We are ardent in sourcing the freshest and best quality ingredients for our menus and over the years have discovered some wonderful produce, grown and prepared by kindred spirits who reside close to Combe House.
We are also fortunate to have our own garden which is carefully nurtured by Head Gardener, Charlie O’Reilly. We would love to produce all our vegetable requirements, however it would take a small army of gardeners to do so! Instead, we concentrate on a limited range which we use regularly.
In the Summer months our produce often finds itself on the plate within minutes of being pulled or cut. Local seasonal produce is identified through the year and it is around these ingredients that we develop the menus.
Our Chefs regularly visit the local producers and check that the animals are happy, healthy and well looked after. Wherever possible, a “closed cycle system” is adopted whereby the animals are born and brought up on the same farm throughout their lives. These producers share the same ethos and passion as ourselves. Only small, local abattoirs are used and we insist on the correct periods for hanging and maturation and will never accept any meat, game or fish that has been plastic wrapped. Instead it is delivered to us in peach paper and hand bound with the exception of Lamb, Mutton & Pork which is delivered whole from the abattoir and butchered ourselves - so enabling nose-to-tail eating.
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It goes without saying that everything we buy is sourced locally so long as this is practical, of the very finest quality and always properly hung and cared for.
To name but a few of our trusted suppliers, the seasonal menu incorporates shot pigeon and wild venison from farway; John Dory and bass from Brixham fish market auctions each day; langoustines and lobsters daily from Portland; mutton from Gatcombe Farm, Seaton; ark chicken from the Ark Chicken co at Moorstone Barton farm near Cullompton; fruit and vegetables delivered daily by Charlie Hicks (a bit of a legend!); local and regional cheeses and butter from ‘west country cheeses’, Tavistock & Topsham, but there are many others – all equally important - who help us to create the dishes you are about to experience.
Perhaps the greatest pleasure that I have each day is to go into the kitchen and say good morning to our wonderful team of chefs. Apart from enjoying the sound of a good kitchen at work (chatter, chopping, grinding, whisking, sieving, frying), to smell the smells of a fresh day’s produce being prepared afresh is a treat to the senses – a perfect mirapoix being sweated off, a clear chicken stock, bread and croissants just out of the oven, freshly chopped herbs and garlic, butter and chocolate, toasted nuts ...
I hope that you can share my exuberance in today’s meal.
Ken & Ruth Hunt |
