I’ve just got back from a trip to Suffolk. I managed to sample some great food in the area; the Queen’s Head in Woodbridge, the Old Mill House in Saxtead Green, and I fell in love with the mini Brighton-esque seaside town of Aldeburgh. A particular highlight was Lawson’s Delicatessen, a gorgeous shop stacked with olives, coffee ground to order, home-made pies and cakes, olive oil literally on tap, more cheeses than I can name and more besides. Brilliant, especially when caped off with local-caught cod and chips on the seafront.
Then there’s the glory: the cold meats counter. They smoke and cure their own meats onsite and take an awful lot of pride in their work. Something I went back for a couple of times was their Suffolk Black ham, all treacley and rich with a powerful cure flavour. Absolutely divine and worth a detour for. To take home with me I grabbed a couple of things: smoked Montgomery cheddar and ham offcuts. Contrary to the picture you get a great chunk of leftover bacon for just £1. So good.
I could just snack on both of these, but I wanted to do something that would celebrate both of these princely ingredients. So I settled on risotto, and boy did it do them justice: a smoky and rich risotto, packing a punch every mouthful. Great stuff.
If you ever find yourself passing through this area, pop in. You’ll be at least £50 worse off but you’ll take home a clutch of great stuff for the larder.
Smoked cheddar and bacon risotto:
200g smoked bacon lardons
1 onion, diced
200ml white wine
1 sprig of rosemary
4 handfuls of arborio risotto rice
500ml vegetable stock
50g smoked Montgomery cheddar, grated
½ teaspoon sesame oil
- Get the stock on to boil in a small pan. Fry the bacon in a little oil until coloured on all sides. Remove to one side for later.
- In the same pan as the bacon add the onion and fry over a gentle heat with the rosemary until the onion has softened.
- Add the rice and turn the heat right up. Keep tossing the rice around to get a lovely toasted edge to it. After a minute, add the wine and bubble away until the liquid has disappeared.
- Turn the heat down to medium and add a ladleful of stock. Push the rice around until the liquid is absorbed. Keeping adding a ladleful of stock at a time, allowing it to reduce until the rice has a lovely al dente texture. Discard the rosemary.
- Add the bacon back to the pan and stir the cheese through. Check for seasoning – probably won’t need any! – and serve with a swirl of sesame oil (not too much), grating a little extra cheese over.