At Bookhams, we're real people who eat real food, just like you do...

Our philosophy is 'for taste', prompted by the inspirational cuisine of Italy, while aiming to source as much as we can from home soil – even the durum wheat for our pasta is milled in the UK. We are passionate about supporting British Farming (read about our joint venture with third generation dairy farmers the Harrisons to make our award winning cheese SUSSEX CHARMER). We are committed to animal welfare issues and to sourcing our ingredients with care and sensitivity. Everything we do appeals to Vegetarians and to those of us who are seeking to eat a little less meat these days.

A Philosophy ‘FOR TASTE’ inspired by simple but stunning ingredients...

After studying languages at Bristol University, Claire Bookham (aka Mrs. B) went to live in Emilia Romagna, the Northern Italian region bordering Tuscany that is responsible for giving us Parma ham, parmesan cheese and balsamic vinegar. Although all food in Italy is good, Emilia Romagna is considered to be a centre of culinary excellence. For seven years Claire worked as an intepreter in the region’s capital, Bologna, renowned for its mortadella, tortellini and world famous “ragu” sauce (which locals eat by the way with tagliatelle, not spaghetti).

From watching her friends and flatmates cook, Claire picked up a wealth of invaluable foodtips, developing an instinct for stunning but simple food, made with great tasting, honest ingredients combined in an imaginative way. The best way to enjoy a white truffle, she discovered for example, was simply to grate or shave it over a fried egg and serve with asparagus. This sums up Claire’s approach to food and cooking in general, that it has to be straightforward, relying simply on the ingredients themselves, put together without any fuss.