Monday
- Pea and mint soupsweet garden peas · fresh mint · olive oil
- Crisp hake with minty crushed peascrisp-skin hake · minty crushed peas · lemon new potatoes
Home · Across the UK · South East England
A region of England
South East England: its food, and a week to cook at home.
Kent is called the Garden of England for its orchards and hop gardens. Hampshire grows watercress in its chalk streams, and the coast lands fish and oysters.
The photograph is AI-generated.
What people eat here
Dishes from South East England
No. 1
Sussex pond pudding
A suet pudding with a whole lemon inside, steamed until the butter and sugar around it turn into a rich sauce.
No. 2
Banoffee pie
Banana, toffee and cream on a biscuit base. It was first made at a restaurant in Jevington, East Sussex, in the early 1970s.
No. 3
Kentish cobnuts
A kind of hazelnut grown in Kent, eaten fresh and green at the end of summer.
No. 4
Whitstable oysters
Whitstable on the north Kent coast has been known for its oysters since Roman times.
What grows here, and when
Cherries and strawberries in early summer, cobnuts in late summer, apples and pears from September. Watercress is best in spring and autumn.
Kent grows apples, pears, cherries, strawberries and hops; the round oast houses that once dried the hops still stand across the county. Hampshire's clear chalk streams grow watercress.
Seven days, seven menus
A sample week from our recipes
A week to cook at home that suits South East England and its seasons, using only recipes on this site. Each day reads in the order you eat.
Tuesday
- Steak with peppercorn sauce and watercressseared sirloin · cracked peppercorn cream · peppery watercress
- Crisp roast potatoes with rosemary and garliccrackled roast potatoes · rosemary · soft roasted garlic
Wednesday
- Tomato and sourdough panzanellatorn toasted sourdough · sweet ripe tomatoes · basil and red wine vinegar
Thursday
- Roast chicken thighs with leeks and potatoesgolden chicken thighs · sweet roast leeks · crisp potatoes
- Garlicky spring greens with lemonspring greens · golden garlic · lemon
Friday
- Courgette, pea and mint frittatagolden courgette · sweet peas · lemon and mint
- Green leaf salad with mustard dressingsoft garden leaves · cucumber · mustard dressing
Saturday
- Eggs in purgatoryslow tomato and chilli · softly set eggs · torn basil
Sunday
- Roasted tomato soup with basilslow roasted tomato · sweet garlic · basil oil
- Aubergine parmigianalayered roast aubergine · slow tomato and basil · bubbling mozzarella
- Strawberry Eton messsummer strawberries · vanilla cream · crushed meringue
We have no recipe yet for Sussex pond pudding or banoffee pie.
Meal plans that suit South East England
Facts checked on 27 October 2026.