Country Matters 2019

Giles Wreford-Brown Edward Dyke

Many years ago, I cooked a Thai green curry one Friday I enjoy baking bread every Sunday morning. Every week is
evening. Ever since, “Friday night is curry night” in our house. a different outcome and trying new ingredients is key. The
I usually get a text message on the way home, informing me kneading of the dough is thoroughly therapeutic and de-
which ingredients we need and how many various children stressing and the family love eating the hot bread, fresh from
and friends will be expecting it. the oven.

Mark Lewis  Karen Mitchell

Our go-to celebration supper dish is fillet steak, roasted Chicken and bacon lasagne. I enjoyed this dish while out on
smashed potato and a garlic and leek butter bean bake. a date one night, and was so impressed I decided to copy it.
All followed by a treacle tart. I’ve managed to impress many people since.

Trudi Gumbrell Richard Taylor

My one-pot roasted lemon chicken dish with everything My contribution to family celebrations is raspberry soufflé.
thrown in, drizzled in honey, wine and thyme and served Home grown raspberries make it an impressive dish and it is
with caramelised lemons, was made for sharing and surprisingly simple to make.
never fails to disappoint when crowds of family, friends or
colleagues gather for a simple supper. Clare Burt

Angela Gillibrand Roast chicken – I still cook it the way my mum showed me
when I was a child.
Memories of halcyon days, seemingly endless childhood
summer holidays spent in Cornwall. My father checking Tim Bennett
the lobster pot as we returned from our latest cruise around
the coast, if lucky – crab for supper. Now we enjoy freshly Growing up, we were very lucky as mum was a chef and she
cooked crabs from Branscombe, salad, crusty bread, chilled was good at making the most of everything that was left over
wine and great company. on a Monday from the previous day’s roast lunch. There was
not always much, so we had what mum called a “stand up
Kate Wiscombe curry”. Quite simply, if you were lucky enough to find a piece
of meat in the curry, you stood up!
Chocolate tiffin. I have mastered it over the course of 10
years and, to give it that special ‘je ne sais quoi’, I add a small
amount of stem ginger with a splash of its syrup. Perfect.

Jeremy Smith

Most months, Trudi and I have a “tapas Sunday” to remind us
of being on holiday. This starts with a supermarket sweep
to buy lots of different ingredients – fish, meat, spices, etc.
My personal favourite is a chilli, new potato and chorizo
combination. It’s quite spicy and the potato absorbs the
chorizo beautifully!

Lucy Nolan

My signature dish is a roast dinner with all the trimmings. 
My husband insists that we have my homemade Yorkshire
puddings every time, but a decent red wine is equally
important.

101

Lunch Club

Leek & Blue Cheese Risotto

Say goodbye to soggy sandwiches Enough for four lunches
and sayonara to shop-brought snacks.
Banish the 12 o’clock blues and start a A lunch club staple as the ingredients and flavours can be
adapted to suit your taste. Every element can be made in the
Lunch Club office but we promise, you would never think this was not
made in a pan! We like to add some ham hock and Immy opts
We (Camilla White and Immy Robinson) are for cheddar or parmesan rather than blue cheese!
fondly referred to throughout Burraton House
as “Lunch Club”. However, it is not what you Ingredients
might expect. We have, in fact, sampled very
few of the food outlets that Poundbury has to offer but we • 40g butter
do have fabulous but frugal lunches every day without a • Glug of olive oil
sandwich in sight. • 2 leeks thinly sliced
• 4 cloves of garlic
On alternate weeks, one of us takes • 200g risotto rice
charge of lunch and we have • 750 ml veg stock
amazed ourselves as to what • 120g of blue cheese
can be achieved using only
a kettle, toaster, microwave Method
and a little ingenuity! We
have also established a 1. Stir the butter, oil, leek and crushed garlic in a
small yet flourishing office microwavable bowl.
kitchen garden in our small
courtyard which gives our 2. Cover and microwave for 4 minutes, stir then cook for a
dishes that added je ne sais further 4 minutes
quoi!
In a busy working environment, 3. Stir in rice, stock and seasoning
4. Cook uncovered for 12 minutes then stir and cook for a
Lunch Club is a real treat in the day. The
‘cooking’ of lunch is often amusing with the odd kitchen further 6 minutes 
mishap and inventive use of everyday items of cookware. We 5. Add your choice of cheese (and ham hock!)  and stir and
enjoy the fresh air as we tend to, or harvest our herbs and
tuck into a delicious and healthy meal which is good for our stand for five minutes
waistlines and wallets! 6. Serve topped with rocket with a tomato and avocado salad

We have put in our request for an office Aga and await and a dollop of chilli jam!
approval with baited breath. However, for now here are some This re-heats REALLY well for later in the week just whizz in the
recipes for you to try! microwave for a few minutes until hot!

102

FROME MARKET Wiltshire

Somerset SALISBURY

YEOVIL STURMINSTER NEWTON
ILMINSTER SHERBORNE

Devon BLANDFORD Hampshire
WIMBORNE
AXMINSTER BEAMINSTER Dorset
BRIDPORT

DORCHESTER & POUNDBURY

AXMINSTER BURRATON HOUSE POUNDBURY WIMBORNE
01297 33122 01202 843190
01305 236237 01305 251154
BEAMINSTER
01308 863100 DORCHESTER SALISBURY YEOVIL
01305 261008 01722 334323 Tel 01935 423526
BLANDFORD
01258 452670 ILMINSTER SHERBORNE FROME MARKET
01460 200790 01935 814488 Tel 01373 831140
BRIDPORT
01308 422092 LONDON STURMINSTER NEWTON
0207 839 0888 01258 473766

symondsandsampson.co.uk

symondsandsampson.co.uk

Since taking over the farm in 2014, owners animal welfare. It also eliminates the buildup of disease,
Harry, Emily and their team have been parasites, pests, nitrates and other negative impacts on
developing vegetable, soft fruit and herb the land and environment.
gardens. A 66-acre mixed organic farm set
in the breathtaking rolling hills of East Devon, Haye The long-term ambition of the farm is to create a fully
Farm is tucked away behind the village of Musbury integrated system, which is not reliant on any external
– a wonderful setting easily accessible to the nearby inputs. Through embracing these practices, we aim to
Jurassic coast. produce the highest quality produce in terms of taste,
nutritional value and animal welfare.
The aspiration of Haye Farm is to create sustainable food
systems, which support high levels of productivity whilst E: hayefarmdevon.co.uk T: 01297 552036
encouraging an increase in biodiversity and wildlife.

Rather than viewing each individual element on the
farm as a single entity we view them in terms of the
role they play in the wider system where each elements’
externalities support all other elements.

Our systems are rotational, everything is continually
moving, our portable chicken coops are always on
the move. This improves soil fertility, ensuring crop
productivity whilst maintaining healthy plant and

105

2019 Charities

Our senior partner, Andrew Robinson, underwent two major operations
last year, so the charities he has chosen for Symonds & Sampson to
support in 2019 are very close to his heart

Bournemouth Hospital Charity Wessex Heartbeat

Their mission is to enhance the care Helping to achieve the very best
and treatment of patients care for people with heart conditions
treated in the Wessex Cardiac Centre
This is an established charity doing great work and in Southampton hospital
supporting those with cancer and their relatives.
The charity has raised £13m since 1992, providing
“While I was in Bournemouth hospital, a local farmer Southampton hospital’s cardiac unit with additional
and client was in there at the same time. Sadly, he has equipment and resources for staff.
since died, but hospice care and the support of the
Bournemouth Hospital Charity would have been a very “The word ‘Wessex’ says to me that it very much covers
important element as far as he and his family were Symonds & Sampson’s territory and I believe, at one time
concerned.” or another, heart disease does have a bearing on most
families. The late father of A-J Monro, one of our partners,
Symonds & Sampson will be holding was an eminent surgeon and is well remembered at
a number of fundraising events Southampton hospital.

throughout the year. We hope we can “The care I received from consultants, doctors, nurses
count on your support for these very and administrative staff at the GP’s surgery and the two
hospitals concerned was incredible. I never felt that I
important charities. was a nuisance and their conversations with me were
informative, compassionate and, at times, humorous. These
dedicated and gifted people are a credit to the NHS and
their professions.”

James Monro, heart surgeon
(1939–2013)

A tribute from his son A-J Monro, partner in our Wimborne office

My father, James Monro, was among the finest heart surgeons of his generation; pioneering
many techniques in congenital heart surgery and corrective cardiac surgery on small babies.
In 1973, Father joined Sir Keith Ross at Southampton as consultant cardiac surgeon, and over the next 30 years operated on
more than 10,000 adults and 2,000 children, while playing a pivotal role in seeing the city’s cardiac unit become a world leader
and increasing the number of operations fivefold. He also wrote two books on cardiac surgery and published numerous papers.
He was passionate about the pursuit of excellence and the care of his patients, and was seen as a role model and mentor by
many of today’s most eminent surgeons. In 2001 he was elected president of the Society of Cardiothoracic Surgeons, and two
years later he became president of the European Association for Cardiothoracic Surgery, of which he had been a cofounder.

106

FROME MARKET Wiltshire

Somerset SALISBURY

YEOVIL STURMINSTER NEWTON
ILMINSTER SHERBORNE

Devon BLANDFORD Hampshire
WIMBORNE
AXMINSTER BEAMINSTER Dorset
BRIDPORT

DORCHESTER & POUNDBURY

AXMINSTER BURRATON POUNDBURY WIMBORNE
01297 33122 01305 236237 01305 251154 01202 843190

BEAMINSTER DORCHESTER SALISBURY YEOVIL
01308 863100 01305 261008 01722 334323 01935 423526

BLANDFORD ILMINSTER SHERBORNE FROME MARKET
01258 452670 01460 200790 01935 814488 01373 831140

BRIDPORT LONDON STURMINSTER NEWTON
01308 422092 0207 839 0888 01258 473766

symondsandsampson.co.uk

symondsandsampson.co.uk