News

Cornwall’s famous beach feast has been cancelled – but you can join it online instead

Ellie Walker-Arnott
Hidden Hut beach feast
Photograph: Danny North
Advertising

Okay, so the first bank holiday of the year hasn’t turned out exactly how we expected. Here we are, with extra days off work because of Easter (or maybe even furloughed from work) and what can we do?

Absolutely nothing apart from stay safe at home. There will be zero day trips, lazy afternoons on rooftop bars or big celebratory meals with friends and family for us this Easter.  

It comes as a disappointment to Hidden Hut too, a seaside eatery in Cornwall, UK which is well known for its huge alfresco meals on the sand of Porthcurnick Beach.

Usually, their communal sunset meals are so popular tickets are hard to get hold of. They would have been hosting their first feast of the season this weekend, but, like the rest of us, they’re on lockdown. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Hidden Hut (@hiddenhut) on

Instead of feeling down about it, though, Hidden Hut are taking their rustic cooking online. They’ll just be showing us how to cook paella for two, rather than cooking enough to feed a beach load of people. 

‘We would like to invite you to a virtual feast night! The cook-a-long will be filmed live from our home kitchen and we’ll talk you through step-by-step how to cook a paella feast for two,’ say the guys behind Hidden Hut, adding: ‘We’ve chosen to do a paella as it is a forgiving dish that can be adapted to include a range of ingredients. Whatever you have managed to stock in your cupboards at this time, you should be able to conjure up a paella of sorts.’

The cook-a-long will be streamed live on their Instagram page, and you can find all the ingredients you need to take part in the caption of the post below. Buen Provecho!

View this post on Instagram

Paella Feast Night (the virtual version 📡). Here’s a rough guide for ingredients (but this is a ‘store cupboard’ cook so please don’t stress if you need to substitute ingredients): RICE, OLIVE OIL, ONION, CELERY, GARLIC, FENNEL, TOMATOES, ROSEMARY, SAFFRON (or turmeric or packet paella seasoning) plus whatever VEG/MEAT/SEAFOOD you’d like to top your paella with. See story highlights on our profile page for suggestions and quantities. For authentic Hidden Hut paella, the @thecornishfishmonger do nationwide delivery from Newlyn or if you’re Roseland-based, give @curgurrellfarmshop a call to see what they’ve landed in Portscatho and they will deliver locally. But whether it’s freshly-landed lobster or frozen peas, it doesn’t matter, there’s no paella police here. Please share your feast with us through pics and videos. Just tag us and/or @hoste.london in and we’ll re-post live as many as we can. Friday 10th April, 6pm arrival for 7ish serve. Wine and clipboard at the ready #feastnight #fryingpanpaella #lockdownlife

A post shared by The Hidden Hut (@hiddenhut) on

The Virtual Paella Feast Night is taking place on Friday April 10 at 6pm BST (7pm CET, 1pm EDT, 4am AEDT)

Main photograph: Danny North

Still hungry?

Gucci Osteria’s Massimo Bottura is offering free virtual cooking classes on Instagram

‘Queer Eye’ food dude Antoni Porowski is hosting quarantine-themed cooking lessons

Learn how to make pasta with this 84-year-old Italian nonna 

You may also like
You may also like
Advertising