In a recent national survey, Cornwall was voted the second best county in Britain for food, narrowly missing out on the top spot thanks to a last-minute surge in votes from Lincolnshire.
It’s fair to say that food lovers in Cornwall weren’t too happy with this, but I would argue that the actual result of the poll isn’t really too important.
Even coming second shows the rest of the country how proud we are of our local Cornish produce, and the ‘Love Cornish Food’ campaign launched by Cornwall Food & Drink did a great job of showing people that it’s not just about pasties and cream teas.
The Cornish food love is definitely spreading, and I’ve been lucky enough to be a part of it through the work of two of our clients – last month White River Place launched a brand new food festival for St Austell, bringing top quality local produce to a whole new audience, and last week the Carbis Bay Hotel was honoured to host the Cornwall Life Food and Drink Awards.
The awards were a fantastic celebration of everything that’s good about food and drink in Cornwall – not just the produce, but skilled chefs, independent food shops, thriving farmers markets and most importantly the passion of everyone involved in the industry.
One of the best things about the awards is that they are voted for by the readers of Cornwall Life, so you know that every single winner comes highly recommended and is very deserving of their award.
As if the awards weren’t proof enough, the quality of Cornish food was showcased by a delicious five-course lunch served to us by talented team in the kitchen at Carbis Bay – making it a true celebration of the best Cornwall has to offer.
Lincolnshire may have come out on top in the Love British Food campaign this year, but based on what I’ve seen recently I’m pretty certain Cornwall will be coming back fighting…
Posted by Natalie - @natblachford
(Disclaimer – these are my views, and possibly not the views of the non-Cornish members of the DCA team!)