Forge, Fire & Food at The Small Holding

Alex Pole at the forge (credit Tim Booth)

FORGE, FIRE & FOOD

Alex Pole Blacksmith x The Small Holding
Sunday 3rd September, 12.30-15.30
£70 pp including knife making demonstration, cocktail and lunch
Reservation link here.

Blacksmith Alex Pole will join executive chef Will Devlin and guests at The Small Holding for an exclusive ‘Forge, Fire & Food’ event on Sunday 3rd September.

Alex Pole has worked as a blacksmith for over 30 years and founded Forge Kitchenware in 2015, making traditionally hand-forged kitchenware and cooking utensils, made in the fires of his Dorset workshop. Forging is the ancient art of shaping metal by heating it by fire and hammering. It is a highly skilled art full of tradition and folklore, and with infinite modern applications.

Alex makes pieces for home kitchens, outdoor cooking and bespoke pieces for chefs and restaurants including The Small Holding, L’enclume and Ikoyi. One of Alex’s primary aims is to promote blacksmithing and traditional crafts to show their importance in the 21st century.

This one-off event at The Small Holding will begin with a knife making demonstration from Alex and his senior assistant Jack Pardoe. Each piece of Forge Kitchenware, be it a knife, skillet or coffee scoop, starts as a simple bar of steel, which is heated and repeatedly hit on the blacksmiths’ anvil, until it is the correct size, shape and style. Some pieces can take hundreds of strikes before it is right. Alex will offer insight into the ancient traditions and techniques of European knife making and the creation of pieces that are beautiful and tactile, yet wholly functional.  

Throughout the demonstration Will and Alex will be talking about his craft and how he became involved in the food world, along with serving snacks and negronis, created with The Small Holding’s own house made Campari-style liqueur, made with foraged bitter botanicals. This will be followed by a fire-cooked family style feast of Paley Farm mutton and produce from The Small Holding’s farm, using Alex Pole’s cast iron skillets.

Will Devlin says, “Alex is a true craftsman and artist and it’s a joy to use his hand-forged pieces in both the kitchen and as part of our tableware service. His pieces combine beauty and function and will last a life-time if treated well and looked after. These values of craft, design and sustainability are fundamental to us at The Small Holding, and combined with food and fire is irresistible.”

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About The Small Holding

The Small Holding is a 36-cover restaurant and farm set in one acre of land, on a country lane in the village of Kilndown, on the Kent and East Sussex borders. The farm is less than 10 ft from the kitchen, growing nearly 200 varieties of vegetables, fruit and herbs, permitting a unique connection between the land and table. Native breed Large Black pigs, chickens and ducks roam the farm and sheep for hogget and mutton graze less than half a mile away. The Small Holding was awarded a Michelin Green Star in 2021, and was one of the first seven restaurants in the country to be recognised for its commitment to sustainability in gastronomy and low-impact environmental practices. Growing, foraging and cooking the best ingredients is at the core of The Small Holding, with monthly changing ‘Full Acre’ and ‘Half Acre’ tasting menus, using home-reared and home-grown ingredients from the farm and foraged in the nearby hedgerows and woodland.

Run by brothers Will And Matt Devlin, as Executive Chef and Head of Operations, respectively, The Small Holding is part of the Acre Group which also includes Birchwood in nearby Flimwell, East Sussex.

Hand forged drinks and cocktail utensils made by Alex Pole Ironwork

Drinks set made by Alex Pole Ironwork at his Somerset blacksmith forge

Celebrate World Cocktail Day with drinks and bar utensils handmade by blacksmith Alex Pole in his Somerset forge

It is World Cocktail Day on 13 May, a global celebration that marks the date of the first definition of a cocktail on 13 May in 1806. As lockdown restrictions lift, and outdoor socialising is permitted, take the cocktail bar outside and up the glamour with traditionally hand-forged black steel and copper drink making utensils.

Alex Pole Ironwork four-piece drinks set

Made in Alex Pole’s blacksmith forge in Somerset, the set includes a corkscrew, traditional bottle opener, ring bottle opener and three cocktail spoons. The corkscrew and spoons are hand forged in ‘black’ stainless steel and the bottle opener in steel with a leather lanyard. (£135 alexpoleironwork.com)

Use the Alex Pole Kitchen Ladle (£65 alexpoleironwork.com), made using forged ‘black’ stainless steel and a hand beaten copper bowl and copper rivets, to serve a fruity summer punch. Created by cocktail mixologist and consultant Nick Strangeway, who is a founding partner of Hepple Gin, the recipe for Summer Punch is extracted from The Forge Kitchen, written by Alex Pole and Pooch Horsburgh (£25). The Forge Kitchen cookbook is a culinary collaboration between one blacksmith and 21 chefs. Each of the Forge chefs, including Nathan Outlaw, Mark Hix, Thomasina Miers and Gill Meller has taken their recipe inspiration from cookware handmade by Alex Pole. They have given the cookware and utensils purpose and function, creating delicious recipes suitable for anyone to cook at home.

Summer Punch by Nick Strangeway, founding partner of Hepple Gin

Makes 8-10 servings

It gets extremely hot in the forge! Here's something to cool a blacksmith - or anyone else - down after a hot day.

Lemon sherbet
3 unwaxed lemons
Caster sugar

Raspberry syrup
100g caster sugar
100g frozen raspberries

Ingredients

200ml Hepple Gin
100ml Hepple Douglas Fir vodka
100ml Martini Rosato or other rosé vermouth
100ml raspberry syrup (see above)
50ml lemon juice
20ml lemon sherbet (see above)
600ml chilled green tea

To finish garnish with plenty of herbs, flowers and fruit.

Method

To make the lemon sherbet, zest the lemons and place the zest into a bowl. Juice the zested lemons and place into a measuring jug. Weigh the amount of lemon juice you have. Weigh out the same/equal weight of sugar (to the weight of lemon juice) in a separate bowl. Add the sugar to the lemon zest and mix well. Leave to one side to allow the sugar to draw out the oils from the zest. Stir occasionally. Once the sugar is quite wet and beginning to dissolve, add the lemon juice. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Sieve the mixture and store in the fridge until ready to use. This will make more sherbet than you need for the recipe. Any leftover can be frozen for future use, or it’s great for making sorbet with.

Meanwhile, make the raspberry syrup. Place the sugar into a bowl and cover with the raspberries. Leave the raspberries to defrost over the sugar, mixing together once the raspberries are soft. Add 50ml of hot water and stir again, mixing well to dissolve all of the sugar. Place the mixture into a sieve over a bowl and leave to drip through the sieve whilst you prepare the rest of the cocktail. The sieved liquid is your raspberry syrup.

Mix the cocktail ingredients together and pour into a punch bowl or small cauldron, filled with a block of ice. Garnish with herbs, edible flowers and fruit and serve immediately.

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About The Forge Kitchenware

Alex Pole is a British blacksmith making traditionally hand-forged kitchenware and cooking utensils, made in the fires of his Somerset workshop. Forging is the ancient art of shaping metal by heating it in a fire and hammering. It is an art that is full of tradition and folklore but with many modern applications.

Alex has been working as a blacksmith for over 25 years and founded The Forge Kitchenware in 2015. He makes pieces for home kitchens, outdoor cooking and bespoke pieces for cooks, chefs and restaurants including Nathan Outlaw, Christian Stevenson aka DJ BBQ, Gill Meller, Mark Hix and Thomasina Miers. Each piece is individually forged, using local materials, wherever possible, by a small team of skilled craftsmen dedicated to producing the highest quality work. One of Alex’s primary aims is to promote blacksmithing, and the makers movement, across the UK and to show its relevance in the 21st century.

Every piece of Forge Kitchenware be it a skillet, knife, coffee scoop or an axe, starts as a simple bar of steel, which is heated and repeatedly hit on the anvil until it is the correct size, shape and style. Heat, strike, repeat! The Forge Kitchenware takes the everyday and redefines it to create beautiful and tactical, yet wholly functional, pieces of work. Each piece is designed with simple form, clean lines and functionality and are made to last a lifetime.

Notes to editors

Alex Pole Ironwork
The Forge
South Harp Farm Yard
Over Stratton
Somerset, TA13 5LB

www.alexpoleironwork.com | @alexpoleironwork

Blacksmith courses and Forge and Feast events will resume later in 2021.

For more information, interview or a site visit to The Forge, please contact Hannah Blake at The Dining Room on 07730 039 361 or hannah@thediningroompr.co.uk

BBQ and fire cooking tools by Alex Pole Ironwork

BBQ Tools Kit by Alex Pole Ironwork

Get ready for outdoor cooking this summer with British handmade BBQ tools forged by Somerset blacksmith

www.alexpoleironwork.com

Barbecue season will start early this year with the slight easing of restrictions meaning up to six people can meet outdoors. As lockdown restrictions lift and outdoor socialising is permitted, the great British barbecue season will begin in earnest.

At Alex Pole Ironwork there is everything a keen barbecue or fire cook needs to cook over flames, including spun iron pans and skillets that can be used on open flame, skewers, spatulas and tongs.

There is a strong and growing movement towards using more sustainable cooking utensils and cookware. That movement also goes hand in hand with the increase in desire to not import goods from the other side of the world.

Alex Pole comments, “The pans we cook in, the utensils we serve with, and the cutlery we use, are as important to any meal as the ingredients, it’s all part of the flavour, and the pleasure of cooking. Why cook an organically reared, 48-day salt-aged steak that cost £40 in a £6 aluminium, chemically coated frying pan? That is about as insulting to both the cow and the farmer as you can get, not to mention the use of the chemicals to make mainstream pans ‘non-stick’.”

The tools we use in the kitchen are probably the most used items in our houses, other than our phones and devices, and as such will start to play a big role in the global push towards more environmentally conscious living - spun steel and cast-iron pans will last a life time (several in fact if well looked after). Make it properly, buy it once, and it can be passed on down the generations.

Buying properly made, British made kitchenware adds to the drive towards a cleaner world. It also adds to the flavour of the food and experience of cooking it.

Cook with Alex Pole Ironwork tools this summer.

BBQ Tools Set

The ultimate tool set for any keen fire chef or BBQ maestro, including six skewers, tongs, spatula and a meat fork, all wrapped up in a beautiful canvas roll made by Francli Craftwear in Cornwall. (£225 alexpoleironwork.com)

11-inch frying pan

Beautiful hand sun carbon steel, which is smooth and naturally non-stick, with forged handles and copper rivets. This beautiful pan will last a lifetime if cared for properly. (£135 alexpoleironwork.com)

Four-piece drinks set

Set up a bar in the garden with a corkscrew, traditional bottle opener, ring bottle opener and three cocktail spoons. The corkscrew and spoons are hand forged in ‘black’ stainless stell and the bottle opener in steel with a leather lanyard. (£135 alexpoleironwork.com)

The Forge Kitchen Cookbook

The Forge Kitchen is full of inspiration and outdoor cooking ideas and recipes. A collaboration between Alex Pole and co-author Pooch Horsburgh and 21 chefs including Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Gill Meller, Anja Dunk, Valentine Warner and Olia Hercules, each of The Forge Kitchen chefs has taken their inspiration from cookware made in the fires of Alex Pole’s Somerset forge.

The Forge Kitchen fuses traditionally made kitchenware with contemporary chefs and the very best ingredients to create a unique set of ingredients. Recipes include scallops with brown shrimp and sorrel butter by Olia Hercules; hogget with salsa verde by Gill Meller; chilli squid with ginger, basil yoghurt and sweetcorn chutney by Nathan Outlaw; beetroot tatin with roasted garlic, thyme and goat’s cheese; and piperade with baked eggs and crispy pancetta by Thomasina Miers.

“The Forge Kitchen celebrates the vital energy between great kitchen tools, great ingredients and great cooking - and the results are beautiful, satisfying and delicious.” Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, River Cottage

The Forge Kitchen is £25 and available to buy at www.alexpoleironwork.com

About The Forge Kitchenware

Alex Pole is a British blacksmith making traditionally hand-forged kitchenware and cooking utensils, made in the fires of his Somerset workshop. Forging is the ancient art of shaping metal by heating it in a fire and hammering. It is an art that is full of tradition and folklore but with many modern applications.

Alex has been working as a blacksmith for over 25 years and founded The Forge Kitchenware in 2015. He makes pieces for home kitchens, outdoor cooking and bespoke pieces for cooks, chefs and restaurants including Nathan Outlaw, Christian Stevenson aka DJ BBQ, Gill Meller, Mark Hix and Thomasina Miers. Each piece is individually forged, using local materials, wherever possible, by a small team of skilled craftsmen dedicated to producing the highest quality work. One of Alex’s primary aims is to promote blacksmithing, and the makers movement, across the UK and to show its relevance in the 21st century.

Every piece of Forge Kitchenware be it a skillet, knife, coffee scoop or an axe, starts as a simple bar of steel, which is heated and repeatedly hit on the anvil until it is the correct size, shape and style. Heat, strike, repeat! The Forge Kitchenware takes the everyday and redefines it to create beautiful and tactical, yet wholly functional, pieces of work. Each piece is designed with simple form, clean lines and functionality and are made to last a lifetime.

Notes to editors

Alex Pole Ironwork
The Forge, South Harp Farm Yard, Over Stratton, Somerset, TA13 5LB

www.alexpoleironwork.com | @alexpoleironwork

Blacksmith courses and Forge and Feast events will resume later in 2021.

For more information, interview or a site visit to The Forge, please contact Hannah Blake at The Dining Room on 07730 039 361 or hannah@thediningroompr.co.uk

Ooni x Alex Pole Ironwork #100axes

Axe designed by Alex Pole for Ooni Pizza

OONI PIZZA OVENS LAUNCHES OONI AXE IN COLLABORATION WITH BRITISH BLACKSMITH ALEX POLE

Ooni Pizza Ovens, the world’s number one pizza oven company, has launched a limited-edition Ooni Axe in collaboration with British blacksmith Alex Pole Ironwork.

A first for the brand, the Ooni Axe is a unique, original piece forged by hand, heat, and hammer.

The Ooni Axe is the result of a distinctive partnership with Master Blacksmith Alex Pole and his assistant Joe Garnett, who share the same passion for craft and fire as the pizza oven brand. With nearly 30 years’ experience, Alex Pole Ironwork was established in 2006 and delivers high-quality, hand-forged kitchenware, utensils and tools.

The Ooni Axe is forged from top quality Swedish steel where every stroke is unique to that individual product and offers a blend of cutting-edge modern design principles and the most ancient of crafts.

Alex Pole, Founder of Alex Pole Ironwork, said: ‘It has been a fantastic opportunity for all of us at The Forge to work with Ooni on this very special collaboration. The axes that we have forged embrace the values of simplicity, function and traditional craftsmanship - a tool to last a lifetime.’

The handle is crafted from only the finest cuts of exquisite Ash, hand-selected by Sam Morris at the Axe & Edge Tool Co. They are hand-sanded and stained with an ebony wood stain and coated with a protective linseed oil to provide a premium, smooth finish. 

Kristian Tapaninaho, Ooni CEO and founder, said: “ When we decided to create a new axe to capture our love of fire-building, we knew we wanted to make something different and unique, and we needed a partner with that same passion to help deliver our vision. Master Blacksmith Alex Pole is that man. We recognised the same shared passion for craft and fire. And so - the Ooni Axe was born.”

The Ooni Axe is now available for $299 / £249 / €299 from uk.ooni.com. To explore the full Ooni product range, visit uk.ooni.com.

About Alex Pole Ironwork

Alex Pole Ironwork was established in 2006 to deliver high-quality, functional products for the home and garden. The business has slowly evolved over the years and now specialises in hand-forged kitchenware and utensils. 

Only traditional techniques are used at the forge and all work is forged by hand and, wherever possible, materials are sourced from the local area. One of the brand’s primary aims is to promote blacksmithing, and the makers movement, across the UK and to showcase its relevance in the 21st century.

Alex Pole started Art college in 1991 where he first studied jewellery making, then architectural ironwork. In 2013, Alex travelled to Sweden to attend a course at Gransfors Bruks, the world-renowned axe-making centre, and discovered a great love of toolmaking. From this point on, he moved his work in a new direction and included knife and axe-making, as well as developing a wide range of kitchenware.

Alex’s main role today is to design and prototype new products, often assisted by the whole team, and to develop the Forge Kitchenware brand.

The Forge Kitchen cookbook

The Forge Kitchen cookbook by Alex Pole and Pooch Horsburgh (£25)

The Forge Kitchen Cookbook
Alex Pole, £25

The Forge Kitchen is a collaboration between Alex Pole and co-author Pooch Horsburgh and 21 chefs including Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Gill Meller, Anja Dunk, Valentine Warner and Olia Hercules. Each of The Forge chefs has taken their inspiration from cookware made in the fires of Alex Pole’s Somerset forge. The pans we cook in, the utensils we serve with, and the cutlery we use, are as important to any meal as the ingredients, it’s all part of the flavour, and the pleasure of cooking.

Blacksmiths have been forging iron for many thousands of years and a staple of their craft has been the production of kitchenware and cooking implements. The hearth has always been the centre of family life - providing both warmth and sustenance by means of a heat source - and that is still the case today. In fact, it seems to be becoming more and more popular to cook on an open fire, either indoors or out, and the best way to do this is by using iron utensils.

The Forge Kitchen fuses traditionally made kitchenware with contemporary chefs and the very best ingredients to create a unique set of ingredients. Recipes include scallops with brown shrimp and sorrel butter by Olia Hercules; hogget with salsa verde by Gill Meller; chilli squid with ginger, basil yoghurt and sweetcorn chutney by Nathan Outlaw; beetroot tatin with roasted garlic, thyme and goat’s cheese; and piperade with baked eggs and crispy pancetta by Thomasina Miers.

“The Forge Kitchen celebrates the vital energy between great kitchen tools, great ingredients and great cooking - and the results are beautiful, satisfying and delicious.” Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, River Cottage

The Forge Kitchen is £25 and is available from the online shop on www.alexpoleironwork.

Alex Pole Ironwork at The Forge

Alex Pole Ironwork kitchenware

The Forge Kitchenware

Alex Pole is a British blacksmith making traditionally hand-forged kitchenware and cooking utensils, made in the fires of his Somerset workshop. Forging is the ancient art of shaping metal by heating it in a fire and hammering. It is an art that is full of tradition and folklore but with many modern applications.

Alex has been working as a blacksmith for over 25 years and founded The Forge Kitchenware in 2015. He makes pieces for home kitchens, outdoor cooking and bespoke pieces for cooks, chefs and restaurants including Nathan Outlaw, Christian Stevenson aka DJ BBQ, Gill Meller, Mark Hix and Thomasina Miers. Each piece is individually forged, using local materials, wherever possible, by a small team of skilled craftsmen dedicated to producing the highest quality work. One of Alex’s primary aims is to promote blacksmithing, and the makers movement, across the UK and to show its relevance in the 21st century.

Every piece of Forge Kitchenware, be it a skillet, knife, coffee scoop or an axe, starts as a simple bar of steel, which is heated ad repeatedly hit on the anvil until it is the correct size, shape and style. Heat, strike, repeat! The Forge Kitchenware takes the everyday and redefines it to create beautiful and tactical, yet wholly functional, pieces of work. Each piece is designed with simple form, clean lines and functionality and are made to last a lifetime.

Blacksmith courses and Forge and Feast events will resume in 2021.

Alex Pole is founder of The Forge Kitchenware.

Day to day, Alex’s main role is designing new products, often assisted by the whole team and developing the Forge Kitchenware brand.

“I have always had a fascination with metals for as long as I can remember. From sitting with my mum watching her make jewellery as a four-year-old to casting lead soldiers in my pre-teens, it feels like I've always been drawn to this material.

I started back in 1991 with attendance to art college to first study jewellery making, then architectural ironwork. After that came the wandering years - filled with travel, training, exploration, experimentation and a beer or two.

In 2013 I travelled to Sweden to attend a course at Gransfors Bruks, the world renowned axe making centre, and discovered a great love of tool making.  From then on I moved my work in a new direction - this included knife and axe making, as well as developing a wide range of kitchenware. Blacksmithing is not just a craft to me , but a way of life, and one that gives great satisfaction not only to me but, I hope, others as well.”