Citrus, kitchens and Lucca gatherings

Three events to inspire you in the kitchen, in your garden and eating out

Hello Lemonistas,

Welcome to the latest edition of The Lemon Grove newsletter.

Photo by Arianna Ibarra on Unsplash

People love gathering; to celebrate, learn, meet old pals and make new friends. Over the recent Easter weekend I found myself in a muddy field under sparkling blue skies with dozens of other spectators and some 200, mostly aged under 30 years, people wrestling to get control of a heavy ball and tap it three times on a barrel outside the opposing team’s pub. The teams represented The Castle Inn in Chiddingstone village and The Rock Inn about a mile away in Chiddingstone Hoath, west Kent, England. Real Football has its origins hundreds of years ago, and remains a chance for locals and others to gather.

Food was simple: BBQ burgers and hotdogs, while both the players and spectators emptied many, many pints of the local real ale, the smooth Kentish style tawny session bitter, Larkins. The game lasts as long as it needs to but is limited to four hours. First goal wins. This year the result was a draw. It’s a bloody, brutal game that’s neither rugby nor soccer. But it's an important event, and as always, food, drink, and community are at the heart of it all. Here are some photos of what is a quintessentially British occasion.

Scenes from Good Friday's Chiddingstone Real Football game. Four hours of mud, beer and burgers.

To continue the theme of gathering, here are three excellent events running over the next couple of weeks, sadly none of which I can attend. First, there is the first citrus conference in Menton, France. Then we head south to Lucca, Tuscany, Italy, for the first Cook_inc. magazine festival.