Time for the first controversial item on ‘But Does It Smoke Good?’ Black pudding. Beloved by some, reviled by others. But what is it, exactly? Blood. It’s blood. It’s a sausage made from blood. Pig blood, fat, and a decent amount of oats or barley to bind it all together, stuffed into a casing and
There’s no simpler ratio of effort to reward in foraging. You pick the berries, you stick the berries, then you put them in a jar with gin and sugar, and you wait. A few months later and you’ve got a classy bottle of booze that will gift well and drink well. Makes: 700ml – 1
If Sussex Smokehouse ever grows to the point where we can start producing and selling our own smoked meats and charcuterie, treacle-cured bacon will be next to the smoked duck prosciutto at the top of the list. Treacle-cured, cold smoked bacon is one of the most rewarding things you can make at home. It’s also
Curing is one of the oldest known ways of preserving food. There are three essential aspects; time, patience and salt. So what is curing? Curing is the process of drawing water out of meat or fish using salt, sugar, or a combination of both. Sometimes nitrates or nitrites are added to help preserve colour and
Having sold out of our first ever professionally produced batch of hedgerow jelly, it seemed apt to share the extremely vague recipe of this not at all difficult to make preserve: basically whatever you can find + sugar. Doesn’t get much easier than that. If whatever you find includes wild apples or haws, you don’t
Something I stumbled upon a couple of years ago when I had an absolute glut of blackberries to process. After crumbles, pies, liqueurs and fruit leather, I was out of ideas. Then a desperate Google search pulled up a recipe for a ‘fortified wine’. We had a bottle of Cretian wine from our honeymoon that
I’m learning. Some items require a long smoke in order to get as much flavour as possible. Some things only need a kiss. Something tells me Wotsits won’t need long. Let’s give them a couple of hours and see how they get on… The process Doesn’t get much simpler- get the smoker going, open packet,
Another event in the bag, this time one within walking distance of the smokehouse! Crawley Down Village Fayre was held this weekend (Saturday 5th September) and Sussex Smokehouse was delighted to be one of the vendors selling at the event, which was blessed with glorious sunshine and good attendance. As my pitch was maybe 200
Within walking distance of where I live, there’s wild fruit, berries, nuts, and edible flowers growing in hedgerows, front gardens, woodland edges, and other forgotten corners of the countryside. Most of it is easy to identify. I’d argue that none of it requires specialist knowledge or foraging courses (although, the majority are well worth your
Not cheese like cheddar- there’s no dairy anywhere near this recipe. Fruit cheese is a thick, sliceable preserve- thicker and denser than a jelly, wobblier than a jam- and it goes great on a cheeseboard. Turn your hedgerow finds into something that’ll last you through winter. Makes: 2–3 small blocksPrep and cook time: 1.5–2 hoursKeeps:
