When a flower loses its power, what do you do? The answer from 11-year-old Issy Taylor at Veronica Farm on Bryher was quite simple: ‘Make fudge.’
The flower in question was narcissus, whose market had suddenly wilted in face of competition from European growers, so Issy’s parents Kris and Geoff, who had grown flowers on the island for 15 years, were casting around for a replacement.
That was 30 years ago and happily the fudge continues to sweeten life on Bryher, contributing to its reputation as one of Scilly’s foodiest islands. Step off the Firethorn launch at Church Quay and comforting aromas from Issy’s fudge kitchen - based in the family’s former flower sheds - entice you along Bryher’s sandy coastal track to the handsome granite buildings of Veronica Farm. The duck-egg-blue fudge stand outside it is often the first port of call for arriving visitors.
But let’s return to the beginning. Naturally 11-year-old Issy’s fudge-making happened mainly at weekends and school holidays and was a modest affair. “There was no business plan or spreadsheets,” smiles Kris. But for Issy, it had a serious function: to fund dance classes on St. Mary’s, which she was desperate to attend but her parents couldn’t afford. By now Kris was keeping things together by working at Hell Bay Hotel (and subsequently training as a podiatrist) and Geoff was working for Bryher Boats.
For recipe, Issy followed a handwritten one that had been passed down from her great grandmother and was so dog-eared it was barely legible. Standing at the family Aga, she stirred boiling vats of sugar, butter and cream, using her nose and eyes to judge when the mixture had reached a critical thickness before pouring it into trays. The fudge was left to cool overnight before being packaged into plastic bags which were placed on a chair outside.
“A big motivation was a love of fudge. I’ve always been a sugar addict,” confesses Issy. And when Jude Law bought one of her bags, she could scarcely contain her excitement.
By the time Issy departed for college and university, the family realised fudge was not a passing phase but there to stay. “Fudge had become part of the family,” says Kris, who at that point took over the business and shaped it into what it is today. While still using traditional cooking methods, she created slick branding and packaging that enabled the fudge to be sold online. Passing visitors looked out for the smiling face of aproned Kris in her fudge kitchen, and started to suggest flavours, some promising, like rosemary, others less so, like garlic. Often they returned late afternoon to buy fudge as pudding for the evening’s supper.
Central to Kris’ ethos was sourcing the ingredients as locally as she could. Creamy cow’s milk, cream and butter came from Troytown Farm on St. Agnes. When a delivery arrived she’d freeze part of it so she could continue making fudge in the winter months when boats were scarce and Troytown’s cows less productive.
For flavourings she again turned to her neighbouring islands. One of the first was seasalt produced on St. Martin’s by Andrew Walder, whom Issy had been at school with. “Getting the right amount of salt and the perfect size of crystals was quite a skill. People love to crunch on the crystals as they eat the Scillonian Seasalt Fudge,” she says.
With a ten-year career in journalism under her belt, Issy resumed her post at the family stove. Now mother of two girls, she needed a job that could fit around the school day, and fudge was the perfect fit. As they return from the school boat, the girls pop in to check for leftovers and offer their services as willing tasters. The youngest, Emmie, just turned six, seems keen to follow in her mother’s footsteps. “She loves helping with every stage of the process, from chopping the butter to mixing - and of course quality control,” smiles Issy.
There have been celebrity visitors too, such as Camilla, who accompanied HRH The Prince of Wales, on a royal visit in 2021. “She came into the fudge kitchen to give me a hand making some salt fudge,” says Issy. “After that, everyone wanted to buy from the ‘royal’ batch!”
Issy continued Veronica’s tradition of sourcing Scillonian ingredients for flavours. They include gin from Westward Farm on St. Agnes, made by Aidan Hicks, another school pal. And as Andrew Walder, on St. Martin’s, expanded his repertoire to include rum, Veronica Farm’s popular rum and raisin assumed a more local flavour. The dried fruits are steeped in rum for up to three months and are so delicious that Issy admits to occasionally sprinkling them on her breakfast porridge.
For her two most recent flavourings - honey and chilli - she needed to look no further than her next door farm, Hillside. The honey is scarce, so Issy knows she’s lucky that Ruth Eggins sells her entire harvest to her. “It’s liquid gold, intense so you don’t need much. This is the fudge that people smell when they arrive by boat.”
Chilli fudge, using chillies grown at Hillside is also proving popular. “I was sceptical at first, but the gentle chilli aftertaste is lovely,” says Issy.
When the pandemic hit in 2020, and visitors stayed at home, the family feared the worst. In fact, regulars rallied and supported them by ordering huge quantities of fudge online, says Issy. “At one point we reached Christmas levels. It was amazing.”
The future of Veronica Farm’s Fudge looks as sweet as the scent of its narcissi once was.
Image credits: adjbrown.com
