retailer offering nationwide delivery. Book your December delivery slot quickly. (I've been sent a sample box and can confirm that the cheese arrives in fabulous condition.)

12 Christmas Classics Macarons £25. From Suffolk makers Hilton Macarons. I've eaten a box of these. Black Truffle. Brandy Butter. Christmas Pudding. Eggnog. Mulled Spice. Orange Chocolate. A colourful and delicious selection. My favourite? Christmas pudding. Liquorice and Blackcurrant are also superb if you fancy other flavours.

Something fishy. Sardines from The Tinned Fish Market. Madrid Tray £35.00. Don't you just love the tins?

Loose leaf tea from The Rare Tea Company. Fairly traded and directly sourced. Chinese Whole Leaf Green Tea (White Monkey Paw) is one of my favourites. 25g tin £5.99

Hotel Starlino Maraschino Cherries £9.50. Pop one of these Italian beauties into your Brandy and Babycham this Christmas. Gorrrgeous jar

 A Potato Printer Pawtatoes 2022 Calendar £15.00. Cute!

Ho Ho Ho Christmas Pork Pie from Bray's Cottage. Norfolk £29.95 (last orders 17th Dec) Our go to pork pie to send as a pressie. My family fight over them.

Sandlings Saffron Soap. £5.99 Beautiful hand made soap using Suffolk grown saffron. Grapefruit and Saffron or Aloe Cucumber and Saffron. Their saffron is top class and the Saffron Sea Salt £6 a perfect stocking filler. Just wait for the aroma when you open up an online delivery.

A Pump Street Chocolate Father Christmas £7.50. Big kids chocolate!

A Mostly Foodie Days of 2022 Tea Towel £20.50. You wouldn't want to forget World Trifle Day, would you?

And what better for the lady in your life than a pair of fur slippers with a removable lobster brooch.  £35.

Yesterday I ate far too much ice-cream, then dreamt about it all night and since then haven't been able to stop thinking about ice-cream. I even snuck back to the freezer this morning to hide the pot of stem ginger out of sight from Mr SFoodie. This is what happens when you get invited to to an ice-creamery. 

Katherine from Suffolk Meadow invited me to try her range of ice-creams and whilst collecting a selection from her ice-creamery I felt very lucky to be given a little tour, learning how the ice-cream is made. Well, hooray for Waveney Valley cows because Suffolk Meadow uses milk and cream from nearby Beccles farmers, E S Burroughs and Sons  - that's what you call 'loocal' in Suffolk. Mind you Katherine knows all about milk as she was very much part of the family firm Marybelle until the business was moved to a new partner in 2014. The family kept their ice-cream business leaving Katherine to run Suffolk Meadow full time. I had a peep in the ingredients store and saw all the different bottles of booze, nuts, fruit, chocolate etc that is used to flavour the ice-cream. There are so many different flavours of ice-cream and I chose five to take home and try. In the interests of research, to preserve my arteries and not have a riot on my hands I allowed my Mr SuffolkFoodie and my resident daughter to taste test them all with me, lining up our selection in order of favourites. If you want to treat yourself to some Suffolk Meadow then check out the list of stockists here otherwise online ordering is available from the website ... and it's well worth the drive to Walpole to stock up your freezer. Consider having a bespoke flavour made, which Katherine will do if you order the minimum production which is 8 litres. I'm thinking an ice-cream party is on the cards, and might very well be a good way to celebrate the lifting of lockdown.

• surprisingly good, rich, creamy and vanilla flecked ice cream was a favourite of us all
• where do you start? the answer is to try them all
• rum and raisin was packed full of raisins that had been soaked in rum and brown sugar
• ooh! look at the ginger in this - the all time favourite was the stem ginger, a smooth velvet ice cream base with delicious chunks of stem ginger
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Local hand-made chocolate alert! This rather lovely Spring Selection was sent to me by Marimba, the Suffolk based Chocolatiers. It's a family run business with a chocolate kitchen in Bury St Edmunds and a Cocoa House (chocolate shop and cafe) in Sudbury. The family, David and Jackie Wright, with son Brad and eldest daughter Katherine produce a Hot Chocolate Melt made from flaked chocolate, using top quality cocoa beans from Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador, all selected for their distinctive flavours. Be surprised dear readers as I do not usually drink hot chocolate. It's the hot milk thing that I've never been crazy about, but I always try what I've been given and the Spring Selection included a 52% Vietnam Dark Milk flake. It dissolved easily in a mug of microwaved milk and a quick whisk with my aerolatte produced a very enjoyable strong and rich, smooth hot chocolate. I've obviously not been indulgent enough with my hot chocolate before. There's an online shop with fabulous range of hand-made chocolates, thins, bars, buttons and seasonal collections. Spring Sunshine Thins are sweet (I'm double checking as I write) white chocolate, cut through with zingy grapefruit and citrussy orange and a slight tropical flavour of those old fashioned sweets; pineapple chunks. Strawberry and Mint Thins are made with Venezuelan milk chocolate, rich and robust with hints of garden mint, softer than the often strong peppermint found in some chocolate. The little pieces of dried strawberry add some sharpness now and again. I saved the chocolate collection until last. Hands up if you remember violet and rose creams of the 60's? These tasted better - a Rose and Raspberry Caramel, pretty in pink with a delicate rose and nicely tart, not too sticky, raspberry caramel centre. A Lemon and Violet Cream, with a dark chocolate and sugared violet encrusted case, and strongly scented violet and lemon cream filling is delicate in flavouring, just enough not to make you feel you're at a perfume counter. Last to try was the very cinnamony and dark, spicy chocolate truffle, think hot cross buns. Perfect for Easter!

• chocolate flakes melted easily in hot milk
• with spring brings the hope of summer
• white chocolate and citrus - a perfect marriage
• so pretty and so well scented and flavoured
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Wagamama is making 2021 the year of positive change pledging that 50% of the menu will be meat free by the end of the year. Quite a challenge given the crippling COVID restrictions and constant closures of the past year. Plans for the current lockdown are to keep as many of its branches open as possible for takeaways, including the Bury St Edmunds branch. So whilst many of us have been correctly focussing on supporting the independent restaurants, we mustn't forget the role that the bigger chains play within the UK economy. As employers across a range of varied roles, the UK restaurant sector remains one of the UK's most diverse and creative industries in which the chains play a significant part. When Wagamama opened in 1992 it was revolutionary, bringing Asian food to consumers in an approachable way. Hopefully in 2021 it will be revolutionary in tackling the hard issues of sustainability.

I was invited by the GM in Bury St Edmunds to try some of the new and existing menu, including some vegan options. Of course, because of lockdown it had to be a takeaway, but that proved to be a good opportunity to see how the click and collect system worked and if the food would be as good as when served in the restaurant. At the moment I have my 14 month old grandson living with me and the million dollar question was - will the baby like the food?  So last Thursday I set off to Bury to collect a family takeaway, selected for us by the staff. What a treat to not have to cook and greedily we managed to devour the sides of edamame beans with chilli garlic salt, wok fried greens, duck gyoza, ebi katsu and tama chilli squid while we unpacked the main course dishes. Abbie (in the picture above with the other friendly and upbeat staff) wanted us to try the fresh squeezed juices and included both the 'positive' (pineapple, lime, spinach, cucumber and apple) and 'power' (spinach, apple, fresh ginger) which I'd drive back to Bury for right now. These were really invigorating drinks, especially the power juice with a good hit of ginger. The takeaway packaging for the food is robust, so robust I thought why such an expense on containers, but I get it, already the take-out bowls, although recyclable have been put to use in the freezer and been kept to re-use again and again. Main courses included a portion of the Wagamama vegan 'ribs' which were sticky, smoky, sweet and spicy but softer in texture than pork or beef.  For the ever growing number of consumers who are turning to veganism for ethical reasons and look for fake meat products these ribs might be the answer, but for me, because I'm a fresh vegetable lover, far more enjoyable was the delicious vegan Teppanyaki -yaki soba yasai ( thin noodles, sizzling from the grill with stir fried mushrooms, peppers, beansprouts, onions and flavoured with ginger and sesame). We also tried a hearty donburri with teriyaki beef brisket which came with kimchee. Curry was also on the menu; a mild and citrusy chicken raisukaree which was well balanced and fragrant with chilli, fresh lime and fresh coriander. And the baby? Well Emilio was served a mini chicken katsu and a mini yaki soba, which we tasted too. He loved both and what a treat to see an interesting kids menu full of colourful, fresh and exciting flavours.

• edamame beans which we ate dipped into chilli-garlic salt
• donburi - teriyaki beef brisket - sticky white rice topped with teriyaki beef brisket with shredded carrots and seasonal greens
• kids mini chicken katsu
• power juice - delicious spinach, apple and fresh ginger
• happy Emilio who loved mini chicken katsu
• wok-fried greens were perfectly cooked with some crunch
• kids yaki soba - what child doesn't like noodles?
• ebi katsu - prawns in crispy panko breadcrumbs, fresh chilli, coriander and a squeeze of lime with garlic dipping sauce on the side
• raisukaree chicken curry - mild and citrussy with coconut, red peppers, spring onion and fresh coriander
• vegan ribs certainly looked the part and were sticky, smoky and spicy
• teppanyaki - yasai yaki soba - mushroom, noodles, peppers,beanshoots with delicious fried shallots
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What's that I hear you say? The Amelie Flam-kuche flatpack is a new on-line, delicious, UK delivery ready meal, from father and son team Regis and Alex Crepy at Amelie Restaurant in Cambridge. Flammekeuche is a traditional Alsace dish, so think France meets Germany. It could be described as a skinny pizza, but it's rather more like an unleavened pastry or flatbread. Thin with crispy edges as it comes out of the oven and the perfect snack at any time of the day. You can choose the toppings when ordering your flatpack (which contains 4 bases and will keep for up to 4 days in the fridge) then it's a quick assembly job; which is also fun and easy for children to do, cook for six minutes in a very hot oven. Et Voila!

• sour cream is traditionally used on a flammekueche base, here with Amelie signature creme fraiche
• Toppings are freshly prepared. Piquant, sliced onions, mushrooms and mozzarella with the pesto adding colour and punch
• Preheat the oven to 230 C and it takes just six minutes to cook
• Voila! We chose the mushroom and mozzarella flatpack
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In 1977 I went to work as a nanny for an Iranian family living in Oxford. I arrived on a Sunday evening ready to start work on the Monday. It was a cold November night and I was welcomed with the most delicious Ghormeh Sabzi served with Persian steamed rice. I discovered on this first night that rice would endlessly be cooked and turned out of the pan to great ceremony,with both the children’s mother and their granny competitively trying to achieve the perfect and fluffiest finish. The Persian steamed rice was always fragrant with saffron and glistening with butter. A raw egg, presented in an egg cup alongside a side dish of somagh were often placed on the table, ready for us to add to our own serving of rice. I hated that raw egg, but eventually became quite adept at quickly mixing it into the hot, steaming rice so that it scrambled slightly, losing its raw snottiness. My favourite rice was always the one served with a thick, golden crunchy crust of TahDig, (bottom of the pot) which formed when slowly steaming the rice over a layer of butter, or sometimes yoghurt and saffron. I was taught to make this and eagerly watched whenever it was made to make sure I had the best chance of perfecting it myself.

Recently I was sent a pot of Sandlings Saffron to sample which is grown in Suffolk and when I opened the envelope containing the tin capsule the aroma hit me, instantly reminding me of those days working as a nanny. Persian rice therefore was my go-to recipe to test the pungency, colour and strength of this locally Orford grown saffron. Quantities were not important when I was taught to cook the rice, just the technique, which if followed should work for any amount that you decide to cook. It has for me over the years.  The best rice to use is a bog-standard long grain Basmati rice. Usually the cheapest bag in the supermarket that’s not ‘easy cook’ or if you check the cooking time on the packet is not a 10/15 minute quick cook rice. Generally any ethnic supermarket will have a good unadulterated Basmati. 

• Soak the rice in cold water overnight or for at least a few hours if overnight is not practical.
• Take a couple of pinches of saffron threads and pummel in a pestle and mortar, then steep in about half an egg cupful of boiling water until needed.
• Rinse the soaked rice under cold running water until the water runs clear. 
• Heat a large pan of boiling, unsalted water and stir in the rinsed rice. Stir only once or twice to stop the rice sticking to the bottom of the pan. Allow the rice to reach a rolling boil (and you might notice some grains and foam starting to float to the top) and cook it for 5 minutes. The grains should be softening on the outside but hard in the middle. 
• Drain and rinse the rice again under cold running water.
• Take a deep, heavy based pan, non-stick if you want to ensure the TahDig comes away in one piece. (It must be clean so don’t be tempted to use the pan that you’ve blanched the rice in unless it’s had a good wash.) 
• Melt a couple of large knobs of butter in the bottom of the pan, enough that once melted it covers the bottom of the pan and is about 5mm deep. Add a splash of oil to the butter to prevent it from burning too quickly.
• Once the butter is sizzling take the blanched, drained but still wet rice and carefully spoon it over the butter layer. Sprinkle with a little salt. 
• Make about four holes with the handle of a wooden spoon and divide the soaked saffron between the holes, cover up with a little loose rice, hiding the saffron and forming a small mound with the rice in the saucepan. 
• Wrap the lid of the pan in a clean tea towel and place the pan over a very low heat for an hour. The heat must be no more than the equivalent of a slow trembling simmer. Do not remove the lid or peep at the rice during this time.
• After an hour turn off the heat and the rice is ready to serve. 
• Turn out onto a large serving dish, admiring the crust (TahDig) that’s formed on the bottom and which was always the prized part of the rice.  You may need to encourage the TahDig to come away from the bottom of the pan, but hopefully it should come away in one piece.                                                                                                                                                                          

The Sandlings Saffron was excellent and robust enough to flavour the rice and provide the pungency required to provide that saffron waft when turning out the rice. I’ve always been lucky enough to be sent Iranian saffron which I think is the best, but Suffolk’s doing very well indeed and I’d have this one in my store cupboard any day.

• soak the rice overnight or for as long as possible
• bring to the boil in a large pan of water (5 mins only)
• melt butter and a splash of oil in a clean pan
• add the blanched and drained rice burying the steeped saffron and liquid
• steam for 1 hr using a cloth to cover the saucepan lid
• turn out onto a plate and if you are lucky the tahdig will be in one piece
• fluff up the remaining rice and add more butter if desired
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Forager's Kitchen at Blackthorpe Barn, Rougham are launching their new Discovery Box very soon. I was asked to test drive the home delivery service in August and it was like no other that I have tried before. The box of foodie goodies was delivered to my door and invited me to Explore, Discover and Enjoy. It was a real treat and included a range of artisan products, information about the producers (not all from Suffolk, so some unfamiliar, which I enjoyed) and introduced some new flavours, cooking methods & skills. Instructions and superb ingredients were included for me to create my own restaurant quality meal at home. A high quality printed magazine featured augmented reality videos giving instant and easy access to every element of the box. Quite a Discovery indeed!

All was revealed last week when I was invited to a 'Secret Garden' barbecue at Bildeston Crown and discovered the beautiful walled garden, tucked away at the back of the inn. You can book it exclusively for yourself and up to sixteen people for an al fresco meal. It has access through a gate from the car park or via the new very cosy lounge and Champagne bar (more about that another time). It's cook your own on the inset grills which run down the centre of the table, allowing you to barbecue delicious meats and vegetables yourself without having to move. Chef and owner Chris Lee is on hand to make sure no one goes hungry or burns anything they shouldn't. Ice buckets fill the gaps where there's no grill ensuring that the wine is as perfectly chilled as the guests. With delightful service from Hayley and the young, professional team at Bildeston Crown we enjoyed glasses of refreshing chilled rose and were delivered superb side salads, hot side dishes, dips and sauces to accompany the Red Poll steaks, homemade beef burgers, chicken kebabs and marinated pork. We cooked our meat on the grills, slowly grazing away well into the afternoon. If you fancy your own al fresco feast speak to Chris or Hayley who will tailor a menu for you. Prices start at £30 a head and I'll put my money on the cute little courtyard working well in the winter months too. Braziers, patio heaters, hot grills, vin chaud, raclette, Pierre-chaude and fondue ...just an idea.

• the inset grills, fired up and ready
• it was easy to reach the grills from our comfy chairs
• we cooked our own beef burgers
• just some of the hot side dishes
• drum roll .. as the food starts to arrive ... what will we be cooking?
• delicious side dishes kept on coming, including the Bildeston classic lobster Caesar salad
• thick cut Red Poll steaks were beautifully tender
• vegetable kebabs were delicious too
• chilled rose wine, ready and waiting
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It was so tempting to have a lick of the plate and the juices left in the bottom of the bowl, once I had polished off the Isle of Wight tomato salad at The Northgate last week. The delicious hibiscus and sherry vinaigrette dressed tomatoes, topped with light, whipped cobnut cream and nasturtium pesto reminded me of a Spanish Gazpacho. And sitting outside on the lavender edged terrace, on what must be Bury's only central, outdoor, dining space added to the relaxed and laid back dining experience at this striking Victorian townhouse. I was invited to try the new menu and to tour the newly refurbed restaurant, cocktail bar and lounge ... all are quite stunning. There's a private dining room seating 14 (complete with giant framed cockatoos looking on). A brilliant and boldly decorated cocktail bar and a Chef's table where you can dine and watch the brigade at work. Head Chef Greig Young uses the best produce he can find, with the Taste of East Anglia menu (£45 a head) offering a selection of seasonal small plates, inspired by the local area and it's producers. And no I didn't only eat a salad, I ate bread made with Pakenham Mill flour, then a crisp and light Norfolk Dapple gougere, next came hand cut beef tartare with pickled mustard, broad beans and red endive, followed by a spiced East Anglian bhaji using local potatoes, and the finale of the savoury plates; fillet of plaice in a seaweed crust with a crisp lobster 'scampi' on a light hollandaise, lifted by slices of pickled cucumber.  Greig chose to serve a whipped dark Tosier chocolate, creme de cacao ice cream on a saucy kombucha, caramel espresso as a pre-dessert and then for the main dessert - like I really needed two, roast white chocolate with hibiscus (think Caramac, but better) with roasted red fruit, raspberries and milk ice cream. As well as the superb food at The Northgate staff are also delightful, providing a professional, discreet yet friendly service under the expert guidance of Manager Michael Box.

• the homemade bread
• Norfolk Dapple gougeres
• Isle of Wight tomatoes, juicy with the hibiscus vinaigrette and you'd never believe that with the cobnut cream this is a vegan dish
• Hand cut beef tartare, pickled mustard, broad beans
• Bhajis made with local spud, crips and moreish, vegan too
• A huge lobster 'scampi' aloft the plaice fillet with pickled cucumber hollandaise
• Whipped Tosier chocolate with the slightly sour Kombucha espresso caramel and creme de cacao ice cream
• Caramac! Big shards on milk ice cream and roasted red fruits
• Affordable and interesting lunch menu, perfect for al fresco dining
• The cocktails are excellent too
• Smile! Head Chef Greig Young and Manager Michael Box
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