Fresh from the coast

A combined love of boating and cooking with the best local produce inspires Lily Benbow’s career as a private chef…

Thereare few better ways to end a day on the water than sharing dinner and drinks with fellow sailors. On board the challenge of limited space and ingredients can inspire creativity in even the most reluctant chef, while ashore the East Coast is rich in locally raised and freshly caught produce, plus a wealth of eateries to suit every taste

Beetroot hummus and on blinis –served at a pontoon party in Zierikzee, Netherlands, 2022 and budget. Years of experience of all have provided the foundations for an exciting new addition to the area’s gourmet scene: Noble Prawn Ltd.

The business is the brainchild of Lily Benbow (left) who, with husband Mark, owns a 37ft Southerly 115 that’s berthed on the River Orwell.

The couple began their boating adventures with a 20ft Kingfisher, on which they enjoyed sailing the River »

Crouch and anchoring on the Roach. On later vessels they’ve made regular crossings to France, Belgium and the Netherlands, but things haven’t always been plain sailing: while celebrating Lily’s birthday on their second yacht – a 28ft Colvic Countess – the mast broke through the hull while moored just off Tollesbury. “We made a rapid return to the marina – once there was enough water – then had her repaired,” explains Lily, “but we fell out of love with her and were boatless for a few years afterwards.”

Ironically for such a food-lover, during coastal passages on that ill-fated vessel Lily started to get seasick and was unable to go below to do chart work or cook. “Food offerings on those trips were made ahead of time – soups, quiche and chilli –but water and Cuppa Soup were the only things I could keep down!” she says. “I now know it’s wind against tide that makes me seasick, so we wait for the weather window to improve or I take the ferry. I see no point in knowingly becoming ill – watching the horizon, eating, ginger tea... nothing works!”

Raised in Ireland, Lily studied at the Dublin College of Catering in 1986/7 then worked in the hotel trade before relocating to London where she worked front-of-house at a number of top-flight locations. “I remember serving Lady Diana at the Langham and Denis Thatcher at the House of Commons,” she recalls. “I was classically trained as a chef in Dublin, but never actually used those skills again until 2021, though every year I’d challenge myself to cook in an area that was a weakness: sourdough, butchery, pasta-making, you name it. It never mattered to me whether I was on a boat or on land; the galley or kitchen was my relaxing space after a hectic week of work.”

Despite following a different professional path for more than 30 years, Lily’s love of cooking endured. “I trained as a fishmonger in Billingsgate about 14 years ago and cooked in Abruzzo, Italy and Ireland – though never paid for – while I worked,” she explains. “I started Noble Prawn Ltd in December 2021 but in truth I was probably planning it in my head for about 20 years.”

The business launch came after Lily had completed an intensive 12-week course at the renowned Ballymaloe Cookery School in her native Ireland. “I knew exactly the level at which I wanted to work,” she says. “Local, sustainable ingredients; minimal messing with the raw ingredients; letting the flavours sing… cooking

Improve Your Galley Skills

• You can’t go wrong with a simple one-pot meal: for lunch try frittata and salad, or for dinner a chilli. A great dish on board is trout/salmon fillet with puy lentils. I stock up on puy lentils on our trips to France and this has been my one-pot supper at nearly every anchorage on the East Coast.

• The shade of the spray hood on a not-so-sunny-day is a great place to prove bread dough, especially focaccia – a 500g recipe should fit nicely in a boat oven tray. There’s nothing better than the smell of bread being baked on a boat; something to nibble on with a chilled glass of dry white as you discuss the day’s sailing.

• In Saint-Valery-sur-Somme I cooked a full roast dinner in one of those double-sided sauté pans where you can flip it and retain all the juices. This was an epic meal: lip-smacking rich gravy, I can still taste it now! I bought that pan at a boat show in Earl’s Court many moons ago – it’s a definite must-have in a galley.

• When we’re sailing I take a backpack on my morning run and buy whatever fresh ingredients I can find. I’ve been known to come back with fresh crab, oysters, various vegetables – roadside offerings from fishermen and farms I find along the run. I plan my menu as I run. I keep a diary of what I cook and where I shop – useful for next-time!

• Don’t compromise on the wine. One good bottle of wine to pair with your meal is better than a box of mediocre bargain bottles. And always drink wine from a glass – never plastic. Tom Cunliffe came on board with us a few years ago and was delighted to be served chilled wine in a proper glass as we made our way up the Deben. It really does make a difference!

• Every boat should have a shucking knife (if you’ve not got one a flat-head screwdriver will do) and a sharp knife.

• I always have a selection of fresh dried Middle Eastern, European and Indian spices on board (kept in sealed, separate storage boxes). Onions, carrots, eggs and puy lentils are a must, as is bread flour and dried yeast, organic vegetable stock cubes, tinned tomatoes, tomato purée. Even if I don’t have anything else, with low water and/or a tide against us I can still make breakfast, lunch and dinner.

in beautiful homes up and down the country; creating bespoke menus and working with the seasons.”

Today, Lily specialises in dinner parties for between six and 40 guests, and has worked in holiday homes along the East Coast and in London, as well as abroad. “I was delighted to be asked to cook for clients in St Tropez for last year’s Les Voiles de St Tropez Regatta,” she says. “I cooked as a private chef on a beautiful Halberg Rassey in the Tidemill Yacht Harbour at Woodbridge for a special birthday celebration. I had to provide all the plates, cutlery, glasses etc – not a problem, but I should have checked the tide times as it was low water and I had to hike everything up and down very steep steps!

“I also deliver to yachts and homes within a 20-mile radius of my kitchen in Framlingham –suppers and picnics are especially popular, but I also adore cooking Middle Eastern and Indian dishes which lend themselves easily to sharing with family and friends.”

Lily’s local knowledge and contacts come to the fore in her sharing platter, which consists of ‘Sunday Charcuterie’ from Lowestoft, River Test trout home-smoked with rosemary, home-made hummus and labneh. Her bread flour comes from Marriage’s in Essex and green salad comes from

Maple Farm in Kelsale; fish is from A Passion for Seafood – owner Mike gets his haul from the boats that fish the coast from Felixstowe Ferry and other places.

Lily’s own dream dinner would be aboard, in warm weather with a light breeze and moored close to land so she could go for her usual morning run. On the menu? “Oysters from Butley Creek, ‘Nduja-buttered BBQ langoustines, fresh baked focaccia, green salad,” she says. “A sparkling pink from Tuffon Hall Winery in Suffolk to start and then perhaps an Albarino, spanish wine to enjoy with the ‘Nduja. To finish, a seaweed set panna cotta with seasonal berries (top). And, if I’m with friends, a sweet Tokaji wine to finish.”

Lily will be cooking at pop-up style summer events at Fire & Feast in Halesworth, serving a Middle Eastern and Indian menu cooked over fire (www.fireandfeastsuffolk.co.uk). She’s also collaborating with two other private chefs for a Suffolk Dining Club event – check her website for tickets. You’ll also find lots of mouth-watering images of Lily’s culinary creations on Instagram – search for @nobleprawnltd. To enquire about booking Lily as a private chef, or if you’d like supper delivered to your home or boat, log on to www.nobleprawn.com for details.