The cliff crib — bread, Blue Vinny, and apple turnover
The cold meal of the fossil hunter: a large loaf of bread, a wedge of Dorset Blue Vinny (farmhouse blue cheese), and an apple turnover for sweetness. Enough to fill the belly between two tides, sheltered from the wind.
The cold meal of the fossil hunter: a large loaf of bread, a wedge of Dorset Blue Vinny (farmhouse blue cheese), and an apple turnover for sweetness. Enough to fill the belly between two tides, sheltered from the wind.
In the morning, before leaving for the cliff, I would fill my wicker basket: a hunk of bread, a piece of our blue cheese — the Vinny, which keeps even in damp weather — and if the previous day had been good, an apple turnover from the orchard. You have to eat cold, up there, back against the rock, eye on the sea so as not to be caught by the tide. Believe me, you don't linger: the cliff does not forgive the careless, and I have lost more than one friend there.
- •Country bread — a hunk (nourishing base)
- •Dorset Blue Vinny (farmhouse blue cheese) — a piece (keeping cheese, salty and fermented)
- •Orchard apples — 2 or 3 (turnover filling)
- •Flour, lard, water — as needed (turnover pastry)
- •Sugar or honey — a little (sweetness)
The cliff crib — bread, Blue Vinny, and apple turnover
The cold meal of the fossil hunter: a large loaf of bread, a wedge of Dorset Blue Vinny (farmhouse blue cheese), and an apple turnover for sweetness. Enough to fill the belly between two tides, sheltered from the wind.
Why this dish? Mary spent entire days on the cliffs of the Jurassic Coast, watching for rockfalls after winter storms — that's how fossils were found, but it was also where her dog Tray died in a landslide. Far from home, she carried in her wicker basket enough to last: bread, cheese that keeps, a turnover.
In the morning, before leaving for the cliff, I would fill my wicker basket: a hunk of bread, a piece of our blue cheese — the Vinny, which keeps even in damp weather — and if the previous day had been good, an apple turnover from the orchard. You have to eat cold, up there, back against the rock, eye on the sea so as not to be caught by the tide. Believe me, you don't linger: the cliff does not forgive the careless, and I have lost more than one friend there.
Ingredients (period version)
- Country bread — a hunk (nourishing base)
- Dorset Blue Vinny (farmhouse blue cheese) — a piece (keeping cheese, salty and fermented)
- Orchard apples — 2 or 3 (turnover filling)
- Flour, lard, water — as needed (turnover pastry)
- Sugar or honey — a little (sweetness)
Ingredients
- Sourdough bread — 1 large piece (base)
- Blue cheese (Dorset Blue Vinny, or stilton/fourme as substitute) — 150 g (keeping cheese)
- Shortcrust pastry — 1 roll (250 g) (turnover wrap)
- Tart apples (e.g., reinette) — 3 (filling)
- Sugar — 2 tbsp (sweetness)
- Cinnamon — 1 pinch (flavor)
- Milk for glazing — a little (finish)
Method
- Preheat the oven to 190°C. Peel and dice the apples, mix with sugar and cinnamon.
- Cut circles from the pastry, place the apples in the center.
- Fold into a turnover, seal the edges with a fork, glaze with milk.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until golden; let cool.
- Assemble the basket: bread, blue cheese wrapped in a cloth, and the cold turnover — ready to take.
How it was made : The 'crib' in Dorset referred to the cold snack of outdoor workers. Bread and cheese were the core, as they were portable and needed no cooking. Dorset Blue Vinny, a skimmed-milk farmhouse cheese, was especially known for resisting time and humidity — ideal for those who spent their days outdoors.
The contemporary twist : Present it as a 'paleontologist's lunchbox': wicker basket, checkered cloth, and a small slate engraved with a fossil name.
Mary Anning · Charactorium