All Manor of Events in Henley, outside Ipswich, are holding Christmas in Oz themed parties. This is a really original place to go for the staff Christmas party. Each year the theme is different and we really enjoyed the chance to spend the evening in Oz. The food was very good ( Christmas menu ) and the decor brilliant.
Meet Xoliswa Ndoyiya personal chef to Nelson Mandela.
Written by Ruth
Xoliswa Ndoyiya was Nelson Mandela's personal cook from 1992. Her job interview consisted of just one question: “Can you cook our home food?”
Here is the recipe for Umphokoqo, a porridge made of maize meal and sour milk which was one of Madiba's favourite foods. He had it made whilst staying at The Dorchester in London.
Mr Suffolkfoodie having been brought up in South Africa also enjoys a bowl of this on most mornings.
Ingredients
2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups mealie meal ( polenta )
1 litre amasi (sour milk similar to buttermilk, buttermilk will do)
Method
Bring the salted water to a boil.
Add mealie meal, stirring constantly. Lower the heat and, stirring throughout, cook until the porridge is soft, approximately 25 minutes.
After 25 minutes, stop stirring. Reduce the heat to an absolute minimum and cover the pot with a lid for 15 minutes or until the texture is totally soft (if there are still granules, the mixture is not yet cooked).
Remove from the heat, turn the contents of the pot into a large bowl and allow it to cool completely.
Serve with soured milk on the side so that each diner can determine how sour they would like their umphokoqo to be. The soured milk is then stirred into the porridge.
Please book your table via the online booking form
We like Bungay. This pretty little town has some great independent shops and a market every Thursday.
It also has The Earsham Street Cafe. We were too late for lunch, but liked the idea of the savoury afternoon tea with local Shipcord cheese and homemade carrot chutney.
Why have we been eating so many burgers? Suddenly everyone in Bury St Edmunds has burgers on the menu so we have been out to try some.
Benson Blakes were the first on the scene and are the established burger and cocktail bar in the town. They have won many awards ( deservedly so) for their offerings and we tried the Caprese (£7.85) a dirty great burger with sweet potato fries. Cocktails are damn good too. Staff are very friendly and the atmosphere lively and fun, especially when a band is playing.
More sedate is Graze Kitchen and Bar, known for their small plate, informal dining and established in the town for high quality, mix and match plates. But now big plates have arrived and include a Graze burger, pickles and chips. (£9.) We drank a bottle of Chenin Blanc from South Africa which was very good and added some small plates to our late evening meal. Service was slick, but annoyingly we were reminded throughout the meal that the kitchen closed at 10pm.
Third up is The Picturehouse cinema in Hatter Street. They serve a build your own burger. Choose a bun, a burger, a side and salad.(£8.80). Note pads and pens are placed on the table for you to write, then place your order at the bar and the burger is delivered to the table. Service is cheerful but it gets a bit busy when a film is about to start, so allow plenty of time to eat first.
Benson Blakes in Bury St Edmunds has just taken over a country pub; not to make it into a burger bar but for a very exciting project. The pub is owned by the local farmer who will be supplying the pub with rare breed pork (Oxford Sandy & Black) with beef, lamb, free range turkey, wild venison and local game. There will be a small holding established early next year for herbs, salads and vegetables. The farmer will also be growing wheat, barley & hops for a microbrewery that will be established in the farm. They are also setting up a smokery and doing a full range of charcuterie meats and chutneys... Real Suffolk food !!
This multi function and award winning community building has a cafe, with enthusiastic staff and lots of homemade cakes. They tried to persuade me to have a full English breakfast, but for the sake of my arteries I settled for a capuccino.
Go upstairs to find out about the Pulham Pigs.
These savoury muffins are an all year round favourite. We like to experiment with different fillings and toppings, these are topped with pesto. Here is the link for our Feta and Peppadew Muffins. Have fun adapting the recipe!
A sliceable quince treat to serve with cheese.
I made this vat of chutney from the very last of my greenhouse green tomatoes and some delicious Bramley apples from my Dad's garden. I had no small jars so I'll leave it in this enormous jar to mature. This is my mother's recipe.