Holding the final product in my hands, I feel both honoured and humbled to have been given such a wonderful opportunity and I hope you grow to love it as much as I do.

After all this time, I still can’t quite believe that we have finally produced a cookbook and I can still remember my first conversation with Jon Croft, Publisher and Managing Director of Absolute Press (an Imprint of Bloomsbury), as if it were yesterday.

It was 4:30pm on a bright clear May afternoon. I had just finished my staff lunch, when the phone rang. It was Jon. He asked whether I would consider writing a cookbook. When I responded that I had recently declined such an offer because I had felt that the other publisher was not quite right for me, Jon turned on the charm… and the sales pitch.

Well, as they say, the rest is history.  Here we are with the book completed and launched in all its 448-page glory. I am very aware that I could not have done this on my own and I am grateful that I was supported by such an amazing group of people on my journey.

Looking back, I realise how incredibly lucky I am to have had Jon and Absolute Press, as my publisher. I couldn’t have chosen a more understanding or perceptive company when it came to interpreting my passion for food and cooking and I’m so proud and fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with them.

As the art director, Matt Inwood had the difficult job of taking my words and images and making them fit together. Not an easy task and we had many awkward and tricky conversions. One of my main weaknesses was that I found it extremely difficult cutting down my recipes. As a chef, I can only compare it to the feeling of what it must be like to have to choose between ones children. In the end, I managed the process of limitation by justifying to myself why each recipe featured in this book, deserved its space on the page. In addition, my photography was by no means professional and it was purely due to Matt’s patience and tenacity that the book has ended up coming together so well.

In fact, that reminds me that the images themselves represented a drama of their own, which I’ll share with you. In September 2011, we had an unexpected power surge and my Mac and external hard drive, failed.  When I thought that I had lost all 24,000 images, I cried like a baby. At the time, I truly felt that my life was not worth living. It was and probably still is, the most stressful experience I had ever had. I was very close to having a nervous breakdown. We had just signed the contact with Jon and I didn’t know what to do – even the experts at Apple couldn’t retrieve the data. Luckily for me, Tim and Andy from Bruizer, a local film production company and good friends of ours, helped out; they pulled a few strings and talked to the right people. The hard drive made a U-turn at the University of Manchester and after 3 months of agony, Tim was finally the bearer of good news… and all 24,000 images!

We can now all have a laugh about it, but I think the experience certainly aged me. In fact every time I see the image of ‘the Rabbit’, I recall how I felt at the time. It was the one image that was burnt onto my mind; I knew that if we found that image, we would have found them all.

Two other troopers, who played a major role in the writing of this book, are Anne Sheasby and Imogen Fortes.  These two ladies had the task of editing every single word I wrote. And I mean EVERY word. I can’t count the number of e-mails we exchanged nor the amount of hours we spent in front of the computer, but when I consider what we have produced and when I read what I have written, I know every second was worth it. I have no regrets! Looking at this book through the eyes of both an author and a chef, I’m happy to say that I would not change a single thing.

And last but not least…the cover, which was designed by Claire Siggery, a very talented graphic designer from Bristol. In fact, it was the one episode in the whole process that I found truly bizarre.  I had had no input with the design of the cover and was waiting in anticipation for what it would look like. I think in hindsight, that I was hoping to find some fault with it.  But, when it finally arrived, I was gob smacked.  I could not fault it at all. That Matt had commissioned a cover such as this, finally demonstrated to me how well Matt had come to understand me as a person and how well he had grasped me as a chef and author. I felt truly grateful and can only thank whoever it was, whether Matt Inwood or Jon Croft, who had the great vision in bringing something as beautiful as this cookbook, to life.

But… this book is not a coffee table book.

No.

It’s a cookbook that has the desire to be used; used as a reference book every day of the week and every week of the month…I hope that in reading my book, you are inspired to buy local, cook seasonal and enjoy eating the fruits of your labour.

Lots of Love

Maddy xx

A signed copy available from our shop at £30 +£5 for postage UK only (For outside UK please contact me via [email protected])

On Saturday 25^th September, at 11am in the morning, I will be doing a cookery demonstration at the festival.  At The British Larder, Suffolk we will also be offering a special menu as part of the fringe event during the festival; three course menu for £25. Mr.P and I will also be conducting two special cookery demonstrations at the British Larder Suffolk on Saturday 2^nd and 9^th October at 10.30am, at the cost of £10pp.

The pièce de résistance is on Monday the 27th, where we will offer the chance to experience the mouth-watering creations of 5 top chefs in a 3 Michelin Star Evening at The British Larder, Suffolk. To create a unique and exciting dining experience using locally sourced ingredients, we are collaborating with Brett Graham of Notting Hill’s 2-Michelin-starred The Ledbury, Steve Williams of the 1-Michelin-starred Harwood Arms in Fulham, and Maria Elia, author of The Modern Vegetarian.

The aim of the evening is to fuse culinary excellence with fresh local produce, bringing together the best of city flair and countryside flavours to create a truly unique and exciting dining experience in the heart of Suffolk. A welcome drink at 7pm will be followed by a four-course seasonal Suffolk menu created by these highly acclaimed chefs.

This event is a great opportunity for us to all get our knives out and cook, have fun in the kitchen, and show off our wonderful local supplies to the chefs from London. We have had a few interesting requests from Brett, such as fig leaves. Luckily, Richard and Jan have come up trumps and not only are they supplying us with their unusual squashes, but they happen to have a fig tree which will readily supply us with some fig leaves!

Brett will also be taking part in some cookery demonstrations during the Festival’s main weekend at Snape Maltings, on Sunday 26th September.

Read more about the delicious signature Flame-Grilled Mackerel with Smoked Eel and Shisoo recipe that Brett cooked for The British Larder.

The living embodiment of the British Larder materialised with a bang at the official VIP launch party on Tuesday 3^rd August, and to our delight, approximately 180 guests turned up to see what the brand new British Larder Suffolk is all about.

With the doors thrown open and all the little finishing touches in place – the freshly painted walls, stripped wooden floorboards, pots of herbs on each table, jars of goodies adorning the bar, crates of vegetables and jars of jam – the British Larder, Suffolk is finally real. I can still hardly believe it…

Ross and I set to work in the kitchen to make tasters of food for guests, and the menu featured Dingley Dell pork belly, Hill Farm mash with a port wine sauce, Five Winds Farm shoulder of lamb, watercress pesto and cob nut garden salad, orange soused East coast mackerel, fennel and kohlrabi slaw and beetroot tart tatin with broad bean crème fraiche, among others.

Public speaking isn’t really my forte but I took great pleasure in welcoming all the guests to our new restaurant venture, and the food certainly went down a treat! From journalists and local suppliers to council representatives and British Larder fans, the guests seemed to be really savouring the wonderful food, drink and atmosphere at the British Larder, Suffolk. So exciting!

I have to admit it has been a challenging time for all of us – so many people have been involved in this project to make it happen and I can’t thank them enough for the support and effort they have given me. I do feel a sense of relief that it’s actually happening now, the limbo period of groundwork has been put in place, and now it’s time to really get things moving.

The British Larder, Suffolk has begun to feel like home for us – we have settled in and are incredibly excited to build upon this dream and make it a tangible, long-standing business success. It has been so hands-on from the beginning – I even personally planted all the trees and flowers embellishing the outside frontage!

With all the hard work that has demanded pretty much all of my time and energy, I have been slightly less involved in my website blogs, but fear not, it’s all settling down and I will establish a routine that will allow me to balance cooking, writing and running the restaurant (phew!).

I am really excited about getting down to writing more recipes and gathering some fantastic inspiration from my new rural surroundings. Having a daily changing menu is a wonderful way of demonstrating the best of the local, seasonal produce at its freshest, as well as expressing our creativity in the kitchen!

We really look forward to welcoming you through our doors to visualise, taste and experience the British Larder, and to share our passion for food and drink in the beauty of the Suffolk countryside, so pop in and pay us a visit!

For bookings please contact us on: 01394 460310

Well, to begin with, Mr.P and I arrived shell-shocked in the middle of the countryside, proud new owners of our own establishment but a bit dazed by the prospect of how much work there is to do.

There we stood with the keys in our hands and stars in our eyes, and a whole load of boxes to unpack! It wasn’t long, though, before an army of workmen trooped in and brought us back down to earth and onto the job in hand.

Almost immediately, carpets were ripped up, woodwork was being sanded, walls were being painted, and the hectic creation of the British Larder, Suffolk is in full swing – if slightly hard to visualise in the midst of a building site!

It really rang home when I woke up this morning to look out of my window to see bunnies chomping on the grass and butterflies dancing in the country air. We had taken a walk across the field behind the pub the night before, only to discover a delightful lake inhabited by playful otters. This was truly it – rural reality.

The most exciting news came when we took a stroll around the grounds only to stumble across a small meadow right next door, and there over the fence was a little herd of rare Hebridean sheep grazing contentedly in the sunshine. We happened to get chatting to the owner of our new found friends, and to our delight, it transpired that it was the Wildlife Trust sitting practically on our doorstep.

With a hop and a skip of an explanation about the British Larder, Suffolk, we made an agreement to be able to select out sheep from the herd and (vegetarians close your eyes now!) send them to a local abattoir, so that we can use the fresh meat to make wonderful dishes! Now you can’t get more local than that!

The bucolic idyll didn’t last long though, as important things that needed our attention flooded in like a great tsunami wave of exclamation marks. Between finalising menus, ordering stock, overseeing the ‘building site’, organising the installation of the kitchen and unpacking boxes, I’ve even had to cook lunch for all the hungry workmen!

It’s so exciting I can hardly express it, but with so much to do before the British Larder, Suffolk is ready to open its doors and offer a fantastic wealth of food and drink to locals and beyond, there’s not even a single second to take a breather.

I have to admit, there have been times where I have been filled with fear, but it’s a journey of discovery and new experiences, and while it might be stepping into the unknown, it is my passion for food and everything I have created in the British Larder that is keeping the momentum going!

While I might be hammering nails and cleaning paintbrushes at the moment, it certainly won’t be long before I’m over the fence picking out one of our Hebridean sheep friends to feature on the British Larder Suffolk menu, gathering dandelion leaves from the meadow, and baking fresh bread in the kitchen…

The British Larder, Suffolk, will be a translation of this digital world we have all created together, and will really put into a nutshell what we are all about. It will be a place where inspiration, imagination and creation all come together in a colourful fusion of taste, smell and touch; seasonal, local food at its very best.

To celebrate this amazing journey we are embarking on in the rural idyll of Suffolk, we are going to be holding a fabulous launch party in early August to unveil the British Larder, Suffolk (Currently known as The Cherry Tree, Bromeswell) .

Everyone who visits the British Larder website is invited to this special launch party, as the very important people who have stuck by me and helped me on my way to making my dream come true.

If anyone would like to receive an exclusive invitation to this event and see the British Larder, Suffolk be born and lauded by myself and the mysterious Mr.P, then please email your name, full address and email address to [email protected]

I look forward to sharing this wonderful moment with some of my most dedicated followers, and hope to see you there at the commencement of a fantastic future for the British Larder, Suffolk!



This vast decision-making process is definitely taking me out of my comfort zone – I have a reputation for being indecisive! This project has pushed me right to the limits, although it’s a positive thing because it is supplying me with a few more tools in my hefty toolbox of life, laying down the foundations of strength that both of us will require in dealing with the day to day running of the British Larder, Suffolk.

The decisions we needed to make were hugely challenging – choosing a venue, selecting a name, and deciding whether to sell the home we both loved.

Well, the blessing came when the cavalry arrived – and they arrived alright!!

We are fortunate enough to have some great people backing us on our journey.  Malcolm Schooling from the award winning People in Spaces Architects and Interior design agency, Peter from Peter and Paul the award winning brand design agents; Ibis Advantage, national PR and Suffolk specialist; Nicky Mendoza Wilson & Amy Kilpin our top marketing and writing team, and Graham Birch from Especial Design with his measuring stick and truck filled with kitchen goodies. I hope I did not leave anyone out, it would be wrong!

The journey so far…journey of decision making, learning, and understanding…

15^th May 2010: The call – DECISION time – it’s yours if you’re still interested…. Well no need to expand on that, the end-result is all self-explanatory. However, the emotions were foreign and erratic, and the darkness of fear settled for a moment, but once we said yes it all disappeared and our dream is well on its way to becoming a reality…

8^th June 2010: Meeting at the Cherry Tree with Malcolm & Peter…. A few days before Mr. P and I were sitting up until the small hours of the morning cutting and pasting our mood board of dreams. This was handed over in a ceremonial way to Malcolm who went off and designed the new world concept of Maddy & Mr. P and the amazing British Larder, Suffolk.

10^th June 2010: Personal licence test time… And yes, I passed and am now the holder of said certificate! However, it’s still being processed, and while I have no idea how long it’s going to take, at least it’s a box that can be ticked! Great!

14^th June 2010: Marketing & PR meeting – an exciting moment as we all love the fluffy things. It’s still a virtual world and is difficult to see what it’s actually going to look like, but the dream is slowly becoming a reality! Exciting times… I realised I need to write Christmas and New Year’s Menus – the TO DO List is expanding rapidly, I think my brain is ready to explode…

15^th June 2010: Meeting with suppliers of kitchen and table ware – love the different styles, plates and all the pretty paraphernalia. Deep down the reality lies await… writing menus and working out the costing….. very important tasks though!

I spent three days writing menus and doing intensive costings on Excel, only to find out that I had miscalculated. I didn’t work out the formulas correctly, so heaven forbid I had to spend another whole day correcting them! Unfortunately, this is the price you pay for not being great with Excel and on the money side of things. Ask me to de-bone a rabbit and I can do that with my eyes shut, but finances?! It’s new territory and it has to be done and mastered, so it’s a skill which is now high on my priority list…

29^th June 2010: The most important day but equally the hardest, I had to make decisions regarding paint colours and where things go, and yet Mr. P is not by my side. I feel sorry for him. Malcolm, though, is fantastic! He came up with the goods – I love the colours, even though the chair sample is bright green…only a sample!! It was fab, we started to talk about time schedules, realised our electricity supply isn’t sufficient, discussed what to do with the toilets and the carpets, and even the need to weed the sandpit! Malcolm laughed, as he had never had such a task on his TO DO list! The first – we are unique! Well I cannot wait to get out there with my yellow marigolds and weed the sandpit… escape to triviality!

1^st July 2010: It’s official – the big announcement to the world that we are taking bricks to mortar. British Larder is growing up and taking roots in Suffolk. The responses are phenomenal and we can feel the support and love already seeping in….

Tata for now, got to get back to my hefty TO DO LIST!

Following the success of the British Larder website, we have decided to take the next step and give the concept a spiritual and physical home. As Mr P puts it, “This will be a place to taste and touch what you see on the British Larder website.”

We have wonderful and far-reaching plans for the new restaurant, which will be christened the British Larder, Suffolk. In the first instance we will make the place look pretty with all the necessary British Larder paraphernalia, such as jars of cookies and baskets of bread, as well as some new furnishings to make the place look and feel more like home!

Why Suffolk? Well, it was love at first sight and, after several conversations with Polly and Tim from Food Safari, we decided it’s the place where we would like to grow old together. This captivating corner of England has so much to offer, not least fantastic local suppliers offering superb food from land and sea.

The idea is that the British Larder Suffolk will be all about being local, and we will be using local farms and producers to source our ingredients so that the fantastic food which ends up on your plate didn’t travel very far to get there!

The website will continue to develop, with more mouth-watering recipes, along with reminiscences about my career in cooking. Unfortunately, we won’t initially have a kitchen garden for the meantime, but we will be making the most of the wonderful wild produce around us.

The story of our relationship with food has a romantic flavour. We met in the kitchen and spent several years working together as professional chefs. Having subsequently worked for different companies, we had a yearning to cook together again. We make a great team, sharing a passion for high quality food, yet having different approaches and attitudes which complement each other perfectly. We’ve also collected just about every kitchen gadget known to man and are running out of space in our house!

Running our own establishment is an exciting but daunting prospect. However, we’re both totally committed and look forward to turning that commitment into success. Here’s to the future of the British Larder Suffolk!