The apple orchard at Hustyns, Club La Costa Resorts & Hotels' luxury Cornish resort, is gradually taking shape and ideas for using the apples are ripening almost as fast as the fruit. Thanks to the remarkable enterprise of two of Club La Costa's founding members, who have recently crafted a new book on cider, and together with the arrival of Hustyns' new Head Chef, Didier Bienaime, the appeal and potential productivity of the orchard is about to take on a whole new significance!
The Cyder Book
Ray and Claire Tricker have been members of Club La Costa since 1986. On Ray's retirement from the army in 1993, the couple moved to Winkleigh in Devon, where they inherited a number of very productive apple trees and the seeds were quickly sown for their subsequent passion for all things cider and apples. They decided to make the most of their considerable apple crop and began assembling a huge catalogue of ideas for cooking with apples, including some traditional family favourites as well as recipes with a more modern twist.
Ray is a technical author of more than 30 books and, with their collection just waiting to be exploited, the couple decided that their kitchen table scrapbook of ideas should be developed into a 'proper' cookbook dedicated to their favourite produce. 'The Cyder Book' was born!
Cooking with apples and cider was to be the book's main focus, but with an appetite for and an interest in the production of cider, and with Winkleigh Cider on their doorstep, Ray and Claire decided to create a book that would also be a history of and a guide to the art of cider making. 'The Cyder Book' is split into three sections: an historical overview, the cider making process and recipes.
The historical overview explores not only where and when cider became popular, but also which varieties of apples make the best beverage, the tradition of 'Wassail' and the legend that is good, old-fashioned 'Scrumpy'.
Based on the traditional processes still employed by cider makers today, the second section follows cider making from planting apple trees to filling barrels at Devon's own Winkleigh cider company.
Finally, the cookbook includes recipes, all using cider and/or apples, for dishes ranging from soups to sweets and from pies to preserves, including such tempting ideas as Onion and Cider Soup; Salmon and Oats in a Cider Sauce; Venison in Cider; Apple Straddle; Apple and Red Chilli Chutney and a Tangy Apple BBQ Sauce.
Head Chef Didier Bienaime, who has only recently joined the Hustyns team, was born in France in 1963. Didier has travelled and worked throughout the world, including a stint as Head Chef at the famous Lakeside Hotel in Cumbria, and he brings with him a vast knowledge of culturally and regionally varied cuisine. His aim is to create interesting and enticing new menus, highlighting a number of cider and apple dishes from the 'The Cyder Book' and using apples grown in and picked from the resort's own orchard. The book will be on sale at Hustyns.
With the release of 'The Cyder Book', a new head chef, a fantastic orchard full of traditional Cornish apples and their special 'Taste of Cornwall' evenings every Thursday, Hustyns now has the perfect platform from which to further enhance its already excellent reputation for serving superb quality, traditional Cornish dishes and beverages.
