Back in September we wrapped up the last of our summer events with ‘Taste of Scilly’, the annual food and drink festival celebrating the abundance of local produce across the archipelago. Every September for 10 days, we champion farmers, growers, suppliers, distilleries, fishermen, fudge-makers, ice creameries, vineyards and local eateries and this year we invited a very special guest…

For 2022, we welcomed chef, author and founder of The Hidden Hut in Cornwall, Simon Stallard to our shores for three very special events on three very different islands.

Simon is well-known and loved for his sustainable, meaningful and low impact dining experiences, using hyper-local, fresh produce and wood-fired cooking in remote and unique locations. His inventive approach to cooking has become iconic, having personally developed his own techniques and field-kitchen set-ups; from firepits dug in the sand, to wind-chime fish smokers and wood-fired rotisseries, every feast is its own, with Simon perfecting the art of off-grid, authentic culinary experiences.

His passion for using seasonal ingredients for al fresco dishes that connect people to their surroundings, allowed the perfect partnership in which to create an island inspired menu to hero our local producers, all varying in format and reflecting each island’s character.

With the natural environment and iconic white sand beaches of Scilly at the heart of each feast, we kicked off on Friday with a sunset supper on the idyllic sweeping Appletree Bay, Tresco. A long banquet table ran along the bay, glowing lanterns with flowers freshly picked from the nearby Abbey Garden and Simon on the grill at the shoreline, the scene was set for an unforgettable evening. Guests were welcomed with a Westward Farm x Abbey Garden G&T and canapes, before making their way down to chat to Simon as he kept a watchful eye on the Island Fish lobster cooking over the flames, landed that morning on Bryher. The lobsters were drenched in a garlic butter, made with dairy from Troytown Farm on St. Agnes and served with warm crispy potatoes from Hillside Farm (Bryher) and a Salakee Farm tomato and herb salad. Simon whipped up a salsa verde and hot chilli sauce using produce from Scilly Chilli (Bryher) and seasoning with SC Salt from St. Martin’s. Dessert was a honey and polenta cake, drizzled with Tresco Honey, and grilled stone fruits which were flambeed in SC Dogs honey spiced rum… quite the finish! To end the evening, a hot buttered rum bubbled away over the fire; rum from SC Dogs, Cider from Westward Farm, butter form Troytown Farm and apple juice from St. Martin’s vineyard – undoubtedly the new Scillonian tipple.

Saturday on St. Martin’s was an intimate daytime feast for just 25 people and a different cook altogether, mirroring perfectly the untouched surroundings of this little isle and creating a truly immersive culinary theatre. Using Simon’s signature ‘washing line’ technique, line-caught dayboat mackerel was pegged onto a wire over a line of fire in the sand, creating a scene reminiscent of a desert island. Guests arrived from Lower Town quay, making their way across the sand to the silvery fish like wind chimes in the breeze and the uninhabited island of Tean in the background. Simon served the mackerel with lemon and herb Hillside potatoes, grilled squash and pumpkin from Salakee Farm and island-foraged rock samphire. To finish, guests were treated to a chocolate pudding pot, topped with a generous scoop of Troytown Farm vanilla ice cream and a rich velvety fudge sauce made from Veronica Farm Fudge on Bryher. Reclining on blankets nestled into the dunes under the emerging afternoon sun, guests sipping on a sweet dessert style wine from St. Martin’s vineyard, just a mile down the road.

The finale of the entire festival and the third and last of Simon’s feasts was held on St. Mary’s and was a larger, laid-back affair. Two huge pans of seafood paella simmered away on Porthmellon Beach as families and groups laid down blankets and chairs on the sand for a relaxed afternoon of paella… and gin! A local distillery and gin school set up a pop-up beach bar where visitors strolled back and forth barefoot under the Scillonian sun, the perfect end to an incredible 10 days on Scilly.

More from Simon: The Hidden Hut | @stallards | Stallards