The inaugural Harbour Bites Festival, in aid of the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance, was, from a punters perspective, an undoubted success. Despite having visited numerous food festivals this summer, it struck me as fresh and different and one of the most pleasurable to experience. Spread across a series of locations in West Bay, foodies mingled with tourists and day trippers, against a soundtrack of buskers, DJs and seagull cries. The sunshine, beer and cider stalls and harbour backdrop all contributed to the chilled vibe and families laid back on the grassy clearings, enjoyed the music and feasted on pulled pork buns, goat curry and wood fired pizzas.
Entering West Bay Nick Bryant demonstrated fish filleting techniques outside main sponsors Samways’ shop to an attentive crowd, some of whom snacked on crispy cockles and sipped prosecco while they watched. At The Fisherman’s Green, a gathering of marquees housed the local producers and their wares. Though the selection was not vast, the quality was high. As ever, I was delighted to note the presence of stacks of rich gooey goodness from brownie wizards Eat Dark Matters, indulging on this occasion in their “Salty Dog”, a classic fudge brownie, enriched with a swirl of salted caramel and the utterly silly but rather nice “Big Softy”, a triple chocolate chip brownie with marshmallows and biscuit top. More sweet sustenance came in the form of crumbly stem ginger fudge from Sam’s Fudge, handmade at home by a young Dorset couple. Their chilli fudge too, hit all the right notes.
I enjoyed talking with the lovely people at Little Pod, whose passion for their products was apparent. Based in East Devon, they harness the natural flavour of 20 vanilla pods in each tube of their vanilla paste, creating a value for money, easy to use ingredient, which does not compromise on flavour and is being adopted by top chefs in the region and beyond. Their chocolate and coffee extracts promise the same intense flavour hit, in a naturally low sugar, fat free form. I look forward to experimenting with the extracts in my own recipes.
The Salt House Green provided the perfect resting point at which to enjoy a selection of salads from Shepton Beauchamp eatery The Old Butchers Café and a duo of sweet chilli pork with pickled vegetables and a Japanese Curry of beef, spinach and ginger from Taunton based Not Just Sushi -not all to myself I hasten to add!
Finally, a further meander around the harbour to the Mound car park and a selection of street food merchants and the Palmers beer tent, bustling with drinkers supping ale to the strains of a live band. It’s so exciting to see the range of street food available locally now, no flaccid rusk bulked burgers or frozen fish here. Gillingham’s South Street Kitchen are a prime example, serving up smoky mac n cheese, proper barbequed burgers, piled high with their house bbq sauce and slaw and indulgent American inspired desserts. Their Philly Fries- thin and crispy chips, topped with beef brisket, peppers, onions, cheese and Cajun spices- were out of this world.
A fine addition to the Dorset foodie calendar, I really do hope to see Harbour Bites return next year.
Alison Smith @chefalismith
