Summary (by AI): I was disappointed by the drab and underwhelming Tillingbourne Smokery, but the excellent quality of the smoked trout and the beautiful surroundings made for a fantastic picnic experience in Surrey.
Blog: Surrey is one of those counties that doesn't have a single, iconic food that everyone immediately identifies with the area. But once you start doing the research, some interesting options emerge. The one I eventually settled on was the smoked trout from the Tillingbourne Smokery.
It’s a name that kept coming up for two main reasons. First, the trout farm itself has a reputation for providing some of the finest fish in the country. They rear them in the crystal-clear—or "gin clear," as they call it—waters of the River Tillingbourne. The river runs through a valley just north of the Surrey Hills, and it is absolutely beautiful.
During a bit of deep-dive research, I realized this area was actually a major industrial hub in the past. The river provided the power to turn the valley into an incredible manufacturing center. At one point, there were something like 26 mills on an 11-mile stretch. The mill where the Tillingbourne fish farm sits today has obviously been repurposed, but back in the day, they used it for everything from making gunpowder to metalwork. Even the nearby village of Abinger Hammer was named after the great "hammer mill" that used to pound metal there.
The second reason I was drawn to this spot was their process. They smoke the fish using local wood, predominantly oak and some alder. I thought, "You know what? Let’s go for that." I figured I could work it into a picnic and make a day of it.
Now, I have to be honest: the website is quite impressive. It talks up the smoked fish and the fantastic farm shop, but I was incredibly underwhelmed when I actually arrived. Despite the descriptions of fast-flowing streams and fish bounding through the water, the farm itself looked quite drab. The "farm shop" wasn't much more than two or three old, glass-fronted refrigerators. I think I was expecting one of those overpriced, posh farm shops stuffed with chutneys and artisanal everything—which, to be fair, I don’t usually like—but they didn't actually have much produce at all.
Regardless, I grabbed a pack of the trout. My friend Jos joined me for the day, and we headed over to the Surrey Sculpture Park (which is another one of my entries for the county).
We had a fantastic picnic. It was the end of April, and the weather was perfect—just a beautiful, sunny day. The sculpture park itself was incredible. We ended up eating at a table that had a sculpture of a crocodile head at the end of it, which was a nice touch.
I’d brought along some sourdough to go with the smoked trout. To be honest, it tasted just like smoked salmon—as trout often does—but it was very nice indeed. We paired it with some leftover tzatziki, a homemade potato salad, pickles, tomatoes, and some rocket. You know, when you actually stop to taste rocket, it’s a fabulous ingredient; it has such a beautiful, peppery kick.
So, looking back, was I glad I went for the Surrey smoked trout? Yes. Was I impressed with the farm itself? No, not really. But did we have an absolutely fantastic picnic? Yes, we did. Job done.
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