Home to the world’s 2^nd largest fishing fleet we have to give mention to the mightily delicious (and slightly spicy) Tom Yam Kung soup. This taste bud melting masterpiece (rated 8^th out of 50 in the world’s most delicious foods by CNN Go in 2011) pre-dominantly uses prawns as its main ingredient. Go on try it, you’ll definitely like it!

Interesting fact: As Thai food is served pre-diced knives are not used. Instead they are replaced by the spoon as introduced by King Mongkut  Rama IV 1804-1868

For great Thai food we recommend:

Chantrek Restaurant Truro 01872 225071, Tai Orchid Falmouth 01326 211028, Sukothai Penzance 01736 360049, The Journeyman Melingey, Nr St Issey 01841 540604,

Dim Sum – Quintessentially Hong Kong

The deliciously varied and incredibly moreish Cantonese art of Dim Sum cuisine originates from the Southern Chinese province of Guangdong near the Hong Kong border. Dim Sum, meaning “point of the heart” is perfect as a snack, appetiser or main course shared between friends.

Interesting fact: Eating Dim Sum is often referred to as “Yum Cha” meaning “tea tasting”

For great Dim Sum and other Cantonese Cuisine we recommend:

Eastern Promise Grampound 01726 883033, The Dancing Taipan Wadebridge 01208 816623, 

Malaysia – Chicken Penang Curry

Penang Island in northern Malaysia is famed for great food and beautiful beaches. This dish (also popular in Thailand) differs from other curries as it is made with only with the thicker parts of the coconut milk or cream only. Penang curry can also be prepared with beef or pork to suit different tastes.

Interesting fact: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s capital literally translated means “muddy waters” owing to the rivers Klang and Gombak upon which it is situated

For some great Malaysian Food we recommend:

Chantrek Truro 01872 225071, Provedore Falmouth 01326 219045, Thai Orchid Falmouth 01326 211028

Chinese Hunan cuisine – for the spice lovers

Hunan fare is distinct by hot spicy flavours, elaborate presentation, fresh aromas and bold colours, a must for those who crave a little spice to their palette! The fertile region of Hunan is located along the Yangtze River plain and characterised by rolling hills.

Interesting fact:  Hunan is the birthplace of Chairman Mao 1893-1976

For Great Chinese food we recommend:

Beijing Cuisine Helston 01326 560566, Eastern Promise Grampound 01726 883 033

Feel free to add any of your favourites or suggetions below!

So on the hunt for a wedding gift for my fiancé I was so impressed to find ‘The Day That’ who photograph the sun rising in Cornwall on the day of your wedding as a gift. But hang on….how am I going to get a photograph taken, processed, wrapped and sent to him by 10am on the morning of the wedding?! Aha! What you do is send a gift voucher with a stunning photograph of the sun rising on the day you got engaged and inside it says:

“As you are reading this, photographers have gone out and captured the sun rising on the morning of our special day so that your wedding gift will be a bespoke piece of art, a personalised sunrise of our own to keep forever.”

Very exciting, I have never seen a gift like this before and I thought it was fabulous! It is personal, romantic and unique to us – it will hang on our wall and remind us of our perfect day. It certainly beats cufflinks as a gift, that’s for sure!

Looking at the website I see a quote from Emma Bunton and I soon discover it is a popular gift with celebs – after all, it’s the gift that money just can’t buy. Fearing a remortgage or a new interest free credit card for 3 years to afford this one – deep breath… £250 is the most EXPENSIVE print! (Inc framing). This can’t be right – I pick up the phone and get a lovely young man at the end of it – I explain my concerns and he clarifies that actually it really IS £250 for what is called “Exhibition” size and they currently have an offer that if you buy one you get a second smaller print (for the parents or a member of the bridal party) free. Well, I am sold! What a lovely romantic gift for Mr. C (ahem, me!) which can stay in our lounge as a reminder of our vows. I hang up feeling extremely excited and wondering if I can join some sort of loyalty club (I join the Facebook page which is a good start!) then I click “Add to favourites” on my browser – because I know I will be back very soon!

Understanding food and seasonal produce was a very normal part of growing-up for Ben. With a kitchen garden, hunting dogs, goats and even falcons of their own, Suppers at home were a family affair and everyone was involved. At 14 Ben was already working in a pub run by the master of the stag hounds, experiencing well-hung venison and hand dived scallops first hand. Working in kitchens through school and college, it wasn’t until he and his to-be, wife Sam, spent a year in Australia that Ben realised his passion could become a career.

“In Australia it was simple: if you could cook and you knew food that was enough. For the first time I felt there was no pretence in a kitchen. I worked for a year in Sydney and that was when food really started to become exciting and connect with me, no barriers.”

Choosing Cornwall over London was a lifestyle decision for Ben. Cornwall was as close to their Australian way of living as possible – his first job? A bistro bar right on the beach. “It was hard at first trying to get good jobs without an address in Cornwall. I spent the first month living in a tent, spending all my free time talking to suppliers and producers, speaking to fishermen as they brought in their catches and building up my network in Cornwall. I was very lucky; it’s something that a chef working 60hrs a week in a London kitchen can only dream of doing.”

Since moving to Cornwall, Ben has notched-up 8 years of professional cooking credibility notably at Jamie Oliver’s inspired Fifteen Cornwall. “It was an incredible experience: working with the very best locally sourced ingredients, chatting to diners as we worked and watching the students develop.”

True to his chosen path Ben has now stepped out of the kitchen again to set-up a business which can only be described as ‘hands-on private catering’. From foraging outings to cookery lessons; bespoke local sourcing trips to a fully prepared private dinner party at home. Ben’s aim is to share his love for food with those he cooks for. “I actually want to live in Cornwall and not just work in it; getting to know the county, finding the best suppliers and finding the food.” With his daughter Evie (4) in tow, he can often be found in rock pools or with a shrimping net.

Ben will tailor any package to suit but for starters here are a few suggestions

• Supper in the cupboard from £15 a head (pre-cooked meals ready and waiting for your return from the beach or a blowy walk!)

• Dinner parties in your home or holiday home from £50 per head:

• Lessons start from £30 and children’s lessons can be in groups.

• Boat to Beach BBQs start from £30 per head

• Bespoke Picnics and Hampers from £25 per head

Example Menus:

• Soused local mackerel with dill and fennel salad on sourdough toasts with beetroot slaw

• Home-cooked Cornish crab claws with loads of proper lemon mayo and Cornish sea salt focaccia

• Squid salad with heritage tomatoes, chargrilled chilli salsa and black pepper vinaigrette

• Gervick goats cheese with torn bread salad of young garlic and aged cider vinegar dressing

• Primrose Herd pulled pork neck tostados with crispy sage and russet apple salad

• Salt baked whole sea bass on roast courgettes, peppers and potatoes dressed with salsa verde and sides of sea beet

• Barbecued whole rolled rib eye with roast leek and beetroots served with a choice of rosemary and anchovy or fresh horseradish

• Salt caramel tart with Roddas clotted cream

• Slow cooked oozy rum brownie with sour cherries and Moo Maids vanilla bean ice cream

A dark & despicable past

Despite diamonds being used for money laundering, tax evasion and organised crime, Hollywood have marketed the stone successfully to appear rare and beautiful.  Years of advertising by some of jewellery’s leading names and opinion formers, such as Marilyn Monroe – dripping in diamonds, have all remained with us it is some of the best marketing ever achieved. After all, diamonds are all but rare. Approximately 130,000,000 carats of diamonds are mined annually and it’s been reported that if all the diamond mines in the world were to cease operation today, one diamond company alone have stockpiled enough diamonds over the years, that they could maintain current world demand for the next 15-20 years.

DiCaprio’s Blood Diamond

So diamonds aren’t rare, and they aren’t particularly glamorous either.  Remember Leo? A blood diamond is a diamond sold to finance war or terrorism and it is still very prevalent.
Even a certificate cannot guarantee the source of your diamond because it is so easy to get around the system: the entire industry is corrupt. I have grown up adoring the stars of the silver screen: Monroe, Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor… to hear the truth is a little startling.

Ehtical Diamonds

I am fascinated by what I am learning and love their IQ diamond they show me – it is so sparkly and beautiful and I am shocked that it is so stunning, I presumed it would look a little flat, like Cubic Zirconia.  After all, it’s fake right?  Surprisingly it’s not fake – it’s a hybrid: a stone containing real diamond and is as sparkly, as strong and as precious as a diamond – but its guilt free!  Nobody
died to get this diamond, nobody priced it stupidly high and it is a perfect hearts and arrows cut, natural white with an IF clarity (internally flawless, by the way…you learn a lot in this job!).
Not only do KinetIQue offer engagement rings but also wedding rings, bracelets, necklaces and earrings – an entire selection!  So, with a quality that is unrivalled and a price that is perfect (it’s not cheap but I like that, after all, I’m paying for something beautiful, pure and honest – just like love, I expect it to come at a cost as long as it’s reasonable) plus a sense of rarity and exclusivity
that only the IQ diamond can offer, I’m sold.  Now to get the boyfriend to look at these…

Spamalot tells the legendary tale of King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table and features a bevy (or possibly a brace) of beautiful show girls, witch burnings (Cancelled -health and safety) not to mention cows, killer rabbits and French people. The show features the hilarious songs He Is Not Dead Yet, Knights Of The Round Table, Find Your Grail and of course the Nation’s Favourite Comedy Song ALWAYS LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE OF LIFE.

Don’t miss your night with the Knights of The Round Table at the  most infectiously funny musical of the millennium. Click here to win a pair of tickets, good luck!

Last year saw Kate Winslet giving an impromptu book reading (I was there!) she looked beautiful, Martin Scorsese curated the Outdoor Cinema and the fabulous milliner Stephen Jones demoed the best way to bake and eat a hat. Suggs – following his secret DJ set last year – is heading back turning raconteur, performing to piano accompaniment ‘My Life Story in Words and Music’ from Madness and beyond.

Top festival tips:

• Rest up beforehand – there is so much to see and do all day from wild swimming and yoga first thing to all night partying to secret DJ sets.
• If you are camping make sure that you are glamping – comfort is paramount because of the point above.
• Secret & spontaneous happenings make the festival so special – seek them out a la Kate Winslet’s reading.
• Buy a programme – it will become your bible! & it has a map.

Line up for 2012:

By no means in detail so check out the website for the full line-up thus far but a few choice picks.

Words

John Cooper Clarke; India Knight; Dove Grey Reader

Music & Cabaret

Stornoway; Bristol HiFi Sound System (secret line-up!); Andrew Weatherall

Food

Nathan Outlaw; Rose Prince; Allegra McEvedy

‘The Idler Academy’ is a firm favourite haunt of mine as well as the ‘Wardrobe Dept.’ of which more details soon. ‘Caught By The River’ is a curious and spell-binding mix of artists and the ‘Paradiso Cinema’ (curator to be announced) is dating heaven with the backdrop of the Lynher estuary and Brunel’s viaduct as the backdrop.

GCG will be keeping you up to date as more artists are confirmed and with more details so stay tuned – and make sure that you book your tickets!

If tapas is high on your agenda for glamping season or you’re festival bound, let’s set you up with some seriously good whites to complement the bohemian vibe of camper living, a tent-side tasting? I’ve chosen four whites that really have impressed me the most recently, all have earned their place on the shelves of binTwo not only for their funk-factor but for the superior quality of the wines and ‘behind the label’ heritage that runs right through them.

The first will really set the scene, if you haven’t discovered Txacoli Ameztoi (pronounced cha-colly) then enjoy the drama. Think salty and fizzy, in the absence of a traditional Txacoli pourer then
place thumb over 70% of the bottle and pour from height – drink straight away whilst fizzing in the glass – think alcaseltzer (but nicer, much nicer!) Visit any bodega amongst the Cantabrian Mountains and experience it Basque-stylie.

The next sits up there in my top five whites (having reluctantly bumped a rather yummy Pinot Gris from Alsace to 6^th place) Terras Gauda O Rosal 2010, fat, textured, dry, mineral, lengthy and sublimely refreshing. Predominately Albarino (that stylish new kid on the block) this wonderful mouth filling white pairs flawlessly with cured meats and hard cheeses – we enjoyed it with nutty Manchego, it’s a tough job!

Pazo de Monterrey 2010 is fast becoming a mantra at binTwo and certainly one of our go-to wines. Once tried it’s uber-cool style of minerality combined with soft herby tones is a real tonic after more zesty sauvignons we often tend to settle for. It’s made from 100% Godello, definitely look out for this grape variety, it’s kind of like a grown-up Albarino, a little more refined.

And so finally to a new arrival from the Cuevas family in Rioja Baja, a super wine that has left us reeling, Vetiver Rioja Blanco 2009. Made from 100% Viura and aged in America oak for 4 months, it offers up soft subtle floral notes, white pepper and fleshy tropical fruits. The fine natural acidity ensures a perfect pairing for white fish and homegrown summer salads.

Festival tickets? Check, Tapas? Check, picnic blanket? Check, eski? Check – one of binTwo’s stunning Spanish whites? Check!! Your summer kit list is complete. Take time to get to know these wines, even if it’s with a hunk of cheese and good film their versatility to take you anywhere and ability to inspire really works,  cheers.

GCG have two festival tickets to give away: click here to enter the competition

With a list of performers that reads like a music aficionado’s playlist, look forward to the likes of the Dub Pistols who will be churning out some “renegade futuristic skank”, or the “dance music
explosion” that is the London Afrobeat Collective, chill out to the highly under-rated and excellent Bees from the Isle of Wight or the haunting folky vocals of the wonderful Rozi Plain from Bristol.

Unlike the Falmouth and Mylor native oysters which are harvested from October to March, Pacific oysters are farmable and can be eaten all year round, although are best shucked and downed with a squeeze of lemon and a couple of cheeky bites in June. These hugely popular oysters are sourced from nearby Porthilly Farm where Tim Marshall is working hard to meet demand.

The all star foodie line-up includes the likes of Paul Ainsworth of Number 6 Padstow, fresh from BBC2’s Great British menu who’ll be both shucking and giving food demos as well as chatting about
his recent TV experience. Other big food names in the chef’s theatre include Tom Scade, head chef at Tides in Rock, James O’Connor from the St Moritz hotel, as well as Stephane Delourme, David Sharland and Peter Murt  representing Stein’s Seafood Restaurant in Padstow. Two key figures from Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen Cornwall, Andy Appleton and Neil Haydock will also be providing some ‘gastro-tainment’. And look out for the ultimate foodie challenge as some of the braver chefs go head to head in a speed oyster shucking competition.

Now in its third year, the event has expanded from its original location at Porthilly oyster farm and moved to Dinham House, situated right on the banks of the Camel estuary near Rock, home of the world famous Camel Valley wine. Make a weekend of it and camp in the grounds, options include: ‘rustic’ (essentials facilities), ‘posh’ (full campsite facilities), or request the luxury of your very own teepee at an extra cost. Alternatively, make a day of it and don’t forget to bring the kids – children’s entertainment is provided.

Event organizer Charlie Anderson describes the event as a “celebration of the delicious artisan-produced food and drink that we have here in Cornwall.” Any excuse to get the marquees out and put some tunes on in the open Cornish air, but what better excuse than some of the UK’s best seasonal food and culinary personalities to while away a balmy (we can only hope) summer evening down by the estuary.

Sailing is still at the heart of the event, and the harbour-side location commands a stunning view for watching action out on the water. Sleek racing yachts head off on passage races between Fowey and Falmouth, then there are shorter races around St Austell Bay and courses around the buoys. It’s not only dinghies and day boats you’ll see in action; highlights also include the Falmouth Working
Boats, gigs and raft races.

Peering out to sea from the head of the estuary, though Fowey lacks the depth and size of Falmouth’s harbour, its maritime history is none too poor: both Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh sailed from here, and it was major trading port from which Cornwall’s china clay is still exported. Now a popular yachting destination, its tangle of tranquil streets will be hijacked by a full-throttle party ambience during the length of the regatta.

And a Royal regatta it certainly is, having been attended by Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and Queen Elizabeth II in its long past. One of the most revered guest appearances these days is by the Red Arrows, who have laid on an amazing aerial display here for over 30 years.

So, what are you waiting for? Dig out your Bodum stripes and crabbing nets and get in on the action.