Happy Bank Holiday weekend! Just back from a blissful weekend in Norfolk staying with friends who are wonderful hosts.
I ventured off the coast of England in a sailboat for the first time. We rocked gently in the sunshine and ate soft boiled eggs with pastel blue shells, laid by their Legbar chickens. This was followed by freshly picked Norfolk crab, dressed with lemon juice and homemade garlic mayonnaise.
Other eating highlights included a whole roast goose, rich with sweet goose fat, and a barbequed leg of lamb, marinated in garlic, lemon, parsley and olive oil for a day and charred until crisp on the outside but still juicy and a blushing rosy colour on the inside.
We ate asparagus from a neighbouring farm, Wiveton Hall, picked an hour before. I have never tried such fresh asapargus and as many food writers have proclaimed before me, it really was even more delicious for being just out of the ground. The stems were as sweet as sugar, in stark contrast to the earthy, spicy chilli oil and sharp lime crème fraîche sauces we drizzled on them.
Walking along the dramatic Norfolk cliff tops and then back along the Coast road, we stumbled on Jenny's crab shack, serving up cold crab and lobster with no seasoning whatsoever. No salt, no pepper, not even any lemon. It was incredible - sweet but undeniably from the salty sea.
Holt
Norfolk NR25 7TE
Tel: 01263 740525
Jenny's Crab Shack
On the A149 Coast Road from Sheringham to Weybourne
Tel: 07818 608 439