Cornwall – Beach BBQ and cooking under canvas

Writing about Cornwall is an emotionally charged experience for me. I have been visiting the county with my family since I was 3, it’s a very special place for us all. My memories of the summer are captured by smells, sights and tastes that I return to annually. Returning connects me to an idyllic past and memories of good times. I am so pleased to be recreating similar experiences for our children. Simple experiences of eating on the beach, swimming all day in the sea and being outdoors away from life’s distractions. Summer in Cornwall is enough to recharge my spirit and cleanse my soul for weeks to comes.

Together with my family

This year we camped for two weeks and were on the beach daily. The weather was mixed but it was so blissful to be back together with all my family on the coast. I am now sat in our office looking at a post-it note I wrote to myself on Tuesday it says: Remember the feeling of swimming through a wave. I cannot find the words to describe how I feel about being in the sea. I have tried to write about the experience in poems and drawings in my journal but no words can do justice to the pure joy I feel in the wild blue sea.

I have a similar experience when I cook outdoors. It’s an experience of being connected to nature and I think it takes me closer to who I am and what I love to do. Whenever we are in Cornwall we visit the local greengrocer, fishmonger, butcher and baker and either BBQ at the beach or cook back at the tent.

Every year I make a paella. It’s become a special Cornish tradition and my youngest sister who loves paella asked me to cook it on hers and her wife’s last night with us. This year we had three vegetarians so I made two paellas and we had a real feast. The children stayed up late and joined in. After so much time apart due to the pandemic, it felt special to be at the table together in Cornwall eating our favourite things.

Whenever possible in Cornwall, we BBQ at the beach. It is important to be respectful of others and to take all your litter with you at the end. But if you can do one thing this summer I urge you to BBQ on the beach right by the sea. Stay late, let the sun go down as your sausages sizzle and pop and you soak in the pleasure of the experience.

We had lots of lovely BBQs on the beach this year. Our aubergine shawarma made a delicious veggie burger, we did rump steaks with mustard onions and a beautiful BBQ with mackerel and bass fillets. My sister and Mum watched the children as the evening settled in and they paddled in the waves. Jim lit the coals, opened the beers and took care of the soundtrack to dinner. My Dad went on a hunt for borrowed cutlery from a close-by cafe while I prepped the food we had just bought from the Harbour in St Ives.

There is such incredible power in moments of solitude as a Mother. Time spent on my own is fleeting now. Even when I cook at home, it’s a juggle between keeping the children happy, cooking the family meal and wrestling with the temptation to open a bottle of wine at 5 pm. But here, in this moment I am cooking for my family, on the beach with the waves crashing and the last of the sun settling on our faces. It is a place where I long to stay and always struggle to leave.