FOOD + DRINK
W & D RICCINI AND THE
KENT CHERRY CO .
SEASONAL SUPERHEROES
FOR CENTURIES KENT HAS BEEN CELEBRATED FOR GROWING BRITAIN ’ S FRUIT . THE COUNTY ’ S SPRAWLING ORCHARDS HAVE LONG BORNE JUICY CROPS UPON THEIR BRANCHES TO FEED A NATION , BUT WITHOUT THE GROWERS THAT WORK THROUGH ALL WEATHERS AND FACE MUCH ADVERSITY , THE COUNTY WOULD NOT BE THE FRUIT-GROWING TRIUMPH IT IS TODAY . BY OLIVIA RICCINI
WILLIAM RICCINI
Legend has it that Henry VIII first crowned Kent with its ‘ Garden of England ’ title . After he was handed a bowl of ripe red cherries from the Belgian fields of Flanders , this infamous king ordered Britain ’ s first cherry orchard to be planted up in Teynham , near Faversham . Over 500 years later , the fruit growing industry has seen an evolution of growth , progress and change with plenty of twists , turns and setbacks along the way . Although much has changed in the five centuries since Kent was first recognised as the country ’ s capital for fruit , one steadfast element has remained - Kent still holds the title ‘ Garden of England ’ and countries across the globe continue to look to the county for leadership and expertise when it comes to growing bountiful crops ripe with flavour and high in quality .
DAVID RICCINI
A practice that has been passed down through generations , the art of fruit growing has evolved alongside the genetic varieties we eat today , but with this evolution the need to stay ahead of trends in both growing technique , and market popularity has become evermore the challenge to today ’ s growers . Although still the fruit growing capital of the UK , Kent has seen many of its smaller family run fruit farms get swallowed up by bigger industrial players , or turn their hand to something new aside from fruit . For one Kent growing family that has been supplying Britain ’ s fruit for over 100 years and one that happens to be my very own , this has been far from the case .
Our story starts in the mud of Passendale ’ s trenches during WWI , the same Belgian earth that once grew those cherries eaten by Henry VIII some 400 years before . Today , I wonder whether my great-grandfather made this link before he came to grow fruit of his own ;
I more often wonder how he felt when he breathed in the clean Kentish air that doctors prescribed his lungs after he survived the gas attack that unintentionally saved his life and whether he felt guilt , grief or gratitude on exhalation . “ It is something we will never know ”, says his daughter , now my grandmother , who witnessed his unbreakable strength throughout the ‘ dig for victory ’ years that followed , amidst the threat of Nazi invasion and times so uncertain we can now no longer fathom . After his evacuation from the horrors of World War I , my great-grandfather , William Wallis , a Cornishman , travelled by ship to Argentina where he learned to grow fruit . Upon his return to British shores , he knew that there was no place better than Kent to start growing his own and thus , the history books of my family were written . His technique and practice was passed down through two generations , and like the industry itself , morphed and evolved with time , knowledge and research .
56