The Lake District or ‘The Lakes’ is special
for a number of reasons: The area makes up the largest of England’s
thirteen National Parks and is home to the country’s longest and deepest lakes
(although, fans of QI will know, Bassenthwaite is the only
official ‘lake’ – the others being 'meres' or 'waters'). The mountainous region also boasts Scafell
Pike, England’s highest peak and the beautiful Wastwater was recently voted ‘Britain's Favourite View' – some of the reasons why
the region attracts in excess of 15 million tourists a year!
The setting and inspiration for many of the works
of William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and
other ‘Lakes Poets’, the area owes much of its conservation to author and
illustrator Beatrix Potter. Who, with the proceeds from her books about Peter
Rabbit and his friends bought and preserved many farms and expanses of
landscape, which, upon her death in 1943, she bequeathed to the National Trust.
These are not the area’s only links with writing. In the 1500s, graphite
was first
discovered near Borrowdale. The invention of the pencil,
led to their
production becoming important to the
local economy. Today, the Cumberland Pencil Museum sits on the site of the
original factory.
In addition to all this, the
Lake District has in excess of 6,000
archaeological sites and monuments, which date from prehistory to WW2, as well
as over 1,700 listed buildings and an increasing number of conservation areas.
It is also home to the Red Squirrel, nesting Golden Eagles and
Ospreys. But, what really makes the Lakeland special for me, are my early
memories of family holidays.
Where I grew up, mine and many of the surrounding streets were named after
places in The Lakes, for example: Rydal Drive and Heversham, Bowness, Keswick
and Windermere Roads. Enjoying going to the actual places accounts for much of
my early pleasure of visiting the area. We often toured with a caravan and I fondly
recall staying on small farms - helping with the milking, lambing and dry-stone
walling; roaming the hillsides and paddling in the many streams. I loved
playing on the water; canoeing, sailing and once hiring a cabin cruiser on ‘Lake’
Windermere.
Since relocating to the North West, I have rediscovered my love for The
Lakes. My brother-in-law and I often seek out the quieter routes up the
mountains and relish the unusual walker’s tradition of a Sushi platter followed
by Butterscotch Green & Blacks, when we get to the top. (Well, for me it’s
about the food - for my bro-in-law it’s more about the views!)
About thirty minutes from the Southern most tip of Windermere and a stones
through from the cockle full Morecambe
Bay, sits the picturesque medieval village of Cartmel.
Cartmel is celebrated for a number of reasons: its religious history can be
traced to the year 677; the inviolable Cartmel Priory dates back to the time of the Richard The Lionheart and the
Crusades. The imposing arched Gatehouse was added in 1330, the birth year of Edward, the Black Prince and around
the time of the beginning of the Ottoman Empire.
Overlooked
by the Gatehouse, for centuries, life in the village has centered round the Market
Cross. The old water pump and fish slabs still exists and is an ideal spot for
a photo as in the background you can see the ‘The Home of Sticky Toffee
Pudding’ aka the Cartmel Village Shop and the famous Cartmel Racecourse.
For
centuries, Cartmel’s many inns and coaching houses have fed villagers and
travellers alike. More recently, Simon Rogan’s Michelin starred L’Enclume has
brought visitors such as myself to the area. Recently, with the opening of
Cartmel Cheeses and The Bread Shed Bakery, the village has enhanced its
reputation as a foodie mecca. Our recent lunch at Simon’s ‘second restaurant’ Rogan
& Company was worth the journey alone.
Our
table booked at L’Enclume was for 19:30 so we were conscious of not having too much
and spoiling our appetites. Therefore, we decided to just order some nibbles –
we ended up ordering one of each dish on the ‘Nibbles’ menu (as well as a
couple of sides of Triple Cooked Chips and Roast Pumpkin.)
Much of the
food arrived in dinky Staub cast iron saucepans - one of the first to arrive was (my dad’s
favourite dish) the Spiced Whitebait.
Other dishes were presented on
rustic wooden boards, such as the delicious, Rarebit with Mrs Kirkham’s
Lancashire Cheese and Worcestershire
Sauce.
Marinated Olives, Hummus and Croutes - My
parents, who (along with my wife) were my dining companions, run an olive farm
near Antequera in Spain, and while these olives did not wow, they were
certainly tasty enough. The same can be said for the hummus and croutes.
My wife’s favourite, the perfectly
cooked Queen Scallops with Garlic and Chilli.
My favourite, the Garlic Mushroom Brioche – the best
brioche (maybe even the best bread) that I’ve had since The Ledbury’s Bacon and
Onion Brioche. So good, I ordered a second portion!
The Triple Cooked Chips were also worthy of ordering a second portion…
then a third – perfectly crisp on the outside with fluffy centres.
The crisp, golden crumb of the Crispy Chicken Strips served with a
mildly spiced Sweet Chilli Mayo.
How do you make mushy peas worthy?
Simple answer; serve them with foie gras - the indulgent, Foie Gras and Mushy Peas.
Perhaps, a great way for Simon to
keep the snails off of the crops in his new, much larger farm in the Cartmel
Valley is to serve them up in his restaurants? However they were sourced, the Garlic and Parsley Snails were a
delight – having slithered and slathered a few of the meltingly tender molluscs onto the Garlic Mushroom Brioche, I was in a
garlicky Gallic Eden!
We also ordered a Selection of Breads and some Bread and Dripping – beautifully fresh
and very tasty.
Now, do you want the good news or
the bad news?
Bad news is that if, inspired by my
post, you want to do so quickly as the restaurant and bar will soon cease
trading…
The good news however, being that
once the building has been revamped, they will reopen under a different name
and serve some of the fabled favourites from L’Enclume, such as 'Egg drop
hot-and-sour soup', which will come complete with a noodle-loaded syringe!
One thing’s for
sure, when the new “Rogan’s” opens – I’ll definitely be making the journey up
the M6 to The Lakes and Cartmel!
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