Sussex food and cuisine are as diverse as the county’s people and landscape. As you’d expect, traditional Sussex food and drink was very much influenced both by the ingredients that grew or lived locally and also by the necessities and constraints of the rural life of yesteryear. These days, however, Sussex is fast becoming a great foodie hotspot and destination. But what food is Sussex famous for?
Sussex seafood & the Seven Good Things of Sussex
Being a coastal county, seafood and other fishy ingredients feature in many Sussex kitchens and Sussex is famed for its Seven Good Things. These are: Pulborough eel, Selsey cockle, Chichester lobster, Rye herring, Arundel mullet, Amberley trout and Bourne Wheater. The Wheater (which used to be commonly found on the South Downs near Eastbourne) is not fishy and is in fact a mainly ground-dwelling bird. At the end of July, when the birds were nice and plump, the shepherds would catch hundreds of them at a time in nets.
You can now also add Selsey crab along with scallops from Rye (think Rye Bay Scallop Festival this week) to our list of traditional Sussex food. A well-known and very very tasty Sussex seafood recipe is the Sussex Smokie!
Sussex savouries
You don’t see Sussex Churdles very often these days but they used to be a popular pasty style snack with a meat filling topped with breadcrumbs and cheese. Sussex was also once famed for its savoury puddings, which often involved suet. Examples include Sussex Blanket Pudding (made with fresh liver and bacon) and Sussex Hog’s Pudding. There are different iterations of this latter which sometimes included pork, nutmeg, and currants but were sometimes meat-free sweet puddings.
Meanwhile, Lady Arundel’s Manchet is a type of bread that dates back to the 17th century and can still be found in some bakers.
Sussex cheese
These days Sussex has developed quite a “Sussex cheese scene” with a number of fabulous local producers. High Weald Dairy produces a range of fascinatingly named different cheeses and Sussex Charmer is a much loved local cheddar. The mild and creamy Blue Cloud is made at Balcombe using the Balcombe dairy herd and Alsop & Walker of Mayfield make a punch-packing brie.
Sussex puddings
There are two particular puddings that are synonymous with Sussex. The first is Sussex Pond Pudding which consists of a lemon caked in brown sugar and butter and encased in suet before being steamed to the point the lemon explodes and a sweet, rich, sugary mixture seeps into the suet (although the original recipe may not have always included a lemon). The other very Sussex pudding is banoffee pie created at The Hungry Monk at Jevington in the 1970s. This consists of a biscuit base, a creamy caramel middle, banana and cream.
Plum Heavies were a traditional Sussex treat, made with plain flour (hence the heavy) and currants or raisins. And although not quite a pudding, there was a time when Horsham had a thriving gingerbread scene. The town might not be quite such a hotspot for these biscuits these days but following the discovery of an original gingerbread recipe at Horsham Museum, The Horsham Gingerbread Bakehouse was formed and is now making a variety of downright Sussexy biscuits.
Sussex chocolate
A new Sussex artisan staple is Sussex chocolate. With a number of outstanding chocolatiers across the county and chocolate-making masterclasses, you can now combine Sussex cheese, chocolate and wine!
Sussex fruits
Kent may be the orchard of England but Sussex has its own share of apples. Amongst the better-known are Crawley Beauty, Doctor Hogg and Egremont Russet. The popular Victoria Plum was apparently first found as a seedling in a garden in Sussex. And whilst not a fruit and not something Sussex is famous for yet, truffles do grow in the county (and there is now an annual Sussex Truffle Festival).
Sussex beer
Sussex has long been synonymous with good beer with the well-known King and Barnes Brewery at Horsham and Harvey’s in Lewes. King and Barnes may have long since closed their doors but the beer industry is going strong and there are dozens if not more of first-class Sussex brewers like Hepworth’s (born from the King and Barnes closure) and Firebird.
Sussex wine
The Romans and even the Normans may have had vineyards in Sussex and long before the current crop of winemakers to be found in Sussex, the people of the county have made their own wine. Using the ingredients that they could find, homemade wines were made from birch, hawthorn berries, apple, quince, dandelion, and elderflower amongst other things.
These days, with over 130 Sussex vineyards and its own Sussex-made protected status, Sussex is now leading the charge when it comes to English wines. Many of the producers are world-class and award-winning and although the county has a reputation for its sparkling wine, it is also producing some outstanding still wines and even some reds.
Sussex gins
There is a veritable celebration of Sussex culture represented by its many gin producers. They embrace local folklore, like Slake Spirits, use local ingredients, like Harley House Distillers, or encapsulate a particular Sussex culture like Brighton Gin.
And we haven’t even started on the influx of talented chefs in the area! So, when it comes to what food is Sussex famous for? The answer is … lots, because Sussex is always full of flavour!
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