Fish and Chips, Candy floss, Ice Cream, Cockles & Mussels. These were the first foods that came into my head when I first started to think about eating at the seaside. I certainly wouldn't recommend eating them all in one visit 🤮
There are some regional specialities which a particular seaside town excel in. Coastal resorts in Norfolk, especially in the North, are the best places for 'crab and beer'. In the North East of England where I am from, Kippers from a village called Craster are well worth trying.
Back to Ice Cream though and in particular the Lemon Top. In the area around Redcar in Cleveland this is the ONLY ice-cream to eat when you visit. It's a standard cone with whipped vanilla ice-cream but it is topped with a tangy lemon sorbet. Paccittos on Redcar high street are apparently the go-to location for the true Lemon Top experience.
The Lemon Top is now also the inspiration for this artisan gin! Now when it comes to going over and above, these guys have written the book. When the gin I ordered arrived it was accompanied by a mixer of Cream Soda (of course - to give the full ice cream experience). 6 coasters, 6 seaside postcards with cocktail recipes on the reverse for me to send off to my friends and finally a sticker.
I love the fact (which I learned from their social media) that each can of Cream Soda has the Lemon topping coloured in by hand before it is dispatched.
Before my bottle had even arrived my brain was whirring with recipe ideas. The first dish I have developed uses both the gin and the cream soda. The gin combines with cream, sugar and lemon juice to make a silky smooth Lemon Top Gin Posset and the cream soda is a key ingredient in some biscuits which are redolent of the ice cream cone part of the seaside experience.
You can see me making the posset as part of the It's From Scratch Monday Facebook Live Slot .
Just this evening I roasted some rhubarb in orange juice and brown sugar and used that as a topping to the Lemon Top Gin posset. One word - heavenly!!
Here are the recipes if you would like to download them & make the dishes for yourself
If you do, be sure to take some pics and tag us and Lemon Top Gin in.
https://www.instagram.com/its_fromscratch
https://www.instagram.com/lemontopgin/
There is lots more about Lemon Top Gin (and of course how to buy it) at https://www.lemontopgin.co.uk
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