A Meander Through The Picturesque Devon Village Of Colyton And A Recipe For A Delicious Roasted Asparagus and Garlic Scapes Hummus...

Now what you may be asking, do these two things have in common?

Well, a few weeks ago I was fortunate to spend some time down in this lovely part of the West Country of England when I attended The Veg Cookery Course at the River Cottage HQ founded by one of my food heroes, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. 

HQ is based in the market town of Axminster and the very much smaller place of Colyton is just about six miles away.

Officially it is also ‘a town’ but it still looks and feels very much like an old country village.

It is a wonderfully historic and very pretty little place with quaint little streets and old thatched cottages-typical picture-postcard Devon...

Seen above, Colyton Cottage built in 1610.

Oh- and I spent some of my childhood living and growing up here so it has a very special place in my heart!

Seen below is our old cottage on the left-originally thatched-however my grandparents decided-or rather my grandmother did-that the thatched roof only encouraged mice and rats and she disliked the sound of them rustling around above her so did away with the thatch.

My bedroom was the one on the top left.

Lovely uneven original wooded floors and an old oak bedroom door with a lead latch string fastening. Large pebble stones from the nearby beach at Seaton would prop the doors open.

 I remember one Christmas Eve waking up when my father tripped over the stone holding my door open as he carried in my Christmas presents and stocking to hang at the end of my bed. At aged six, I was just a little peeved and annoyed when the noise awoke me as he desperately tried to explain that he was simply carrying them in for Father Christmas who was rather busy. I didn’t doubt his story, but was simply cross I had missed seeing Santa with his reindeer and sledge!

Back to the history of Colyton.

The first mention of Colyton was around 700AD and later on in the eleventh century in the Doomsday Book when it was still refered to as 'Culitone'. It quickly grew from a humble Saxon hamlet to a larger settlement due to the success of the local agriculture. 

Many of the surviving cottages were built in the sixteenth century in what was then still a small but very wealthy village.

Things came to a political head in 1549 when Henry VIII confiscated much of the land around Colyton but rather than accept this from their king, the local merchants and farmers marched to London and successfully negotiated the return of the lands to their own control.

Colyton continued their royal rebellious reputation when in 1685 many of the inhabitants at the time joined the unsuccessful Monmouth Rebellion and were then named ‘the most rebellious town in Devon’. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colyton,_Devon

A central feature of Colyton is the beautiful St Andrews Church.

The 15^th century tower is an imposing sight. We lived right next door, so to speak, and my grandfather was Head Church Warden for a number of years.

This is the path around the church which overlooked our cottage and where I memorably first learnt to ride my bicycle without stabilizers!! 

Our cottage is situated just behind the thatched cottage in the centre. 

The wonderful picturesque old church has a wealth of memories and I will dip into this on another post...

Oh, and the link again between Colyton and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s  River Cottage enterprise?

He and his family now live at a farm in Colyton...

Linking back to food...

Through blogging, I have recently learnt about the delights of using the scapes from garlic in cooking. 

http://gardening.about.com/od/herbsatoz/a/What-Are-Garlic-Scapes.htm

As they occur at the same seasonal time as our wonderful British asparagus season, I was keen to use both in a recipe.

Roasted  Asparagus And Garlic Scapes Hummus

 

This extremely delicious vegetable hummus is loosely based and adapted by myself from the recipe we were given for Carrot Hummus when I visited the River Cottage HQ and attended The Veg Course. As you can clearly see though, there is not a carrot in sight!

2 tsp cumin

2 tsp coriander

6 TBSP Extra Virgin British Rapeseed Oil

1 tsp honey

300g Asparagus

3 Garlic Scapes

Juice and grated rind of half a lemon

Juice and grated rind of 1 orange

3 TBSP Tahini

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Wash and trim the asparagus and place in a roasting tray with a little oil and roast in a hot oven-200C for 20/25 minutes until tender and slightly browned.

Meanwhile toast the cumin and coriander-you could use whole spice and then grind them-for a couple of minutes until fragrant and aromatic.

Chop the whole garlic scapes and add to a large bowl together with the honey, tahini, salt and pepper, toasted cumin and coriander and zest and juice of the orange and lemon.

Stir well and add the roasted asparagus when cooked.  Pulse and gently blitz in a blended until the desired consistency is achieved. Add a little of the oil if needed.

Season again with salt and pepper if desired.

Place in the fridge and leave for a good couple of hours or preferably overnight to allow the flavours to perfectly mix and combine.

Serve, generously slathered on hot buttered toast or flat bread.

I served mine with my own oven baked Roasted Pumpkin and French Tarragon Bread.

 

I do earnestly urge you all to try this wonderful hummus.

I will return to the West Country shortly...

Until then, eat well and heartedly...