The South West of England has become the hot new region to experience British cuisine.
The new edition of the Lonely Planet guide to our region puts Cornwall and the south west at the forefront of British food.
It reveals the region has overtaken the rest of the UK with its innovative cooking, organic, locally sourced and ethically produced food, challenging London for the culinary throne.
Author for the Lonely Planet, Oliver Berry said: “I think what’s important about the food in the South West, is the sustainable, locally sourced ethos which seems to be underpinning the local and the young chefs coming through.”
The region’s celebrity chefs opened their kitchens to train some of the region’s rising stars and a wealth of gourmet talent can now be found in this culinary corner of Britain.
Cornwall is already blessed with a handful of Michelin stars and the authors of the guide are in little doubt that more are sure to follow.
Oliver explained: “The South West is every foodie’s dream; just caught crab accompanied with local wine in spectacular settings – what could be better?
“The culinary stars have none of the pretension you can find eating out in London.
“If you want an insight into where British food is at right now, there’s really nowhere better than the South West.”
The guide highlights the importance of the overall gourmet experience – from catching your own seafood to ordering direct from farmers’ fields.
“Take a superb array of local, seasonal and organic produce, mix in a range of atmospheric eateries and finish with a sizable scattering of celebrity chefs. The result? A region whipping up a perfect culinary storm – and a series of very satisfied stomachs.”
Whilst the guide recognises the incredible number of celebrity chefs offering the region masses of gourmet options within a few miles of each other; the local authors also reveal the region’s lesser known culinary highlights.
Author Oliver Berry identifies rising stars such as Paul Ainsworth, Jude Kereama and recently double Michelin starred Nathan Outlaw as offering some of the region’s innovative and fresh cooking.
The guide’s authors are based in the South West and so are well placed to offer an insight on the region’s best and worst.
The book praises areas such as Penzance for which they say “still boasts the kind of rough-edged authenticity many of Cornwall’s daintier towns lost long ago” and Padstow as being “an occasionally uneasy mix, but it’s hard not to be charmed by the setting.”
On the flip side however they criticise Perranporth’s “untidy sprawl of concrete chalets” and Newquay’s “rampant property development.”
