I scream
July 2026; A postcard from the Isle of Wight via a conversation with my mum and ice cream peeves.
Welcome to this months notes and postcards
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Isle of Wight, without dad
Last week I took mum to the Isle of Wight, the first holiday without my dad. Actually, that’s not quite true. He came with us and sat in a photo frame by mum’s bed instead of walking around, admiring yachts and eating crab sandwiches which he would almost certainly have done.
It’s the first time I’ve had to plan a holiday and think ahead about every possible scenario. Make sure that the location was walkable, accessible. Plan the journey, booking transport assistance from the train and ferry companies who were both delightful and helpful. All the things you don’t generally think about, until, well, until you need to. A short walk for you and me, isn’t a short walk if you’re 94. But, we managed, and we had fun.
And on a round the island bus tour, a group of hotel residents got on the coach and one recognised mum. He’d spent years at antique fairs with my parents, they bought from him, and at one point he and dad shared a little space in a Portobello Road antiques arcade. How spooky is that? At our lunch stop at Isle of Wight Pearl; delicious food btw, overlooking the sea, we found out that his girlfriend Angela had been in Rhodesia at the same time as mum and also met her husband there.
I got to chat to mum about her childhood and upbringing. I’ve written something about it here; the story of a cookbooks’ journey in time. I really wanted to get to the root of her fussiness around food. Another must plan ahead on the do list; looking for restaurants and checking if there’s something she will eat.
We decided that she’s not fussy, she’s just very particular. There are so many foods we never ate, that were revealed to me after I left home. And many more that took years to acquire a taste for. If you grow up not mixing meat and dairy, you’re very unlikely to know what lasagne tastes like. Or a cheeseburger.
After lots of talking about food mum said; I don’t like cooking. That floored me a bit. And when I’d picked myself up off the ground, I thought about all those years of cooking dinner every night. Every morning; what do you want for supper. Shopping for groceries, preparing breakfast and packed lunches. Over sixty years getting out the pots and pans, thinking about food, making meals, washing up. It’s hard work at the best of times, but if you don’t like cooking; what a chore it must be. And it IS work.
The Unpaid Work
Because we’re dealing with a mountain of paperwork after dad’s death, some figures have come to light, such as the discrepency between the amount of pension mum gets, compared to dad. Because she ‘didn’t work’ she didn’t pay National Insurance contributions. It’s outrageous that women, as home workers didn’t qualify for the same level of state pension.
It’s all down to women being regarded as housewives, thanks in part to the Beveridge Report;
‘’The great majority of married women must be regarded as occupied on work which is vital though unpaid, without which their husbands could not do their paid work and without which the nation could not continue… The attitude of the housewife to gainful employment outside the home is not and should not be the same as that of the single woman. She has other duties.’‘
Hackles duly raised? A new state pension was introduced in 2016, but the majority of today’s pensioner population reached pension age under the ‘old’ system.
In 2005, just 13% of women pensioners were entitled to a full state pension, compared with 92% men.
From 1978 women who were bringing up children or looking after someone with a disability were able to benefit from a system of national insurance credits (known as ‘Home Responsibilities Protection’) which helped them to build up a pension in their own right, but the Government stopped informing people about it.
On the Island
I couldn’t write about the Isle of Wight farmers’ market because it no longer exists. It was down to about three stalls, and they called it a day earlier this year. Such a shame. There are farm shops on the Island including the famous Garlic Farm shop where you can try delicacies including garlic ice cream.
Osbourne House, Queen Victoria’s little holiday palace is lovely, and the staff were extremely helpful. Don’t miss the walled garden; (huge wall hugging espalier lemon tree full of fruit), beach or Swiss Cottage.
They have transport to take visitors between the main house, the Swiss Cottage (charming) and the private beach. Prince Albert wanted his children to know what regular people had to pay for food, so each child had an allotment, and Albert paid each one the going market rate. They leant to cook at the Swiss Cottage too.
At the beach there’s a place to buy drinks and ice cream and I assumed that it would be from the Isle of Wight but no; Northern Bloc, made in Leeds. I understand it’s probably cheaper for English Heritage to use one company for all their concessions but it would be nice if they could support local brands.
I could see the tubs being moved around whilst I was waiting, and even from a distance, it was easy to see a long list of ingredients.
I Scream
UPFs are possible to spot when you buy a packaged item. Not so easy when said item is sold loose, such as a loaf of bread, if you’re eating anywhere but home; hospitals, schools or restaurants; buying a fresh doughnut, or a scoop of ice cream. Want to know what’s in it? You’ll have the queue behind you raising eyebrows, and children looking at you with dangerously petulant lips, about to burst into a scream.
I did, eventually manage to locate the Isle of Wight ice cream company, and they too, had a long list of not so tempting ingredients.
Northern Bloc say;
‘’We didn’t set out to make ordinary ice cream with unmemorable flavours and a list of unpronounceable ingredients.
‘’We set out to create the ultimate ice cream. Pairing the usual with the unusual, applying science and craft to every new flavour. Above all we set out to create a natural ice cream, made with real ingredients that punch with flavour.
‘’So what is it about our flavours that makes makes us stand out over the riff raff of the ice cream world… Ben & Jerry’s, Magnum, Haagan Dazs, we’re looking at you. Put simply, there’s a difference between flavour and flavouring. Flavour is what our ice cream has, and each mouthful packs a punch because it’s full of the true flavour.’‘
Here’s their strawberry ice cream ingredients
MILK, cream (MILK)(13%), sugar, glucose syrup, strawberry puree (6%), strawberry sauce (5%)(strawberry puree (40%), sugar, glucose syrup, water, cornflour, concentrated strawberry juice, gelling agent (pectin), acidity regulator (citric acid), natural favouring, natural colours (anthocyanins, lutein)), skimmed MILK powder, maltodextrin, emulsifier (mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids), natural colours (beetroot red, carotenes), stabilisers (carob gum, guar gum), natural flavouring.
This is the Isle of Wight strawberry ice cream ingredient list
Milk, Sugar, Cream (Milk), Strawberry (6.4%) (Sugar, Strawberry Puree, Glucose Syrup, Water, Strawberry Juice, Acidifier: Citric Acid; Flavourings, Colours: Antocyanins, Turmeric; Thickeners: Pectin, Tara Gum), Milk Powder, Dextrose, Emulsifier: E471; Thickeners: Guar Gum, Tara Gum, Sodium Alginate, Carrageenan.
Kudos to Isle of Wight ice cream Co for supporting dairy farmers on the island. As they say; ‘In the 1970s there were over 365 dairy farmers on the Isle of Wight. Now there are less than 10.’
I’ve received my copy of Ruby Tandoh’s Ice Cream City, via Vittles and whilst I’m yet to go on an ice cream walk, it’s fascinating to read, not just Ruby’s recommendations, but the places she avoids, categorised with an upside down ice cream cone and listed as ‘department of gripes’. She has a go at Hackney Gelato calling them “as pervasive as the New York rat’‘.
My take goes beyond ubiquitious. It really gets on my nerves when ice cream or gelato is styled as artisan, handmade, fresh or pure, or as Hackney Gelato say; ‘’Made with real ingredients you can actually taste.’‘ and there’s a long list of ingredients, many of which wouldn’t be found in any kitchen. This is their strawberry and cream which isn’t as bad as some;
Fresh milk, a 10% ripple of strawberry jam (whole strawberries, sugar, glucose, lemon juice), 9% Cornish clotted cream, sugar, dextrose, double cream, skim milk powder, maltodextrin, sea salt, and standard emulsifiers and stabilisers.
Most commercial ice creams, even labels branding themselves as luxury contain stabilisers, emulsifiers, and skimmed milk powder. The former to stop the product from degrading, the latter as a bulking agent to top up milk solids.
In the UK, almost any frozen dessert can be called ice cream. There are no mandatory legal requirements specifying a minimum amount of milk solids for standard ice cream.
Coconut oil and sunflower oil might be added to supplement or partially replace milk fat. This lets the manufacturer reduce cream content and hit a target total fat percentage. Coconut oil is cheaper than cream and mimics its melting properties, whilst sunflower oil softens the texture.
With ice cream, you don’t always get what you pay for.
The one we grew up with; Walls vanilla;
Reconstituted skimmed MILK, water, glucose syrup, sugar, coconut fat, fructose, whey solids (MILK), stabilisers (guar gum, tara gum, carrageenan, locust bean gum), emulsifier (mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids), colours (annatto norbixin, curcumin), flavourings.
Haagan Daz strawberry and cream;
Fresh Cream (35.1%), Condensed Skimmed Milk, Strawberries (21.1%), Sugar, Egg yolk
M&S vanilla;
Whole Milk, Double Cream (Milk) (34%), Demerara Sugar, Dried Skimmed Milk, Pasteurised Egg, Dark Brown Sugar, Madagascan Vanilla Extract, Ground Madagascan Vanilla Pod
One of my favourite brands Alder Tree make the most delicious flavours including damson, blackcurrant, and gooseberry and elderflower. Their strawberry ice cream ingredients are; Strawberries (38.4%), cream (MILK) (38.4%), sugar.
Call me a spoil sport; if you want your 99 from a seaside ice cream van, go ahead, don’t let me stop you from enjoying it. You’re on holiday. I like the choice, I like knowing what I’m buying and eating and having the option to make a decision even if, sometimes it’s better not knowing.
Twenty drag queens, superwoman and assorted men and women in rainbow coloured lycra
It’s not often I exit a tube station and bump into twenty drag queens, superwoman and assorted men and women in rainbow coloured lycra. I’d picked a time to see a theatre matinee without registered what day it was. Whilst the theatre was getting ready to open its doors, we had a front row seat at the barriers for London Pride, just in time to see the armed forces march past in all their grinning glory. When the theatre performance ended at 5pm, the parade was still going on. Joyous, colourful, celebratory. I bet the after parties were fabulous.
Environment and food news
High temperatures give farmers different issues to face. Earlier and lower yield harvests. Those with greenhouses and tunnels are finding themselves picking at dawn in order to avoid peak heat. Other farmers are facing a new battle; rooks.
Martin Fermor of Perry Court farm in Kent told me that because the local river and water sources have dried up, the birds are literally flocking to get their liquids by pecking at whatever fruit they can find. A rookery can be around fifty nests, sometimes many more and they will descent together. Apart from using auditory alarms or having a number of hawk kites dotted around, there’s not much farmers can do about them. The clever corvids will continue to return. Martin is predicting a smaller top fruit harvest this year.
The public face of a revolt by about 50 Michelin-starred chefs against what they call the production of “soulless volumes” of food rather than “sustainable agriculture that creates real wealth”.
From Sustain; three things we took from Groundswell
How does the UK reverse the troubling increase in chicken consumption? Industry always blames consumers; you want 2 million tons of cheap chicken, this is what we have to do.
According to The BBC; ‘The number of chicken shops rose 7.2% year‑on‑year, the fastest growth across the fast food sector, compared to 1.7% for other takeaways, according to data from analytics firm Meaningful Vision, which tracks the UK food industry.
‘And the customers tend to be young. In 2025, 52% of Gen Z fast food consumers and 47% of millennial fast food consumers reported having eaten from a chicken shop in the past year, compared with 39% of all fast food consumers, according to data from market research firm Mintel.’
Schools, hospitals, hospitality; reduce the use of chicken. Increase plant based, more beans, pulses, vegetables. Less fried chicken, more baked potatoes!
We do not need more factory farms. Will the new Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs listen?
The Chris Packham backlash continues
There are 5 tomato growers left in Ireland
‘They ate the shrimp, they even ate the crab’: Thai fishers count the cost of a voracious invader
On Substack
Not sure I like the new advertorial format on Substack; what do you think?
Elizabeth Pizzinato writes beautifully about the small, daily reminders of people and times past; possessions that make her heart sing.
In season
Radishes, sweet corn, spring onions, currants, strawberries, blueberries, gooseberries, apricots, blackberries. Garlic, new potatoes, salad leaves. Artichokes, aubergines, peas, beetroot, courgettes and summer squash, French and runner beans, cucumbers, basil and lots of fresh herbs, tomatoes, sunflowers, dahlias. Cherries are going, plums are in.
Growing
First tomatoes, first French and Kew blue beans harvested. Cucumbers, mulberries, lots of basil, beetroots and the first early apples that tumbled off the tree. The first of our aubergines are swelling on the plants. Melons have been repotted, more seeds sown for the Second Spring to make sure we have enough to harvest come winter; perennial kale, more spinach, collard greens, the last of the beetroot, chard, dill and coriander.
Cooking
The bright red cherries I posted on notes a few weeks ago got over 300 likes; was it the colour? Or the fact that they’re Morello cherries, a rare sight here in the UK. A text from a lovely friend; would I like to go cherry picking? What a silly question; where’s my basket and sun block.
We came back from Maynards, loaded with sweet cherries, Morellos and a tray of blackcurrants. A few people have said they’ve had difficulty finding blackcurrants. Try farm shops, farmers’ markets, or have a look at the Farm Retail Association index; you may have to call up a few to find them. Maynards grow for Ribena; surely all blackcurrants aren’t destined for the same market?! I asked a few farmers’ market colleagues around the UK; some markets had them, others didn’t. It seems that the harvest is down due to extreme weather conditions.
Some of the morellos and blackcurrants were destined for shrubs, the rest for jam. The apricot shrub was courtesy of the lovely Ang Mitten who invited me to come and help pick fruit from her loaded apricot tree.
Eating
In honour of the neopolitan ice cream bricks of the 1970s, I wanted to make my own semifrodo version. It was too hot to be bothered with three layers, apart from working out the measurements for one tins worth. I made a strawberry and basil layer and rebelled against cooking down the fruit because I wanted to keep it fresh. I also didn’t take out the basil leaves hence the little green worms. Next time, the strawberry will be reduced to a puree to avoid icy lumps, or I’ll think about a strawberry and basil curd or I’ll find a way to macerate the basil and remove it. The pistachio layer was perfect.
Leftover blackcurrants with thick greek yogurt for breakfast; bliss.
Golden beetroot, feta and herbs
A dinner of leftovers; rice sauted until crispy, a few pieces of smoked fish, chilli crisp, cucumber, soft herbs; it was going to be a bowl dinner until I found the pack of nori. A joy to eat.
After meeting up with Anna Ansari at Walthamstow farmers’ market, I made the recipes I posted; her beetroot borani, with the beetroot you can see in the picture, more soft blush than vibrant ruby, and her Georgian Summer salad; strawberries and tomatoes with capers, basil, taragon and sunflower seeds. Both delicious and perfect for a heat wave.
Viewing
Henry Moore; Monumental Nature at Kew Gardens
The sculptures are scattered throughout the gardens. Until 31 January 2027
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x Cheryl
Thanks so much for sharing Cheryl… your generous support is very much appreciated 💕
Ugh, I’m fresh out of maltodextrin. I guess no homemade artisanal gelato for me tonight. Well written! Lovely thoughts on your travels.