The Wight Smoke

The Wight Smoke Traditional, Polish smoked meats, and sausages made on the Isle of Wight

I've just done a little back to back events marathon - two days at Christchurch Food Festival and Bembridge Street Fayre...
25/05/2026

I've just done a little back to back events marathon - two days at Christchurch Food Festival and Bembridge Street Fayre. I can assure that after those three days I'm somewhere between well-done to crispy/burnt.
Festivals/events and weather don't often go hand in hand - a scorcher like this weekend and the ice cream/slushie van owners are starting to retiring in Monte Carlo, only to find out that at the next event it is 10 degrees with mild showers and somehow that retirement plan seems not achievable. Same here,the perfect weather for me is mild, overcast but no rain. That's the perfect weather for foodies - they can sample the produce, discuss what to cook with it for dinner etc etc and that's was the forecast two weeks ago for this weekend but as usual it turned out that Mike Tyson was right when he said his probably only famous words before his fight with Tyrell Briggs: "Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth". Well, I had a plan for a mild overcast weekend with according stock and got punched in the face with this scorcher πŸ˜‚

That means that there are plenty of sausages and smoked bellies from these three days at a reduced price of £5 per pack at Hazelgrove Farm if you like my produce head there and fill your freezer 😁

Now, it definitely feels like a cold beer time 🍻

A great day at Riverfest yesterday, almost a complete sell out. As always it was great to see more and more people getti...
10/05/2026

A great day at Riverfest yesterday, almost a complete sell out. As always it was great to see more and more people getting converted to smoked flavours 😁

The events season has finally started and it was great to kick it off at the Seaview Fayre, Riverfest next week on Satur...
04/05/2026

The events season has finally started and it was great to kick it off at the Seaview Fayre, Riverfest next week on Saturday, see you there πŸ™‚πŸ‘πŸ§€πŸ₯“

Right, apart from holidays, I rarely get the "lazy mornings" but the stars have somewhat aligned today I and was left to...
25/04/2026

Right, apart from holidays, I rarely get the "lazy mornings" but the stars have somewhat aligned today I and was left to my own devices. This normally isn't a good idea and my better half usually comes back to some new projects that I have already put in motion and she knows that as soon as I ask "Are you prepared to hear me out?" she may get a headache.

Not this time though! However, I have got a confession to make. I was in Ryde early morning yesterday and while waiting for the barbers to open I thought I'd go to Wetherspoon for breakfast.

Now, don't get me wrong. I like good food but I don't think I'm a food snob and I think all types of food outlets serve a particular purpose. On this occasion, as I only had limited time and only Β£5 cash to spare, the choice was obvious as I knew the breakfast would be on my table before I manage to pour myself some coffee. And to be honest I was correct as all the beige looking food was on the plate waiting for me when my coffee was ready. Amazing, isn't it?

I stress again, a food snob I am not, β…žbut god almighty was it tasteless. I'm not sure how an English breakfast can taste of absolutely nothing but wetherspoon must have a secret recipe for that. Yes, I know that for under a Β£5 you get a coffee and some food and that's great but I'm commenting on the flavour here which was the only thing missing from my plate. Some posh looking bloke at the table in front of me ordered eggs benedict but he struggled mightily with them too and left half of it before leaving.

Yes, people will say it is cheap and cheerful food but while it's cheap I'd definitely skip on the cheerful part.

Since I had the time this morning and really craved some good bacon after yesterday's disaster I decided to rectify the situation. Sourdough, mayo, my own bacon, some marinated roasted peppers from Lidl (now this is cheap and cheerful) a fried egg from Hazelgrove Farm with a yolk as orange as fake tan, and some chopped spring onions. I even had the time to brew some proper coffee in my mokka pot - I love watching how it slowly comes up through that little pipe to the upper chamber and the smell of coffee just fills the whole kitchen.

I admit I might have become a bit of a coffee snob in the recent years.

Probably the last weekend morning like today until mid September as all the events and festivals are rolling in. I hope to see and meet you at some of them. Come and say hi even if you're just browsing at that time. I really appreciate it when people do that. All my events are listed in the pic below.

Now, honestly, have I become a food snob? Coffee snob - I'll wear that badge with pride but food? Unsure. Hit πŸ‘ for a Yes and ❀️ for a No.

Right, it was time to tidy up some of my frozen produce at Hazelgrove Farm shop. Each week or two the produce that didn'...
11/04/2026

Right, it was time to tidy up some of my frozen produce at Hazelgrove Farm shop. Each week or two the produce that didn't sell gets frozen and quite a bit has accumulated over the recent weeks.

So, grab yourself a frozen grab bag at a discounted price. The selection is completely random as I just grabbed items in no particular order so check the labels with info on what's in the bag πŸ˜€ most are Β£20 each, there is also one at Β£15. All produce was discounted so stock up 😁

For many Polish people this is a clear sign of entering our old country when travelling by car. A quick stop at an Orlen...
11/04/2026

For many Polish people this is a clear sign of entering our old country when travelling by car. A quick stop at an Orlen petrol station to refuel and to grab a coffee and a toasted hot dog. These are immensely popular and you can get them at shops like Żabka too - you might have seen them on Tiktok etc. You normally get a selection of different types of hot dogs I. E. Kabanos, a bratwurst style sausage, white sausage, Italian style etc and a choice of sauces. The best thing about them is they're not actually bad when you think of hot dogs i.e. Made from only pork leg (ham)in a toasted crunchy roll with garlic sauce. Could be much worse 😁

To us, however, they're not a sign of entering but leaving - as we leave at around 4-5am they serve as a quick breakfast. As we normally stay in a border town it is enough time to eat it before the border crossing. And just in time to welcome the German border control staff with a garlic breath 😁

Have I ever mentioned that kebabs in Poland can be fairly sizeable? I'd like to present you with a large "rollo" kebab h...
10/04/2026

Have I ever mentioned that kebabs in Poland can be fairly sizeable? I'd like to present you with a large "rollo" kebab helt together with 5 tortillas. I love kebabs but I try to steer away from the frozen ones containg all sorts and opt for the "craft" ones whenever possible and at home I use my trusted steel plate with a metal spike that goes in the oven and produces some top notch succulent kebabs. This one apart from its size afford a lot when it comes to flavour. Needless to say it served as dinner and brunch the next day πŸ˜‰

Donuts, now they hit different in Poland. If you're the standard jam donut person with sugar on top then if you ever visit my country find a good bakery or "pΔ…czkarnia" - essentially a place making fresh donuts through the day just give them a try and you'll never look at donuts in the UK in the same way. Sorry to say but the ones over here have a lot of catching up to do πŸ˜€ kinder boueno and a lotus one for the kids (I can never understand the lotus obsession) and plum&cinnamon, cherry and a strawberry&cheesecake ones for the adults.

Some Polish street food is never a bad idea although I struggle to find zapiekanki as good as the ones I used to serve f...
09/04/2026

Some Polish street food is never a bad idea although I struggle to find zapiekanki as good as the ones I used to serve from my trailer πŸ˜‰ these were OK, but the cakes were up on another level - I had to go for the pistachio cheesecake and I was not let down. Hard to decide though even if the selection was on the small side πŸ˜‰

Visited one of our favourite food places and opted for something totally different and a mix of different quisines. Craf...
08/04/2026

Visited one of our favourite food places and opted for something totally different and a mix of different quisines. Craft gyros/kebab is really popular in Poland and so are the potato rostis - well this dish ticked both boxes 😁 a massive potato rosti stuffed with gyros and topped with homemade garlic sauce. I tried it, I kind of liked it. Would I have it again? Probably not πŸ˜€ These two belong on two separate plates.
The coffee looked great though and tasted alike. I miss some of my home brewed coffees while away so this was a bit of a patchwork. I abuse my mocca pot beyond the manufacturer's wildest dreams and very few coffees compare to the mocca pot ones.
Afternoon spent in a shopping maul where I happily sat snacking on some smoked cheese whilst watching people go by.

It's Easter, cmon, what else would you expect in Poland but ΕΌurek soup with white sausage, Polish tapas and loads of dif...
05/04/2026

It's Easter, cmon, what else would you expect in Poland but ΕΌurek soup with white sausage, Polish tapas and loads of different cakes. Stuffed like a turkey, can barely type, over and out.
Happy Easter everyone πŸ˜‰

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