a organic pasta manufacturer
If you think of Pasta in any way, shape or form, I'm pretty sure you’ll automatically think of the Italians, After all, they are considered to be the World's best pasta makers and I guess they always will be. However, artisan pasta manufacturers such as Nick are now beginning to surface with a host of new ideas and producing great pasta with a difference. You’d be fooled to think that pasta is just flour and water, it's not, there’s so much more to it.
So how did Nick find himself where he is today? Well, a lot of hard work obviously and he started where everyone does these days, at the bottom, in a kitchen as it happens washing up. However, within a few years or so of starting that job, he’d become head chef by the age of 19. Following on from that, he began to build up his cheffing experiences further in various hotels throughout the UK. From as far away as the isle of Mull in Scotland, then down south to London, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Warwickshire. Then, it was time for a change for Nick and his new adventure came by way of swapping the land for the sea. This time he found himself working and cruising the Mediterranean on super yachts. What a great job
“Its me, its love and it's the landscape itself that shapes my pasta”
Some might say, what an amazing job he have, and you’d be right, but Nick's time working for other people was about to come to an end after he’s finish his time at sea. He told me “I was ready to become my own boss, I was ready to put down roots’ . Those roots he referred to were here in Falmouth in fact. He came here on a brief trip, loved it, bought a dog, called it Carter and that's where we find him today.
I asked him when we met up, why pasta then Nick? “ I did some research and discovered the majority of Pasta in the UK was actually imported so I set about to change this” and changing this he certainly has. Firstly, he’s gone fully Organic, one of only a handful of manufacturers in the UK and the only one in Cornwall. Next, he’s added the Cornish element, wild garlic, saffron and squid ink, all locally sourced. Now, you don’t get any more Cornish than that do you!
Meeting up with Nick meant that I simply had to try his pasta, oh yes indeed. So, he set about making a batch of his wild garlic pasta, he rolled it out and then used these ace little hand wooden presses, see gallery, to add a patterned finishing touch to it. The type of pasta in question, and I bet you’ve never heard of it before, was “Corzetti” A type of pasta that goes back to Roman times. Two massive foodies together, we polished off the lot off and my god it was tasty.
Thank you for feeding me Nick, and of course, further educating me. RD
