Top ten places to buy Wild Garlic Pork Pies

Update... there's more than ten now!

Photo Alun Callender for Country Living Magazine

It's been an unusually late start to the Wild Garlic season this year, but, now that it's got going, the plants are looking lush and gorgeous and it's going to be a bumper crop. If you forage for your own Wild Garlic please ask permission from the landowner and pick sustainably, so not too much from any area and never the bulbs.

As seen in Country Living Magazine

So here's the top ten places to buy our famous Wild Garlic Pork Pies (the ones with a six page article in Country Living, such a thrill!). As we've only just listed the pies the current places to buy them are mostly local but more UK-wide stockists will have them in the coming weeks, so I'll add to the list as we go along.

Where to buy our Wild Garlic Pork Pies this week

1. Creake Abbey Food Hall - a few minutes from Burnham Market and home to the very famous monthly farmers market ( we'll have them there on the 5th of May)
2. Harveys Butchers. Norwich's best butcher, on Grove Road. NB the road from Queen's Road is closed at the moment, so if you are driving, head from St Stephens roundabout as if you were going to City College but turn left immediately after the traffic lights.
3. Christie and Son - the famously brilliant cheese stall on Fakenham Market on Thursdays, Dereham on Friday and Swaffham on Saturdays
4. The Green Grocers - on Earlham Road Norwich, our first ever wholesale stockist and still gorgeous.
5. The Norwich Providore - Row B of Norwich market and selling the fabulous Bread Source bread (as well as our pies and many other types of local food brilliance)
6. Earsham Street Deli - Bungay's finest (although the rest of Earsham Street sets a pretty high bar), run by the lovely Michelle.
7. Scrummy Pig at Wroxham Barns - our Broads stockist (soon to be opening another shop in busy Wroxham village)
8. Thyme Deli - one of our Northern stockists in Horwich, Bolton 
9. Ranbow Stores, East Rudham - already have an order in for Friday's delivery, look out for our A Frame on the A148
10. Spring Gardens Nursery, near Pulborough in West Sussex
11. Whelk Coppers in Sheringham - a cosy cafe overlooking the sea
12. Toft Shop, Cambridge. A fascinating local shop specialising in South African Food (and our pies!)
13. Picnic Fayre - the iconic deli in Cley
14. Franklin's Farmshop SE22 London - one of our brand new stockists
15. Jimmy's Farm - the most famous farmshop in Suffolk
16. Slate in Southwold - right next to the Adnams shop
17. La Fromagerie in Highbury, Islington
18. Harp Lane Deli, Ludlow, Shropshire. At the bustling heart of this most foodie of towns.
19. Walsingham Farmshop, Heacham 

The best pork pies - by mail order

Watch this space for more stockists, but if you can't get to any of the above they're also listed on our very own pies by post shop!

Meanwhile, I'll get out picking.

Photo Alun Callender for Country Living Magazine

Kefir without tears

Actually, there's no need for tears at all, it's a doddle making your own kefir, but why waste a good title?

How to make your own kefir

The first thing you need are some kefir grains, which are little clusters of culture (bacterial, not Proust-reading). If you can't find someone with spares to give you they're easily and cheaply bought as mail order on t'internet.

If you buy them, the grains will come with instructions, which will be variations on the theme of "put the grains in milk and wait".

There are only two rules

1. Kefir grains don't like contact with metal
2. Kefir grains don't like contact with chlorinated water, but I'm not sure why you'd want to do that.
3. So it's just rule 1 really. No metal

Put your kefir grains in milk - but don't get stressy

When I started making kefir I was a bit precious and only used full fat organic milk, preferably raw, but actually they seem just as happy in semi skimmed from the milkman, the choice is yours. Other liquids you can similarly ferment with the grains, but I've stuck with milk.

I've used different containers, but ended up with a drinking glass (for ease of washing up), and making a jaunty hat from a coffee filter and an elastic band. I use about 1/2 pint of milk.

Leave the jar of milk and grains at room temperature for around 24 hours, maybe giving it a little stir with the end of a wooden spoon, and, bingo, you've done it. You're practically from the Caucuses. Do not worry if there is separation, that's fine.

If your kitchen is particularly chilly you might want to find a warmer spot, I put mine on the boiler (which is well insulated, so just slightly warm) in the winter. Mostly it just sits on a work surface though.

Sieve.

You now want to retrieve the grains. The method I've landed at is to place a plastic sieve in a cereal bowl and tip the contents of your kefir glass in the sieve. Swill and jiggle it about in the bowl until all you have in the sieve are the grains.

Plonk the grains in another glass, add milk, pop its hat on and off you go again, ready to repeat every day.

The grains will increase, so either donate any spare to a friend or dispose of them.

What's kefir like?

The kefir I make varies a bit each day, but essentially it's like a runny yoghurt. sometime with a bit of fizz. I tend to use it as a breakfast, with nuts and seeds and fruit added. It's also lovely as a drink with a square of chopped up chocolate, some chia seeds and a good shake of cinnamon and maybe some finely chopped mint leaves.

The only limit is your imagination (or Pinterest) 

Make it stop!

If you need to cease production for a while, pop the grains in some fresh milk and store it in the fridge.

If you're inspired to ferment more, here's my easy kimchi recipe.

Pork Pies? It's child's play

How to bake a pork pie

It probably hasn't escaped your attention that, in our Pies By Post shop, we don't only sell pork pies that are ready baked, for years we've also sold frozen ones for you to bake at home (with full instructions). We always say that it's really easy and here's the proof. This is Madeleine, the daughter of one of our customers baking their pie last Christmas. Isn't she brilliant?

Carefully does it

We've decided that this is the new staff uniform.

How to glaze a pork pie

Glazing like an expert

Anyway, the point is that they are terrifically convenient, you can take one out of the freezer (no need to defrost) and let the magic commence. We sell them in several sizes, this is a large one. If you've never smelt the deliciousness of a pork pie baking then you are really missing out on one of life's greatest joys. You definitely need to put that right. Click here immediately...

Dad Brendan sent us these photos when he sent us his Christmas's order today. And there's no greater recommendation than a repeat customer. Thanks Brendan (and Madeleine - you've got a job with us, as soon as Dad lets you).

Is a pork pie course right for me?

Everyone naturally has a few concerns, whether you're buying a cookery course for yourself or as gift for someone else. So I thought I'd write a blog post to lead you through everything so that you can be quite sure. I even asked on social media what people's fears might be and they're all covered here.

Honestly. There's nothing to be worried about - it's all very un-scary.

The cookery school is run by ex hospital consultant and now pâtissier (which means he has a gorgeous cake shop) Dr Tim Kinnaird. Tim and I have been good friends for a long time and we're keen that people have fun whilst they're with us, as well as learning a new tecnique or two to take back to your own kitchen.

You are in very safe hands, Tim and I know that pork pies are probably a new skill, but we make it all surprisingly easy. And we'll teach you how to make puff pastry as a bonus.  

Who comes?

The attendees are pretty equally men and women. People do come with friends, or partners, but most are having a day out on their own.

We kit you out with an apron and you start off with coffee and ridiculously delicious cake in Tim's reception room, with its comfy squishy red sofas, and it all gets nicely chatty from the start. Frankly, by lunchtime we find there's no getting a word in!

If you've got any concerns about any physical issues you've got and how you'd deal with them in the class, give Tim a call before you book and you can chat them through.

There'll be a maximum of eight people and Tim and I are always with you, helping as you put into practice the things we show you. 

There's always a range of cookery experience in the room, from beginners to quite experienced home cooks. Some will have signed up for themselves and others will have been given the course as a present. Often there's an "old hand" who's previously done one of Tim's sweet baking courses and enjoyed it and fancied a foray into savoury. 

A cookery school? What does that mean?

Tim's cookery school is at his production kitchen on the Norwich ring road so it's very easy to find, even for the geographically challenged like me, and there's plenty of parking (and a train station and airport). We've had people come from all over the country, and being in the city there's a wide range of hotel and B&B accommodation if you need it.

It starts at 9.30 (we like you to be there a little early) and finishes around 1, to 1.30. 

In the cookery school area a horse-shoe of eight work surfaces, like  domestic kitchen, each with its own oven and Tim and I stand at the front explaining and doing each bit so everyone can see what we're doing. 

All the equipment that you need is there and you'll get given pre-weighed ingredients, so you just have to concentrate on learning what to do with it and producing lovely pies and sausage rolls. Everyone works at the same pace, you do it step by step, and we're always by your elbow cheering you on or are happy to get hands-on helping you with any fiddly bits.

Best of all, one of Tim's team whisks away all the washing up!

We have regular breaks for a drink and (more) cake, and then, whilst your pies and sausage rolls are in the oven, with the team overseeing them for you, you get to relax and Tim serves a DELICIOUS lunch.

As the pies and sausage rolls come out of the oven there's always lots of congratulatory cooing and "Did I make that?".

Will I be able to do it?

We've had all sorts of people and everyone always proudly takes home the lovely box of pork pies and puff pastry sausage rolls that they've made. Plus a huge dollop of confidence and satisfaction.

So whether you're thinking of coming along yourself or buying it as the best Christmas present for someone - go for it! We'll see you there!

The Wedding Letter

The wedding pork pie

I think I'll just wipe a tear from my eye and, with her kind permission to reproduce this, let Maureen tell the story...

For more information on our wedding pork pies click here

Hi Sarah,

We've just arrived back from honeymoon & we have a long list of suppliers to thank for making our wedding day so amazing, but I really had to put you top of that list! 

The wedding pie in situ at Manchester Town Hall

The pork pie cake you made for us was absolutely incredible. I worried about everything in the run up to the wedding & wondered at one point whether it would have been less risky to just go for a standard traditional wedding cake from a local supplier. We're so so so glad we didn't!

You have been hugely helpful in all our correspondence, understanding what we wanted & replying quickly (I'm afraid I did turn into a stressed out bride & you wouldn't believe how much we appreciate suppliers who reply quickly!)

The Fed Ex local office were also really helpful when we spoke to them on the Friday. Again, speaking to someone who understands how important this delivery was to us, really put our mind at ease.

The cake was delivered with no problems on the Saturday morning. I thought you might like to see what it looked like when we were done with it, so I've attached a few pics!

I had bought lots of boxes for our guests to take the pie home, I honestly thought there was way too much of it to be eaten on the day. 

I was wrong. People were actually queuing for a slice! Even when our evening food was served, everyone wanted a piece of your pie!

We had so many compliments from guests who had never seen a cake like it, & it really did become one of the talking points of our lovely day. I will post a review on Instagram when I get a minute, I'm not on Facebook but can get friends to post if you want to send me a link.

Thank you for everything & we wish you all the very best for your wonderful business.

Kind Regards,

Maureen

Gorgeous!

Scandi Cambridge. An Airbnb adventure a month

“I find Cambridge an asylum, in every sense of the word.”

— A. E. Houseman

We plan to have an AirB&B adventure each month. Not necessarily far away and just a night or two, but regularly, to riffle up our molecules a bit

I am, like all right-minded people, in love, utterly, with Cambridge's Kettle's Yard, (the 20th century art gallery in a Cambridge house), it rivals only The Sainsbury Centre at UEA in my heart. My adoration for it is probably why I've often walked past, but never been to, the much larger Fitzwilliam museum. But dear, dear Kettle's Yard is closed until next year for refurbishment, so we couldn't even be tempted by it. And I'd heard good things about The Fitzwilliam, one friend told us it was as good as the V&A for decorative arts, so September's adventure was Cambridge. 

We are alternating the choice of the actual Airbnb accommodation between us and this month was OH's choice. You'll notice a sudden contrast from last month's gloriously ramshackle riverside cabin. He found himself drawn to a very modern top floor apartment in Chesterton, which is just outside the City centre. I should explain that OH (Derek) went to Cambridge and then stayed and worked there for a decade, before moving his indie music career to Norwich, so he's a good guide to the place.

 Cambridge is famously an odd mix. There's a nucleus of lofty medieval colleges, beautifully, expensively preserved havens of academia, wearing tradition with determined insouciance, interiors swarmed around by, but protectively inaccessible to, a million tourists, There's actually relatively little for the visitors, unless they have a specific purpose to their trip, apart from walking the hard, stone pavements, past the exteriors of the colleges and spending money in the shops (leased from the colleges who own most of the real estate).

Surrounding this is suburbs of yellow bricked terraces (with some inevitably awful 60's and 70s infill, such as The Grafton Centre), at first glance looking surprisingly like any Victorian-grown industrial town. But when you have time to walk past the houses and look properly you notice gorgeously kept front gardens and discrete but expensive extensions. And there's an unmistakable hum of brain power in the air, fuelled by hip and thriving coffee shops and pubs. And everywhere flyers for performances, films, activities and events. You just have to get your eye in to appreciate the Cambridge beyond Jesus Green. It is somewhere you could have fun living in.

Home for the weekend was an Edwardian terrace, owned by a classics professor and his Finnish pianist wife, both lovely and and friendly with a good line in wit. From the outside the house looked fairly small, but inside the house was deep and beautiful. The epitome of an academic's home, lovely paintings, shelves of books and two Steinway pianos in the front room. The attic had been enlarged and converted into a lovely, light and spacious modern studio apartment, scandi styled with a kitchen and shower room, overlooking the gardens of the house and the neighbours. Perfect.

After a cuppa we walked, along the river, past the house boats and Jesus Green Lido into the City.

The Fitzwilliam started as it went on, by exceeding expectations in its cafe. As it's free entry, should you ever be casting about in the city centre for a civilised lunch venue you could certainly do far worse. Well done Fitzwilliam.

A very happy afternoon ensued, wandering amongst world class pottery, paintings and antiquities. I do love a pot, so I was particularly happy. There's a lot of social history in a bowl, as well as beauty. They've also got an excellent Georgian glass collection, which I found exquisite. 

Ravillious

OH was especially taken with the Egyptology, although conflicted by the fact that you do have to try and lay aside your misgivings about the ethics of such treasures ending up in an East Anglian fenland town.

A well-staffed bakery 1950-1985 BC

Back on the streets we found Cambridge set-dressed in that special pewter-skyed light that comes after a rainstorm.

To escape the crowds, OH exercised his right as an "old member" (just stop that sniggering right now), albeit one who has mislaid his card so had to blag his way in, to rest our over-stimulated brains in Clare College's gardens and peacefully people-watch the punts from the bridge.

To escape another downpour we stood in Jesus College's porch and stared at the Elizabeth Frink horse in its pasture of very special magical mowing.

I'd asked some Cambridge Twitter friends for their food recommendations and, foot-sore that we were, we headed to The Waterman pub for food, very close to the house, which was great. We had so many other ace recommendations that it seems a shame not to share them, so I'll add them at the foot of the page.

The best Sunday mornings always start with leisurely breakfast, so we kicked back and then made our way to the Botanic Gardens. The gardens are 40 acres of academic gorgeousness in the city centre, Kew-like, with glasshouses, specimens, and meticulous landscaping.

Strangely fascinating are the benches, with their fond dedications. There's a short story to be researched and written about every one and I shamelessly want that gig - someone commission me.

Cryptically to Syd Barrett

After another surprisingly good cafe lunch in the gardens we drove to Granchester and had a walk along the water meadows. A pretty village, somewhat dominated by the likes of us turning up to enjoy it. Oh, the guilt of a tourist.

Rupert Brooke and village friends. Less flashy than the memorial at Jeffery Archer's house down the road.

The final joy was to head back into Cambridge and have tea and cake with UEA/Norwich friends who live and work in the city and admire their new extension. I've got extension envy now and am eying the back of our cottage. Please buy more pies. ;)

We haven't quite decided what'll be next month's adventure yet. But watch this space...

The eatery suggestions.
Enough for a month. Many thanks Deepa, Pina and Val x

Cotto
De Luca
Gattuso
Steak and Honour
Stir
The Waterman
No 30
Thirsty
The Petersfield
Calverley's Brewery
196
Backstreet Bistro
Trinity
The Chop House
Aromi
Pho
Tradizioni

The wooden shed by the river. An AirB&B adventure a month.

“Everything on the river was new to them. Only the evening before they had come down the deep green lane that ended in the river itself, with its crowds of yachts and its big brown-sailed barges and steamers going up to Ipswich or down to the sea. Last night they had slept for the first time at Alma Cottage.”

— Arthur Ransome

If you run your own business sometimes you get a bit over-focussed on the quotidian and if you live in a beautiful place, you sometimes forget to leave. So, we have decided to have an AirB&B adventure each month. Not necessarily far away, just a night or two, but regularly, to riffle up our molecules a bit.

Blog it someone said. So here we all are, settle in and keep an eye open for the egrets.

1. August. Pin Mill.

My sense of things geographic is notoriously scatter-gun. Most of Norfolk has been transfixed from the London train by the treat of the view of the bright morning light shining on the tidal river when you pass Maningtree in Essex. So when I booked this adventure I thought that was roughly where we'd be. But no, turns out we were headed to Suffolk and another river. No matter, Essex can be a different month.

Pin Mill is a beautiful little port village on the banks of the Orwell. It's famed for Authur Ransome having lived there and is nestled amongst National Trust woodland. Mostly what people do from there is mess about with boats and mend boats. What leapt at me though, from my phone and the AirB&B app was this little wooden building. There's an adventure.

A terrific man called David is going to feature a lot in this. Really our weekend turned out to be about David, his stories, and the river.

David lives on a metal house boat, permanently moored on the river in a community of house boats. He says he has no interest in sailing off to anywhere, he just likes to stare at the river, the woods and tend his garden. He has converted his wooden cabin on the bank into a tiny, comfortable mini house, with a veranda overlooking his jetty garden and the river. When the cabin gets a booking he's set the system to automatically block out the three days either side so he doesn't have to over-stretch himself on the breakfast cooking. David has finessed the art of convivial laid-backness. This also means book in time is midday but you don't have to book out till 3 pm the next day, so one night is like two days holiday. 

After calling in on cousins further up the Suffolk coast and relieving them of tea, cake and chutney, we drove past Ipswich and down to The Orwell. David met us at the harbour, with a beaming smile and led us along the winding river bank, on the edge of the wood, to his mooring and jetty.

Tip 1. Use the resident's parking space up the hill, as instructed. Driving down to the harbour and having to turn round again on a busy Saturday lunchtime because you missed the car park entrance just makes you look like a tourist and can lead to in-car tension. Trust me.

Tip 2. If you aren't reasonably nimble this isn't one for you. Not least because when the tide is fully in, the only way back to the harbour is via a metal ladder in the wall below the pub. Reader, I coped perfectly well. Feel free to use me as your nimbleness benchmark.

David lived in India, and as he says, he likes "stuff". So the cabin is richly decorated with music and film memorabilia and Indian fabrics. We are not talking boutique hotel luxury, you are essentially living between a wood and the river, but the cabin is super-comfortable with squishy leather chairs and every square inch is fascinating. Everything I wanted was there - a jug of fresh milk, a kettle, PROPER GROUND COFFEE, a cafetierre, tea and a shower.

We took ourself off to buy some bread, tomatoes, smoked fish and a nice bar of chocolate and had a restorative picnic lunch on the veranda.

Tip 3. The closest farmshop is the very busy Suffolk Food Hall. I recommend driving to the other side of the bridge and going to Jimmy's Farm Foodhall. Not only does this give you access to much nicer, ahem, pork pies, but I think the food there is generally much better and has more choice, especially if you are after local provenance.

After a sunny walk down the river the sun seemed to be over the yard arm (whatever that is) so we plied a willing David with a bottle of wine that we'd had the sense to keep about us for the purpose of a little light socialising, sat at the end of his jetty watching the wading birds as the tide turned and we slowly discovered all the things we had in common.

David's one of these people with, what Dennis Healy used to call, a broad cultural hinterland, so I suspect most people would easily find things in common with him, but he and OH have a very closely aligned interest, nay obsession, with music and collections of vinyl, so they bonded instantly. My connection was that he used to work in food, albeit on a very different scale. 

We'd booked into The Butt and Oyster, so made our way, possibly a little unsteadily, down to the pub, had supper and then back by torchlight, finding David had lit candles in the lamps on the veranda, and clambered up into bed, falling asleep listening to the river, the owls and the sound of rigging ringing against masts.

I'm an early riser and was in my element as I made coffee and sketched a little. There's no shortage of things to draw if you live amongst house boats on a river.  David cooked us a fine breakfast on his boat whilst OH* companionably criticised his vinyl filing system. This is how men like OH and David make friends. We LOVED his boat, living there is definitely the dream. He loves it too. David is a happy man.

*Other Half

We drifted through the morning reading for a while and went for a walk up-river, picking blackberries along the way. We could have got lunch en route but breakfast and the blackberries seemed to suffice until we got back to Pin Mill and an ice cream from the gallery, after looking at their exhibition of Arthur Ransome's photographs of the village.

After an hour or so more sitting by the river we walked back to the car with David and said our cheerios. 

As I had said to David over breakfast that morning, I think by choosing this as a our first monthly adventure we might have peaked early. The benchmark is now pretty high.  

Next month: A weekend in Cambridge and The Fitzwilliam.

North Norfolk Food and Drink Festival

The first weekend in September means one thing at HQ: lots and lots and lots of baking for the wonderful North Norfolk Food and Drink Festival at Holkham Hall.

The walled gardens in full glory

Now in it's 8th year, the festival is by far the biggest and best food and drink in Norfolk.  It takes place in the spacious and stunning setting of the enormous 6 acre walled gardens; (which in themselves are a worth exploring for a few hours), bringing together all of our fellow producers for a veritable cornucopia of locally made, yummy edibles and drinkables. 

We'll be taking our usual selection of award winning small and medium sized pies: the oh so popular onion marmalade, the warming chilli, the smokey chorizo, our summer special 'Wiveton' (lemon, parsley and garlic) and the anything but traditional 'Naked'. Oh, and just a few of our delicious sausage rolls. 

The limited edition Piccalilli pie 

We're also have with us the rather sensational black pudding pork pie.  We've teamed up with Fruit Pig and included a generous slice of their very special, rare, black pudding.  But you'll have to be quick, we always sell out fast.

The festival is on Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd at Holkham Hall and is open 10am - 4pm.  Entry is free and includes the chance to see the beautiful gardens.   Car parking (right next to the gardens), is £3.  Dogs are welcome too.  

If you can't make it, worry not.  We're always sending pies out to our many stockists all over the country.  You can find them all here and, we also have our very own online pie shop so you can have the quintessential taste of Norfolk delivered to your door.

The lady and gentlemen of Holkham estate selling venison

The walled garden vineyard

Local honey

Candi, from Candi's Chutney

Twitter By Gently - take back control of your timeline

What to do if your twitter timeline isn't chronological

But first. Let's pause a while and consider choice.

I'm sure you like to decide how to take your coffee (mine's good beans, ground moments before, milk and no sugar since you ask, thank you). But it's your coffee and your decision. Well, I'm not keen (at all) on algorithm robots deciding for me what I see and when I see it, and I don't think you are either.

At its best social media is a stream of what people are saying, experiencing and thinking right now. Current, unfiltered and pacy. If I follow someone I want to see what they are saying exactly when they are saying it - everything, otherwise what's on earth is the point? They might need cheering up right now, not in seven hours time. I really don't want some or all of their tweets hidden from view.

Twitter's big idea. "Show me the best tweets first". Pah.

Twitter has a default but optional alorgorithmical view, showing you only the tweets it thinks you'd like in your timeline, and I think it makes complete sense that they do give you the option to turn that off. Hooray for Twitter (unlike Facebook and Instagram which don't give you the button and crash on through with reordering everything you see - and never showing you some of your friends posts)

 I heartily recommend you do just that.

Here's how on a mobile twitter app (on a desktop/PC find the settings and privacy by clicking the little round photo of your profile icon)

1. Go to your home page and look for the little grey cog to access your settings. (You didn't really think I wouldn't redact my birth year there did you ;) NB the Redactor app is great for screenshots with personal stuff on)

2.  Click on "Timeline"

3. Switch the "Show me the best tweets first" button to off (so it's grey)

There - that's better. 

The tiniest train

The Wells To Walsingham Light Railway

Now, I'm not much of a one for steam trains. Somehow the gene that has directed the rest of my family to variously obsess, head to Greece on (full size) ex-UK, engine-buying expeditions, run station sweet shops etc has firmly passed me by. But I've found my exception.

As my half-anthracite brother was staying with me, and because I see a lot of the happy team at the Wells to Walsingham Light Railway on our regular visits to keep their little cafe (there will be a lot of diminutive adjectives coming up) stocked with our sausage rolls, I suggested a trip from Wells to Walsingham. And just utterly LOVED it.

The engine and carriages are so tiny they melted even my mechanically indifferent heart a little. I'd tell you the gauge, but neither of us are interested in that, are we dear reader? But what unexpectedly thrilled and excited me was the journey. It was like a long, relaxed ramble through a nature reserve. I'll list the wild flowers I spotted below, and there were plenty more. 

Most of the carriages are open, and the little engine is slow enough that you really have time to absorb what's very closely around you. More than anything, it reminded me of a sunny chug on a canal boat. Apart from the flowers, we saw deer, a buzzard, a marsh harrier and a very close (almost beak to nose) encounter with a barn owl, perched in a trackside tree.

The trip took about half an hour. You can time it to catch a later train back and have a good wander around medieval Walsingham village and buy treats at Walsingham Farm Shop. At that end there was a hilarious bold chicken, so big it was near half the size of the engine, which had to be entertainingly scooped off the track (I suspect it's an Equity member and fully trained).

Anyway, it's all delightful. On our homeward trip we even took a detour to have an evening stroll on the Warham Camp bronze age fort (which you can see from the train) and then stopped for a sip of Moongazer ale at the newly re-opened Carpenter's Arms at Wighton. 

My WWLR North Norfolk May wild flower list...

All spotted from the carriage. I'd love to know what you spot that I've missed - do add a comment below:

Wild Strawberry
Cowslips
Ox Eye Daisies
Speedwell
Vetch - yellow and purple
Buttercups
Elderflower
Bluebells
Campion (White and Red)
Scabious (Bachelor's Button)
Crane's Bill
Something blue, a bit like Viper's Bugloss but smaller
Cow Parsley
Columbine
Stitchwort

Black pudding in a pork pie (they're, ahem, bloody lovely)

Talk about black pudding ahoy

If you are squeamish about the red stuff (and I don't mean Merlot) look away now!

Right... still with us? Off we go. I promise I'll be very gentle.

I love black pudding but have held off, for a long time, from making black pudding pork pies.

This was mainly because I found out a while ago that, extraordinarily, almost all UK black pudding is made from imported dried blood (including by the companies you're probably thinking of) and it seemed a bit strange to go to lengths about making our pies with local, free range, traceable pork whilst compromising on the origins of black pudding.

But then we were approached, in the nicest sense, by Matt and Grant from The Fruit Pig Company, based just up the coast. They are lovely and we've known them for ages. You might know them also. They're increasingly famous and have recently popped up on Jamie Oliver's Channel 4 series and even more recently on BBC4's The Food Programme. The reason the the great and the good are flocking to their door is that they actually make their black pudding from scratch, using fresh local blood rather than dried. And it really makes a difference to the texture and quality, in a very good way. And as far as the pies go, we believe in...

...Quality in, quality out

The best black pudding used by the best chefs

But the reason I've been buying their black (and white) pudding for home Sunday breakfast for some years is that it tastes just amazing. Like the pie work we do, Matt and Grant create their products by hand, in small quantities and I think that sort of care does make a difference to the individuality and quality of the result. Happily my taste is being vindicated by numerous top flight cheffy types like Tom Kerridge, Tom Aitkin and Jamie Oliver to name but three, who are all buying Fruitpig Black Pudding.

So we've started a lovely (and tasty) collaboration with Fruit Pig and are making Bray's Cottage/Fruit Pig Black Pudding Pork Pies.

One of our local hotels have already started putting them on their breakfast menu - now there's an idea for a very good start to the day.

Treat yourself to a black pudding pork pie (or six)

(you Know you really should)

head immediately along to our pies by post shop:
Delicious delivered - click here

Also available as our bake at home pork pies - always have a stash ready to bake in your freezer.

Matt from FruitPig and Sarah from Bray's Cottage. Sitting casually, somewhere in Norfolk.

Wild Garlic Pork Pies

““For those who like their garlic strong, ramsons will prove magnetic” ”

— Richard Mabey, Food For Free

In Praise of North Norfolk

I just love where we make the pork pies, we're in old flint barns, in an Area Of Outstanding Natural Beauty, so surrounded by some of the best countryside in Norfolk and the UK, The River Glaven runs through it and the sea is just over there.

The Making of The Wild garlic Pork Pies

Little speaks of our glorious surroundings better than our Wild Garlic pork pies. Starting in March I take a basket, walk down the hill to our neighbours on The Bayfield Estate, Natural Surroundings, though the gardens, and into the wooded bit, beside the river, to see how "my" patch of Wild Garlic is doing.

The Art Of Wild Garlic Foraging

Once I think the leaves are big enough, with special permission, I take a basket down and carefully pick. Not too much from each plant and being very careful not to disturb the roots. I've always got an eye on making sure the patch stays strong and healthy for the rest of the season and next year, and the year after that, so I don't want to over-pick or damage any of the plants. I think of it a bit like farming. If you forage your local patch, please be kind to the plants too.

Then I take my pickings back up the hill to HQ and we wash and dry it and make it into our Spring special, Wild Garlic Pork Pies. We can only make as many as the woods provides, so it's first come, first served for the shops and pubs who buy them from us, but they're always very popular. And we only make them into small pies because the Wild Garlic is so precious. They're also available from us online - whilst stocks last...

Wild Garlic Pork Pie Mail Order

So. Head over to our Pies By Post shop and, for a very short while, you'll see one of the options is Wild Garlic Pork Pies. Unique and deliciously delivered to your door.

Natural Surroundings, our Bayfield neighbours

A friend

Executive summary - click here to help

This one has nothing to do with pies. It's a plea for your help. For a friend who's in a bit of a state.

Andy's workshop

Last night, 20th December, a workshop in Suffolk caught fire. Everything in it was destroyed. There were tools and wood and beautiful finished pieces. And a man's soul.

That workshop was how my friend Andy Coates earned his living. He's a woodturner so good that he could work at it full time. And then last night everything that made that possible burnt. 

There are lots more photos like this on Andy's Twitter feed

He is a very well liked man. An example. A year or so ago, when I started making kimchi and was using a ruling pin to press it he, without saying a thing, turned me a personalised kimchi press and posted it to me as a surprise. I'm not sure anyone else has anything else quite like it and it made me smile and laugh. It's such a thing of beauty it's always on show in my home kitchen - and it works.

The handle of my kimchi press

So, because he's well liked and talented and had a really horrible thing happen, friends (and people who didn't know him at all) are rallying to help him rebuild. It would be perfectly lovely if you could too. - here's how.

Thank you so much and Merry Christmas. x

The day Kate came to play with pastry

     We know what we like and the Great British Bake Off is one of those things, we adore the gentle fun of it, the way a nation has convened around it and the fact that it's got people into their kitchen, inspired to learn skills to feed themselves and their friends and family. And we do like the contestants, who seem to be particularly nice human beings.  
     We've really hit it off with Kate Barmby from this year's series, through our  shared interests in art, swallows and Norfolk, so we've enfolded her into the floury Bray's Cottage world and she's come up to HQ a couple of times, and what's more she's brought us (oh it was so good) cake!

Kate Barmby, with pastries

      So, a week or so ago we set aside a whole day and a corner of HQ (which was a-bustle with Thursday pie baking) for pastry play with Kate. She came bristling with ideas and a scrap book of inspiration.  It coincided with a day that Emma, a key member of our creative team and a craft star in her own right, was at HQ and hot water crust pastry sculpting synergy was unleashed.
      Because of her cake and art background, Kate is an expert in sugar craft so she brought multiple tool boxes of sugar-craft implements and, as Pastry Manager Erin kept them supplied with raw materials, the pair set to work pushing the boundaries of where hot water crust pastry meets sculpture.

      Emma crafted beautiful hawthorn berries and Kate created the most glorious feathers, which were actually inspired by a magazine picture of a feather fascinator worn by that other Norfolk Kate, HRH Duchess of Cambridge.
      There was also much laughter and gossip - which we couldn't possibly reveal (unless plied with very fine wines).
      The results were breathtakingly stunning. We're so thrilled with where a friendly chat over coffee in HQ has taken us, rediscovering British pie decorating traditions with a very modern slant.
      We've decided there will be more to this story - watch this space...

Join the great British craft pastry revival...

    If you'd like to learn how, we hold regular pork pie workshops in Norwich (they also make extremely welcome Christmas presents) and we incorporate pie decoration tips.    The courses are held at the Macarons & More Cookery School and you can book online.

    You can buy our frozen uncooked pork pies online and add beautiful decorations yourself (hot water crust pastry is very easy to make) at home.  If you do feel inspired, we'd love to see the results of your efforts - drop us an email or get in touch with us on Twitter.

We also make bespoke celebration pies with your own message written in pastry (though not with Kate Barmby feathers....yet).  
 

The gift of Pie Independence

(Update January course sold out - Feb and March going fast!)

Made in a morning

The perfect Christmas Present - a pork pie course

Would someone you love like to spend time with expert pie maker Sarah having fun yet learning how to make their own fine pork pies and sausage rolls? Especially on a course recommended by the Guardian and lauded by Chris Evans on his breakfast show?

Is that person also a mite hard to buy the perfect Christmas present for?

Be loved...

Then we can help - click here for the answer to your prayers and book them a pork and pastry course. They'll adore you for it!

Learn how to make pork pies in a morning....

Using the fully equipped cookery school at our friends Macarons and More's HQ in Norwich, we can show them all the technique they need to make beautiful pork pies and puff pastry sausage rolls in a morning. They also get to have a delicious lunch, prepared by the cookery school staff, and then take home the pies and sausage rolls that they have just baked. They won't even have to do the washing up! Book here forthwith (the classes do sell out pretty fast!)

Pygge hygge - the British version

The way of hygge

My guide to how to survive, nay, celebrate winter.

Do I need to explain hygge to you? Really? I promise you, give it a couple more weeks into the season and you won't be able to move for, possibly over-simplified, wall to wall hygge. it's exactly what lifestyle journalists love. But scoff not, you cynical Brit you. After a working boiler, know that it's your most useful armament in the face of the colder months. It's a change of perception. It's about good things. It works. Come February you'll be clinging to it, trust me. Best to start now.

A very brief synopsis is that it is the Danish/Swedish/Norwegian concept (other Scandinavian versions are probably available and the origins seem somewhat contested) of cosiness (very rough translation). If you live in a country with that many dark hours, you really need a reliable survival methodology. Whilst it also applies in summer, it's most usefully about learning to appreciate the particular pleasures that winter can bring, the joy of now, rugs, cosy fires, friends and celebratory comfort food. All at once. Whoopee.

If you've got a hankering to learn about hygge and Scandinavian culture properly my friend Signe has written a book on it and talks very sensibly about what makes it tick being a quality of equality and hardiness as well as about buns (although they count too). I recommend it (bibliography below). But meanwhile, here's my take on it all.

Pygge hygge

So this is my very British, and tried and tested experience of hygge, that I'm calling pygge hygge. And before anyone starts, we're pronouncing it Pie-gah hoo-gah. Just because we can.

If you live in North Norfolk you practically count as Scandinavian (hurrah!). Our weather and geese come from over there, we get the Northern Lights and we've got all the seals. So, I've been trying to celebrate my winter experience for several years, always with an eye over the North Sea to how they do it, and last year, after reading A Year Of Living Danishly (funny and interesting), started putting pygge hygge into practice, so these are my very British winter tips.

Go for a walk.

• Honestly, pulling on scarves and boots, getting out there every day, whatever the weather, noticing the things that are around, especially nature, will get the endorphins pumping and you'll feel all the better for it. Endorphins are your friend. And a brisk walk and stomp through puddles (possibly with an emergency pork pie in your pocket) is the perfect prequel to a treat (possibly a second pork pie). See Fika below.

Get cosy, darling

You need to stay warm, you'll never be happy if not. This is the excuse you've needed to Scandi your world up. Go for it.

• Modestly (or immodestly) invest in blankets and throws. Make the place pretty.  Living in an 18th century cottage in North Norfolk that isn't a stranger to a period draught or two, I did already have a few woollen blankets to hand.
• This. I have a grey, cashmere covered, yard-long hot water bottle which is the best thing ever. I put it on my Christmas list a couple of years ago and, expecting the fleece version, got lucky. I adore it.  The cashmere one is trés expensive, but there are cheaper options, have a google. You only put a relatively small amount of hot water in (less than a kettle full) and the squidginess means you can safely have bits of it wrapped around you.
• Have a ritual. I have a grey reindeer skin, it's beautiful. Mine came from BTOI at Holkham, again a Christmas present (thanks Charlotte for hinting at OH). It comes downstairs in autumn and that announces the start of pygge hygge.
• Start decorating the house with vases of twigs and berries. Big bowls of oranges.

• Light the fire and get the lighting right in the room. Lamps are good.
• Have candles. I'll refrain from reporting the zillions of candles per capita that the Danes get through because every else will be telling you about it, but they do look lovely. Just keep an eye on them.

Get your right brain in gear

This was something I really focused on last year, largely prompted by my friend Emma (Silverpebble2 on Instagram and @silverpebble on Twitter). Colours turn your dolphins on. Sorry, that's your endorphins. Laughing is good for you too. But there seems to be something special about creating something that adds to that sense of well-being.

• Draw. This is my thing. I try to put a mark on paper every day, I don't beat myself up if I don't succeed, but it's something to look forward to.
• Knit. Or crochet. Or sew. it's all about the concentration and colours.
• Make something, Craft is a lot less, you know, muesli these days. There are a million youtube videos out there to help you, or better still, treat yourself to a course. 
• Read. Switch the blooming tele off for a while.

The drugs

Not that kind. And it's all too easy to anaesthetise at home with alcohol, whilst we're talking about it. Although heading down the pub for a beer and a socialise (plus a fine pork pie if your pub is sensible enough to serve them) is a fabulously British version of hygge. Support your pub in winter I say. 

No, I mean Vitamin D. I'm a great believer in eating well, all the colours, masses of seasonal fruit and veg, (yes we're coming to Fika, I know that's why you're here really) but here in the Northern Hemisphere, especially with all the scarves and mittens, we just do struggle to get access to enough sunshine to generate Vitamin D, so when the reindeer skin comes downstairs I start trying to remember to take a daily Vitamin D supplement. Plus any excuse to eat a herring or two is good, the silver darlings are a mine of Vitamin D, and oh so Scandi, but joyfully British too.  

Get Social

See friends (and yes I mean in person, you social media fiends) and break bread (or indeed pie). It doesn't need to be a huge stressful production. One of the nicest things I did last winter was an indoor picnic with other small producer friends at Norfolk Gin Jonthan's house in January. We all took a few simple things to eat, a sort of Norfolk smorgasbord, put them on the kitchen table, drank a little excellent gin and tea and had a perfectly lovely afternoon.

Should you fancy replicating it we can send pies all over the country you know.

Or just drag people in for supper. Nothing fancy, pop candles and flowers on the table and they'll really be thrilled with a stew, a bowl of buttery potatoes, greens and cheese and fruit afterwards. Well, I would.

Fika. Afternoon Fika.

Finally to Fika. Fika is the Swedish practice of taking coffee, often with something sweet to eat as a social break from work in the day. Another thing (caffiene plus scheduled breaks) that makes the Scandinavians so very happy. I was all about taking this as an excuse to eat cake on a daily basis, but when I read A Year of Living Danishly and discovered author Helen Russell had embarked on her integration with such similar gusto she had to be instructed that even Danes don't eat Danish pastries every single day. Hey ho.

But on consideration, I thought the British have an inherited memory that makes for the perfect Fika equivalent. High tea. 

As Signe says, life is too short to live in a state of puritanical abstinence, but for our British Pygge Hygge, I don't mean the sort of tea that gets served in Claridges, more an afternoon cup of tea, in front of the fire, with something to eat, or at the table, presented prettily. Make it a little ritual. Cake sometimes, toast sometimes, but also a very good opportunity for a pork pie.

And there we can help you. Either one of our many stockists can provide you with pies or we can send you a box of fine pork pies, through the post, to enjoy socially at work or at home. As we like to call it, a very British Pygge Hygge.

Enjoy. Celebrate. Embrace the opportunities of the dark days.

Useful links:

Pies by post - our delicious delivered pork pies

How to Hygge - Signe Johansen

The Year of Living Danishly - Helen Russell

Yulu yard long hot water bottle

Photos - some by me and some (the good ones) by Emma Mitchell. All copyright.

Good for your right brain courses

Learn to make pork pie and sausage rolls (with me)

Emma's Silver Pebble silver clay courses

Karen's Wild Thorn knitting courses

Jane's Printing courses

An Historical Pie

Why PIE?

First a small digression on Strangers. Or muse, if you will.

We're all feeling a bit jittery about the darker side of where 2016's politics has dragged us. I don't know if it should make me feel better or worse to know that nothing changes much, but one of Norwich's lovelier small medieval museums (full of food, textile and domestic history) is called Stranger's Hall. The name Strangers in Norwich dates back to the 16th century North European weavers who were invited over as persecuted refugees by an England which needed their wealth-creating skills, but still managed to make sure they were jolly well aware of their difference by calling them Strangers and sometimes giving them a very hard time. Those Strangers, bringing their canaries over here, eventually, as families and individuals, vanished into mainstream Norwich society whilst helping make the beautiful City the place it is today, still full of reference to those Strangers. Thus proving again that, wherever we live we'll never be free of immigrants because scratch the surface and, of course, we're all those immigrants. Us. Welcome Stranger.

WHICH BRINGS ME TO PIES. P.I.E.

P.I.E. and pie in Stranger's Hall

For long years I've been sitting in a particular traffic queue waiting for the lights to change, staring at Strangers Hall, one of Norwich's oldest buildings, and wondering why ever they had a little reproduction of a graphic saying PIE in the window. Why, why, why? Why not of course, but why? Apart from being an actual sign, it must be a sign. Was Stranger's Hall calling to me? Was Norwich trying to lure the piemaker after my own escape (back) to the country? The last few years of my city-living Norwich life had been on St Benedict's, in a 16th century house on a medieval street, a couple of dozen buildings away up the road so I was almost home.

And so it came about that, when we were doing a pie photoshoot, one rainy Friday, I remembered my siren PIE and we all trooped off to Strangers Hall to ask why. Why PIE? Why?

Actually, one of the first things you see in this fascinating building is a big table, groaning with large ornate pies, as part of a banquet from its Medieval and Tudor times. We felt quite at home, our pork pies have deliberate ingredient references to those times, especially at Christmas, when we include fruit such as figs and prunes and warming spices like cinnamon. But then the bombshell fell from the lips of the museum curator, who'd kindly invited us strangers in.

It wasn't PIE. Sorry? Not pie?

Yellow jumper courtesy of Working Title Clothing in Norwich

For all those years I'd been staring fondly at the picture of the little red, black and gold crest and it wasn't saying PIE to me. It was saying PJE. Or more specifically, Joseph and Emma Paine. 

What a thing. Joseph Paine was a hosier, he became wealthy on textiles (presumably with a bit of help from those refugee weavers), and lived in Strangers Hall, with Emma, from 1612 to 1628, popping his insignia over the fireplaces as he became wealthier, schmoozing his King with sacks of gold and becoming Mayor Paine. And cheekily making that insignia look a lot like PIE to catch out the innocent pie maker, centuries later. What a joker.

Anyway, I do strongly recommend spending a few fascinating hours in Stranger's Hall in Norwich, with its beautiful collections, food history, and garden and thank them very much for their friendly welcome, making a pie maker a little better informed and allowing us to take lovely pie photos there. 

To complete the PIE experience, you can buy our fine pork pies near to Stranger's Hall at Amaretto, The Rumsey Wells, Biddy's Tearoom, Clarke and Ravenscroft, or The Norwich Providor,

Or of course, from us online.

Photos by Jay Ner.

Top ten places to buy a piccalilli pork pie

Our brand new Piccalilli Pork Pies are extremely gorgeous and there's a bit of a clamour for them, so we thought you'd like to know the top ten (in no particular order!) places across the UK to get your hands on one (or two, or three...).

Back To The Garden (Letheringsett, Norfolk)

Algy's Farmshop (Bintree, Norfolk)

Eat17 - Walthamstow and Hackney shops (London)

The Green Grocers (Earlham Road, Norwich)

Harveys Butchers (Grove Road, Norwich)

NWT Cley Marshes Visitors Centre (Cley Norfolk)

Thyme Deli (Horwich, Lancashire)

Walsingham Farm Shop (Walsingham, Norfolk)

Vintage Deli Delights (Bourne, Lincolnshire)

Go buy!

Holkham

Things are afoot at Holkham, the North Norfolk Coast's stately home (that one with the world famous beach attached). 

I was on pork pies and sausage rolls delivering duty there yesterday and had a good nosy round. I came away impressed and pleased, I liked it before and, as with anywhere you are fond of, was that little bit apprehensive about the end result, especially having seen it as a building site over the winter when I dropped in for meetings. But it all looks just fabulous. Much improved and so much more appropriate for the destination that Holkham has become over the last few years, but still retaining oodles of character. The courtyard (where the Bygones exhibition was before) has been used to create a single smart cluster of resources for visitors.

The Courtyard Cafe is more spacious and the entrance has been swivelled round, so that you access it from the courtyard. The park opened to visitors, after the winter, this weekend and I know they were busy from the huge number of sausage rolls and pies they have got through in just three days. The ever-accurate pork pie barometer.  The family have always been keen to use local food, and the cakes have always been stunning, but in the alterations the recently appointed manager, Simon (who has come from some well known and very well thought of food places), has been supplied with a brand new pro kitchen that gave me equipment envy. 

Usually there on business of one sort or another, I'd never taken enough notice of the shop, where it was previously on the far side of the Stables courtyard, but it's suddenly got chic and spacious, housed in a beautiful, glass fronted, airy side of the courtyard and has some perfectly beautiful things. It is an absolute pleasure to browse round. There are some very covetable pieces of metalwork from Holkham Forge, a great range of doggy items, including leads from The Traditional Rope Company (who live and work in my village) and a lot more Holkham badged products than I'd been aware of before, including some clothing that I really had to drag myself away from, in the estate's tweed.

Being a long time ceramics fan, some very stylish black and white china in the kitchenalia area lured me in and called out  to me photograph it. When I got back to HQ my Twitter friend, Steven Moore, the Antiques Roadshow's ceramic expert, informed me that they are made for Holkham by the famous Staffordshire Burleigh Pottery (of which he's Creative Director), so not much wonder it's jolly nice! I reckon sales of that will be as brisk as sausage rolls.

The remaining wing of the courtyard is the new interactive Farm to Fork exhibition. Telling the story of agriculture on the Estate, one of the first things I saw was local food star Norfolk Saffron which rather delighted me. Holkham's all about the whole family experience and the exhibition, whilst fascinating as an adult, has also been designed as an education resource with lots of touchy feely and unexpected things for children to explore and learn from.

All in all, a great improvement. For visiting times and admission information click here.

Seville. The lesser known stuff.

Once in a blue moon we get a proper, going away with suitcases, holiday. Very nice. This time we went to Seville. Cured ham was only one of the reasons. 

The big touristy things to do in Seville, a city of flowers, elegance and trees, are well documented, you'll find The Alcázar and the Cathedral for yourself (and extraordinary they are too), but they are busy, so here are a few less well documented things you might like.

Tapas Tour - As soon as I mentioned Seville on Twitter we were swiftly steered toward Shawn of Azahar - thanks Rachel and others. Her tapas tours started with a blog and gradually became a business (file under living the dream), she's very well known and respected in the food world. Now, I'm really not a huge one for guides and the like but I'd unhesitatingly recommend doing a tapas tour with her. Really. Do it. We were in Seville for 4 (6 if you count the start & finish days) days and getting off the plane, having a rest then going straight out into the night with her to a pro selection of small bars, chatting with locals and drinking sherry around town, on the first night meant we hit the ground running and continued henceforth to nose round the food and drink of Seville with confidence. Shawn's a lovely Canadian (aren't all Canadians nice?) who has lived in Seville for decades. We went to places we'd never have found solo and ate and drank some wonderful food.  Quite a lot of it. She's also up for a cat conversation if you happen to be missing yours.

Reader, I took her pork pies.

Oranges are not the only fruit in Seville. But there are a lot.

BTW - Azahar means orange blossom. Slight regret, we were just too early for the orange blossom. There are so many trees around the old city that when the flowers are properly out the whole place smells sensational (Shawn says). I imagine it to be a lot like a big bottle of 4711 cologne. We were there around 20th of Feb, so for the full olfactory experience I'd aim for the end of the month or the beginning of March. The trees are ornamental bitter oranges, one of many legacies of the Moors. They are a beautiful tree shape and look exactly like the vintage orange tree china (you know the ones). I got a lot of pleasure from seeing the green parakeets chattering as they dodged in and out of the taller trees too. We haven't got parakeets in Norfolk yet.

Anyway, you don't want my nature notes, you want tourism, and make it snappy. So these are the little, less visited places.

La Casa de Pilatos

A palace that's been privately owned since the 16th Century. It's the Moorish Alcázar writ small and jewel-like, in the spring sunshine the colonnaded architecture is just beautiful and, with its beautiful gardens and ancient Greek and Roman sculptures, its a bit of an oasis. Only the very rich could afford water for luxuries like gardens in medieval times and you get to recognise that the palaces of Seville feature gardens as an exquisite status symbol.  I'm a push-over for ceramics, so could be quite happily parked and left staring at the exquisite medieval tiles, and anywhere that does bedding in the garden with violets is good with me. It is well worth timing your visit to get the included tour of the upper apartments, which are still a luxurious private residence. 

It was used as a set for part of Lawrence of Arabia, and The Duchess of Medinaceli (who deliberately avoided the indignity of being listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's most titled person by giving some of her titles away), hosted parties there whose guests included Jackie O and Grace Kelly. She had nearly 100 properties and castles and set up a foundation to preserve them.  It's well worth reading up on the late Duchess, she sounds a remarkable person.

Gorgeous.

Hospital de los Venerables

Another calm and beautiful building, this is a church with what was a cloistered, tiled, infirmary for ailing priests attached. But the best reason for visiting is its tiny art gallery with what is now in my top ten favourite paintings, a luminous  Velázquez of a girl holding white bowls (St Rufina), which for its sense of presence and that stare, could be a Vermeer. Just utterly beautiful.

The Archivo General de Indias.

The main purpose of the museum is to house 800 million documents (count 'em) relating to Spain's Caribbean and South American history. We went there on spec and found a very entertaining exhibition, with lots of interactive stuff, mainly dedicated to explaining how the sinking of The Mercedes (full of gold pieces of eight) was OUR fault. As British, surrounded by real life Spaniards, this was quite exciting. The  21st century room of the exhibition had a vitrine with a great big heap of the pieces of eight, recovered by salvagers and then promptly reassigned to Spain by a Florida court.  The exhibition was temporary but apparently there's usually something equally good on. It's free to EU citizens and I'd suggest the audio tour would be a good idea unless your Spanish is up to scratch.

Centro Ceramico Triana

I'm a bit of a ceramics geek and since Roman times Seville has been all about ceramics, historically and economically, so was rather in my element here. There are stunning glazed tiles everywhere in Seville, if you look up to quite humble balconies in the street you'll often see the underside has been lined with colourful tiles and once you get your eye in ceramics are on every surface. So to understand more of the context of what you'll see a lot of, this modern museum is well worth a visit. It's in the Triana district, just over the river (which in itself you need to see to understand Seville). Triana has strong and proud sense of identity,  and I loved wandering in the indoor market and spotting artisan workshops dotted around the district. It's a quite different character to the Santa Cruz district where we stayed and where most of the touristy action is in Seville. I think if I came again I'd have an apartment in Triana and walk into Santa Cruz.

Sal Gorda

I won't steal Shawn's thunder by listing all the tapas bars we liked and went back to (they're all on her blog), but one we went to under our own steam, albeit suggested by her, was Sal Gorda. It is run by young owners, serves excellent modern food based on traditional tapas and we thought it pretty sensational and a good contrast to the old bars which we also loved.

Razor Clams at Sal Gorda

Where we stayed

This isn't one of Seville's small things, but we stayed in the huge Casas de la Juderia hotel in Santa Cruz, which is the old city. It's been created out of numerous beautiful small, ancient houses and courtyards in the Jewish Quarter and is highly recommended. All except the euro breakfast experience, which was cramped, had the worst coffee from machines and was a bit of an ordeal. I'd not book that and just go and find a baker or a tapas bar.

One bit of advice Shawn gave us was to peer into courtyards and look up. We did, a lot. Thanks Shawn.