As the rest of the UK braced itself for the almighty forces of the St. Jude’s day storm Dartmouth Food Festival said no to battening down its hatches, the foodies simply kept calm and carried on cooking. We visited Dartmouth on Sunday and the sun was still shining all the way up until 2pm when the rain threatened (unsuccessfully) to damped spirits. Perched on the cusp of the River Dart, at the mouth of the estuary, this chocolate-box town with its sail boats, traditional Tudor pubs and cobbled market streets is the perfect place for this kind of festival. Before we even entered the festival tents it became clear that seafood is the main export as well as favoured pastime of the locals. Lining the harbour were a group of boys crabbing, their buckets full with squirming crustaceans.
There were three main sections to the festival; the demonstrations zone, the tasting tents and the market square for serious chow-down potential. We wandered around in the tasting tents as you do, sampling a bit of Devon farm cheddar here, some potted crab from the Potted Fish Company there before settling on a bargain skewer of juicy king prawns cooked on a wood-fired barbecue for just £1.50.
We later headed to the demonstration tent and found pizzas being made in the stone oven by a group of local children who were taking their instruction from the head chef at the stall.
By far my favourite part of the fair was the strip of converted vintage vans that lined the harbour. Mostly selling burgers, a couple offering barista-style coffee and one a pancake vendor. Each one was kitted out in kitsch and the vendors were all dressed to match with their polka dots and pin curls.
We came away with a pack of five pies from the Wessex Pantry, a family-run pie producer based here in Devon. Tonight we tried the pheasant for tea which was slow roasted and cooked in a deliciously rich gravy – exactly what was ordered after a day of working up an almighty appetite.
Travel Guide Girl 