February Product Picks

I love going on holiday to Cornwall and discovering new products, there seem to be so many artisanal producers creating some tasty treats!

Since my cancer diagnosis we’ve not been able to travel down for a holiday, but I’m really hoping we can visit St Ives at some point this year.

I’ve selected eight delicious products this month, but let me know in the comments below if there are any other Cornish food and drinks that you love which aren’t in my list. I’m always on the lookout for new things to try!

I first discovered Josh’s chocolates in Selfridges a few years ago, and I love their chocolate buttons. As the name implies, these buttons are huge!

There are a few different flavours (milk, dark, almond, caramel & sea salt), but these peppermint gigantic buttons are my favourite. They don’t have an overpowering mint flavour, just a hint of peppermint blended perfectly with the rich dark chocolate.

They are vegan too!

Cornish Charcuterie are based in the Norton Barton Artisan Food Village in North Cornwall, and are a small producer creating a range of award-winning charcuterie and pâtés.

Their duck rillettes are one of my favourite products in their range of charcuterie, pâtés and rillettes. The duck legs are poached in duck fat, before being shredded and combined with aromatic spices and cranberries soaked in Grand Marnier. This is great to use for making canapes served on a cracker, or as a starter or lunch with some fresh crusty bread.

Popti are also based in the Norton Barton Artisan Food Village. These savoury biscuits are handmade in small batches, using local ingredients wherever possible. They don’t use any preservatives or added flavourings, and have a really clean ingredients list which I love.

These thins are made using Cornish sea salt, and pair perfectly with the Cornish Charcuterie duck rillette. These buttery crackers would also pair perfectly with cheese, Popti recommends soft cheese with these.

Jack’s is one of my favourite kombucha brands. They craft-brew their drinks in small batches to make a truly authentic kombucha - unpasteurised, with active cultures, and made using only natural ingredients.

They have a big focus on sustainability too which I love, you can read all about it here. They buy all their tea from a single plantation in The Azores, and use only organic and fairly-traded sugar. My favourite flavour they make is raspberry, which is made using fruit grown in the UK. It has a beautiful pale pink colour and a delicious fruity flavour!

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Freda’s use only two high quality ingredients to make this delicious peanut butter - high oleic peanuts from Argentina and Cornish sea salt. Two simple ingredients, as peanut butter should be, with no added palm oil or refined sugar.

I love their original crunchy peanut butter, I always go for this over a smooth option. But they have some interesting flavours too, and the next one I want to try is the peanut butter with chipotle chilli. I think this would be amazing stirred into a curry, and you know it must be good with two Great Taste stars!

Tregothnan Manuka honey is one of the most expensive products to feature on my monthly picks (£45 for a small 113g jar), but it's also one of the most special.

This is the only Manuka honey produced outside of New Zealand, and with only a limited number of jars available each year, this is extremely rare. This honey is famed for its proven antibacterial properties, but also has a fragrant and delicious flavour.

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For the past three years, the Cornwall Pasta Company has been making a range of amazing pasta using only Cornish and organic or foraged ingredients. They have also been completely plastic free since the company started in Feb 2020, with their boxes being fully compostable and biodegradable!

Their wild garlic campenelle is the most beautiful rich green colour, and much like Freda’s peanut butter, is made using just two ingredients… organic durum wheat semolina and Cornish wild garlic. No additives and no preservatives, just a product made with the best quality ingredients for maximum flavour.

Cornish Sea Salt have made this seed topper in collaboration with Elly Curshen (@ellypear on instagram). They describe this as a ‘secret weapon for a roasted, nutty taste when cooking, baking and topping dishes’.

Made with golden linseeds, smoked sea salt, poppy seeds, nigella seeds, dried garlic and is inspired by the Everything Bagel seasoning in the US. This would go with so many dishes, but would be simply delicious sprinkled on a slice of bread with a drizzle of olive oil.