2011 had taken me to numerous beer festivals, but Foodies Festival was the first gastronomic festival experience of the year. The weather could not have been better in lovely Battersea Park - perfect for some Pimms, which we sipped as we gained our bearings.
Smaller than the ubiquitous Taste festivals (which I do enjoy, but which can end up very pricey, especially with their festival ‘currency’ feature), the atmosphere at Foodies was relaxed, and more focused on small producers, rather than big name restaurants. We’d got bargainous tickets through a discount website, so we were open-minded without high expectations.
We snuck into the back of one of the demonstration tents, (and even got a seat), and felt like we were watching a live version of Saturday Kitchen! We learned a handy hint for accessing whether meat was cooked – by sticking a metal skewer into the meat for 10 seconds, and then placing that skewer on your lips to feel if it was hot. A bit risky for my liking, but as the chef pronounced, “if you overcook meat, you deserve burned lips!”
Nibbling on a variety of free food samples (some yummy chilli jams, slivers of scotch eggs, sweets), we found places we wanted to try for lunch. On the way, we also sampled some exciting beverages – the highlight being St Germain – wonderful elderflower liqueur served with white wine. Classy and beautiful!
K settled on Nigerian food, being unusual enough for her not to encounter in everyday life. She opted for very red jollof rice with beef and plaintain. She loved it – the rice was very moist and tomatoey and the whole dish was full of flavour.
My lunch choice was paella – not with the usual ingredients, but instead with apple and pork! My £5 bought me a huge portion, which I couldn’t even finish of the best paella I’ve ever tasted. There were wonderful deep flavours, from the sweetness of the apple to the savouriness of the rice which was also packed with aubergines and peas as well as the pork. A perfect mix of textures and bold flavours made this wonderful.
The heat was increasing, so dessert needed to be cold. We headed to Yee Kwan’s ice-cream stall, and tried a sample of flavours before settling on our favourites. K had cardamom ice-cream which was divinely different to any kind of ice-cream she’d ever had. My mojito sorbet was perfect for the heat of the day, tangy and fruity in an understated way. We found a shady spot under a tree, and felt all was good with the world.
After a cuppa, it was time for some education. We snuck into a demonstration tent to watch a wonderful demonstration of how to make lavender and vanilla infused chocolate truffles by Fiona Sciolti, Artisan Chocolatier. She demonstrated mixing double cream and honey, bringing to the boil, and then infusing overnight with lavender and a vanilla pod. Then, straining through some muslin (or a clean jay cloth), she added melted dark chocolate, along with some soft butter. Once cooled, the mixture was piped or scraped into truffles with a spoon, and then rolled in a mixture of cocoa and icing sugar. I was inspired, but perhaps more tempted to just buy some that she prepared earlier.
All that chocolate and made us hungry again, and we tucked into a final treat from The Dessert Deli, a local Battersea purveyor of delights, created by Laura Amos. All the products were gorgeously presented. I went for a shot of Belgian chocolate mousse with crunchy home made honeycomb topping, which was wonderfully dark and creamy, whilst K went for a summer berry tartlet, which was also highly recommended.
All in all – a wonderful discovery of a food festival – we left utterly stuffed and very happy!
No comments:
Post a Comment