About us
About us
Coastal Cooking is a relaxed, informal cookery "school", set up by Ian and Karen Jarmarkier. We are located in the middle of Fore Street, Ilfracombe's oldest street. Until December 2020, we were known as Streamcombe Cookery School and ran alongside our gourmet bed and breakfast and wedding venue near Dulverton, Somerset, on the southern edge of Exmoor. We played host to thousands of B&B and wedding guests over the course of 12 years, with our food as one of the major attractions.
We have now closed our B&B and wedding venue, but the cookery school continues on. The style and content of our events is unchanged and our lovely new venue is a great space to cook and just a stones throw from the sea. We are also blessed with fantastic local suppliers for ingredients including meat and, of course, fish. We are fanatical exponents of locally sourced, seasonal, sustainable food.
Your chef and tutor - Ian Jarmarkier
Ian`s abilities as a chef were a cornerstone of our B&B and wedding busninesses, with evening dinners a "must have". Ian brings a wealth of cooking experience to share with participants........
"Food has gradually become my life – starting as casual interest and evolving into an obsession.
Prior to moving to Streamcombe I headed the Food and Innovation Centre for a major supermarket - leading product innovation and quality, managing a team of chefs, delivering cookery demonstrations, running cookery courses, and cooking for a challenging collection of celebrities and food experts (including the likes of Pru Leith, Jamie Oliver and Oz Clarke)
I am originally self-taught but have benefited working with, and learning from, some very skilled and talented people – a good selection of the celebrity chefs you will know and love, plus butchers, bakers, fishmongers, cheese makers, patissiers, confectioners, farmers and wine makers. Plus, I have eaten in lots of great (and some not so great) restaurants and had the chance to spend some time in their kitchens."
"I have made a number of radio appearances talking about food and cookery, plus a bit of television work, have also provided content for a couple of books, and created more published recipes than I can count!
I have a deep interest in the science behind food and cooking and believe that a good understand of this is key to cooking delicious, beautiful, nutritious food.
In addition to all of the above I also have a distinction in the WSET Level 2 Certificate in Wine and Spirits, am a trained cheese grader and of course have a Level 3 Certificate in Food Hygiene."
Food loves
- Finding and cooking wild foods, especially mushrooms
- Honest food – local, seasonal, natural
- Bread, cheese, pasta, seafood, game and......wine
Food hates
- Anything intensively reared, past its best or out of season
- Foams
- Packet croutons
- Pointless garnishes