Where to eat
For centuries Essex has harvested fish and shellfish from its 350 mile coastline, fattened cattle and sheep on its marshlands, worked the fertile lands of the interior and hunted game through its forests. Most towns celebrated local produce with seasonal festivals. Villages such as Tiptree have historically been fruit growing and in the past held Gooseberry-Pie days. Coastal villages had Sprat festivals; bacon and ham were the focus of the Dunmow Flitch. Locals have always consumed beef, pork, lamb, mutton, venison, poultry, game and wildfowl with gusto. Our coastal marshes still provide grazing land and a fattening area for sheep and cattle. Local meat, including organic fare, is available from farm shops and delicatessens all over the county.
Where there is meat there is dairy produce: milk, buttermilk, cream, cheese and more recently, yoghurt and ice cream, the Doomsday book records cheese-making from ewes milk on the coast around Canvey. Immigrants into East London and Essex have bought the best of their culinary expertise with them. Italians found huge local appreciation of their ice cream and the trade thrived at the seaside pavilions and piers. The Rossi family of Southend has been at Marine Parade for 100 years. Amato’s Penny Licks, scoops of iced cream sold in re-useable glass dishes, were once the hallmark of Southend’s Golden Mile.
In any pretty village (and there are many in Essex), gingham and pine go with cakes and tea. But the ubiquitous Victoria sponge has been elbowed aside by more creative patisserie. Across the county there are cakes, puddings, biscuits, buns, jams and preserves on sale at markets and farm stores.
Now that we have whetted your appetite why not visit one of the restaurants below and let your taste buds discover the pleasures of eating in Essex.
The information listed is produced as a public service and inclusion in the listing does not constitute a specific recommendation by Essex County Council.