The Hungry Sailors in Chatham to London Bridge
In the final leg of their culinary coastal odyssey, Dick and James sail up the River Thames in the Amelie Rose.
Sailing up the Thames
The Thames contains over 80 islands ranging from the large estuarial marshlands of the Isle of Sheppey, Isle of Grain and Canvey Island to small tree covered islets like Rose Isle in Oxfordshire. It runs through nine counties: Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Surrey, and Greater London, Kent and Essex. There is only one remaining working mill on the Thames - Mapledurham Mill. There are 44 locks on the River Thames to allow navigation and it is home to 119 fish species.
Cobnuts
Cobnuts are an ancient, natural and nutritious food. During the Tudor period their cultivation on a properly managed basis was evident and formed the foundation upon which the Victorians planted a large number of cob nut orchards, called plats, resulting in some 7000 acres being grown by the turn of the century. The predominant nut grown was the Kentish cobnut, a type of cultivated hazelnut, bred in 1830 by a Mr Lambert of Goudhurst in Kent. The Kentish cobnut is a larger nut than a hazelnut and has a different and distinctive flavour of its own. The Victorians considered the Kentish cobnuts a form of delicacy and would eat them as an accompaniment to after dinner port. Regrettably the Kentish cobnut had been in decline for some decades and only about 250 acres are still grown today.
Cobnuts are delicious fresh on their own or in salads. Some people like to eat them with a little salt. They are also excellent roasted, which brings out their flavour. Roasted nuts can be eaten on their own, or used whole, chopped or ground to flavour pasta, meringues, crumbles and cakes etc.
To roast cobnuts, crack and shell them, then cook them on tinfoil or a baking tray in an oven heated to about 150C, 300F, Gas Mark 2, for an hour or so the cooking time depends on how ripe and how dry they are. First they become soft, but do not remove them until they have hardened. Be careful not to let them burn. They can also be cooked in a microwave oven.
Roughway Farm
Roughway Lane
Tonbridge
Kent
TN11 9SN
John Cannon - Tel: 01732 810260
Featured producers
Piers MacDonald
Nelson’s Brewery
Unit 2
Building 64
The Historic Dockyard
Chatham
Kent
ME4 4TE
Tel: 01634 832 828
The Nelson Brewery is located within The Historic Dockyard at Chatham in Kent. The Dockyard is a living museum and visitors to the brewery are always welcome. Tours can be arranged on request. The brewery was first brought to the Historic Dockyard at Chatham as the Flagship Brewery in 1995 where it established a five barrel kit brewing up to 100 barrels a week. All the ales have nautical themed names to gel with the surroundings in which it is brewed.
Roundhouse Orchard Pig Company
Roundwood House,
Ifield Rd
Meopham
DA130QH
United Kingdom
Beverley Brown T - 01474 816 845
Produce rare breed pork, bacon and sausages from rare breed pigs such as Saddlebacks, Oxford Sandy and Blacks and Large Whites. Their pigs are reared on a high quality pig nut plus fallen fruit, which gives the meat a superb taste and quality.
Confection Perfection
4 Marlborough Parade
Beverley Road
Barming
Maidstone
Kent
ME16 9JN
Annabelle Jane - Tel: 01622 727259
info@confectionperfection.co.uk
Confection Perfection is a team of ten that provides delicious handmade cakes to order along with cake baking courses and workshops which are run from their Barming and Hildenborough shops. Anabelle’s work is regularly featured in industry magazines and she, along with the rest of the Confection Perfection team have earned a strong reputation for delivering beautiful, delicious cakes to a consistently high standard.
M. Manze jellied eels and pie and mash
87 Tower Bridge Road
Bermondsey
London
SE1 4TW
T - 020 7407 2985
Terry Mills
Peckham Shop: 0207 2776181
M.Manze was established in 1902 by Michele Manze - the present owners' Grandfather. Leaving Italy, the Manze family settled in Bermondsey and began trading as ice-merchants, turning later to ice-cream makers. Realising the need for more substantial food in post-Victorian London, Michele branched out into the pie, mash and eels trade. Both shops serve traditional pie and mash and eels (jellied or stewed) and still use the same recipes today for the pies and liquor as were used in 1902; the only changes made have been to improve quality and to meet the higher food standards of today.
Also in this episode
The Hungry Sailors' eggs benedict
Other notable prodicers
Kent Escargots
Potach Farm
MB Farms
Court Farm Quality Butchers
Port of London Authority
