May: the sweetest month in Cornwall? Hedgerows bursting with a riot of colour - bluebells, campion, cow parsley, buttercups - a potent freshness and vibrancy that melts the heart and lifts the soul; how lucky we are to be in Cornwall right now during lockdown and as ever, our love goes out to those friends of Botelet both near and far.
Despite the ongoing restrictions we are all facing in our lives, we continue to delight in being able to share with you conversations from the Botelet Breakfast Club table each month, on the date our Breakfast Club would have been held. A common theme right now seems to be that physical distance doesn’t have to mean social separation and I’m sure that like us, you’ve found some elements of your life all the richer for the lockdown era - whether it’s keeping in touch with relatives on the other side of the world via zoom, or reaching out to neighbours that in the past you were somehow to busy to stop for.
For our May offering we welcome three fabulous Breakfast Clubbers who have shared thoughts, insights and above all messages of seasonal joy and hope for this era we are living through: Joey Hulin, Hugo Hercod and Sophie Farrah. The lovely Joey also shares a scrumptious breakfast recipe of sweetcorn fritters with poached eggs, avocado and cherry tomatoes - yum! So much thanks to Joey, Hugo and Sophie for taking the time to be part of our May conversations, we have loved connecting with your varied stories - which is, in essence, what Botelet Breakfast Club is all about.
Oh and we have another Botelet Breakfast Club recipe for you to try this month - our Seasonal Smoothie Bowl (pictured below) which is so versatile according to what you have available, and our go-to daily breakfast.
So get your cuppa brewing then settle in to share delicious conversations with these three gorgeous people.
We can’t wait to be welcoming you in person back to the Breakfast Club table, but for now - sending love from us all here at Botelet x
Seasonal Smoothie Bowl recipe by Tia Tamblyn from Botelet Breakfast Club
Botelet Breakfast Club Guest Contributor Joey Hulin …
Joey Hulin
Our first guest Breakfast Clubber this month barely needs an introduction; she is part of the family and fabric here at Botelet. Anyone who has spent time with us over the past few years will likely have been touched by Joey’s magic. Joey founded her retreat and meditation company Horizon Inspired four years ago and we were lucky enough to host one of her first meditation classes. Since then I can’t think of a week when we haven’t worked, played, eaten or simply just laughed together. Joey’s work with us here at Botelet has grown into hosting retreats throughout the year, Soul Suppers, Joey has also led beautiful soulful Breakfast Clubs (we have another coming up in December for anyone who’s keen!) … and not to forget being the celebrant at our children’s naming ceremony last summer! It’s fair to say we all simply adore Joey - and the generous, curious, playful sense of calm that imbues her life and all who are lucky enough to be touched by it.
Joey is currently living in lockdown in one of the Botelet cottages, so we are lucky enough to have regular smiles, waves and chats over the fence; and if you haven’t already tuned in, Joey is currently offering a free short morning meditations live on Instagram at 7.30am BST Monday to Friday - such a nourishing way to get going each morning, it’s the daily ritual that starts our day.
Hugest thanks Joey - for your beautiful words and recipe that you share with us below, but ultimately for your love and friendship - and we can’t wait until we’re allowed to extend those arms through the gateway and give you a great big hug!
Where do you call home?
I have bit of a gypsy spirit which means I move around a lot. I moved from London to Cornwall just over five years ago now and can definitely say I've found home here in this beautiful county.
What’s your occupation?
I am a writer, meditation facilitator and retreat host. I run a company called Horizon Inspired which offers meditation support, written inspiraton and wellbeing retreats. I try to create and offer down to earth, kind and non-judgemtnal experiences and words to help people to pause and come home to their hearts. I have just finished writing my first commissioned book which was a big dream come true. I loved every single step of the process and hope it's the first of many more to come.
What do you love to eat for breakfast?
As long as coffee is served, I am happy! I tend to go through phases, largely depending on the seasons, when it comes to making breakfast at home. In the Spring and Summer months I love to make light, fresh fruit smoothie bowls, overnight oats or a simple banana, cinnamon and honey toast. Then at other times I am all in for a hearty savoury breakfast of baked eggs with goats cheese toast, sweetcorn fritters smothered in sweet chilli sauce or a full on Sri Lankan breakfast (yum!).
What do you love most about spring?
The relief of colour. Witnessing the hedgerows burst into delicate bloom and colour with wildflowers and weeds, and the trees' winter bare branches filled with vibrant green leaves. I also love the long, light evenings that turn into star littered skies in Spring.
What positives are you hoping to take from the current global health situation?
I do truly believe the potential for positive change is exponential. We're all remembering what is really important and realising what is not. We are more engaged with our communities; be that caring for our neighbours, checking in with our parents more or being part of a community online. It seems most people are thinking and engaging more with 'we' than just 'me', which is a massive shift in our culture. And, most importantly, the positive effects we've seen for the breathing, healing planet. I wrote myself a list of 'things I promise to remember' the other day, when reflecting on how I personally would like to move forward from this time. It was a list of the simplest of things; driving less, calling my mum more, not rushing around like I would. But the most important thing for me will be to ensure I take responsibility and make conscious choices for the planet and stay connected to the collective 'we'. It would be only too easy to say now how wonderful I think it is that the planet is breathing and then to return to flying, driving, frequent supermarket shopping trips, consuming what I don't really need to consume once life returns to 'normal'. The positives are real, I think it's just about making sure we each take responsibility to live and embody them.
Do you have any top seasonal tips to share with the Botelet community, as we all spend a lot more time at home?
Dance! In your living room, out in your garden, on your own, with your family, with friends viz Zoom, whatever! Just put on your favourite song and dance so hard you get sweaty! Then see how you feel :)
Joey’s Sweetcorn Fritters with Poached Eggs, Avocado and Cherry Tomatoes
Recipe: Joey’s Sweetcorn Fritters with Poached Eggs, Avocado & Cherry Tomatoes
Serves 4 as a light breakfast dish (makes approx 8 fritters)
Ingredients:
1 large tin of sweetcorn (340g) - drained
6 eggs (2 for fritters, 4 for poaching)
70g flour (GF or plain)
1 tsp baking powder
2 spring onion, roughly chopped
1 red chilli, finely chopped
Handful coriander, roughly chopped
1 tsp paprika
Salt and pepper to season
Coconut oil
Approx 12 cherry tomatoes
1 an acovado, sliced
Sweet chilli sauce
Salt & pepper
Method:
Heat oven to 180C
Prepare cherry tomatoes: place on a roasting tray, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper.
Beat the eggs in a large bowl
Add flour, baking powder, sweetcorn, chopped spring onion and paprika and mix through
Transfer roughly half of the mixture to a food processor and blitz before adding it back to the bowl of un-blitzed mixture – again, stir though
Add the chopped chilli, coriander and season with salt and pepper
Heat the coconut oil in a frying pan
Spoon even amounts of batter into the hot oil (this mix should make 8-10 fritters depending on how big or small you want to make them)
Cook for 3-4 minutes on each side until crispy
Place the cherry tomatoes in the oven for 10 mins
Slice the avocado
Poach the eggs - fill a saucepan with boiling water, turn down to simmer, drop the egg in really close to the water so it doesn’t disperse too much. After a couple of minutes once the egg white is hardening, turn up the heat for a minute, then remove the egg from the boiling water with a spoon and set aside.
When fritters are ready, place one or two on plate with sliced avocado, a poached egg and cherry tomatoes, drizzle sweet chilli sauce on top and season with salt and pepper
Botelet Breakfast Club Guest Contributor Hugo Hercod …
Hugo Hercod, image credit Sean Gee
Our second May Breakfast Clubber is Hugo Hercod: family friend along with his wife Sarah, all round lovely bloke and barista extraordinaire. Any coffee drinkers who have sat around the Breakfast Club table will have sampled Hugo’s delicious Rising Ground coffee beans, roasted in Cornwall.
Hugo established Relish Cafe & Deli in Wadebridge 14 years ago, a great little place to visit for local produce and good coffee. Seriously good coffee. Hugo was UK Barista Champion in 2008 .. and has also been crowned 10th best barista in the world (sorry Hugo, I feel you blush!) and Rising Ground, created along with business partner Sean Gee, was a natural next step. They are well, well worth checking out.
A few years ago, Hugo and I bartered some coffee workshops for Richard in exchange for therapeutic massage sessions for Sarah - and I don’t think I’ve ever seen Richard happier than spending hours learning, tasting, drinking and exploring all things coffee. And I mean, all things. What Hugo doesn’t know isn’t worth … and all that.
Thanks Hugo for keeping Richard and the whole Botelet Breakfast Club community - saturated with just the right level of tip-top coffee; for your endless hand-delivered beans which are still, every time, a joy to receive; and for your beautiful contribution below to the Breakfast Club conversation. Oh, and how exactly did you manage to hold your breath for five minutes??! Definitely want to hear more about that …
Where do you call home?
A little house on Summers Street, the best street in Lostwithiel.
What’s your occupation?
Broadly I’m in hospitality, I have a cafe and delicatessen in Wadebridge called Relish Food & Drink and a coffee roasting business called Rising Ground.
What do you love to eat for breakfast?
Until a couple of years ago breakfast hardly featured, at weekends I’d brunch on eggs, scrambled really slowly with ridiculous quantities of butter.
Health issues changed all that, I now start every day with a glass of homemade kefir followed by a litre of smoothie and a hand full of supplements. It’s like a nutrition sledge hammer and I’m addicted.
What do you love most about spring?
The end of winter? I spent most of my youth abroad living in the sun and I've never loved the UK's cold, dark, wet weather.
Whilst I’m off exercise it’s the arrival of longer days, a warm sun, the explosion of colour in the landscape, the promise of fruit from the garden.
In better days spring would signal a return to the water… I scull on the River Fowey, there’s nothing like a solitary paddle at dawn on mirror flat, crystal clear water on one of the most beautiful rivers in England.
As the sea calms and clears I would also freedive around the Gribbin Head. Freediving is an incredibly calm, meditative way to enjoy the wonderland off our coast. The calmer you are the longer you get to hang out with the fish, I learnt to hold my breath for over five minutes though I’d struggle to get past three these days.
What positives are you hoping to take from the current global health situation?
Personally, lockdown has forced me to stop, a much needed break to reassess what life’s all about. Globally, I hope this signals a change in course for the human race, to something less self destructive.
Do you have any top seasonal tips to share with the Botelet community, as we all spend a lot more time at home?
Get the sun on your skin and in your eyes, drink less, sleep more and eat fermented stuff. Your body will thank you for it.
Botelet Breakfast Club Guest Contributor Sophie Farrah …
Sophie Farrah
Our third Breakfast Clubber to join the conversation this month is Sophie Farrah whom we have been lucky enough to get to know along with her husband Tom as they holiday in Cornwall a few times a year with our friends along the lanes at Hideaway Huts. Sophie and Tom are regulars at the Botelet Breakfast Club table and were already booked in for a couple of dates this year before lockdown commenced.
Sophie and Tom are the perfect Breakfast Club guests - charming, interesting and interested, the kind of people that create a sparkle round the table and you know will be engrossed in conversation wherever they are seated. As a food writer, Sophie’s visits to Cornwall are punctuated with sampling the best local produce the county has on offer, and each time we are lucky enough to welcome Sophie to Botelet I am delighted to receive the low-down on the best new places to eat.
Thank you Sophie for taking the time to contribute to this month’s Breakfast Club blog, and we very much hope it won’t be too long before we can welcome you both back to the table.
Where do you call home?
Home for me is Barnes – a lovely, leafy ‘village’ in South West London. I grew up here and it has a real sense of community – I know lots of people who live locally, including my mum, so it very much feels like home. I feel very lucky to live here, and to have that sense of home.
Having said that, I also love to spend as much time as possible down in Cornwall! It’s definitely my happy place. The coast, the abundant nature, the amazing food and all the lovely friends we’ve made down there. We love it and I pine for it regularly!
What’s your occupation?
I am a writer / journalist by trade – I predominately write about food and drink, but also travel, lifestyle and the arts.
I write regular features, interviews and reviews for a variety of publications for both print and online. I love meeting and writing about people. People are just totally fascinating. We are all so different. And people who are passionate about things are just brilliant to talk to. I am constantly learning, which I love, and I love to hear people’s enthusiasm for a particular subject or project - it can be contagious. Especially when it’s about food and/or drink, which are probably my greatest passions! It’s also nice to be able to help to support and promote small businesses and individuals.
In 2017, I co-founded a creative design consultancy called Farrah & Pearce – we specialise in product design, branding, graphics and more, and there’s quite a lot of crossover with my work in the food and drink industry; we’ve designed restaurant branding and menus, kitchenware, websites and more.
And I am also a part time potter – not so much an occupation but definitely a passion, and a few people have been kind enough to buy my wonky pots in the past!
What do you love to eat for breakfast?
My day always starts with tea in the biggest mug I can get my mitts on. Pint-sized is ideal! English Breakfast with oat milk and a teaspoon of agave. That hot cup of comfort honestly brings me such much joy every day! In terms of food - midweek I eat a small breakfast - I am usually rushing! So it’s fruit, maybe a spoonful of yoghurt and a sprinkling of nuts, muesli or granola. I also make a very simple rhubarb compote when it’s in season.
Then at the weekend my husband Tom and I sometimes love to indulge in what we call a ‘hotel breakfast’ – a long, lazy spread of tea, coffee, juice, fruit, pastries, cereal and lots of toast, followed by organic scrambled eggs, roasted tomatoes, veggie sausages and a dollop of the South Devon Chilli Farm’s chilli jam, which I am addicted to! If it’s a special occasion Tom will make his famous brioche French toast – which he studs with blueberries before frying and tops with raspberries and maple syrup! It’s the best.
What do you love most about spring?
Oh goodness – everything! The colours, the smells, the sounds, the sunshine! It’s such an uplifting, optimistic and beautiful time of year. There is a real energy about it – all the new life pushing its way up through the ground and all the birds busily tending to their nests. Not to mention all the blossom! I just love it. Also, the lighter evenings are a treat, as is that first glass of rosé in the spring sunshine. And of course, wild garlic (pesto), asparagus (grilled with garlic and parsley) and rhubarb (compote) are all completely delicious.
What positives are you hoping to take from the current global health situation?
On a personal level, this experience has forced the great majority of us to stop and I hope that going forward I can continue to maintain and embrace a slightly slower pace of life. There’s so much pressure to always being doing something, and I want to try and get better at doing nothing from time to time.
I also hope that the situation continues to unite us more as a society, and that the mutual support and kindness that we’ve seen continues, as we hopefully help each other to rebuild. Due to Coronavirus, ministers promised to find all rough sleepers in England a roof over their head within two weeks; it shouldn’t have taken a pandemic for this to have happened, but now that it has, I hope that positive changes like this will remain permanent.
Also, the natural world has been given a much-needed chance to recover and thrive throughout this terrible period, and I deeply hope that this will continue too. Nature experts in Lebanon have noticed significantly cleaner and clearer air filled with migratory birds, the canals in Venice are running clear and dolphins have been spotted in Italy’s waterways, and dozens of countries are experiencing temporary falls in carbon dioxide and nitrogen dioxide of as much as 40%. This year will almost certainly see a much lower toll for roadkill by cars and trucks, and many councils have delayed cutting the grass on roadside verges, which means that wildflowers will thrive this summer and provide more pollen for bees. I read that with less human movement, the planet has literally calmed: seismologists have reported lower vibrations from ‘cultural noise’ than before the pandemic! We’ve been given an opportunity to reframe the way the world works, and I hope that we seize it and create new norms that benefit and protect the planet, rather than reverting back to our environmentally damaging old ways.
Do you have any top seasonal tips to share with the Botelet community, as we all spend a lot more time at home?
I know we’ve all heard it many times before, but sitting outside listening to the birdsong, feeling the sun on your face, and looking - actually looking – at all the emerging flora and fauna is just so special, especially at this time of year. I find it has a really calming and joyful effect.
In terms of seasonal eating - we live in such a time of convenience that the supermarkets are still filled with imported goods that definitely aren’t seasonal (even during lockdown!) – so it can actually be quite tricky to know what is actually in season and what’s not. I have a beautiful book called The Almanac: A Seasonal Guide to 2020 by Lia Leendertz. I keep it by my bed, and it’s divided into 12 months, so at the start of each month I read about what lies ahead. It’s filled with so much wonderful information and inspiration, from tide times, sea temperatures and moon phases, to what’s in season in terms of flowers and food, as well seasonal recipes. There are also features on each month's unique goings-on, like beehive behaviour, meteor showers, folklore, songs and stories, as well my favourite section about what’s happening in the hedgerow! It makes me feel much more connected to the natural world and I find that very comforting.
I also love to make a few plans for the summer ahead – new things I want to learn, things I want to cook and eat, places I want to visit, people I want to see. I know that’s a bit tricky to do at the moment, as who knows what the future holds, but I like to plan for the best, and it’s nice to have a few things to look forward to.