Suffolk is a beautiful county with excellent produce. In recent years, I’ve visited frequently. One trip involved crab cakes and smoked trout at Butley
Oysterage, slathering mayonnaise with careless abandon and drinking Riesling. Another involved a visit to The Unruly Pig, which brought cod’s
roe tartlets and girthy chops of pork, and was last year voted Britain’s top
gastropub. It is now second place behind the Parkers Arms in Lancashire following February’s awards ceremony.
And then, a way up the coast, there is Aldeburgh, a little London-by-the-sea, quite mustard trousers, but unashamedly so and a good laugh. A pub there, the White Hart Inn, is one of my favourites in existence. There are crisp pints of Adnams (the Southwold brewery) ale, decent pints of Guinness, and always a jovial crowd of locals and second-homers. Dogs run happily amok.
Outside, there’s a pizza van – worth queuing for, in fact – and patrons are welcome to eat fish and chips outside so long as they buy a pint. Few moments by the sea are better, and the town’s two chippies, apparently owned by the same people, make use of the North Sea’s fresh catch with due grace. Some consider the fish and chips in Aldeburgh to be among the best in the land, as I do.
But the standout in Aldeburgh is The Suffolk, owned by George Pell of L’Escargot fame. He originally opened the restaurant as L’Escargot-sur-Mer in the disruptive trappings of lockdown, selling lobster frites in an alleyway
outside, the roaring North Sea then a fitting but sometimes doom-laden backdrop.
Today, Pell has steered the restaurant in a new direction, adding rooms upstairs and renovating a glorious blue building that was once a seaside hotel. Today, it is not so much a sister to the Soho institution, but a restaurant unto itself, with an elegant but fun menu making the best of Suffolk’s fare.
In the kitchen is a chef called James Jay. He’s Suffolk born and bred and you can tell: every dish is made with care and pride, and Pell and his team serve each one warmly. This might seem a little gushing, but pay a visit to The Suffolk and you’ll find a short, considered menu of Cullen Skink, dressed crab, halibut on the bone and such. Nothing is outrageously expensive and it all feels quite cathartic after a walk along Aldeburgh’s pebbled shoreline.
Here is a dish I tried there: a soft, chewy flatbread topped with rich taramasalata, salty brown shrimps and dill. It is fantastic.
FLATBREAD WITH TARAMASALATA, BROWN SHRIMPS AND DILL
SERVES 4
FOR THE FLATBREAD:
500g strong white bread flour
10g salt
20g fresh yeast (10g if instant)
30g unsalted butter, melted)
300ml water
FOR THE TARAMASALATA:
125g smoked cod roe
50g white breadcrumbs
100ml buttermilk
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 tsp Dijon mustard
3 tbsp water
225ml grapeseed oil
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 lemon (juiced)
White pepper
FOR THE BROWN SHRIMP BUTTER:
100g brown shrimps
100g unsalted butter
METHOD:
Mix the yeast with 100ml of warm water, cover and leave at room temperature for an hour. The mix will begin to look fizzy and active, the
fermentation process will add to the bread’s flavour.
Put the flour in a mixing bowl. Add the salt and the active yeast mix. Add the
melted butter and 200ml of the water, mix them together and then gradually
add the remaining water until all the flour is mixed in and you have a sticky dough.
Knead the dough on a floured surface for 5-10 minutes (alternatively, you can make the dough and knead it in an electric stand mixer on a medium speed).
When the dough is smooth and silky, put it back in the mixing bowl and
cover it with a warm tea towel. Leave the dough to prove for an hour or until the dough has doubled in size.
Tip the dough on to a floured surface, knock it back and divide into eight equal balls.
Heat up your oven (or wood/pizza oven or BBQ if you’re using one) to 250°C.
Roll out each dough ball to around 6 inches, gently place on a preheated baking tray lightly dusted with flour and cook for 4/5 minutes (if you’re using a BBQ, you can cook directly over the coals. It should start to blister and rise.
Soak the breadcrumbs in the buttermilk. Blend together the cod’s roe, garlic, mustard and water. Squeeze out the breadcrumbs and add to the blender. Continue to mix on a medium speed, slowly adding the grapeseed oil, then add the olive oil and lemon juice. Season to taste with white pepper.
Melt the butter on a medium-high heat until it becomes nutty and brown. Remove from the heat and stir in the shrimps.
To build, take your freshly cooked flatbread and place on a board or plate, generously spoon on the taramasalata and then drizzle the brown shrimps and some of the butter. Sprinkle with freshly chopped dill.
