Upcoming Trips: Castles and Feasts

Travel to the north of England with us
from September 25 to October 3, 2010

In partnership with Arts & Crafts Tours we have a very special trip organized for you!

This trip is just perfect for people who love architecture, history and food as we do!

Thinking of castles brings to mind stories of knights in shining armor, beautiful damsels, jousts and pageantry - but also glorious banquets and feasting. So we thought - what better combination than a weeklong stay in a romantic medieval castle in the Borders of England combined with cooking classes and lavish dinners. We will have a castle to use as our base of operations for this trip. Naworth Castle in the village of Brampton, is the home of the Howards, the Earls of Carlisle and has a rich and lengthy history, having been fortified as a defensive castle in the late 13th century. The current owners, Philip and Elizabeth Howard, will enrich us with stories of their family's history. Ed and I will will enrich the group with cooking classes to tie the flavors of the area together each day.

Some mornings will be spent in nearby markets, picking and selecting local produce for dinner. And then it will be off for our program of guided tours.

Before leaving Naworth, we will - with Philip - examine its history. His great grandfather was George Howard who was himself a painter and a patron of the Pre-Raphaelites. Over the years Naworth has had several restorations and the 19th century ones are especially interesting for us. One of his good friends, and the architect of the Howard's London home, was Philip Webb. Webb's work can be seen not only in the castle, but also in the village of Brampton, the site of his only church - with some of the most exceptional of Edward Burne-Jones's stained glass windows. We will also visit a nearby church by A.W.N. Pugin.

We walk Hadrian's Wall built by the Romans to keep out unwanted invaders from the North - otherwise known as the Scots - who they thought would disrupt their highly organized society. And we will visit Lanercost Priory dating from the 12th century, left in ruins after the disillusion of the monasteries by Henry VIII and in the 19th century somewhat restored.

Two afternoons will be spent on the northeast coast visiting several fascinating homes and sites. The first is an island in the North Sea - Lindisfarne - which may rightly bring up memories of the Lindisfarne Gospels for this is where they were written. Later, in the 19th century, the important arts and crafts architect Sir Edwin Lutyens restored the monastery as a private home for Edward Hudson, the publisher of Country Life magazine, and Gertrude Jekyll designed the lovely small garden.

Another day takes us to a truly monumental arts and crafts home, built somewhat earlier, Cragside, designed by Richard Norman Shaw. Shaw's influence on American architects such as H.H. Richardson, helped to introduce arts and crafts aesthetic to the United States. The home was built for the 19th century munitions manufacturer, Lord Armstrong and is built right into the craggy hillside. A wealth of interior craftsmanship with magnificent decorative objects, it also has a wonderful woodland gardens and grounds.

We will also venture into Scotland to visit Abbotsford, Sir Walter Scott's home. He moved there in 1812 and then five years later added extensively to the small cottage. And, as with Cragside, the grounds are especially worth time and viewing.

Another day will be spent in the glorious Lake District where we are planning visits to the homes of John Ruskin, William Wordsworth and Beatrix Potter. In addition to her delightful stories for children, Ms Potter bought up thousands of acres of land and left them to future generations in care of the National Trust. We will also visit Blackwell on Lake Windermere designed by M.H.Baillie-Scott and now one of England's premier arts and crafts museums.

After a day of touring, we will return to Naworth Castle each evening to prepare and then enjoy a wonderful dinner. Jinny and Ed are working on compiling a series of menus and recipes that include the kinds of food once enjoyed by the 12th century Howards, progressing to current cutting edge English dinners.

Ed and I are thrilled to have an opportunity to join Arts and Crafts Tours for their upcoming trip, Castle and Feasts. The trip is a combination of some of our favorite interests: history, architecture and food - a veritable trifecta of delights.

As a civil engineer, Ed has long been fascinated with the how and whys of construction. For decades his avocation has been architectural history and design. He served on an architectural review board and as a member of the DC Historical Society for many years. He is looking forward to having this chance to enjoy visiting such a wealth of British architectural riches with the well respected staff of scholars and authorities brought together by Arts and Crafts Tours.

An historian by training, I have been fascinated by British history since childhood with a special interest in royal history. What a treat to get to spend more than a week in a castle in such an historic part of England! My mind is ready to absorb all that it can learn during our visit to the north of England.

That brings us to food, long a subject of interest to both Ed and I. We have been teaching cooking for more than a dozen years and traveling with folks for five. Ed and I think there is no experience more fun than touring a new area each day and then returning to our home base to make and enjoy a great meal with our fellow travelers. That is what we will be doing during the September Castles and Feasts trip.

Now a word on the food we will encounter and prepare. Growing up in mid-century America our food preferences were shaped by the limited tastes of the times. Just as American food has matured and expanded, so has British cuisine.

English food is the Rodney Dangerfield of cuisine. It simply does not get the respect it deserves. Long consigned to the margins, the UK is now the center of much of the world's best food and wine.

Several factors are in play. First, the produce in Britain is second to none. Their cheeses and other dairy products are respected world wide while their sheep, pork and beef stocks are wonderful. British fruits and vegetables, whether indigenous or introduced from elsewhere, are remarkable. In visits to local markets we will be bringing the best of British foodstuffs to the kitchen of Naworth Castle and then onto our table for enjoyment.

Next, the Brits have long been major importers of the best wine and spirits in the world. French wines, particularly from Bordeaux, have been imported into England since the time of Henry II in the 12th century. Single handedly they developed the Portuguese Port industry when they found their long standing dependence on the wines of Bordeaux blocked by war. Not only has this trend continued into the 21st century but their tastes have broadened to include the emerging New World wine areas of South Africa, Australia, Chile and Argentina. They continue to import the best wines of all the major producing areas of Spain, Italy, Germany and France. Keep in mind that the British drink more champagne than in any other country other than France!

And this is not all the British drink. While wine production in the British Isles is minimal, the area produces many other beverages of note ranging from ale, beer, stout, and mead to Scotch and whiskey. We are certain to be drawing on many of these beverages as we cook up our Castle Feasts.

Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of British food is how wonderfully diverse it is. Menus include the best of the world's cuisines - and we will work to insure that we include the full range of flavors during our stay in Naworth! A chief cause of this is the long term colonization program carried out by the Brits. We understand that many of our agricultural staples were brought to the UK by early explorers - such as the potato - but the flavors imported into the UK continue into the 20th century and beyond. Most people realize that the former British Empire has made the UK the center of more wonderful Indian foods than any area outside the Indian subcontinent, but that same movement has also brought such diverse cuisines as Middle Eastern, Chinese, Malaysian, Pakistani and South African onto the British table.

During our week of cooking at Naworth we will be weaving together meals from this broad range of influences - from dishes absolutely English such as lemon curd and roast beef and Yorkshire pudding to a series of kebabs, some Chinese spareribs or perhaps some fish with cilantro mint chutney. What unites all these dishes is that each is delicious, easy to prepare and able to be enjoyed by all.

We hope you will want to join this first time ever tour and cooking treat. We have limited space - even in a castle - so be sure to let us know soon. It will be an experience that will yield great memories!

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