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A Passion for Cooking at Honeysuckle Hill
I have a number of hobbies. Chief among them are gardening (being British by birth, it’s in the blood}, horse riding (or falling off horses as my wife describes it), and cooking which is something more of a passion with me. Culinary prowess may not be the first thing you associate with a Brit; however, last year, London was voted the culinary capital of the world! (England’s reputation for over-boiled vegetables and unimaginative menus seems to have endured in America long after the post-world war environment that caused the short-lived phenomenon — food shortages, rationing, etc.)
I have the ideal situation insofar as I get to enjoy two of my hobbies on a daily basis. I, along with my wife Ruth, own an Inn, Honeysuckle Hill, on Cape Cod, and I can spend many hours tending to and extending the English gardens which surround the Inn with colorful constantly changing character throughout the year.
The most fun, however, is creating and producing ever changing creations for inclusion on our extensive breakfast menu. We are lucky to live in an area which is well served by fresh local produce from the local farm markets. I will only purchase organic foods, free range eggs and the best of the more exotic imported fruits and vegetables. These I personally select each day. We grow most of our own herbs which I can pick fresh as required. During the summer, I can pick fresh raspberries, strawberries and tomatoes if the chipmunks and birds haven’t already harvested them.
The menu changes daily and is comprised of four courses.
Every morning, guests awaken to the aroma of their first breakfast course, freshly baked blueberry or cranberry muffins, breakfast scones or Boston coffee, wafting through the Inn, which is accompanied by the best coffee and tea that we can find. Fresh fruit purchased the afternoon before follows, and then creativity reigns. French toast may seem fairly basic but with the addition of fresh squeezed orange juice, a splash of Grand Marnier and chopped pecans, it becomes a very grand starter, or it may be crepes with a fresh blueberry and cranberry filling or home made Belgian waffles with a fresh cream and fruit topping served with real Vermont maple syrup.
For the final breakfast course, our guests are served one of my own special creations which, just to mention a few, include Eggs Benedict with a delicate lemony hollandaise, “Cape Cod Shipwreck”, which is somewhat similar to a ham and cheese souffle, and “Cape Kedgeree”, with its 28 secret ingredients which guests are invited to guess. Food is a full sensory experience; it should look good, and smell good as well as taste good. I like to be creative with my presentation of foods. A strategically placed sprig of parsley or fresh chopped chives can lift a presentation.
There are, of course, some guests who feel that a simpler breakfast suits them best. For those who prefer a lighter breakfast, we make our own granola which may be served with local yoghourt and fresh fruits and which many of our guests on diets find to be an ideal start to the day. There are other simpler choices as well, such as “straightforward” eggs, breakfast cereals, toast and jam.
There is no end to the amount of fun a chef can have with breakfast if you use fresh local produce imaginatively, I seem to know which combination of tastes will work best and derive great satisfaction from the delighted “oohs and aahs” frequently heard from the breakfast room. My culinary ego truly peaks when, after the last course, I am sometimes met with applause from an especially gregarious and well sated gathering of guests. What can I say? A chef’s ego does need to be fed!
Many of our guests have the same intuitive culinary skills but are afraid to use them. Go ahead and experiment, but do try the end product yourself before serving it up to an unsuspecting bevy of guests!
