Oven dish by Geoff Fuller

I was exhibiting at the Wardlow Mires Festival of Pottery and Food in Derbyshire last weekend, I couldn’t resist this lovely oven dish made by Geoff, who is one of the organisers of the festival. 

His slip-trailing decoration gets simpler and more lively as the years go by. 

I used it as soon as I got home for a take-away lamb biryani with some veg. It looked wonderful. 

POTS AND FOOD CALENDAR 2015

I am excited to be able to announce that my new Pots and Food Calendar came out last week, it was much admired at the Wardlow Mires Pots and Food event at the weekend. 

This year I have worked in collaboration with Ben Bulger, head chef at The Magdalen Chapter hotel in Exeter, to produce the calendar.  He devised the recipes and cooked them in my kitchen where we plated them on my pots for Suzy Bennett to photograph. The photo-shoot was great fun and an exhausting day’s work. I was left with lots of delicious food - and of course piles of washing up!  

I like Ben’s food very much and his seasonal approach to cooking, influenced by time working at Riverford Field Kitchen, is ideal for the calendar.  As before, the recipes for the dishes are included on the calendar.  I hope you will enjoy trying the recipes - which of course taste better on hand-made pots.

The calendar, priced at £10, and you can also buy it from The Studio in Moretonhampstead, or call me and I can post direct.

Pots from Japan

I returned from Japan just over a month ago and have been enjoying some of the pots which I bought when I was there.

I bought these two bowls by Yoshihisa Okamoto in Mashiko.  I like his work very much.  The decoration is so simple and they are lovely to use for things like a small salad.

I was given this beautiful bowl by Ken Matsuzaki who was also very generous with his time and knowledge when I visited his workshop.  He took me to visit his brother who makes lacquerware.  He gave me a chunky little sake cup in lacquerware. He explained the advantage over a ceramic sake cup is that when you get very drunk and drop it, it doesn’t break.  The colour is wonderful and it feels good to hold.  I look forward to getting some sake to try it out.

When I was in Kyushu, I spent some time with Masahiro Kumagae, who exhibited in England last summer.  I like his new work very much.  This is a yunomi (japanese tea cup) with his new glaze.  It is good in the hand and shows his very fluid throwing style.

Now I have to make more pots for food, inspired by all the wonderful meals I had in Japan.

It is always good to experience the respect they have for hand-made pots in cafes and restaurants as well as in people’s homes.  Hand-made pots definitely increase the joy of eating.

Visit to Japan

This is a picture from my exhibition in Shozando Gallery in Fukuoka, Japan.  I was there two years ago and it was wonderful to be back.

I gave a bowl to the chef and his wife at Zero, the restaurant next door to the gallery, where we had two delicious meals.  This is what they did with it!  It was very good and makes me want to give away more pots.

It partly explains why I haven’t been posting on the blog for far too long.  I realize that I can’t travel without my laptop any more. 

This is their famous lunch platter.  Just as good as ever.  A real symphony of colour and taste, beautifully presented.